Wednesday 4 July 2012

Isle of Wight Heathland

Ningwood Common is protected heathland just west of the village of Shalfleet.It is a breeding site for the Nightjar and until last year an area where the Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary butterfly was found.Unfortunately this season no sightings of this butterfly have been reported and along with the Pearl-bordered Fritillary I regret to say that both species are no longer likely to be seen on the Island.
The weather has been very wet of late but a few rays of sunshine did appear this afternnon when I was on the Common.It is edged by woodland and now Marbled Whites,Ringlets and Small Skippers can be seen flitting along the woodland edges.Out too is the summer brood of the Comma,seen above in the 'hutchinsoni' form.






2 comments:

  1. Beautiful photos, Peter. I think the Skipper is one of my favourite butterflies. It is sad to think another two of our butterfly species might have died out here. Hopefully there's still a chance to spot them this year!

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  2. Great shots. Looks like you have more butterflies in your neck of the woods than we have in ours, Peter, although I saw plenty of Meadow Browns in the lanes this afternoon.

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