I went with a friend recently to Martin Down, on the Salisbury road from Blandford, just over the border in Hampshire. We wanted to see if there was much Butterfly action up there. It was fairly quiet when we got there but soon picked up on a few Butterflies, it was a hot sunny morning so they were fairly active. Only a few species seen which included Marbled Whites, Ringlets and Small Skippers and the Six-spot Burnet Moths and a few Bees.

Then we went over towards Bockerly dyke where there were plenty of Knapweed flowers. I had seen Dark Green Fritillaries in that area before so I was hoping to see them again. We saw quite a few, very busy in the Knapweed flowers so we spent some time taking images and trying to capture them in flight. It was a bit of fun and it was a great opportunity to try out our camera skills!

Why we didn’t see that many species I don’t know but sometimes there is a gap before a new generation emerges, so maybe that was the reason. I do hope so.

When I’m looking for Butterflies I tend to concentrate on that not looking for anything else but I couldn’t miss the Skylarks, there were plenty flying from the ground and then singing above.

I hope to visit again soon and hopefully see a little more then.