Hampshire and Isle of Wight Butterfly and Moth Society
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Butterfly and Moth Society
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Ovipositing Green Hairstreak at The Dongas. The first Green Hairstreak I've recorded on The Dongas transect this year appeared to be egg-laying on (I think) Birdsfoot Trefoil. I watched her moving from plant to plant until she found one that suited her. [Posted by Rupert Broadway]
Silver-studded Blue & a bonus Helice. A hot visit to the New Forest today with temperatures in the low 30s but was really worth the visit. On arrival we found Bramble flowers covered in Painted Ladies and lots of new foals wandering around the heathland - such a scenic area. We only found three Silver-studded Blues in exactly the same place I had found them last year (22/5/25) all were in pristine condition. Later in the afternoon after drying our feet, having got stuck in a marshy bit we could not avoid we spotted a butterfly in the distance and at first thought it was a Brimstone, then a Large White, then an Orange-tip but as we got closer we could see that it was a beautiful Helice form of Clouded Yellow - a perfect but very hot day. [Posted by Sheila Anne Williams]
Itchen Abbas. Our local farm field is now in the 3rd year of an agri-environment scheme and is a riot of black medic, birdsfoot trefoil and other flowers. The butterflies have gone crazy in response - we must have seen hundreds of Common Blue this evening, along with respectable numbers of Small Heath, Painted Lady and the odd Brimstone, Orange-tip and Brown Argus. There were also good numbers of Peacock larvae on the nettles. Our photographic attempts caught the attention of a curious young Fox, who watched us carefully through the vegetation. [Posted by Rupert & Sharron Broadway]
Martin Down NNR. A fabulous day on Martin Down, with 18 species of butterfly seen and lots of day-flying moths. Within a couple of minutes of walking from the car park, my Painted Lady count had exceeded a dozen, all taking advantage of the flowering dogwood. If I’d carried on counting them, my tally would surely have been well into three figures, such was the strength of the painted lady migration across the reserve. Holly Blue continues to be prolific, too. Species recorded were: Dingy Skipper, Grizzled Skipper, Orange-tip, Green-veined White, Brimstone, Speckled Wood, Small Heath, Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Peacock, Marsh Fritillary, Small Copper, Green Hairstreak, Small Blue, Holly Blue, Brown Argus, Common Blue, Adonis Blue, Cinnabar, Six-spot Burnet, Burnet Companion, Mother Shipton, Speckled Yellow, Yellow Shell and Forester Moth. I counted 20 Small Eggar larval webs as well. [Posted by Kevin Freeborn]
Broughton Down Nature Reserve. I had not forgotten how steep the hill is to get up to the top but it was worth the effort in the end and of course the views are amazing. A Cuckoo followed me around for quite a while but I could only get a distant shot but it was nice to listen to as I searched for butterflies under mostly cloudy skies, although there were a couple of sunny moments. Although it was rather cold I did spot 12 species of Butterfly including; Orange-tip, Small White, Large White, Brimstone, Common Blue, Brown Argus, Small Heath, Grizzled Skipper, Dingy Skipper, Painted Lady, Adonis Blue and a Five-spot Burnet that had just emerging from its cream-coloured papery cocoon. The highlight though being finding a mating pair of striking Adonis Blue on the very top meadow. At least it was downhill on the way back to my car … … … [Posted by Sheila Anne Williams]
Old Down, Basingtoke. My first visit to Old Down this year under lovely sunny skies, the forecast said cloud so really pleased the the sun stayed out for most of the day. Quite a few butterflies about in the warm sheltered areas as the wind was a little bit strong in the open meadows. I spotted 12 Species of Butterfly; Orange-tip, Green-veined White, Small White, Large White, Small Copper, Painted Lady, Small Heath, Green Hairstreak, lots of Holly Blues of course, Brimstone, Peacock, Red Admiral and my first Cinnabar Moth of the year. I had a picnic lunch being entertained by a Green Hairstreak and two Holly Blues competing to sit on a fresh Hazel leaf and at the same time a Small Copper sat in front of me on the top of a Cowslip as I was being bombed by a Painted Lady - happy days .. .. .. [Posted by Sheila Anne Williams]
