www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

It'll be a bit of a wander, Neil, as the Clouded Yellows have usually been seen at Southbourne, a stroll of three miles or so along the prom east of Bournemouth Pier. When you get there, you'll probably be tempted onwards to Hengistbury Head.
As for natural hazards at Studland when looking for Grayling, I ventured very little distance into the dunes from the sea, not very far from the NT car park at Knoll Beach, and saw nothing untoward...

Dave

Thanks for the heads up Dave, I am ok with a few miles, it just depends how long I can get away for

As for (un)natural hazards at Studland, I have done a bit of checking and as long as I stay away from the northern end of the beach with my camera ....I should be ok, I hope

Cheers,

Neil.

Saturday 25th August

A day of very 'interesting' weather.

The day started off with some nice sun but soon started to cloud over and by this afternoon we had black clouds, thunder and lightning and heavy rain coming down like stair-rods. All this interspersed with breaks in the clouds when the sun would shine with considerable warmth.

Despite the downpours, it only took a few moments of sun for Holly Blues, Green-veined Whites and Speckled Woods to take to the wing and it was amazing how many butterflies I saw passing through the garden during the breaks in the storms.

No butterfly photos worth posting today but I did like the shot below of the next storm heading our way with the last vestiges of sun on the clouds.
Bye for now,

Neil.

Sunday 26th August.

Hearing that there had been a few Brown Hairstreak sightings from Grafton Wood in Worcestershire, I had originally planned to go over on Bank Holiday Monday for a look.
Seeing that the weather forecast looked pretty awful for Monday, I decided to nip over this afternoon (Sunday) and make the most of what sun was still about.

I was busy with family ‘stuff’ in the morning and so I did not arrive until around 2.30pm which was probably too late for any Brown Hairstreaks as I have read that an hour or so either side of midday is the best time.
Nevertheless, I decided to have a slow bimble round the wood before heading back to the hedgerows on the west side by the old orchard, which is said to be the best BH spot, on the off chance I would find a female doing some late nectaring.

There was plenty of butterfly activity with Red Admirals, Peacocks and whites all being seen along with the expected Hedge and Meadow Browns plus a single male Common Blue.
Also some nice fresh Speckled Wood including the female below.
Walking through the wood to a clearing on the eastern side, I was delighted to find half a dozen Brimstones all nectaring together on a large patch of Bettony. I counted 4 males and 2 females all in this one spot just a couple of yards square.
After taking the next photo he took off just as I was taking another, giving me a nice action shot which is probably the nearest I will get to capturing a Brimstone topside.
During the afternoon I had two possible Brown Hairstreak sightings in different areas, both times they were fairly high and disappeared over Blackthorn hedges, but that was the closest I got.

There were also large numbers of Dragonflies on the wing including Common Darters and Migrant Hawkers.
A good afternoon despite not getting a 100% definite Brown Hairstreak.

Bye for now,

Neil.

I particularly like the image of the Brimstone taking off, Neil.

I notice it still has its proboscis in the trumpet of the flower!

Greedy little blighters, aren't they?

Saturday 1st September – Bournemouth Air Festival.

With my wife Jane, my daughter Sarah and my youngest son Danny, we had a week’s holiday booked at a caravan site just north of Wareham in Dorset. Unfortunately, my eldest son Chris could not come with us due to work commitments.

We had picked the dates around my work and so that Danny could come with us before starting University, and the location as it looked to be a good base to visit a few places from.
We were booked from Friday to Friday and so after arriving and settling in on Friday we had a clear Saturday to start with. I had not realised at the time of booking but Bournemouth Air Festival was on during our first weekend and so it was that we went there.

During a full afternoon of watching the brilliant air displays, I could not help but notice the amount of butterflies along the cliffs, mostly Red Admirals but also Large and Small Whites and a couple of Painted Ladies.
These were all either too far down the cliffs or too mobile to photograph but they did give me a good feeling for the week ahead

As there were no butterfly photos from this day here is Vulcan XH558 instead, the only one still flying and a most impressive machine to see.
Sunday 2nd September - Ballard Down

Following the good weather of the previous day, Sunday was overcast with a bit of light rain in the morning. The rest of the gang wanted to have a quiet day after spending most of Saturday on their feet so in the afternoon I decided to have a drive over to Ballard Down by Swanage to have a look around.
Parking in the layby at Ulwell, I started up the path and turned right along the lower slopes. Almost immediately I saw the first Adonis Blue and despite the still overcast conditions it was soon apparent that there were good numbers of them, in fact, the further along the path that I went, the more I saw.

