Help me to 50 species please in 2014!

[Marc Heath]

It's been a great year and Kent certainly has produced some excellent sightings where I live near Herne Bay, Swallowtail and Long tailed Blues spring to mind. I have currently seen 48 species in Britain and aim to make the magic 50 mark next year. Living in Kent does have its issues sometimes and there are a few species I have not seen yet but will need to travel for. These include:

Marsh Fritillary
High Brown Fritillary
Lulworth Skipper
Large Blue

And there are more.

I would like to make the effort really for Marsh Fritillary and Large Blue. Having looked online there are a few sites but what reliable sites would be advised to visit and preferably sites not too far to drive!

Thanks in advance.

Marc

[David M]

Living in Kent does have its compensations though, Marc (particularly when it comes to foreign visitors!!)

I know there are Marsh Frit sites in Dorset and you could double up with a visit to Lulworth Cove at the same time!

Large Blue will entail a trip to Somerset though again you could 'tick' off High Brown Fritillary on the same day.

The next nearest guaranteed HBF site is our own in south Wales (though it'd cost you £6.10 to cross the bridge)

[Catteraxe]

Hi Marc,

Collard Hill at Compton Dundon in Somerset is an established Large Blue colony. Although when I visited earlier this year not a single Large Blue did I see. Such is life

C

[Tony Moore]

If you want to go to Collard Hill for LB, phone the National Trust LB hotline in early June for an update on emergence times. Sorry, I haven't access to the number atm, but it is on the NT website.

Tony M.

[essexbuzzard]

Collard Hill for Large Blue and Lulworth Cove for Lulworth Skipper are doable,and fly at the same time,though,given the Great British weather,i would allow a couple of days away from home,to guarantee success.

Marsh Fritillary would probably be over by time the others really get going,but at Hod Hill or Cerne Abbas Giant hill,both in Dorset,in early June,the last Marsh Frits may just coincide with the first Lulwoth Skippers at Bindon Hill,next to Lulwoth Cove,on the Dorset coast.

Good luck.

[David M]

Collard Hill for Large Blue and Lulworth Cove for Lulworth Skipper are doable,and fly at the same time,though,given the Great British weather,i would allow a couple of days away from home,to guarantee success.

Marsh Fritillary would probably be over by time the others really get going,but at Hod Hill or Cerne Abbas Giant hill,both in Dorset,in early June,the last Marsh Frits may just coincide with the first Lulwoth Skippers at Bindon Hill,next to Lulwoth Cove,on the Dorset coast.

Good luck.

It's actually not impossible to do them all in a single day.

Arrive at Lulworth Cove at 8am like Kipper did in 2012 on around 9th/10th June. From there take a trip to one of the Dorset Marsh Frit sites. It's still not midday, so a drive over to Collard Hill to see Large Blue, and then chance your arm for an early HBF at about 3pm!

It's only really the last species that you're likely to draw a blank on, but I noticed that even in this particularly late year of 2013, High Browns were recorded on 10th June, so a quadruple whammy isn't impossible.

[essexbuzzard]

Wow,that's enthusiasm for you! It may be a big ask to get Large Blue and High Brown Fritillary on 10 June,and a an even bigger one to get a perfect warm sunny day at this time. For comparison,10 June this year was cloudy and cold,and not a butterfly in sight! The temperature? 13C! Such is what us British butterfly enthusiasts have to deal with! But as you say,David,it is not impossible.

Success favours the brave!