Hampshire and Isle of Wight Butterfly and Moth Society
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Butterfly and Moth Society
Old Winchester Hill. With thick cloud cover for most of the day, it probably wasn't the best day butterfly-wise for a walk from Exton to Old Winchester Hill and back but in the brief sunny interludes the flower covered grassland came alive, with Adonis Blue particularly prominent. Other species included Small White, Small Copper, Chalk Hill Blue, Common Blue, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown, Speckled Wood and Small Heath. No Silver-spotted Skipper, Wall or Clouded Yellow on this occasion. A handsome Wheatear on a juniper bush on the slope beneath the hill fort demonstrated that autumn bird migration is under way. [Posted by Rupert & Sharron Broadway]
Blues and Yellows at Broughton Down. I was hoping to see Silver-spotted Skipper at Broughton Down yesterday, but it was not to be. It was my first visit in eight years and the covering of dogwood and hawthorn scrub was more widespread than I remember, particularly on the eastern half of the reserve. Common Blue was doing very well, genuinely living up to its name. I didn’t see a Chalk Hill Blue until the tumuli near the western end of the site and, beyond that, there was a lovely chalk grassland meadow and earthwork ditches with many more Chalk Hills, a few Adonis Blue and Brown Argus, and plenty more Common Blue. A strong Brimstone emergence was underway and a couple of Clouded Yellows added to the colourful spectacle. Thirteen species counted in total. [Posted by Kevin Freeborn]
Adonis Blue, trees of green, in our Clouded Yellow submarine. Or, Clouded Yellow summer scene would be apt! At MHD this morning, walking along the sheep trod from end to end along the bottom of the down, I counted eight Clouded Yellows. The couple I saw early on were happy to pause, nectar and allow a photo, while later in the morning they were flighty and fast with it. There were really impressive numbers of Adonis and Chalk Hill blues, with both species considerably outnumbering Common Blue and Brown Argus. I saw two mating Adonis pairs and one egg-laying female, although I couldn’t then find the egg(s). Thirteen butterfly species at MHD this morning. [Posted by Kevin Freeborn]
Purple Butterflies at West Wood. A trip to West Wood to check on the Purple Emperor caterpillars turned up a very late Purple Hairstreak. One caterpillar was missing in action but a new one was found on a leaf with absolutely no feeding damage. The others exhibited classic feeding patterns. [Posted by Mark Tutton]
New Forest. A circular walk from High Corner around Ogden's Purlieu and Linwood today demonstrated that the butterfly season in the forest is well and truly past its peak, with the only sightings a few Small White, two or three Gatekeeper, a single Painted Lady and a few Grayling, the latter demonstrating their masterful camouflage skills. [Posted by Rupert & Sharron Broadway]
Toadflax Brocade. This species continues to thrive in my garden in VC12 on cultivated forms of Linaria pupurea (var 'Canon Went' and 'Springside White') as well as being seen on Linaria vulgaris today. Exceptionally this year I've had larvae evident at the same time as adult - a moth on the move. [Posted by Chris Piper]
Jersey Tiger Moths. Bedhampton Over the last few days, we have had single Jersey Tiger Moths in the garden. Today, I managed to record one on our patio door. Hope this information is of some use! Ray [Posted by Ray Chiverton]
Magdalen Hill Down. Our normal trips to Magdalen Hill Down are characterised by back-breaking struggles up steep slopes pushing wheelbarrows full of heavy tools, so it's a real pleasure to make the occasional visit during peak season. Wonderful to see so many Adonis Blue on the slopes and between one and three Clouded Yellow (difficult to tell, given their mobility) amongst the clouds of Chalk Hill Blue, Common Blue, Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper, Small Heath, Large White and Small White. Other species noted were Green-veined White, Holly Blue, Red Admiral, Painted Lady and Peacock. We're looking forward to the restart of the autumn working parties now ! [Posted by Rupert & Sharron Broadway]
Chalk Hill Blues at Old Winchester Hill. It was a warm, overcast morning on Old Winchester Hill, with the sky seemingly on the verge of getting brighter at any moment but without the sun actually breaking through. There were several bleached Dark Green Fritillary, pale shadows of their peak-condition selves; a fresh Marbled White, which was a surprise as I thought the heat waves earlier in the month had done for them; and, best of all, a Wall, which was the first I’ve seen at OWH this century. Fifteen species were seen in total, with the morning belonging to the Chalk Hill Blue, seen in very good numbers around the reserve. [Posted by Kevin Freeborn]
Itchen Abbas farmland. Farmers often get a bad press, but most of our local farms do what they can to encourage biodiversity, particularly by leaving wide margins with plenty of wildflowers. The butterflies have really benefited this year with many of the common grassland and hedgerow species plus the odd gem, such as this Clouded Yellow which I've seen in pretty much the same spot over the last two days. [Posted by Rupert Broadway]
