Duke of Burgundy. Photo: Wren Franklin
Duke of Burgundy. Photo: Wren Franklin
There is a group of Dorset Branch members surveying Duke of Burgundy on Dorset sites. The first sightings came from Giant hill on the 29 May and they are now being reported from many of their known locations. Wren sent us these two photographs Continue reading
Duke of Burgundy. Photo: Shona Refoy
Shona tells us:
It was a hot and humid walk to the far end of Giant Hill yesterday (1 May) afternoon. Once there I was rewarded with my first Duke of Burgundy of the year (which I think is the first reported in Dorset).
She is right about it being the first reported to the website this year; the earliest last year was not until 7 May.
We have two important sites for butterflies which need more people to monitor them, and both are hilly, so you can count butterflies and get fit at the same time! Continue reading
Duke of Burgundy. Photo: John Woodruff
Spotted by John on Giant Hill, Cerne Abbas on 16/05/2019. He reports that all the Dukes out were to be see at the base of the hill, in the undergrowth. Catching this specimen among the grass really gives you an idea of how small this butterfly is.
Green Hairstreak. Photo: Mark Pike
Mark says it was a good morning for Green Hairstreaks at Cerne Giant Hill on 13/05/2019. They are such a small butterfly it seems rather amusing to think of them on a giant.
Duke of Burgundy ab. gracilans. Photo: Mark Pike
Mark tells us he has seen this aberration at Giant Hill (Cerne Abbas) for the last two or three years, but this is the first decent shot he has been able to get of it. It is much more orange than the usual Duke. Continue reading
Green Hairstreak. Photo: Colin Burningham
Malcolm Wemyss, who sent us Colin’s photo, commented on how fresh and intricately marked a specimen this was. He also says they did an all-afternoon search, and found more numbers and a greater distribution of colonies of Green Hairstreak than he can recall in 25 years of recording on the hill. This butterfly does seem to be doing well in Dorset – see the statistics on our distribution atlas page.