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Tag Archives: Small blue butterfly

133/365 Birding on Salisbury Plain

13 Monday May 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, insects, nature

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#365DaysWild, birding, birdwatching, British birds, British butterflies, Brown argus, butterflies, Corn bunting, Great bustard, Marsh fritillary, Salisbury Plain, Small blue butterfly, White Horse

Yesterday’s Glamorgan Bird Club trip to Salisbury Plain, RSPB Winterbourne Downs and Martin Down National Nature Reserve was amazing. The weather was stunning, the bird sightings were brilliant, as were the butterflies, and, as always, the company was wonderful.

190513 Salisbury (1)

190513 Salisbury (3)
190513 Salisbury (2)

The views from high on Salisbury Plain were lovely – we even had a distant view of the White Horse, though it was a little disconcerting being so close to the military impact area and to have the serenading of the plentiful skylarks occasionally shattered by the booms of exploding shells. The joy-riding trailbikers and off-roaders weren’t exactly peaceful either.

190513 great bustard

Still, we saw some amazing birds – I managed to spot the only Great bustard of the day (you’ll just have to believe me when I say that the head in the centre of the dip in the vegetation in the photo above is definitely a Great bustard!) and we had splendid ’scope sightings of Stone curlews and chicks at Winterbourne – both bird sightings were lifers for me. My best bird photo of the day was the Corn bunting shown below – captured out of the car window as we drove by.

190513 corn bunting

We also enjoyed some superb butterfly sightings – my first Small blues and Brown Argus for the year, and, finishing on a high, my first ever (two) Marsh fritillaries at Martin Down.

190513 small blue
190513 brown argus

190513 marsh fritillary

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Small and blue

27 Friday Jul 2018

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature

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Tags

Britain’s smallest butterfly, British butterflies, butterflies, Cupido minimus, Seaford Head Local Nature Reserve, Small blue, Small blue butterfly

Nine days ago, when I was staying with my friend Jill in East Sussex, we decided to re-enact a walk we had done on 12 May 2017, a wildlife walk led by Michael Blencowe of the Sussex Wildlife Trust, an expert lepidopterist and co-author of The Butterflies of Sussex.

180727 May 2017

May 2017, looking from Hope Bottom on Seaford Head towards the Seven Sisters

On that previous occasion the day was cool, windy and sometimes wet so we didn’t see any butterflies. This time Britain was in the grip of a scorching heatwave so it was almost too hot and dry for butterflies….

180727 July 2018

I didn’t quite match the framing but this is the same view in July 2017

Almost, but not quite. As luck would have it, I managed to spot two more new butterflies this day, and I almost missed the first as it was so tiny. This is the very appropriately named Small blue (Cupido minimus), Britain’s smallest butterfly and one that is becoming increasingly scarce.

180727 Small blue (2)

These lovelies are often found in small colonies, in areas of scrub and grassland near where their food plant grows. I don’t recall seeing any Kidney vetch (Anthyllis vulneraria) during our walk through the Seaford Head Local Nature Reserve but, luckily for the Small blue and for me, it must have been there.

180727 Small blue (1)

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About me

sconzani

sconzani

I'm a writer and photographer; researcher and blogger; birder and nature lover; countryside rambler and city strider; volunteer and biodiversity recorder.

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