18th June - Magdalen Hill, Hampshire

Leaving Romsey the sun started to appear and the temperature was rising.  It was on my way home so I decided to try Magdalen Hill Hill in the hope that there were some butterflies about and specifically the Marbled White.

The walk up the hill past the cemetery is always a difficult one, the incline a little steeper than it looks.  Rather than go into the field I decided to walk along the top path and immediately found this quite smart Comma settled on a nettle leaf.

There was a very heady scent in the air and there were quite a few Meadow Brown about and they would battle with this tatty looking Red Admiral.

Then in the grass alongside the path my first Marbled White of the year.

My favourite butterfly of this part of the season.

In amongst the grass a Pyramidal Orchid.

Also in the grass a very worn and tatty Common Blue.

And not as bad as the Blue but still in a poor condition a Painted Lady.

I walked into the main field and where back in the spring this was covered in yellow Cowslips, now it was pink and white.

The reason for the pink colours is the huge concentration of Sainfoin, a member of the legume family.  The plant is known for it's 'nitrogen fixing', the roots penetrating to great depths, it is also beneficial to grazing animals.  They like alkaline soils and are extremely tolerant of drought.

I walked along the path with Marbled Whites passing me on both sides.  I also disturbed this Painted Lady which then settled on the path.  This one in much better condition.

From the path to the Sainfoin.

Several Small Heath amongst the grass.

Skylarks were singing above me and this one was on the path before scurrying into the grass.

I managed to catch this one as it came up out of the grass.

I walked through the flowers and tried to block out the sound of the traffic on the M3 and the road into Winchester.  IF I could I would be left with the calm of the song of the Skylarks and the buzzing of hundreds of bees.

Walking through the chalk pit some lovely spikes of Viper's Bugloss.

I walked back through the field to the east of the main reserve and there were many butterflies about.  A Small Skipper evaded me, while this Common Blue female looked like it was laying eggs in the grass.

BUt I had come in hope of seeing Marbled Whites and there were plenty here, busy nectaring on the Knapweed and Field Scabious.

Field scabious the attraction here.

But the main attraction is the Knapweed, the food plant of the Marbled White.  It erestingly it is all males at this stage, the females being browner rather than black.

Away to south there were some very dark clouds and the sun had gone but it was still very warm and humid.  I returned to the car and headed home.

18th June - Romsey Abbey Peregrines, Hampshire

There was some drama around the Romsey Abbey Peregrines early in the season.  The male from last year was tragically killed when it tried to retrieve prey it had dropped and was hit by a car.  The female remained and received two new suitors, one of which was experienced, the other an immature bird.  Fortunately she fell for the experienced male and went on to lay three eggs that hatched into three youngsters that are now approaching fledging.

I have stayed away waiting for the family to emerge, they nested this year in the nest box with the web cam which is under the weather vane.  As I walked from the car park I could see one Peregrine adult at the top of the flag pole.

I walked around to the south side of the Abbey and found what I think is the male sitting on the wall around the vane.

This then must be the female, it looks a larger bird with a little amount of a buffish wash on the breast.

Zoom out and both adult birds.

The female on the weather vane.

One of the young birds was out in the open having left the nest area.  Note the buff fringes to the feathers and the brown throat and breast feathers.  There is also still some downy feathers along the flank.

The female flew from the weather vane and I walked around to the north side to see if I could see anymore birds or any better.  As I did so the female flew back in and =returned to the top of the flag pole.

Hardly any breeze today so this became a good place for a preen.

She then showed signs of moving on, stretching forward.

And then flapping her wings.

Then she was off.

As the legs are held down you can see the powerful feet and claws that do a lot of damage.

and away.

But she soon returned to the flag pole and I walked around to the south side as she was facing south.  Time for a scratch.

The juvenile bird was also having a preen, sorting out those new feathers.  Here maybe looking up at Mum?

There were quite a few flys around the area, probably due to the prey that has been left around.

