Cerne Giant Hill, while known for its giant picture of a giant on the hillside, is a great butterfly site, and we have just had the excellent news that the National Trust is hoping to buy it – but they need help raising the money. Continue reading
Duke of Burgundy. Photo: David Parish
Spotted by David on Cerne Giant Hill on 16 May. He also looked for them on Black Hill, but to no avail.
Duke of Burgundy. Photo: Richard Belding
Richard has sent us this lovely reminder of last spring, to cheer up these gloomy days. It was taken on Cerne Giant Hill in 2017.
We hope to be seeing His Grace on the wing again in late May – all of the Dukes are chrysalises at the moment.
Ringlet. Photo: Rex Bale
Rex took this photo on Cerne Giant Hill on 01/07/2017. He says there were large numbers of Ringlet out, and this one is obviously enjoying the bramble flower.
Marbled White. Photo Rex Bale
This very striking shot was taken by Rex on 01/07/2017. He says: ” I thought the close-up of Marbed White with its tangle of legs, antennae and proboscis was interesting”. We agree!
Duke of Burgundy. Photo: Adrian Reid.
Duke of Burgundy, Photo: Adrian Reid
Adrian took these lovely shots at Cerne Giant Hill on Saturday 29/04/2017. He commented that this is the earliest he has ever seen them out.
Marsh Fritillary. Photo: Brian Arnold.
Duke of Burgundy. Photo: Brian Arnold
The second photo above might be the same butterfly as the one taken by Mark Pike a little further down this page, but we thought it worth showing it to agree with Brian’s point that it could be confused with the Marsh Fritillary at a glance. Both photos taken at Cerne Giant Hill on 30 May.
Duke of Bugundy. Photo: Mark Pike
Taken on Cerne Giant Hill, this is a much lighter than usual variation of the Duke of Burgundy. It may be a known aberration called gracilens. Well done to Mark for both spotting it and getting the camera on it!
Duke of Burgundy. Photo: John Woodruff
A lovely shot of this small butterfly, taken on Cerne Giant Hill. 28 May. We had 26 individual butterflies reported at this site, which is the only one at which you can easily see this species in Dorset, but they aren’t on the wing long, so get there quickly if you want to see them.
Sunday 15 May saw the arrival at Cerne Abbas Giant Hill of 44 walkers from Dorset, Devon, Somerset, London and Cambridgeshire to take part in the guided tour for the day, a mixture of novices and experts sharing enthusiasm for the butterflies seen. Continue reading