
Meadow Brown. Photo: Roy Norris
Roy sent in this photo of a Meadow Brown he spotted on the south facing slopes at Cerne Abbas yesterday, 06/06/2024.
Meadow Brown. Photo: Roy Norris
Roy sent in this photo of a Meadow Brown he spotted on the south facing slopes at Cerne Abbas yesterday, 06/06/2024.
Glanville Fritillary. Photo: Dr Jason Hall
Jason sent in this photo of a Glanville Fritillary he saw at Cerne Abbason 02/06/2024 telling us:
I saw on the branch website last night that Glanvilles have recently been reported from Compton Down, but I was certainly very surprised to see one in Cerne Abbas. It was basking around mid-day on the hard-packed mud/gravel trail between the Kettle bridge car park and the base of Giant Hill and stayed put for at least 20 minutes in the same area.
Marsh Fritillary and Duke of Burgundy. Photo: Luc Mitchem
Luc sent in this unexpected shot he got this morning, 25/05/2024 of a Marsh Fritillary and a Duke of Burgundy on Giant Hill, Cerne Abbas – he told us that both species were plentiful there and easy to see.
We are sorry to say that our butterfly identification day has had to be postponed, as the leader has gone down with Covid. It is now on 8 June. Continue reading
Brown Argus. Photo: Sharon Towning
Dingy Skipper. Photo: Sharon Towning
Both of these butterflies were seen by Sharon on Giant’s Hill, Cerne Abbas on 11 May. She reports there were plenty of Dingy Skippers, which is encouraging, as neither the Dingy nor the Grizzled Skipper did particularly well last year.
Duke of Burgundy. Photo: Roy Norris
Roy saw the Duke on 10 May on Giant Hill at Cerne Abbas – the one site in Dorset where you can be reasonably sure to find them at this time of year. He says he saw two, both at the far (Northern) end of the foothill of the Giant.
Want to sort out the Holly Blue from the Adonis? Or the Silver-washed Fritillary from the Marsh Fritillary? Book now for our always-popular Butterfly Identification Workshop. Continue reading
Duke of Burgundy. Photo: Nick Galer
This is the second photo of a Duke of Burgundy on the Gallery this year – this one was taken by Nick at Giant’s Hill, Cerne Abbas yesterday, 08/05/2024 who sent it to in with the following comment:
I see that 3 were recorded there yesterday, very exciting news.
Green Hairstreak. Photo: Sharon Towning
Sharon sent in this photo of one of the four Green Hairstreaks she saw yesterday, 07/05/2024 on Giant’s Hill, Cerne Abbas pointing out that this one was also showing its upper wing plain brown colouring.
Duke of Burgundy. Photo: Shona Refoy
Duke of Burgundy. Photo: Shona Refoy
Shona sent in these two photos telling us:
It was a misty start on Giant Hill today, 07/05/2024 but when the sun did come out, so did the butterflies! One of the first was this female Duke of Burgundy, looking somewhat the worse for wear, followed a while later by this male. I saw another male, paler in colour, shortly before leaving the hill.