The juvenile thn moved, but continued to keep an eye on me.

I walked back to the north side, the male hadn't moved in the whole time I was here.  The female on the flag pole was continuing to scratch and preen.

Then as I took out my lunch she left.  I hung around to see if she was going to return, and entertained myself trying to catch the Swifts flying around the Abbey.  This was the best effort and it looks as if the Swift has caught a moth or butterfly.

With the Peregrine activity at an all time low I decided it was time to move on.  Hopefully I can get back in about a weeks time when the youngster may be active.

16th June - Abbotts Wood, Alice Holt Forest, Hampshire

A warm sunny day and while it is early in June, I was banking on the summer butterflies behaving like the spring ones and arriving early.  With this in mind it was another short drive to Abbotts Wood in Alice Holt Forest.  There was a surprise awaiting me in the car park, the need now to pay for parking.  Hopefully these charges will allow the Forestry Commision to improve the woodlands, we will wait and see.

From the car park I headed down the main track and almost immediately saw, Silver-washed Fritillary and White Admiral, last year these did not appear until the 23rd June.  However they didn't stop and I had to make do with a Speckled Wood on the bracken.

A little further along there was a male Beautiful Demoiselle, but for some reason the males do not stop on leaves for long, but fortunately this female did.  In many ways I think the female looks the better of the two with its metallic bronze and green colouring.

When I reached the roman statue I managed to get a Silver-washed Fritillary nectaring.  They appeared to be everywhere and on the whole visit I counted eighteen, but there was probably a lot more.

Quite a few Meadow Browns about as well.

At the 'T' junction I turned left and came across this Painted Lady with a huge chunk out of the hind wing.

Checking the bramble bushes that were in plenty of flowers I found two dragonfly species.

This a female Black-tailed Skimmer.

Another female, the Broad-bodied Chaser this time.

There is a spot where the track turns right where for the last two years I have seen Broad-leaved Helleborine and they were there again, although not yet in flower.

These orchids can grow quite high as the spike unfolds holding up to a hundred flowers.  Flowering is usually from July, but again these may be early.  This is the most common and widespread of the Helleborines and grows in and around deciduous woodland, preferring the lighter glades and woodland edges.

As I headed to the junction where the best Purple Emperor sighting are I stopped to watch a lot of activity around a large clump of bramble.

An immaculate Painted Lady this time.

A Large Skipper that was always returning to the same leaf and strand of grass.

Love this view.

There were at least five Silver-washed Fritillaries and they would duel with the two Painted Ladies and two White Admirals.

Showing off the silvery wash on the under wing that gives the butterfly its name.

One of the White Admiral had a small tear in the hind wing.

The other, though, was in immaculate condition.

A very nice Red Admiral.

I walked along the track scanning the tops of the oaks for any sign of Purple Emperor without any luck.  Coming back to the meeting place I came across the other Purple butterfly though, the Purple Hairstreak.  It was flying beneath an Oak before settling on the leaf of a Sallow tree.

It was quite high up and the light was a challenge, but I was quite pleased with these efforts.

I turned into the woods and found a patch of bramble where I could have my lunch and watch the movement amongst the flowers.  There were at least three Comma.

It turned out to be a good place to stop as the bramble was visited by a Hummingbird Hawkmoth and I was able to get the camera before it moved away.

After my lunch I headed back to the patch of bramble I had been at earlier and the same butterflies were present and still showing well.  I was looking for some 'different' angles to try and photograph them from.

The Painted Lady

Again love this one.

The White Admiral:

And last but not least a Silver-washed Fritillary.

The cloud drifted over and there was even a spot of rain and the butterfly action quickly dried up.  Walking back to the car there was a man in front of me staring up into an oak.  I stopped and he told me he thinks he saw a Purple Emperor at the top.  WE both stood and waited and sure enough, one flew around the oak and then out of sight.  I waited to see if it would show again, but after awhile I conceded it wasn't.  Still it was my earliest ever and hopefully a start of a good season this year.