Heather's Nature Notes: GLANVILLE FRITILLARIES

Most butterfly guide books will tell you that the Glanville Fritillary, a rare butterfly, can only be found on the Isle of Wight. So I was very pleased to read on someone's blog last May that there is also a colony at a reserve south of Croydon called Hutchinson's bank, still a considerable journey from home, but a lot easier to organise than a trip to the Isle of Wight! I made a mental note at the time, that if I had an opportunity I would try and visit the site as this particular butterfly is a species I would otherwise be unlikely to see.

The current spell of sunny weather has coincided with half term when the butterflies are likely to be flying, so I left in good time to make the two hour journey to Croydon. ( Yes, I know some readers will think I'm a little crazy!) In fact the journey took a little longer as less than 10 minutes after leaving home, I found my self stationery in a queue of traffic heading down the A419 towards the motorway!

At last I reached Fairleigh Dean Crescent, a short cul de sac which leads from the main road to the reserve and provides the only local parking outside a row of houses. But there were no spaces left to park! I could see several people leaving their cars, holding cameras and heading towards the reserve- surely I wouldn't have to miss out on seeing the butterflies after all!

I decided to go back to the main road and see if there was any parking to be had there, but couldn't see any so turned around and headed back to the cul de sac just in case..... and found there was one space that had just become vacant! With relief I parked up and headed along the bridleway into the reserve. I passed a small gate onto the chalk hillside to the left, but recalled from my research that the Glanvilles could often be found in the 'cutting' and that this was accessible by wheelchair so decided that it must be straight on! I was right, as soon I came across a sheltered area with a bank on one side and trees and bushes on the other and I could see various people ahead looking intently at the ground holding cameras. I was told that there were plenty of fritillaries to be seen, but to be careful not to tread on them as they liked to sun themselves on the bare patches of earth on the path!

I soon saw my first one, and then a couple more. In fact there must have been up to a dozen at various points along the cutting. Initially they often rested on the ground but later some settled on the heads of grasses which allowed a better view of the beautiful dotted patterns of the underwings. There were also lots of small blues, the odd dingy skipper, common blue and a couple of green hairstreaks although the latter were rather out of reach. Someone mentioned that there were also two or three marsh fritillaries around, though these were not usually found at this site; apparently they had been 'dumped' last year, what ever that might mean! Obviously with some success as one had hatched this spring. I did find them later.

There were several other visitors/butterfly enthusiasts at the reserve and they all seemed very friendly, some obviously had lots of knowledge and some very little! With the temperature reaching 29 degrees, I decided by 1 pm that I would head back home, very satisfied to have added species 51 to my uk butterfly life list. Only 7 more to go although they will get harder and harder to see, as several require visits up north and a little climbing!