Just come back from a week in Dorset. On sunday 18th we headed to Lankham Bottom butterfly conservation reserve as it's a good site for Marsh Fritillary. As soon as we had parked the car and entered the reserve we were greeted with a marsh fritillary. After walking around the site 20+ were seen. Other butterflies seen were:-
Dingy Skipper 15+
Grizzled Skipper 5
G.V.White 2
Large White 1
Brimstone 6
Green Hairstreak 2
Common Blue 5
Brown Argus 20+
Small Tortoiseshell 2
Peacock 2
Wall Brown 1
Small Heath 8
3 Wood tiger moths were seen also 20+ Speckled Yellows
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| Marsh Fritillary |
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| Marsh Fritillary |
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| Marsh Fritillary |
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| Green Hairstreak |
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| Crosswort |
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| Speckled Yellow |
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| Reserve sign |
After here we made our way to the Cerne Abbas Giant Hill to see the big fella.We walked around the base of the hill and saw another 20+ Marsh Fritillaries flying around. 1 Duke of Burgundy was also seen and an Orange Tip and Holly Blue were the only other additions to the list. A few Early Purple Orchids were seen but well past their best.
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| The Giant |
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| Duke of Burgundy |
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| Marsh Fritillary |
On Monday 19th the weather wasn't that good so after seeing some good butterflies the day before we decided to do a bit of fossil hunting along the Jurassic coast at Charmouth. We found a few good fossils. A couple of Rock Pipit were seen on the cliff edge.
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| Rock Pipit |
On Tuesday 20th, again the weather wasn't that good in the morning so we didn't go out until later. When we did decide to go out we headed to Portland to have a look around a few of the quarries and do a little bit of a sea watch. Firstly we had a look around Butterfly conservations Perryfield reserve.
Butterflies seen here were:-
Dingy Skipper
Small White
Common Blue
Small Blue 6
Painted Lady
Red Admiral
Peacock
Wall Brown
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| Small Blue |
2 Hummingbird Hawkmoths were also seen. Also Ivy Broomrape.
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| Ivy Broomrape |
After here we headed to Portland bill to do a little sea watch for half an hour.
30+ Gannet, 1 Manx Shearwater, 20+ Guillemot, 8+ Razorbill and 7 Kittiwake were seen.
On the way back from here we stopped off at Cheyne weare. I had a walk around the quarry and found 8+ Wall Lizards basking on rocks. 5 more Hummingbird hawkmoths were seen here also 4 Painted Lady and 3 Red Admiral .While photographing the lizards I noticed I was being watched by a Fox cub.
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| Wall Lizard |
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| Wall Lizard |
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| Wall Lizard |
Fox Cub
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| Fox Cub |
On Thursday and Friday the weather again wasn't that good, so after seeing all the Butterflies that were around and no decent birds around we decided to do a bit of site seeing.
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| Hardy's Cottage |
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| Hardy's Cottage |
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| Durdle Door |
