Swinley Forest

Many years ago we lived in the Bracknell area, and regularly went for a walk in Swinley Forest. But that was well before we got 'into' butterdamseldragonflies .... Going through the sites listed on Hampshire Dragonflies, I stumbled across Swinley Forest being recommended, so time we went back there and paid it a visit again!

Specifically, two water bodies were mentioned: Mill Pond and Rapley Lake, and it didn't take us much effort to find them both. 

Turned out to be our best day ever for odo's: record number of 13 species! By far the most common were common blue damselflies, keeled skimmers (including a very dark and very old female) ...

... and brown hawkers; never seen so many on one day, and the first time I managed to get a picture of one!

Butterflies weren't our focus today, and we only saw five species. So here are the usual three tables (one = 1; few = 2-4; several = 5-9; many = 10+):

Back to Magdalen Hill Down

Our annual butterflying trip to Magdalen Hill Down didn't start very hopeful: thick cloud cover and the occasional spots of rain. For quite a long time, we only had three species on our list: gatekeeper, meadow brown and small heath ...

But then the cloud cover lifted, the temperature rose, and the chalkies came out to play! 

By the end of the day, we had seen 13 species, chalk hill blues being the most common. They really were everywhere! Few skippers, one of which was an Essex skipper, which was a new species for us (!!). And we also spotted a clouded yellow, the first of the year. 

Here's the full list (one = 1; few = 2-4; several = 5-9; many = 10+):

And as a bonus picture, these six-spot burnets busy ensuring the next generation:

Dorset coast

We decided to spend two days along the Dorset coast, with one very clear aim in mind. If you know something about British butterflies, you probably know which species we'd be hunting. And if you don't, read on to find out!

First stop was Lulworth Cove (any idea about the target butterfly yet?).

The weather was far from conducive for butterflying: strong wind and thick cloud cover. So we didn't see a single butterfly all morning .... Until just after noon, when we found ourselves in a more sheltered area, with lots of bramble bushes and the cloud cover broke open. In no time, many gatekeepers came out to nectar on the bramble flowers, and very soon after, we indeed saw our very first Lulworth skipper!

They wouldn't settle long enough for a picture, but we saw several males and females flitting around the bramble bushes. Mission achieved! 

Back near the car park, a small tortoiseshell was more accommodating.

Day two was spent at Durlston Country Park, another site that was recommended for Lulworth skippers. Plenty of flowers about, but, again, strong winds and heavy cloud cover (and the occasional rain) didn't make us very hopeful ....

Still, butterflies did make an appearance, and, like yesterday, gatekeepers were by far the most common species. Some bramble bushes really had clouds of gatekeepers around them. Also saw several marbled whites flitting over the meadows.

Although Lulworth skippers are said to fly only in full sunshine, we did see one land near us such that we could take a picture. Maybe the less-than-perfect conditions made it a bit sluggish?

And soon after that, two males buzzing around each other; one of them had clearly been in the wars ...

As we were waiting for our coffee at the terrace of the visitor centre, ready to drive home, a wall brown fluttered past; hadn't seen one for almost two years! Despite the weather, a pretty good trip: Lulworth skippers seen on both days (and with some pictures to show) and a wall brown as a little icing on the cake.

We saw six species around Lulworth Cove and ten species in Durlston Country Park; 13 species in total. The table below combines the two species lists (one = 1; few = 2-4; several = 5-9; many = 10+).

Wildern LNR & Monks Brook

Given the heat, we didn't feel it was very sensible to spend the day butterflying on a hill, without any shade, so decided to visit two local patches, pretty much as we did last year.

Wildern LNR first, looking for damsels and dragons. Coltsfood Pond had much less water than last year, and besides the many azure damselflies, we only saw a few common darters and a few broad-bodied chasers. 

Away from the pond, we saw 11 species of butterflies; nothing unexpected, but the few ringlets were the first of the year for us!

Leaving Wildern, we decided to quickly pop by Monks Brook, to see if the banded demoiselles were home (especially as we haven't seen the species this year yet). 

Sure enough, they were home!

The usual tables below, combining the two sites as the only overlap was a few speckled woods at Monks Brook (one = 1; few = 2-4; several = 5-9; many = 10+):

3rd time lucky!

Ober Water is the only place in the New Forest where you can see white-legged damselflies. We tried to see them along the water earlier this year, as well as last year, but without any success. As you can probably guess from the title of this blog post, we did finally see them! With thanks to Paul Ritchie from Hampshire Dragonflies, who pointed us in the right direction (around the footbridges south and southwest of Rhinefield House, to be precise).

And this new species for us was happy to let itself get photographed, showing their flattened pale tibiae.

Of course, white-legged damsels weren't the only odo's around. Nine species in total, including masses of keeled skimmers, many small red damselflies, a few golden-ringed dragonflies and many beautiful demoiselles, dancing and sparkling in the sun.

Although our focus was on dragons and damsels today, we didn't ignore butterflies, of course. Eight species in total, and the commonest by far were silver-studded blues.

So here are today's tables (one = 1; few = 2-4; several = 5-9; many = 10+):