30th July - Shipton Belinger and Broughton Down, Hampshire

After last week's visit to Keyhaven and a return to some birds I was a little unsure of what to do this Saturday.  The time is perfect for some of the late summer butterfly species emerging but also there is the chance of some good waders as last week's Lesser Yellowlegs showed.  So you turn to the weather forecast to see if that could provide guidance and up to Friday afternoon that was pushing me to wards the birds.  Then with good weather on Friday and a more hopeful forecast for Saturday I opted for the butterflies and a trip to the village of Shipton Belinger on the Hampshire - Wiltshire border.  The target species here were the Brown Hairstreak and Wall Brown, both of which had been reported through the week.  It had been a very good week for butterflies for me with an amazing find in my garden.

However when I got up Saturday morning there was a lot of high cloud about and some patches that allowed the early morning sun through.  I headed west and towards some more cloud, I was beginning to doubt my decision but continued.  I arrived at the village hall car park just after 7:00, there was hazy sun and it was warm and with very little wind to speak of.  I walked the bridleway north disturbing a few Meadow Brown along the way.  The path opens out onto an expanse of open grassland, the areas for the hairstreaks being the line of trees at the back.

Like everywhere in the south the grass was burnt a golden brown, the lack of notable rain shocking the grass to switch off above ground to concentrate on the roots.  What breeze there was shifted the stalks gently.

There were no significant overhead open spaces of blue sky, but some could be seen away to the west.  The cloud was thin and there was significant radiation coming through and the temperature felt as if it was rising.

I went for a walk through the grass to see if I could flush out some roosting butterflies.  The first I came across was a Small Heath.

But it wasn't long before I found a Meadow Brown.

In amongst the grass were clumps of thistles and Wild Parsnip.  I found many Ladybirds on the Wild Parsnip.  I was curious as to why, more of which explained later.

I circled back around and picked up a path with exposed chalk, as I made my way towards the bank of trees and scrub a dark brown butterfly was flushed from the side of the path.  It flew away from me with a bouncing but determined flight and finally settle on an ant hill where, with closed wings it was difficult to see.

A Wall Brown, and when seen like this it has a similarity to a Grayling, the remarkable patterns on the underwing merging perfectly with the surroundings.  The Wall was one of my target butterflies for the day, so to see one so early, it was just 7:30 was a big bonus.

As I got a little closer it flew off but settled once again on a patch of dried grass, this time it opened its wings to take in what radiation there was coming from the partly obscured sun.

The grass and chalk downs around the village of Shipton Belinger have become a stronghold recently of the Wall in Hampshire.  Ian and I have managed to see one here previously a couple of years ago, but this one performed much better than that individual.

It is thought that colonies on Salisbury Plain have dispersed and colonised the area, which is very welcome as the Wall is a butterfly that has declined in other more typical habitats in Hampshire.

Then it was off and I couldn't re-find it.  Boyed by an early success I turned my attention to the trees and scrub on the north side of the open field.  I was though becoming concerned by the fact that the cloud cover was increasing and the weather forecast was not looking to kind.  It was though still warm and very humid in the still conditions.

There were several clumps of this large thistle plant.  It is known as Cirisium eriphorum, or the Wooly Thistle.  The thistle has large sharp spines on the tips of the leaves and long wooly hairs on much of the rest of the foliage.  The flowers are rich in nectar and attract butterflies, flies, beetles and bees.  The bumblebee appeared to be a sleep as it was gone a few hours later.

I decided to wander around and hope that the sky would clear, every so often the sun would become evident through the cloud so I was hopeful that eventually there might be some breaks.

Wild flowers were plentiful, as well as the Wild Parsnip and thistles there were lots of wild Carrot, knapweed and Scabious.

On some smaller thistles I found this Flower Crab Spider.  The Flower Crab Spider is one of 27 species of crab spider. The flower crab spider can alter the colour of its body to match its surroundings and to hide from prey, but often appear white. The male is smaller than the female and, unlike the female, cannot change their colouration.

