After spending the night in a Premier Inn, I headed out early to a viewpoint at Ham Commom not far from where I had stayed. This overlooked part of Poole harbour and was a nice way to spend an hour or so. There is a small area of heathland which is apparently home to some dartford warblers but I only saw a whitethroat there which evidently had young in one of the gorse bushes as it kept returning to it.
My main aim today was to go butterfly spotting. Glanville fritillaries had been recorded at a place called Fontmell Downs although I was unsure exactly where to look. I found a NT reserve on the map which had a car park in that area so headed there. It was only a small car park and I was surprised to see it was almost full, but then realised it was obviously popular with dog walkers! Although it wasn't quite ten o'clock, which is early for butterflies, I went through a gate onto the hill side and followed a path along the fence line. It was quite breezy and chilly despite the sunshine and not really butterfly weather, but I did see and hear some linnets and corn buntings, the latter being new for the year.
Looking across the valley I realised that the opposite side looked more sheltered and perhaps more like butterfly territory but I couldn't see how to get across to it as it was fenced off.
Then I noticed there was another track leading down hill from the car park which looked as if it might be in the right direction. I followed it and part way down the hill, found an opening in the hedge with a stile leading on to a hillside of wild flowers and bushes which had a NT sign saying Compton Down, one of the areas mentioned on the Dorset Butterfly sightings list.
Feeling a bit more hopeful, I entered this part of the reserve and it wasn't long before I noticed Adonis and common blue butterflies, (both new for the year) as well as dingy and grizzled skippers. A slightly larger butterfly flew past and settled on the path ahead of me - a wall brown, another first for the year. These were the only species I found here, so after wandering around the hillside I once more returned to the car. I decided to have an early lunch. While doing so, I became aware of a family consulting a phone and discussing what part of the reserve they should head for. I asked for their advice and they told me they were going to follow another path in the opposite direction alongside the hedgerow next to the road (which I hadn't noticed belonged to the Dorset wildlife trust) which they thought would lead to the main part of Fontmell Down. With still time to spare before heading back home, I decided to follow the same path after I'd finished my lunch which I did. It came out on another part of the hillside and I started to explore then asked a couple of ladies who were on the reserve whether they had found any Glanville fritillaries. No, they said, but they had seen them on a sheltered bank further down the original path beyond the stile I'd climbed over to go on to Compton Down!
It was getting warmer now so I decided to have one more attempt at finding these fritillaries. I eventually reached the spot they'd suggested and found someone else there with a camera - looking at some Glanville fritillaries! There was a bank of flowers, which was also attracting Adonis, common and small blue butterflies. We also found brimstone and an orange tip so it was obviously a good spot! All in all we found about four or five fritillaries, sometimes they flew up and over the hedge on the opposite side to the bank; one or two seemed a bit tatty but I managed to take a few photos before returning to my car and finally making my way back home after a enjoyable sunny couple of days in Dorset.
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