Wild Purbeck

There are few locations where I have enjoyed walking more than the Purbeck coast in Dorset. Miles of rolling grassland peppered with gorse and other scrub and an abundance of wild flowers. The coastal path west of Lulworth is a haven for wildlife.

The west arm of Lulworth Cove

The coastal path just east of Durdle Door

I saw several species of butterflies as I wandered along the path. A single Adonis Blue Lysandra bellargus landed close by, the most brilliant blue colour and the rarest of our downland blues. A privilege to see this beauty. Several silvery-blue Chalkhill Blues Lysandra corridon drifted over grass no doubt looking for the few knapweeds and scabiouses still evident. Small Whites Pieris rapae showed in abundance as too did Small Tortoiseshells Aglais urticae and a single Gatekeeper Pyronia tithonus.

As I watched the butterflies something entered my peripheral vision and I looked skyward just in time to lock my binoculars on a magnificent Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus drifting effortlessly on thermals as he flew by west to east. Following his flightpath brought a hovering Kestrel Falco tinnunculus into view. Further along the track I met up with one of the local rangers and asked the usual "Seen anything?" He pointed out a number of Yellow Wagtails Motacilla lava resting on nearby fence-posts, summer visitors no doubt thinking about their return journey south. Further along the fence we spotted a single Whinchat Saxicola rubetra, another summer visitor. We parted company and I wandered on past an area of low scrub and was lucky to see a skulking Stonechat Saxicola torquata. But the highlight had to be a pair of Ravens Corvus corax, the largest by far of the black crows, big-headed and wedge-tailed.

In February 2012 the Wild Purbeck area was designated as one of 12 Nature Improvement Areas across the country. It is an area of outstanding beauty that provides the naturist with a wealth of wildlife to see. Keep your eyes peeled and remember to keep looking up; you never know what might be passing overhead! 

The Holly Blue

The most frequent butterfly visitor to our garden is the Small White Pieris rapae, two or more can be seen throughout most days. This year I have recorded the Gatekeeper Pyronia tithonus, also know as the Hedge Brown, the Small Tortoiseshell Aglais urticae, the Painted Lady Vanessa cardui (cracking latin name) and the Peacock Inachis io. But my favourite has to be the diminutive Holly Blue Celastrina argiolus.

The butterfly in the photo is a female Holly Blue that visits our garden fairly regularly, here seen on a jasmine plant. Not a brilliant pic because she refused to open her wings fully as I repeatedly pressed the shutter release. But the black wing tips help to identify this as a female. The lilac-blue male can be confused with the Common Blue Polyommatus icarus. The black borders of the Holly Blue female are bolder near the wing tips.

Populations of the Holly Blue vary greatly from year to year due mainly to a combination of the climate and the presence of a parasitic ichneumon wasp called Listrodomus nycthemerus. This black and yellow insect parasites only the Holly Blue and kills large numbers of its caterpillars.

The parasitic wasp Listrodomus nycthemerus