The flower crab spider has a globular abdomen, sometimes with spots or lines. They can change their colour to match their surroundings Their front legs are longer and stronger than their back legs.  Unlike many spiders, flower crab spiders don’t spin webs to trap insects. Instead they ambush their prey, often laying in wait on foliage for unsuspecting bees, moths and other insects that come to feed on flowers

As I came back to the main field once again there was some development with the weather.  The sun was burning stronger through the cloud and there was a lot of blue sky opening up.  With the increased sunshine it was becoming much warmer, would this encourage the butterflies?

At the base of the Hawthorn and Blackthorn scrub below the trees there was a lot of wild parsnip and as I approached I could see movement in the tall stalks.  What appeared to be a family of young Chiffchaff were working their way through the parsnip and snipping atthe base of the flowers and on the stalks.

I mentioned earlier about the high number of Ladybirds on the Wild Parsnip and there were a lot here.  I suspect the Ladybirds were after aphids and I suspect by the way the Chiffchaffs were feeding they were doing the same.

As well as the Chiffchaffs there were also a group of Long-tailed Tits but they were a lot harder to photograph.

With the sun out there was a lot more butterfly activity with Meadow Browns coming up out of the grass and the appearance of another Wall Brown.

The abundance of Meadow Browns were joined by Small Heath and Gatekeepers, all brown butterflies but not the right species I was looking for.

I found myself walking back and forth along the edge of the field, I was a lot more confident with some nice blue sky around now.

I would stop and stare at the hawthorn, blackthorn and bramble, Gatekeepers would get the pulse rating but very quickly give themselves up.  Then I saw two butterflies high up, small, with that fluttery hairstreak flight that is unmistakable.  I managed to follow one with binoculars as it settled on a leaf high up but it was gone when I tried to get at least a record photograph.  I saw at least three like this but neither one of them made the effort to come down any closer.

It was now very hot, the trees were swaying high up in a breeze, but they were sheltering any breeze from me.  I continued the vigil, finding this very worn Dark-green Fritillary.  This is probably a female as it was looking for suitable places within the grass and may have been laying eggs.

Another was in a little better condition.

The Chiffchaffs were still busy in the bushes and scrub.

Other butterflies include a female and male Brimstone.

A Large White

Green-veined White, the second broods not having the "veins" so prominent

A Common Blue.

This Magpie moth appeared and immediately sought cover from the sun in amongst the leaves.

But if the Brown Hairstreak were not being accessible, the Wall Brown appeared to be everywhere.  I estimated that there must have been at least ten individuals which is amazing.

The wall brown is a medium-sized butterfly is mainly pale orange with greyish-brown markings and black eyespots. 

While clearly a blurred shot like this as it shows off the pattern of the upper wings and contrast with the detail of the under wing

The Wall gets its name from the characteristic behaviour of resting with wings two-thirds open on any bare surface, including bare ground and, of course, walls! Many people will have come across this butterfly on footpaths, especially in coastal areas, where the butterfly flies up when disturbed, before setting again a few metres ahead.

The basking behaviour of this butterfly allows it to benefit from the full warmth of the sun whose rays shine directly on the butterfly, but also get reflected back onto the butterfly from whichever surface it is resting on. This habit allows the butterfly to raise its body temperature sufficiently high for it to fly. In particularly hot weather, however, such basking is avoided and the butterfly may even retreat to a suitably-shaded spot to avoid overheating.

The first generation of adults emerge in early May, peaking at the end of May and early June, or a little later in the north of England and Scotland. They give rise to a second brood that emerges at the end of July, or mid-August further north. There are 2 generations each year and, on occasion, a small 3rd generation may appear in October.  It could be that the reason for the high numbers here with the second brood was the good weather we have had that has helped the success of any first broods

Frequently scanning the bramble to discover lots of strange things.  This Kite-tailed Robber fly was sitting on a leaf with prey, close up it looks quite sinister and alien like.

The clouds were returning, but the temperature was not abating, with the lack of wind it was becoming very muggy.  There was still no sign of the Brown Hairstreaks coming down and it was approaching midday.  

