One reason I had booked this trip to Dorset was to look for a particular butterfly which is only found in this area, and one which I needed to add to my list of UK butterflies seen. This particular species, the Lulworth skipper is named after the village of that name and is found only in an area stretching from Portland to Swanage. One of the places where it is easiest to see, happens to be in the car park for Corfe Castle so I was in good time on my second day and drove the short distance to Corfe Castle. Being a NT member I could park in the car park for free, so looking around the car park I opted to park next to a large bank of grassland which looked the sort of place that butterflies might be found.
As it was still only 9. 30 am. l poured some coffee from my flask and was half way through a bun when I looked out of the window and noticed a small butterfly flying about on the bank. It seemed as if I had found my target species already!
Getting out of the car to have a closer look, I realised that there were in fact several more in the area too and as soon as one settled I examined its wings closely. This one seemed quite dark and I couldn't really make out much of a wing pattern but another was easier to identify - most likely a female which has a clearer ' sunray' pattern on its forewing. They were favouring the vetch flowers and I attempted some photos from standing in the car park. I could see the grass had been quite well trodden so I was evidently in a popular spot. Altogether there were probably at least a dozen in the small area I was looking in so probably there were quite a few more higher up the bank.
Having satisfied myself with some good sightings, and a definite tick for my UK list, I decided to cross the road and visit the castle ruins. The castle is situated on a high hill over looking the village and gives some lovely views, including the Swanage steam railway. Up on the castle walls, some peregrines have nested but sadly I didn't see any activity around the nest or any peregrines.
From Corfe, I drove over to Ballard downs for some butterfly spotting, and found small heath, dingy skipper, and Adonis blues and brown argus, then on to Durlston country park where I followed a couple of walks, around the coast path and across some fields. There were sea birds down on the water below the cliff, mostly guillemots but with a few razor bills mixed in.
I'd booked an evening boat trip around the coast from Swanage pier, so made sure I was there in good time and bought fish and chips for my tea which I ate overlooking the bay and pier. The wind was quite brisk, but from my visit to Durlston I knew that the water would be calm under the cliffs. The boat left at 7 pm, filled with passengers eager to spot some sea birds, although many seemed to be pensioners out on a pleasure trip rather than bird watchers! Some didn't even have binoculars and were lent some by the organisers.
The boat firstly took us east, out to Old Harry rocks where we were shown the spectacular rock formations which were shining brightly in the evening sun. We were shown cormorants nesting on the cliffs as we returned across the bay and then west towards Dancing Ledge. Here we saw guillemots, a few razor bills, and some gannets, kittiwakes and fulmars. We had been told there was a possibility of puffin sightings but sadly not this time. There is only a very small colony of puffins at this location so it was unsurprising that none were seen.
We returned to the pier at just after 9 pm, and I drove the half hour trip back to my cottage, enjoying the fact that it was still light at almost 10 pm.
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