Seeing as I'd found some Lulworth skippers, I felt I ought to pay a visit to Lulworth cove itself so as it was bright sunny morning on my final day, I packed up early and was at the Cove by 8am where it looked beautiful with the water shining in the sunlight. I didn't go down to the beach itself, as the tide was in, but instead took a route up to the cliff top overlooking the bay from its western side. There was hardly anyone about, some of the shop owners were setting up and I saw a a few swimmers brave the cold waters and swim out towards the cove entrance.
I did see a couple of butterflies but no Lulworth skippers which would have been an exciting bonus. Maybe if I'd had time to wait I would have found one but I wanted to get on and visit the national trust site at Fontmell Down. It was a site I'd visited last year and found good numbers of butterflies, but the one I was particularly hoping for was the Glanville fritillary, as this is one of the few places it can be seen outside of the Isle of Wight. From my visit last year I knew exactly where to look and took a route from the carpark down a fairly steep track until the hedgerow opened up into a sheltered grassy embankment. A couple of people were already there, cameras poised at the bank. Butterflies were in good numbers, the first I saw was a small blue, followed by some Glanville Fritillaries which posed nicely. I also saw marsh fritillaries, dingy and grizzled skippers, brimstone and the odd white species which didn't settle. Further back up the track I climbed over a stile onto the area known as Compton downs. Keeping close to the hedgerow where it was sheltered I found several Adonis blues, both male and female.
I had one more site to visit before continuing on my journey home, which was Martin Down,
Martin Down is a 350-hectare area of chalk grassland and scrub with rich wildlife and archaeology. It is managed by Hampshire County Council and Natural England. I'd heard of it so decided it was worth a visit although I didn't have any species in mind to look out for. I quickly got chatting to an elderly gentleman who showed me some of the best places for butterflies. I found a marsh fritillary in good condition which he admitted he would not have spotted,. Being quite cloudy now, it preferred to settle down among the grass but it did crawl onto my finger tip so I was able to see its beautifully patterned underwings, allowing a couple of people to obtain photos, but obviously I couldn't take any myself! Other species seen included Common blue, brown argus, peacock, grizzled and dingy skipper. We had some interesting conversations about butterflies ( of course) and he told me that several years ago he'd managed to see all the UK butterflies in one year, inspired by the author Patrick Barkham who had done so in 2010. He didn't recommend it though! Interestingly he had not yet seen the Long tailed blue which has only recently become numbered amongst the annual migrants to the Uk, a species which I saw for the first time last year in Lancing, Sussex. Another thing he told me was that turtle doves can be heard on the reserve, best heard from another entrance point but sadly I didn't have time to look as I had arranged to call on some friends on my way home.
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