Even in the sheltered areas at the bottom of the slopes there was still a bit of a breeze and most were settling down in the grass although I did find a couple posed nicely for underside shots.
When I took the shot below I first thought that it was a female Common Blue, of which there were a few flying with the Adonis, but looking at the photo afterwards I had second thoughts. I posted it in the identification forum where Pete Eeles has confirmed it as a female Adonis. The ragged fringes on the wings threw me at first but there is just enough black showing, particularly on the left forewing.
A good couple of hours with one of my main targets for the week, the Adonis Blues and I still had the rest of the week ahead of me

Bye for now,

Neil.

Monday 3rd September – Durlston Country Park.

The deal for today was that we would go to Durlston Country Park in the morning and Continue onto Studland later in the afternoon so that the other three could spend a couple of hours on the beach.
Arriving at Durlston at around 10.30 under clear blue skies, it was already getting warm. I arranged to wander around for an hour or so and meet up again with the others at the Castle.
Having a quick look around, I spotted a Buddleia a short distance along the path just north of the castle that had 4 Red Admirals and 3 Small Tortoiseshells on it along with a couple of what I first thought were meadow Browns.
One of the Meadow Browns moved out of the shadow it was in and proved in fact to be a nice Grayling, a female I think going by size and more rounded wing shape.
I next went along the cliff path towards the lighthouse spotting a few Common Blues, Silver Y moths and Lulworth Skippers.
I was hoping to see the Skippers here and had checked the Durlston ranger diary so I knew they were still about, although I guessed that they would be getting a bit old and faded by now which they indeed proved to be. Nevertheless, as the first of this species I have ever seen, I was well chuffed

Continuing along the path, I reached the bottom of the ‘gully’ and started to meander along the grassy path where I started to see the first Adonis Blues. The south facing slopes here were alive with Meadow Browns and Adonis Blues along with fair numbers of Common Blues and Lulworth Skippers and a few Brown Argus.
I circled around up the gully and back though the meadows to the castle where I met up with the others for a coffee. Jane and the (big) kids said that they were happy for me to wander off again for a bit so I went to have another quick look at the Buddleia.
I was just about to walk off when I looked down and saw a Jersey Tiger Moth just in front of me on one of the lower flower spikes.
I then circled around in a similar route to before but in reverse, seeing all the same species as before but in seemingly even greater numbers. Silver Y Moths especially were everywhere.

By this time it was getting quite hot and the butterflies were very active. This made it trickier to get photos but if anything made it a more pleasurable experience to be surrounded by so many butterflies in such a lovely location

I then made my way back around to meet up again with the others before heading off to Studland.

Bye for now,

Neil.

Splendid photos, Neil.

You seem to have found an excellent 'crop' at Durlston, and your Lulworths look to be in pretty good condition still. I must try going there a bit later in the year myself next season, as they were rather too flighty for photos when I went in July.

Very nice pic of the Vulcan too - particularly impressive with a bit of foreground to add impact.

Mike

Amazing that Lulworth Skippers can still be found. I recall Sussex Kipper photographing them in early June near Lulworth Cove so this has to go down as a bizarrely long flight period by anyone's standards.

Cracking shots Neil I'm dead chuffed that Dorset delivered the goods (stunning blues, a lifer and Grayling on Buddleia)
That gully is great for bird migrants too.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Thanks for the comments guys, they are much appreciated

Mike,
There were plenty of well faded Lulworths about with a few reasonable ones, a benefit of the late season this year I guess.

David,
I remember Sussex Kippers post, I believe that they were still around Lulworth in mid August but we did not see any there last week. I understand that Durlston is a reliable late site for Lulworth Skippers but even so this year must be unusual.