Duke of Burgundy. It sure is a crazy year for butterflies - looking for Brown Hairstreaks with my flutterby friends today and found instead a lovely fresh second brood Duke of Burgundy. [Posted by Sheila Anne Williams]
Clouded Yellow - Danebury Hill Fort. Delighted to find my UK Butterfly #50 for 2025 today at Danebury Hill Fort - a lovely male Clouded Yellow. It has been through the wars a bit but still lovely to watch and photograph. [Posted by Sheila Anne Williams]
Clouded Yellow at Itchen Abbas. We were treated to a high speed flypast by a Clouded Yellow in our Itchen Abbas garden this afternoon: the 23rd species recorded this year and the 27th in the two years we have been living here, far exceeding our expectations. [Posted by Rupert Broadway]
A lovely 'Blue Day' - Magdalen Hill Down Nature Reserve. Made an early start to Magdalen Hill and the weather turned out a lot better than forecast. Lots of blues around including; Common Blue, Adonis Blue, Chalk Hill Blue and Small Blue. Also saw Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper, Small Heath, Large White, Small White, Green-veined White, Peacock, Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell, Painted Lady, Dingy Skipper, Small Skipper, Brimstone, Brown Argus and a surprise Dark Green Fritillary - 19 species in total. Had a lovely peaceful day and even came home with a large pot of blackberries. [Posted by Sheila Anne Williams]
Silver-spotted Skippers. A frenzy of activity on Perham Down with 50 plus Silver-spotted Skippers. We saw several mating pairs and many males fighting for females. I have never seen so many at Perham - they were even spread into areas where I had not seen them before, fabulous to see. [Posted by Sheila Anne Williams]
Brown Hairstreak (m) - Shipton Bellinger. Lots of Brown Hairstreak (m) battling each other high up in several Ash trees throughout the area. Sadly none came down for any good photo opportunities but it was great to watch them and try and get a few images. [Posted by Sheila Anne Williams]
Yew Hill reserve walk. Good turnout at the Yew Hill BC reserve walk this morning, both in terms of participants and butterflies. Gatekeeper were present in uncountable numbers, covering every patch of marjoram. There were many Chalk Hill Blue, Common Blue, Meadow Brown, Small Heath, Small White, Large White and Green-veined White; along with several Brimstone, Brown Argus, Speckled Wood and Comma, a couple of Small Skipper and a very fresh Painted Lady. Conspicuous by their absence were some of the early summer species such as White-letter Hairstreak, Marbled White, Ringlet and Peacock, which had clearly completed the relevant stages of their life cycles early due to the hot sunny conditions.. Compensation came in the form of single Dark Green Fritillary and Small Copper - both generally difficult species to find at this site. Finally, a single Red Admiral flew by as the group was dispersing making 17 species recorded in total. [Posted by Rupert Broadway]
Purple Emperor Early stages. After spending many fruitless hours in Alice Holt forest looking for Purple Emperor eggs I decided to give West Wood a look - and I am glad I did. Shortly after exiting the car I came across a very surprising butterfly - a Wall. No photo unfortunately but I had a good clear view and apparently a very unusual occurrence for this site. They do have a habit of popping up in strange locations. However after the initial excitement I started the laborious task of examining likely sallows for the 1mm diameter egg. After two hours of eye boggling examination I checked a nice broad leaved sallow in semi shade and came across what I thought was an egg. However whilst trying to locate my hand lens I lost it! In the process of trying to relocate it I found a L1 larva and then relocated the egg! After all that effort - like buses two came along at once. Shortly after I found another larva so all in all a very successful day. [Posted by Mark Tutton]
Small Tortoiseshell bonanza. Having not seen a single Small Tortoiseshell in my walks around Hampshire this year, I was really pleasantly surprised to count 30+ on a two-mile section of the Limestone Way from Monyash towards Lathkill Dale in the Peak District on Saturday. In fact, there was a profusion of butterflies along the old drove road, with the small torts feasting on the wayside thistles and scabious in company with: small skipper, large skipper, large white, small white, green-veined white, speckled wood, small heath, ringlet, meadow brown, gatekeeper, dark green fritillary, red admiral, peacock, small copper and common blue. [Posted by Kevin Freeborn]
Stockbridge Down. Highlight of a very hot walk at a baked Stockbridge Down this morning was a few Dark Green Fritillary, all looking well past their best. Other species recorded in varying numbers were Brimstone, Green-veined White, Large White, Small White, Brown Argus, Chalk Hill Blue, Common Blue, Comma, Peacock, Red Admiral, Gatekeeper, Marbled White, Meadow Brown, Small Heath and Speckled Wood. [Posted by Rupert & Sharron Broadway]