Small Blues have emerged at Magdalen Hill Down Nature Reserve. Another sunny day and this lovely hillside until the heavens opened that was. I spotted 15 species of butterflies: Brimstone 6, Brown Argus 18, Common Blue 8, Adonis Blue 2, Dingy Skipper 12, Grizzled Skipper 6, Green Hairstreak 6, Green-veined White 2, Marsh Fritillary 9, Orange-tip 3, Painted Lady 5, Small Copper 8, Small Heath 12, Holly Blue 6 and Small Blue 5. I also saw a few moths including: Mother Shipton 1, Burnet Companion 2 and Brown-spot Grey 3, but the highlight of the day for me was seeing some freshly emerged Small Blue. Just love this little butterfly so small and perfect. The males are dark brown (when fresh nearly black) with a scattering of bright blue scales that speckle their wings and shine bright in the right light. Whereas the females lack this blue speckling but are just as cute! Both males and females exhibit the characteristic silver underside with black spots - I think similar to the underside of a Holly Blue. [Posted by Sheila Anne Williams]
Postcard from the Yorkshire coast. This week, I’ve been walking the England Coast Path (ECP) between Bridlington and Scarborough, a truly wonderful stretch of coastline that includes Flamborough Head, Bempton Cliffs, Hunmanby Sands and Filey Brigg. Today, I witnessed a Painted Lady ‘invasion’ from the lofty vantage of Filey Brigg. For those that don’t know it, Filey Brigg is a narrow, finger-like promontory of steep-sided cliffs that tapers into the North Sea. The painted ladies were, quite literally, using the spine of the headland to guide them inland before spreading out across Filey Country Park. They came in ones and twos, and I counted 60 in 45 minutes. The occasional one stopped to refuel on the flowers of scurvy grass and dandelion. I’ve had several sightings of Small Tortoiseshell and Wall on the ECP, neither of which I’d seen in Hampshire, and Peacock and Orange-tip are in great abundance. Conversely, I’ve only seen one Holly Blue since Monday (which is having a great year down South) and I’ve not seen any Brimstone at all. [Posted by Kevin Freeborn]
Duke of Burgundy Habitat Assessment. Following Sue Clarke's wonderful presentation at our recent AGM, Sue has kindly allowed us to post materials that will help anyone interested in assessing habitat for the Duke of Burgundy. These materials can be found on our new Projects page. [Posted by Peter Eeles]
Successful Inaugural AGM!. I'm pleased to say that, with over 40 attendees, we had a very successful inaugural meeting. Most importantly, the society now formally exists, with all committee nominees unanimously voted into their roles. Details of the committee can be found here and the minutes can be found on the new Reports page. We also had several presentations from Mike Wall, Andy Barker, myself and Sue Clarke, with a photo of Sue in action below! There will be quite a few news items appearing over the next few weeks as we get going so what this space! [Posted by Peter Eeles]
It was good to be in Hampshire today ........ It was fabulous to see 17 freshly emerged Marsh Fritillaries today enjoying the lovely sunshine with many males battling for the best piece of hillside. Eight days later than I saw them last year but pleased they have returned. [Posted by Sheila Anne Williams]
New Forest. A pleasant day spent in the New Forest with Denise, Claire and Sally and we were delight to find around 17 species of Pearl-bordered Fritillaries (My #21 species for 2026). We also spotted Small White, Brimstone, Speckled Wood and Holly Blue but of course the latter are everywhere at the moment. The Fritillaries were really flighty and racing around the forest floor looking for flowers to nectar on and sadly there was not a lot of Bugle around, their principal food source. However we did see them also nectaring on a few other plants particularly the pink/purple Common Vetch but that was also in short supply. It was hard going walking along some of the smaller tracks where the winter's wet muddy tracks have now dried out into rigid, uneven and large crack-filled surfaces but we enjoyed our day wandering around the sunny woodland glades. [Posted by Sheila Anne Williams]