Wurzel,
I was well chuffed by this stage and there was more to come

Cheers,

Neil.

Monday 3rd September – Studland

Leaving Durlston in the heat of the day around 2.00pm we drove the 10 minutes or so back through Swanage and out the other side to Studland and parked up in the NT car park at Knoll Beach.
After settling down on the beach and enjoying an ice cream, I went to have a wander around in the dunes to the north of the car park, remembering advice from Millard and Wurzel to be careful where I wandered with my camera

I had been seeing Red Admirals all day and as soon as I started along the path I began to notice large numbers of them nectaring on the heather. The further I went, the more I saw and it soon became apparent that there were literally hundreds of them along this stretch amongst the heather.
This whole area reminded me of an immense Buddleia that had been laid out across the dunes
There were also a few Painted Ladies present, I am not sure exactly how many because it was hard to keep track of individuals with them flitting between clumps of heather, but I think there were possibly as many as half a dozen along this stretch.
Most were flighty in the heat but one individual stuck around the one spot for about 10 minutes
One thing that I did notice was that, unless they spread their wings wide, the Red Admirals blended into the heather remarkably well and could be hard to see from a distance until you walked past and they took off in small flocks.
In the photo below the Painted Lady is easy enough to see but there are also 5 Red Admirals where I have marked the positions.
I was also pleased to see at least a dozen Small Tortoiseshells, in fact I had noticed that numbers of these had seemed to be building up.
I spent a couple of hours here, a good portion of that time just sitting and marvelling at the spectacle. I have never seen as many Red Admirals in one place at the same time before, I have no idea how many there were along this stretch but numbers must have run into hundreds.

On my return home, I e-mailed Dorset BC with my sightings and apparently what I saw was part of a much larger influx of Red Admirals that was taking place. I have posted the full reply in Millards personal diary where this influx is also mentioned.

Bye for now,

Neil.

Neil

Fascinating stuff, hopefully I'll have some coming my way in the not too distant future

Phil

Hi Phil, thanks for the comment. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

Lets hope some of them get further north before the weather turns and they either tuck themselves away for the winter or decide to head south again.

I wonder how the mechanism works that decides this, why do some go into hibernation whereas others have been seen to return south

Neil.

Wednesday 5th September – Lulworth Cove.

Most of Tuesday was spent in Swanage after parking the car and riding in on the Swanage Steam Railway, an excellent variation on a Park and Ride.
Whilst there we all continued to notice Large numbers of Red Admirals, most appearing to fly in from the sea.

The plan for today(Wednesday) was to go to the Tank Museum at Bovington first and then continue on to Lulworth Cove afterwards.

Arriving at Lulworth around 2.00pm on another glorious sunny afternoon, the others agreed that I could wander off for a couple of hours whilst they spent some time around the cove itself.

I soon found the steps leading up to Bindon Hill and started climbing up them, noticing almost immediately a couple of Small Tortoiseshells and a single Painted Lady on the Red Valerian growing by the side of the steps.
Continuing up through the trees and out onto the hillside I turned right and followed a rough path slightly higher up than the main path.
The whole hillside along here was swarming with butterflies, mostly Meadow Browns and Adonis Blues, but also Large and Small Whites, Graylings, Common Blues, Brown Argus and a few faded Chalkhill Blues and Marbled Whites in reasonable condition which I was surprised to still see.
Red Admirals and Small Tortoiseshells were also flitting about very actively in the heat.

I noticed that most of the Meadow Browns, Graylings and Marbled Whites had red mites on them, this being the only site so far that I had noticed this.
The female Meadow Brown below is the most ‘orangey’ one that I have ever seen.
There were also a couple of Wall Browns patrolling along the path which were very hard to get close to. They always seemed to stay about 20 feet in front of me except for the once when one settled on some gorse and I managed to get an underside shot.
Reaching the spot by the fenced off MOD range where the path drops down a long flight of stone steps, I turned round just in time to see a Clouded Yellow fly close past me and over the fence.
It went over a slight dip and appeared to settle so I waited around in case it came back but when it did reappear it carried on further into the range.
I was chuffed to bits seeing this as I have not seen a Clouded Yellow for years, not since I was a nipper on holiday in Weymouth if my memory is right.
Time was getting on by now so I returned along a slightly different path, seeing another Painted Lady fly up and over the hill and an Adder that raced through the grass in front of me at high speed.
One species that I did not see any sign of here was Lulworth Skipper.
I see that Essex Buzzard had seen some a few weeks previously but I think they had finished here by now. I had already seen some of these at Durlston as described in my earlier post which I understand is known to be a late site for them.

