Tag Archives: Hod Hill

Two dull brown butterflies with white markings, in mating position

Dingy Skipper. Photo: Shona Refoy

Shona spotted her first Dingy Skipper on 9 April on Fontmell Down, then found these two mating the next day on Hod Hill; she reports she also saw two other males basking in the sunshine.

Dark brown butterfly with a lot of white markings

Grizzled Skipper. Photo: John Woodruff

John says:

One of four Grizzled Skippers seen on Hod Hill this morning [9 April], five days after seeing just the one on 4 April.

Also I saw my first Green Hairstreak , Holy Blue and Small Heath this morning but these all eluded a photograph as they hit the wind and were gone in a flash.

Burnet Companion. Photo: Ann Barlow

 

Ann Spotted this Burnet Companion on 19/05/24 while walking on Hod Hill.

A very pretty moth which the casual observer can easily mistake for a butterfly at first glance.

Can be seen mid May-early July, flying in sunshine or warm overcast weather.

A blue butterfly with white fringe to the wings and some black markings on a plant seed head

Adonis Blue. Photo: Ann Barlow

A brown and orange butterfly on a purple flower

Meadow Brown. Photo: Ann Barlow

Two photos from Ann sent in telling us:

A visit to Hod Hill on 28/08/2024 yielded 3 Adonis Blues as well as a number of other species, which were all lovely to see as we near the end of a poor season.  The photo of the Meadow Brown also shows 2 red mites – I’ve only seen these on Common Blues and an Adonis Blue before.

Buterfly with detailed orange and brown markings

Duke of Burgundy. Photo: Mike Lewis

Mike says:

I was just looking at the gallery page and I see that Shona Refoy has submitted a photo of a DoB on Hod Hill.

I was amazed as I had recorded one on the transect yesterday (10th May) too! I do wonder if it was the same one, because I don’t think there’s been one recorded there before, at least not for many years.

Like Shona I could hardly believe what I was seeing!

An orange butterfly with brown and black markings resting on the brown seed head of a plant

Duke of Burgundy. Photo: Shona Refoy

A brownish and orange butterfly with some black and white markings on a green leaf

Small Heath. Photo: Shona Refoy

Shona sent in these two photos including one which rather surprised her telling us:

I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw this male Duke of Burgundy on Hod Hill this morning, 09/05/2024 – how did he get there?  He was flying in the South gully, along with Small Heaths (this is one of the five I saw), Dingy Skippers and Burnet Companion moths.

Two butterflies on a yellow flower - one brown with creamy white markings and the other pale brown and blue with black, white and orange markings

Grizzled Skipper & Brown Argus. Photo: David Parish

David has just sent us this photo saying:

Not much news from Hod Hill recently so I decided to pay it a visit yesterday, 01/06/2023. Very few Marsh Fritillaries but managed to catch this photo of a Brown Argus and Grizzled Skipper briefly co-existing on these flowers.