With the weather as it was when I left the car I had foolishly omitted to bring water with me and I was now thirsty.  I took the decision to walk back to the car.  Along the main bridle way I came across two more Wall Browns.

At the car I had a decision to make, do I go back?  Do I go off birding?  Or do I try Broughton Down which was nearby.  With the heat I decided to drop into Broughton Down, there was the possibility of the final two Hampshire butterflies I need for the year.

The journey was about twenty minutes and pulled up at the bottom of another permissible bridleway.  I have only been here once and that was several years ago, I had forgotten the steep climb onto the reserve and in the heat it was not the easiest of climbs, fortunately there was no open sunshine which kept the temperature down, but is was still very difficult, made even worse by the fact that a combine harvester was working in the adjacent field sending dust and scraps across the path.

The path enters a wood and there is then a path that leads out onto the down and views out across the surrounding countryside.

There were Brimstone and Large White flying all round the nettles and bramble.

As I headed down the path I disturbed a Small Skipper and a Common Blue.

I took a path that led down to the bottom of the slope where there was plenty of Wild Thyme in flower attracting the butterflies.  A Dark-green Fritillary flew past me and there were several Gatekeepers and Meadow Browns.  a small orange butterfly caught my eye and it turned out to be a Small Copper.

A little further along the path an immaculate Painted Lady.

The wings were not open for very long, the butterfly preferring to sit with the wings closed.

The sun was coming out sporadically, raising the temperature when it did.  Here a view along the path at the bottom of the slope.

The thyme was like cat nip to the butterflies, a Brown Argus dropped in.

There were two butterflies I was hoping to find here, one being easy than the other.  The easy one was the Chalkhill Blue of which there were many.

As its name suggests, the Chalkhill Blue is found on chalk downland, although limestone downland is also used. The adult butterfly is most-often seen in bright sunshine, where the ground may appear to shimmer with the activity of hundreds, if not thousands, of males searching for a mate just a few inches above the ground. The distribution of this species follows the distribution of Horseshoe Vetch which, in turn, follows the distribution of chalk and limestone grassland.  The male Chalkhill Blue is paler and, apart from the Large Blue, larger than other blue butterflies seen in Britain and Ireland.

The sexes are strongly dimorphic; the males being a pale sky blue, and the females being a chocolate brown. The adults use a variety of nectar sources, and the males will also visit, often in some numbers, moist earth or animal droppings to gather salts and minerals. 

There were a few Small Skipper about, some looking healthy.

A several looking very worn out

I walked up the hill and went into the field at the far end of the reserve.  The habitat here was a lot different with dry grasses and Scabious and Wild Carrot everywhere.

On my one and only previous visit it was here I found Silver-spotted Skipper.  It was early but there had been reports in the week.  As I walked through the grass I disturbed more Dark-green Fritillary from the grass, again, probably females looking for suitable egg laying sites.

There were also many Chalkhill Blues.  The males looking to take on any butterfly that came close, they would even chase off the much larger Dark-green Fritillary.

I walked to the end of the path where I finally found what I had hoped for, the diminutive Siler-spotted Skipper.  This is a small butterfly with a low darting flight restricted to chalk downland in southern England. Upper wings are orange with brown margins and pale orange spots. Males have a thick black line through the centre of the forewing. Underwings have silver spots.

This rare skipper is restricted to chalk downs in southern England where it can be seen darting low over short turf, stopping frequently to bask on bare ground or feed on flowers such as Dwarf Thistle. It can be distinguished by the numerous silver-white spots on the undersides of the hind wings, which can be seen quite easily when it rests with wings in a characteristic 'half-open' posture. 

It was now quite uncomfortably hot, the sun had gone again but that was a blessing because if it had been out it would probably have been unbearable.  With all I wanted to fid seen I decided to call it a day.  I managed a total of 22 butterfly species today with four year ticks.  Will this be the last big butterfly day of the year?  There is a very good chance, but it has been a good year, missing out on 5 of the Hampshire species but getting a good national count, there is of course still time for at least one more on my travels