During the past few days I had noticed numbers of Small Tortoiseshells increasing steadily and on my walk back to meet up with Jane, Danny and Sarah, I saw plenty. In fact walking back up through the cove to the car park there are many clumps of Valerian growing out of the stone walls most of which had 2 or 3 STs on them.
This was another excellent couple of hours
The good weather of the past few days was certainly bringing out amazing numbers of butterflies after the dull and wet previous weeks.

Bye for now,

Neil.

Glorious photos, Neil! I love that part of the English coastline - in weather like that it beats anywhere in the world.

Having a closer look - had you considered whether the Blue female was in fact Adonis, rather than Common? I can see what look like dark lines passing right to the edge of the fringes.

Dave

Thanks for the comments Dave, it sure is a beautiful part of the world and the weather last week was perfect for enjoying it

I can see what you mean about the female blue but I am fairly sure that she is a Common. On the original photo you can see that the wing has slight folds along the veins and the dark bits look like they are actually shadows.

I could be wrong though, it wouldn't be the first time

Neil.

Great images, Neil. I particularly like the one where the sun is reflecting off the sea just beyond the cove.

Of course, the numbers and range of butterflies are equally impressive. here we are practically in mid-September yet there are Marbled Whites and Chalkhill Blues abounding.

Hi David, thanks for your comments, much appreciated.

I have just looked through my notes and I saw 18 species around Lulworth Cove and Bindon Hill.

Brimstone – 1 by the main car park.
Large White – lots all around the cove and hill.
Small White – a few mostly around the cove.
Green-veined White – 3 seen in the cove.
Clouded Yellow – 1 seen on hill.
Small Tortoiseshell – lots, some on the hill but must around the cove.
Red Admiral – lots all over.
Painted Lady – 1 on steps and 1 up on hill.
Speckled Wood – 1 going through the trees on the path up to the hill.
Meadow Brown – loads of them all over the hill.
Wall Brown – 2 patrolling the paths on the hill.
Marbled White – 4 seen up on the hill.
Small Heath – 3 seen across the hill.
Grayling – good numbers higher up on the hill.
Adonis Blue – Loads all over the hill.
Chalkhill Blue – 5 seen, all getting on a bit and looking tatty..
Common Blue – about a dozen, mostly males with a couple of females.
Brown Argus – a dozen or so spaced out across the hill.

This is more than I expected, probably due to a combination of a late season and the good weather.
In fact given the summer that we have had, I can hardly believe how many butterflies I saw last week

Neil.

Wednesday 5th September – Sandford Heath

Looking on the map I had noticed that Sandford Heath was just down the road from the caravan site that we were staying on.
For the past few days I had been meaning to go and have a look but had not yet got around to it.

Returning from Lulworth later in the afternoon and with there still being a clear blue sky, I decided to nip over to see if anything was there whilst Jane, Sarah and Danny chilled out for a bit.

I went down the road leading to Holton Heath railway station and found an access point about half way along by a gate with a path leading onto the heath.

I spent about an hour here walking around before the sun dropped too low, the shadows lengthened and it began to feel a bit cooler.
The first butterfly that I saw was a nice Small Copper basking in the late sun.
Further along, I found a number of Graylings flitting about amongst the heather and a mating pair posing nicely on a piece of wood.
There were also a few Red Admirals that seemed to be heading purposefully in a northerly direction across the heath, probably some of the large influx of the previous few days heading further inland.

A lot of Dragonflies were still about chasing flies in the late sun, including Southern and Migrant Hawkers and loads of Common Darters.
Heading back, I noticed a Small White perched on a grass stem and took one last shot for the day.
The Small Copper had made the tally for the day 19 species

Bye for now,

Neil.