12th July - Titchfield Haven and Browndown South, Hampshire

A brilliant idea from Titchfield Haven, an early opening day.  The problem was it is the middle of July in some of the hottest weather of the year and there were very few birds about.  Nevertheless it was a chance to get around the reserve in the cooler conditions of the morning and I met Ian at just before 7.00am.  After checking in we walked around the sea wall to the west side of the reserve and into the Meon Shore Hide.

It was very quiet aside from the calls of Black-headed Gull chicks and the squabbling Common Terns.  There was a group of Avocet at the back end of the scrape and several groups of Black-tailed Godwits either feeding or roosting.  The water levels were surprising still rather high, but there were some patches of mud, and it was probably these that attracted a Common Sandpiper.  It showed itself as it flew around the scrape and then off into the bay.

We left the hide and walked around to the pools outside the Pumfrett Hide.  We were looking for the Norfolk Hawkers that have been consistently seen over the last week.  Ian and I had seen them on our last visit here.  Unfortunately we were not able to find them, but there were some other early rising dragonflies.

A Four-Spot Chaser.

Female Beautiful Demoiselle.

And a Blue-tailed Damselfly.

We looked into the other two hides on the west side, but other than the drake Goosander (now in eclipse once more) and a Common Sandpiper it was very quiet.

Walking back we stopped off in the Meon Shore once more.  The Common Terns were still flying around.

Then from nowhere these two juvenile Little Ringed Plover appeared on one of the islands.  Incredibly the heat haze was kicking in by now.

Just as quickly as they appeared the plovers were gone!  With little else to see we set off for the east side, stopping out on the road to check the mud in the bay.  There were three Redshank and two Common Sandpipers.  This was one of the sandpipers.

The Broad-leaved Helleborine was still not flowering and a walk around the Walkway Pond didn't find any dragonflies.  We walked down towards the Knight's Bank Hide, checking the blackthorn bushes.  A couple of years ago a Brown Hairstreak was seen here.  The habitat is ideal with the Blackthorn and below Hemp Acrimony to nectar on.  There were Comma, Gatekeeper and a few Small Skippers, but no hairstreaks.  What was interesting was the number of small Hover Flies that were nectaring on the wild Yarrow.

At this time of year there is the pilgrimage to Browndown South once again.  The reserve hasn't been open that much over the last couple of months, but this weekend it was open.  At this time of year the Grayling start to appear, a brown butterfly easily missed as it zips about amongst the heather and pebbles.

It didn't take long to find one and it seemed to be wanting to get out of the sun.  I followed it around the heather until it settled, fortunately with the "eye" on the upper wing showing.

I then came across another one that settled on a dead branch, again showing the "eye" off nicely.

With the Grayling found it was off to try and find the other specialty here, the Purple Hairstreak.  The area is covered with dwarf oaks, the flat habitat keeping them from growing tall as they would in normal conditions.  They rarely grow any higher than six feet and this means you can see these oak loving butterflies at eye level for once.  It is a case of walking around the trees and shaking the branches.  We did this and pretty soon we found a couple that settled back on to the leaves.

The Purple Hairstreaks have been around early this year and we expected them to be a little worn, but it was a nice surprise to see them in such good condition.

That was it until next year!

There had been a report of a Silver-studded Blue being around the heather, but despite a lengthy search we couldn't find any.  I did though manage to find another Grayling showing well, this time on the Bell Heather.

A distraction was the Spitfire out of Daedalus, flying out over our heads and then out over the Solent.  Apparently the black and white lines were part of the planes livery during the Normandy landings to identify the aircraft as "one of our own".

Another Grayling perched beautifully amongst the pebbles, shame the upper wing was dropped this time.

We eventually found a blue butterfly, but this was a Common Blue.

And plenty of skippers, this one an Essex Skipper.

By lunchtime it was very hot and there was not going to be much to see, so we decided to retreat to the shade and call it a day.

10th July - Old Winchester Hill, Hampshire

The third recorded heatwave of the year was just around the corner and today felt a lot warmer than the previous fresher days.  So in my wisdom I decided to visit Old Winchester Hill.  There had been reports of Quail calling there the day before and it was a lot closer to go here than to drive all the way to Martin Down, where several have been heard and even seen.

Leaving the car park I walked along the top path and coming out of the tree tunnel was amazed to find a Beautiful Demoiselle on the leaves of a hazel tree.

There were plenty of butterflies amongst the grasses where there was als a good amount of Field Scabious.  It was mostly large and Small Whites on the wing, but amongst them was a Red Admiral and a single male Brimstone.

At the bramble bushes a lot of the flowers have now gone over, but where there were still flowers they were attracting quite a few Peacock and Comma and amongst these was a single Painted Lady.

On the edge of the path was a Large Skipper.

I walked around the top path to the fort, listening out for Quail, without any luck.  I decided to walk down the south slope.  This is the best site for Silver Spotted Skippers, normally a late emerging butterfly, being seen in early August, but everything this year has been early so I was hopeful.

The ground was very dry and the grasses very yellow.  There was quite a bit of Field Scabious in flower and this was attracting the white butterflies once again.  It was also nice to still see good numbers of Marbled Whites.  

A Large White on Field Scabious

On reaching the bottom of the slope the Chalkhill Blues appeared.  Some of the females were searching the grass to lay eggs, while the males whizzed around chasing each other and nectaring on the flowering thyme.

A female Chalkhill Blue.

I also managed to find a Common Blue.

Unfortunately there were no Silver spotted Skippers, still a little too early maybe.  However what was encouraging was the amount of Ground Thistle flowering, a food plant of the skipper.

I walked to the top of the hill and then up on to the fort wall.  The breeze was very welcome as it was now quite hot.

The view here is spectacular every visit and I thought I would celebrate it today with some nice black and white photographs.

Walking around the north side of the fort, there were more butterflies, several Dark-green Fritillaries were zipping about.  I think this must be a female as it was crawling about in the grass, maybe to lay eggs?

A little further along a lovely Marbled White had settled on a Field Scabious and despite the breeze continued to nectar.

Some orange movement caught my eye on the slope and it turned out to be a Small Tortoiseshell.

Everyone I have seen this year has either been here at Old Winchester Hill or on the other side of the valley at Beacon Hill.

Another Dark Green Fritillary, a little faded and resting on a nettle.

I sat on the bench at the entrance to the fort to eat my lunch and was entertained as a pair of Raven flew over calling to each other.

I walked the slopes and was rewarded with a very nice Red Admiral.

I debated whether to walk back along the top path or tke the slopes.  I went for the slopes, in this heat I must have been mad!

All the butterfly action was at the bottom of the hill before the entrance to the copse.  A large Skipper

And a nice male Brown Argus.

Walking through the wood there was a Peacock sunning itself on an old log.  The second brood of this species appears to be doing very well.

Coming out of the wood it was quite quiet, only a few butterflies along the path.  A surprise was this Small Copper on the path being one of them.

Then the sun came out and this Dark Green Fritillary appeared, looking for suitable plants to sit on while avoiding the attacks from Meadow Browns

Walking up the slope there were plenty more Peacock nectaring on the thyme.

One final black and white view before the steep climb back to the car park.

A visit of just over two and a half hours produced twenty two butterfly species, the best daily record of the year so far.