Cheers Goldie
They're one of the easier species to see as they hang around in very large numbers...it's just getting to the Dorset coast that's the tricky part...I'm lucky in that being a Dorsetian I don't need a visa
Cheers Dave
ON a good day it's actually harder NOT to see a Lulworth
Lulworth 17-06-2024 Part 2
At the end I went through the gate very tentatively and then went down the steps even more so as there were lots of signs warning about cliff collapse. A few Lulworths played alongside the track but a little too far off it and on the side of the cliff for my liking so I just had to watch and hope that occasionally they would venture a little closer. One or two did and the odd Small Heath also turned up, mainly when I was trying to photograph a Lulworth so it looks like they’ve remembered their raison d’etre. There was also a Burnett Moth sits on a Pyramidal Orchid. This was nice but I’d rather have found a Lulworth on one wink. About ¾ of the way down I looked round the curve of the Cove and there is the rock slide, slap bang in what was at one time a very productive spot. Still in a few years once the wildflowers have colonized the rock it could be even better, a scaleable cliff face where Lulworths and DGFs play within camera range again.
I started back up stopping for the odd Lulworth on the way. At one point a Brown Argus flitted ahead of me up the steps and a there was a fly-by Adonis, a species which really wasn’t behaving so far on the trip. At little higher up and I was granted my wish from earlier as there was a Lulworth feeding on a Pyramidal Orchid. This would make a great addition to growing ‘Butterflies on Orchids’ collection and so I clicked away. Timing was everything as I hoped to catch it in just the right position just as the wind entered into a lull. A quick check of the shots didn’t reveal whether I’d got my timing correct but I was denied the opportunity to try for any more as a Small Heath barrelled into the Lulworth displacing it from the Orchid and so then it flew on before disappearing over the edge of the cliff.
At the top I took a moment to catch my breath and let the burn from the lactic acid pass before I set off on the home leg. Again the Lulworths flew along the path and across the thin turf in spite of the breeze. I was watching a Lulworth when another skipper hove into view. From a distance I could see that it was larger than the Lulworths but not large enough for a Large Skipper. It’s colour was also different from the Lulworths; more orange and less olive. I managed to get in close enough to examine all of the salient points; size = larger, ground colour = orange and not olive, margins = white and not buff, sex brand = long and crooked. Yep it was my first Small Skipper of the year and a more than welcome sight as I realized that I missed them.
I carried on along the lower track adding a Holly Blue, a then a little further along, a Specklie to the list as well as a few more Meadow Browns. The couple of Adonis Blues played really hard to get as did the Meadow Browns. In fact pretty much all of the butterflies barring the Lulworths were nigh on impossible to approach so I gave up and instead focused all my attention on the Lulworths. To this end I found myself making very slow progress as I’d stop and examine every stand of Viper Bugloss. It paid off as almost every flower spike held at least one Lulworth, sometimes several. Then it was just a case of waiting for the butterfly to orientate itself in a pleasing fashion before clicking away and racking up the shots on the memory card. I filled my boots and before long I realized that I’d bagged all manner of shots through the day from close-ups to failed courtships, fresh and worn males and females and every state of wear and tear between.
- A mighty fine proboscis!
With boots well and truly filled I made one last check on the Orchids and the slope that I’d started at before leaving through the gate and making my way back to the car to meet the others. What a fantastic morning!
Sea of pale turquoise
With slides and slips and skippers
Tumbledown Lulworth
Have a goodun
Wurzel