Common Blues mating. Photo: Shona Refoy
Shona was on Hambledon Hill on 31/07/18 and says:
I saw many Common Blues on the way up the hill, and came across this mating pair near the top. Another male tried to join in, but they carried on anyway!
A photo to remind us of summer on what is a very grey, wet day in October. Common Blues have done very well this year so hopefully next year this species will appear in good numbers.
Posted on: 14 October, 2018
Small Heaths. Photo: Shona Refoy
Shona photographed these Small Heaths nectaring on Centaurea on the top of Hod Hill on 7/09/18
She tells us that the left hand butterfly is a female and the right hand one is a male. This is the smallest of our ‘brown'( Nymphalidae) butterflies and can be found on warm days in almost any type of habitat.
Posted on: 14 October, 2018
Brimstones. Photo: Shona Refoy
Shona observed this unusual sight at Fontmell Down on 15/07/18. How many of us can say we have seen both male and female Brimstone butterflies nectaring on the same flower? It is a lovely record and shows the difference in colour between the sexes so clearly.
Posted on: 11 October, 2018
Clouded Yellow. Photo: Shona Refoy
Shona went along to Southbourne Undercliffe on 9/10/18 to see if she could see the Clouded Yellows she had heard were present there.
Her photograph of this lovely butterfly is particularly pleasing shown against the soft colours of the Micheaelmas Daisy it is nectaring on.
Posted on: 11 October, 2018
Valesina, Silver washed Fritillary. Photo: Shona Refoy
Shona was amazed to find this Silver-washed Fritillary, Valesina form in her Broadstone garden on 10/07/18.
This spectacular form occurs in a small percentage of females, primarily in the larger colonies in the south of England, where the orange-brown colouring is replaced with a deep olive-green.
They are usually found on reserves and habitats where the common form of Silver-washed fritillaries are found in abundance, not as a lone specimen in a suburban garden.
Well spotted Shona!
Posted on: 11 October, 2018
Painted Lady. Photo: Brian Arnold
Brian spotted this lovely Painted Lady whilst walking his Durlston East transect on 27/09/18.
A migrant butterfly who is enjoying our lovely late summer weather.
Posted on: 11 October, 2018
Dingy Skipper second brood. Photo: Larry Lamb
Larry tells us he saw this Dingy Skipper by the footpath down to Chapmans Pool (in Purbeck) on 02/08/2018.
We received reports of six Dingy Skippers in July and three in August, way outside the time of their first brood in May/June.
Posted on: 5 October, 2018
Clouded Yellow. Photo: Mike Skelton.
Red Admiral. Photo: Mike Skelton.
Two lovely reminders that butterflies are to be seen in towns as well as the countryside. Mike comments that these two species have recently been more plentiful than at any time earlier this year. He saw the Clouded Yellow at the Boscombe Cliff Gardens on 25/09/2018, and the Red Admiral, drinking at a seepage at the Manor zigzag in Boscombe (Bournemouth) on 23/09/2018.
Posted on: 1 October, 2018
Painted Lady. Photo: George McCabe
Painted Lady. Photo: George McCabe
George tells us:
Been on my walks again today and came across a nice surprise, a bush of Ivy in flower with five Red Admirals, but the surprise was there was also four Painted Ladies all on the same bush, near the Bincombe Grain Store.
Bincombe is on the edge of Weymouth.
Posted on: 30 September, 2018
Painted Lady. Photo: Brian Arnold
Brian says:
What a lovely day today to do the last transect walk of the season at Durlston East. We saw this Painted Lady just below Durlston Castle on the coast path – it looked really special against the bright blue sky. A nice memory to look back on as we wait for the 2019 season.
We have only had one other Painted Lady reported recently, so keep your eyes open and record your sighting here to let us know if you see one.
Posted on: 29 September, 2018
Small Copper. Photo: Brian Arnold
Brian saw this Small Copper in his garden at Harman’s Cross on 24/09/18 and told us that during the recent sunny days, he had been seeing a lot of butterflies in the garden.
This year Small Coppers have been reported in large numbers since August, which is good as in recent years this species has been in decline.
Posted on: 28 September, 2018
Wall Brown. Photo: Brian Arnold
Brian saw this Wall Brown in his garden at Harman’s Cross, near Swanage on 24/09/18 and tells us:
We are still getting quite a lot of butterflies in our garden, and especially nice are the Small Coppers and Walls, which are appearing whenever the sun is shining.
This year this butterfly has been seen in good numbers in the south which is almost certainly due to the lovely hot weather which this sun loving butterfly needs to do well.
Posted on: 28 September, 2018
Painted Lady. Photo: Lynda Lambert
Painted Lady. Photo: Lynda Lambert
After a lean year for garden butterflies, I was delighted to spot this Painted Lady in my Corfe Mullen garden on 26/09/18.
The Painted Lady is a migrant, sometimes arriving to our shores in good years in their thousands, but this year although hot has not been one of those years.
You could be forgiven for thinking these were two different butterflies but the colour difference is purely because one was in the shade and one in the sun.
Posted on: 28 September, 2018
Red Admiral. Photo: George McCabe
George spotted this Red Admiral at Southdown Ridge, Littlemoor on 25/09/18 and commented:
it’s the first one I’ve seen on the flower of the Ivy this year, last year l was seeing as many as 25 on one bush, today l saw 9 over 200 metres, very hard to see any, lets hope as the Ivy Flowers start to give off more pollen more Butterflies will turn up.
Posted on: 28 September, 2018
Death’s-head Hawkmoth Caterpillar. Photo: Bryony Howlett
Death’s-head Hawkmoth Caterpillar. Photo: Bryony Howlett
Bryony had a surprise when she visited her vegetable patch at home in Sturminster Newton on 17/9/18. She found three Death’s-head Hawkmoth caterpillars who appear to be at the stage when they will be pupating underground in a fragile cocoon until October. (more…)
Posted on: 23 September, 2018
More photos: Gallery Archive
