Saturday 28th June 2014
Very little attention is paid to the UK's most isolated populations of Silver Studded Blues, i.e. those occurring on the Pembrokeshire Coast by the Castlemartin Firing Ranges, near Bosherston.
I had only checked these colonies out once before, in July 2012, and on that particular day saw just five individuals.
Last Saturday, Bill (Willrow) and I spent an entire day in this magnificently beautiful part of Wales and what we both saw just blew us away.
Our official count was 101 Silver Studded Blues (mostly males, but at least a dozen females seen).
The females were mainly devoid of blue, although a small number had a handful of blue scales:
The undersides of the females are the most striking feature of this species:
The sheltered Trevallen Downs part of the site was particularly productive:
After having undertaken a thorough search of the
known area for SSBs in this location, Bill and I decamped to Stackpole Head (a fair distance away) to see if we could locate any there. We couldn't, but we got a major shock when we headed back via the sheltered path west of Broadhaven Bay and found 5 Male SSBs and 3 females in a small area just near the main gate.
I've done plenty of research into this species in S. Wales and I've never seen any reports of them occurring in this area, so to see a colony in this location is really significant.
Here's an overview of the terrain in which they were found:
So, this precious species appears to be thriving in this unlikely location. It's also an area of abnormally profound beauty (it's not a World Heritage Site for nothing). Plenty of other rarities are resident here - otters, seals and a variety of coastal birdlife. We saw Guillemots and Choughs galore, including this individual who allowed us an unprecedented approach to within 20 yards:
.