Which White?. Bit windy on top of a down yesterday but I met up with many Brimstone and then this White which despite many angles couldn't get to see underneath. Suggestions (on the ID) welcome. With the low overnight temperatures the only scorched carpet I thought I'd get was from an indoor barbecue but among eight moths I had one. Strange recording overnight at the moment. [Posted by Chris Piper]
Magdalen Hill Down Nature Reserve. It was rather blowy today on the hillside but still there were lots of butterflies about trying to hang on to anything they could find as I was trying to hang on to my hat … … I saw 14 SPECIES including; Brown Argus, Small Copper, Holly Blue, Brimstone, Dingy Skipper and Grizzled Skipper all in double figures. Small Heath 8, Green Hairstreak 5, Green-veined White 2, Small White 1, Peacock 2 and Red Admiral 2. There were a few more Common Blue emerging and I spotted 8 in total in different areas of the reserve. Just as I was going home I was delighted to see a couple of freshly emerged Adonis Blue (My #20 species for 2026). I spotted an Adonis last year on 30 April so one day earlier this year - how stunning this butterfly is it sure takes your breath away. [Posted by Sheila Anne Williams]
Duke of Burgundy. It was good to see a good number of Duke of Burgundy at several Hampshire reserves this past week. [Posted by Sheila Anne Williams]
Magdalen Hill Down Nature Reserve. A sunny day on the hillside and I saw 15 SPECIES of butterfly; Brown Argus, Holly Blue, Common Blue, Green Hairstreak, Brimstone, Peacock, Red Admiral, Dingy Skipper, Grizzled Skipper, Small Copper, Small White, Green-veined White, Small Heath, Orange-tip and a lovely Painted Lady. I also saw 2 MOTHS; a Lesser Treble-bar and a Burnet Companion. The highlight of the day though was watching freshly emerged Common Blue and Brown Argus dry out their wings, test their legs, take their first flight and then immediately begin their battle for a little piece of the hillside and with anyone else nearby ... .... [Posted by Sheila Anne Williams]
Spring day at Stockbridge Down. Superb afternoon along E side of Stockbridge Down - blazing sun, still, felt like July. The best area was the ditch at the top where all the Dukes were and lots of the spring skippers. Final totals: 12 spp. including 3 Duke of Burgundies, 10-20 Grizzled Skippers, ~5 Dingy Skippers, 1 Green Hairstreak, 1 very fresh Brown Argus, 5-10 Small Coppers. As a general comment, in 53 years of butterfly recording, I have never seen so many Holly Blues this spring - nor probably Orange-tips either. Both species (and Brimstones) are everywhere [Posted by David Murdoch]
Painted Lady near Abbotstone. Plenty of butterflies near Abbotstone this morning including Orange-tip, Brimstone, Small White, Holly Blue, Peacock, Red Admiral and Speckled Wood. Most were taking the sensible course by sticking to the sheltered sunny footpaths and glades away from the stiff easterly breeze: not so a single Painted Lady that came careering down the side of a field, landing briefly in front of us and then continuing on its journey. [Posted by Rupert & Sharron Broadway]
Dukes at Butser. A lunchtime trip to Butser Hill in continuous sunshine was tempered by a brisk cool northerly wind which limited butterfly numbers. However in the sheltered valley a small number of downland specialists were flying including my first Duke of Burgundy and Grizzled Skippers. [Posted by Mark Tutton]
Stockbridge Down. It was a coolish morning on Stockbridge Down (10am to noon) but during the sunny spells, especially among the more sheltered scrub, it felt pleasantly warm. When I saw my first butterfly, a Grizzled Skipper, it was 10.09am and only 11C. There was masses of ground-ivy, which the Brimstones were frequently attracted to, and plenty of violets and wild strawberry on the eastern side of the down. I saw three Small Copper, all on bare earth paths; six Holly Blue, but all too flighty to photograph; several tatty Peacocks; a couple of Speckled Woods and at least two Green-veined Whites. Lovely birdsong to accompany my butterflying too. [Posted by Kevin Freeborn]
