First visit to Hutchinsons Bank and two butterfly lifers for me

There is a pre-story behind todays blog post. A few weeks ago my lovely mates Susy and Paul went down to the Isle of Wight to photograph and see Glanville Fritillaries. The south side of the island is the Glanvilles natural stronghold and their peak flying times are early May to early June. For the larvae to survive they need plenty of Ribwort Plaintain as their foodplant. And this plant generally grows where there is a lot of disturbance, like land slides or rock falls on cliff edges. Therefore as I said, their stronghold is on the most cliffy side of the Isle Of Wight.

 

 I was extremely jealous and vowed to make the trip there myself, but the only time I could get down there was in the second week of June. The chances of seeing the Glanvilles by then was slim but still feasible.

However at the beginning of this week someone posted a photo of a Glanville on one of the Facebook Butterfly pages and said they had taken it in Croydon. Intrigued I investigated some more and discovered that, along with some other 'introduced' areas in the UK including north Devon and Somerset, Hutchinsons Bank in New Addington has had a thriving population of Glanvilles since 2011. Yes, they have been introduced, but for me as a Glanville Virgin, a trip to New Addington was far nearer, affordable and accessible than a day trip to the Isle of Wight.

 

The area is purposely managed for not only the Glanvilles, but for other butterfly species too, including the Small Blue which is another species I have never seen. Hutchinsons Bank has three main habitats; chalky grass land and banks, ancient woodland and plenty of scrub.

For more details please click here

 

 

My trip was planned as the week went on. Public transport links were researched. The weather forecast was keenly watched. I had a choice of visiting on Saturday or Sunday only, and this was going to be my only chance to see a Glanville this year. I didn't dare tell anyone where I was going in case I had a major dip.

 

The journey from home took over two hours by public transport this morning with three train journeys and a tram ride, then there was a 15 minute walk down a very steep path way. But within ten minutes of arriving I was looking at my first Glanville Fritillary......and it was worth every commuting minute.....

 

I only saw one today, some others who had arrived before me had seen three but last weekend there were over 30 seen on the Saturday alone. I had missed the peak, but I hadn't missed the last stragglers. My journey had not been in vain.

 

On my nature travels I have met many people, some of whom I often bump into again. Today it was Eric who called out 'aren't you Wendy ?' and not long after we started re-acquainting ourselves he spotted my second 'lifer', a Small Blue, which settled on the path edge. It was so small, no bigger than my thumb nail, that my zoom lens (yes it's working again ! Phew) struggled to pick it up amongst the long grasses, but I managed two reasonable and passable record shots....

 

 

Also seen today were several Dingy Skippers. I have seen these non-dingy little lovelies before, but not this year, so they were an added bonus....

 

 

and another first for me, a Burnet Companion Moth below

 

Although the Glannie, Small Blue and Dingys posed wonderfully for us, the more common flutterbys like the Common Blue, weren't so obliging and it was quite difficult to get a nice photo of them....

 

 

Another first of the year was this tattered looking Small Heath...

 

 

and on the edge of one of the ancient woodland copses this tiny moth posed for just one photo before flying off....

 

I still haven't been able to identify it though, so if anyone knows what it is feel free to comment. It was about 1.5-2cm long. The nearest I can find to it's likeness in my books is the Small Magpie, but I don't think it is.

 

Updated: this is a micro moth, possibly celypha lacunana......

 

Other critters around today were the commonly seen Scorpion Fly....

 

 

and this species Sawfly below...

 

Below are some snaps showing the habitat I was wondering around today. Like I said it is 'managed' and I know some people will turn up their noses as it's not a natural site. But it's managed for a reason. It is the only chalk valley in the south of England, and back in the olden days before roads and buildings were put up, this would have been a natural strong holding for butterflies like the Glannie and Small Blue. I'm already looking forward to going back in August for the Marbled White and some other butterfly species that I know I wont see n my own patch...

 

 

And I found my first wild strawberry of the year...

 

 

Of course there were birds around too. I heard Whitethroats, Blackcaps and ChiffChaffs singing, and saw this Kestrel....

 

and a Buzzard being mobbed by Crows....

 

A very long day with over four hours commuting, but definitely worth it.

I met people there today who had driven down from Northampton and Suffolk to see the Glanville, which makes me think I didn't do too bad after all. There were even a pair of ecologists who had bought their year old daughter with them.

And at the end of my day I bumped in to another couple of familiar faces who I'd first met at the Pied Flycatcher 'twitch' at Cranford Park a few years ago. Lovely to see you two guys again too.