Lulworth Skipper

The weather has not been brilliant but it has still been a good spring for birding. Here we are nearly half way through June and there are still good birds turning up. Last year it all seemed to dry up towards the end of May and Dave and I switched over to concentrate on Butterflies for the summer. The problem is, that this has left outstanding business for us. Forty eight butterflies seen last year but another ten to go to get the full set.

I should have been reporting Large Blue in the bag but unfortunately a six hour two hundred and fifty mile round trip to Collard Hill on Monday left us empty handed, despite one seen flying there the day before. Enthusiasm undaunted we headed of today for Ballard Down near Swanage to look for the Lulworth Skipper. A slightly more acceptable five hour two hundred mile round trip. At least this time we were successful.

I don't even attempt to explain to anyone why I would want to sit in traffic for five or six hours to see a butterfly that I then have difficulty telling from a similar one that I can find half a mile from home. I think it's something about grown up train spotting.

We parked at the village of Ulwell and walked the short distance up onto the lower slopes of Ballard Down. Even at nine in the morning there were lots of butterflies on the wing, Large Skippers, Common Blue, Adonis Blue, Meadow Brown, Dingy Skippers, Small Heath, and Dave even found a couple of Green Hairstreaks. But, no Lulworth Skippers.

Large Skipper - close but its no Lulworth

Large Skipper - forewing with diagnostic lighter panels and distinct dark sex brands for the male 

Fortunately a couple of locals came to our help and pointed us in the right direction to find the Lulworths. A short walk and we found our first specimen. Smaller and darker than the other "orange" skippers and with other diagnostic features but you have to look closely. These pictures are all of males. I didn't see a female or if I did I failed to photograph it, which is sad, as the colours and markings are more distinct on the female. Does this mean a return trip?

Lulworth Skipper - darker colour especially the males and sex brands less ditinctive

Lulworth Skipper - showing "cresent of rays" in lighter wing panels - more distinct on female

Lulworth Skipper - plain pale underside.

Lulworth Skipper

As the day warmed up the butterflies became more active. We were on a sixty degree slope and it became harder and harder to keep up with their rapid movement. I had intended to photograph all the other butterflies we could see but in the end it just got too hot and we retreated in search of a cold drink. I missed some beautiful Adonis Blue specimens and then Large Whites and Orange Tips down near where we had parked the car but here are a couple of others that were flying.

Brown Argus

Dingy Skipper

Small Heath

Forty Nine up but there are still a lot of miles to do. I can see that this is going to require a bit of manipulation of our future family holiday plans.

Old Lady in need of a Paint job

Well, I could have hoped for something a little fresher and a little brighter for my first Painted Lady of the year. They only have a two or three week life span as a butterfly so this one must have really had a difficult time in the couple of weeks that it's been flying. The good news is that it was last seen flying off into the sunset, so there is still some life in the old lady yet.

Rather worn Painted Lady

Having yet again been misled by the BBC weather forecast I picked Dave up and we headed up onto the downs to make the most of the unexpected sunshine. Kithurst Meadow gave us Small Blue, Common Blue, Brown Argus and a Small Tortoiseshell as well as a number of different day flying moths. Chantry hill had a similar selection but with the Painted Lady instead of the Tortoiseshell.

Small Blue

Common Blue Female

But it has no cell spot on the underside of the forewing

Separation of the female Common Blue and Brown Argos should be easy when you have the pictures in front of you but they never seem to fit the descriptors exactly. The logic for this one is that on the first picture it is female from the short body but if it was a female Brown Argos the orange lunes would not fade out before the tip of the fore wing. On the second picture the black spots on the rear wing follow the shape of the wing and do not have the characteristic colon shape that occurs on the Brown Argos. See http://www.glaucus.org.uk/BflyBlues03.html for more details. So it is a Common Blue female - but then it does not have the cell spot on the underside of the fore wing and the black mark on the upper fore wing is quite prominent suggesting it is an Argos - all very confusing.

I have nothing but admiration for those that can tell the difference as they flutter past but I suspect the occasional mistake does get made and I may have just added to that total.

We also had a nice Small Tortoiseshell

Small Tortoiseshell

and there were a lot of Cinnabar moths in the area .........

Cinnabar Moth

.... and to finish off a Large White which this year seems to be a very rare butterfly. This is the first that I have seen. A bit different from previous years when the Large White caterpillars managed to strip my prize crop of Cavolo Nero in just a couple of days.

Large White

Quite a successful afternoon but I did not manage to find a Small Copper which has now risen to the top of my wish list. A good excuse to go back for another go.