Tag Archives: Hod Hill

Could you help us walk Hod Hill?

Hod Hill. Photo: Carole Drake

Hod Hill is one of over 60 places where we have a regular butterfly monitoring (transect) walk and has been walked every year since 1982, but we now need some help to keep this 39 year effort going. Continue reading →

Butterfly with orange forewings and brwon hindwinds edges with orange.

Small Copper. Photo: John Woodruff

Hod Hill features again! There must be a lot of butterfly photographers up there – we can only congratulate them on being able to climb the hill and still have breath to take pictures. John spotted this on 12/05/2019.

Two dark brown butterflies with white markings, in mating position

Grizzled Skippers. Photo: Shona Refoy

Shona caught these two ensuring the next generation of Grizzled Skippers on Hod HIll on 11/05/2019. she says they flew around each other for several minutes, then appeared to be mating, then separated and then finally mated.

Dark brown butterfly with a faint dusting of blue scales and a white fringe

Small Blue. Photo: Shona Refoy

Shona says she was pleased to see her first ever Small Blues at Hod Hill on 11/05/2019, and what a cracking shot she managed to get!

Dark brown butterfly with lots of white marks clinging to a grass stalk

Grizzled Skipper. Photo: John Woodruff

Lovely to see the underside of a Grizzled Skipper and to realise how many different shades of brown there can be on one small butterfly. Hod Hill 11/05/2019/

One orange butterfly with open wings and a pale blue butterfly with closed wings, in the same grassy patch

Marsh Fritillary (behind) and Brown Argus. Photo: John Woodruf

This is not a combination of butterflies you find very often: John did very well to capture them both in the same shot. Taken at Hod Hill on 11/05/2019.

view of an Adonis Blue nectaring on a purple flower

Adonis Blue. Photo: Shona ReFoy

Shona tells us that when she walked up Hod Hill on 7/09/18 this was the only Adonis Blue butterfly she saw that day.

This is not unusual as the first emergence of this species peaks at the beginning of June, and the second emergence is in the second half of August peaking at the beginning of September.

Of course with our changing weather patterns these dates are subject to slight change.

view of a pair of Small Heaths on Centaurea

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.