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+):

Dibden Bottom & Ober Water

Although I'd seen a total of seven damsel and dragon species so far this year (mostly on the campus at work), we hadn't actually gone out specifically looking for damsels and dragons. Time to remedy that!

We decided to go to Rushbush Pond, Dibden Bottom, first. We'd visited the pond before last year, and saw a good number of species then. This time, a bit earlier in the season than last year, there were masses of damselflies (mostly azures, common blues and large reds), and two dragonfly species we hadn't seen there before: downy emerald and four-spotted chaser. 

Walking along the stream connecting the pond with Beaulieu river didn't give us anything new.

Then on to Ober Water. We had been to the western part last year, hoping to see beautiful demoiselles, but didn't see any then. We did now, though! Many flitting about the stream, both males and females.

Ober Water is also mentioned specifically as the only place in the New Forest to see white-legged damselflies, but, alas, that (new) species eluded us ...

Today's full tables, including the two butterflies we saw (one = 1; few = 2-4; several = 5-9; many = 10+):

Noar Hill

For several reason, except for one visit to Hillier Gardens last month, we've not yet been able to go out butterflying this year, and we felt that really had to change! So we decided to go to Noar Hill, in the hope of seeing a couple more species than the nine we'd seen so far, and also with crossed fingers for seeing Dukes of Burgundy, which would be a new species for us ...

Almost immediately after entering the reserve, we saw a few tiny butterflies flitting about: small blues! We'd only seen this species once, and then very briefly, so it was great to be able to spend a bit more time with this really cute butterfly. One landed on Irma's hand, and a second one provided me with a real photographic challenge by landing on my camera ....

It turned out that small blues were by far the commonest species today; they really were just about everywhere!

And then we saw a few dingy skippers, a new species for us! We saw several spread throughout the reserve, but they wouldn't settle long enough for a photo, sadly ...

As we explored a hollow which really trapped the warmth from the sun, ...

... our first Duke of Burgundy, the second new species of the day! Several more were to follow.

Besides the species already mentioned, there were also many small heaths about and we saw several green hairstreaks. Here's today's full table, with the first new species of 2022 (one = 1; few = 2-4; several = 5-9; many = 10+):

Hillier Gardens

Although I'd already seen three species of butterflies this year (brimstone, comma and peacock), we'd not yet gone out to butterfly specifically. A beautiful sunny day in the easter break seemed perfect to go to Hillier Gardens (where we had our final day of proper butterflying last year) and do just that!

A calm day, the warmest day of the year so far, perfect for butterflies. We saw seven species in total, including many brimstones and orange-tips (most orange-tips I'd ever seen in a single day). 

Of course, we did keep an eye out at the different water bodies for the first large red damsels of the year, but, alas, no luck ...

So here's the first table of 2022 (one = 1; few = 2-4; several = 5-9; many = 10+):

Moths ...

It probably was to be expected, a natural development. After I developed interest in hawk-moths, it didn't take me that long to start thinking about getting to know other moths a bit more as well. 

So ....

My intention is definitely not to go out moth-ing in the same way I go butterflying, damselflying and dragonflying. But whenever I do come across a moth, I will try and figure out which species it is. That will of course be easier with macro-moths than with micro-moths, but it'll be fun just to have a go!