A dark brown and purple butterfly on some green vegetation

Purple Hairstreak. Photo: Mark Pike

A blackish butterfly with white markings on a green leaf

White Admiral. Photo: Mark Pike

Two photos from Mark sent in telling us:

Plenty on the wing at Piddles Wood this afternoon, 08/06/2026 including Red and White Admirals and this nice fresh Purple Hairstreak basking on a fern, would have been churlish not to take its picture!

A white butterfly with black markings on a green leaf

Marbled White. Photo: John Woodruff

A blackish butterfly with white markings on a green leaf

White Admiral. Photo: John Woodruff

Two photos from John sent in telling us:

After a fruitless trip to Slop Bog on 29/05/2026 in the hope of seeing some Silver-studded Blues, I made a quick visit to Badbury Rings and there found this beautiful Marbled White.

In Piddles Wood three days later on 01/06/2026 during a brief period of hazy sunshine, I found 6 White Admirals in various parts of the Wood basking in the vegetation.

Very dark brown and white butterfly on a bramble

White Admiral. Photo: Lynda Lambert

Butterfly with bright orange inner wings and wide brown fringe, plus a black spot near the tip of each wing with two small white dots, and dark marks across the orange which are scent marks.

Gatekeeper. Photo: Lynda Lambert

Lynda says:

I visited Garston Woods on 29 June and it was a butterfly bonanza. So many Silver-washed Fritillaries, Peacocks, Red Admirals, Ringlets, Whites, Brimstones, Meadow Browns.

Just four White Admirals  but only one half decent image.

Also this one Gatekeeper seen, freshly emerged I think

Side view of butterfly with orange background and strong white strips with prominent veining

White Admiral. Photo: Caroline Stringer

Butterfly with mainly black wings with white stripe running round

White Admiral. Photo: Caroline Stringer

Caroline caught these shots near Tarrant Launceston on 15 June.

White Admirals need woodland, of which we don’t have a great deal in Dorset. Last year (2024) this website recorded 86, though 177 wer reported in 2023.

 

Light brown butterfly with white mark across both forewing and hindwing

Purple Hairstreak. Photo: Matt Cooper

Black and white butterfly on a bramble flower

White Admiral. Photo: Matt Cooper

Matt tells us:

A lovely couple of hours at Alners Gorse [20/6/25] resulted in multiple firsts for the year again: Marbled White, Purple Hairstreak, Comma and White Admiral, with lots of  Silver-Washed Fritullaries, Meadow Browns and Large Skippers. Of course, the Purple Hairstreak and White Admiral stubbornly refused to co-operate in the photo stakes!!

Side view of butterfly with dark brown rings heavily patterned with white and black

White Admiral. Photo: James LeRouge

Butterfly with open wings which are orange with complex dark brown markings

Silver-washed Fritillary James. Photo: LeRouge

James tells us:

I found not only a very early White Admiral BUT also a Silver-washed Fritillary in the space of about 10 minutes in a glade near to Badbury Rings on 2 June. I could not quite believe my luck. I was actually going to go and look for possible early Dark Greens but never made it due to this distraction and time constraints.

A black butterfly with white markings on a green leaf

White Admiral. Photo: Gary Holderness

A black butterfly with white markings on a green leaf

White Admiral. Photo: Gary Holderness

Gary sent in these photos telling us:

I went to RSPB Garston Wood this morning 02/07/24 hoping to see if Purple Emperors were on the wing but unfortunately I didn’t see any. There were however still butterflies about despite the cloudy weather including this White Admiral which came down from the trees to give excellent views.

A black butterfly with white markings on a green leaf

White Admiral. Photo: Mark Pike

A blackish butterfly with white and orange markings on a green leaf

White Admiral. Photo: Mark Pike

Two photos from Mark sent in telling us:

My favourite butterfly, the White Admiral.  There were around half a dozen at the bottom of Piddles Wood this morning, 21/06/2024, probably more, but only this pristine specimen stopped for a brief moment to allow these shots though!