Blues on the Downs.

A walk onto Mottistone Down this morning discovered four species of 'blue' butterfly. First of all the second brood Adonis Blue,together with Common and Chalk-hill Blue. The Brown Argus was also out in good numbers and all species were busily nectaring on the downland flora and in paricular Carline Thistle, carlina vulgaris. Other butterflies worth a mention were two Clouded Yellow, now seen widespread  here at present.

Brighstone Forest is very close by and a quick visit produced two male Queen of Spain Fritillaries.

 

Bouldnor Forest Comes Up Trumps.

Another sunny summers day and a morning visit to Bouldnor Forest. In some places flowering fleabane line the woodland tracks and is always a favourite for butterflies. Therefore it was not a surprise to encounter several Clouded Yellow nectaring on these flowers. A particular treat was to see this helice form which is restricted to females.Appartently up to 15% of females hatch as this form.

On retracing my steps in the forest I was very pleased to see this Queen of Spain Fritillary on the track.It regularly landed in the same location albeit for a short period before flying off to alight farther along the track.

Return to Brighstone.

Two Queen of Spain Fritillaries were there to greet me this morning in Brighstone Forest. Both appeared flighty as they demanded space to bask in the sunshine and would occasionally duel with each other by spiralling upwards into the trees.

 

Back in Brighstone Forest.

No apologies for including another post dedicated to the elegant Queen of Spain Fritillary. Yet another hot and sunny day and the butterflies were performing in Brighstone Forest. The location mentioned in my last post only produced one very flighty Queen so a walk along the forest track on the spot where this fritillary was first sighted over a week ago yielded another.This individual however proved to be more cooperative by regularly perching on flowers and grasses. Along that track several Grayling were seen.

 

Queen of Spain Fritillaries on Show.

An earlier visit time of 10.30 today rather than the lunchtime arrival of yesterday. However as then, a pristine Queen of Spain Fritillary was waiting, busily nectaring on fleabane. Over the next hour or so this individual energetically flew around occasionally landing on flowers but taking time to bask on the ground in the strong sunshine.As mentioned in my last post this sunny and sheltered woodland track crossing seems to suit these fritillaries.  It appears too that there has been a good influx of this elegant butterfly, with sightings made throughout the forest.

Queen of Spain Visits the Isle of Wight

As far as I know there have been no records of the Queen of Spain Fritillary on the Isle of Wight. It is generally a butterfly of southern Europe although the odd sighting has been reported from the southern counties of England in the past. However today's visit to a site in woodland in the West Wight produced at least two individuals. As soon as I arrived at the location,a sunny woodland track intersection with plenty of flora, I encountered a fritillary basking on the track. Over the next hour it was occasionally seen nectaring  although at times being harassed by other insects. Finally two individuals began taking an interest in each other and after they disappeared no other sightings were forthcoming.

First Trip to Greece.

My first ever visit to Greece was thirty years ago this year in 1986.My stay was spent on the Sithonia  peninsula of the Halkidiki region on mainland Greece.The terrain here is rugged and at that time relatively pristine.Two enormous hotels and a golf course dominated this shoreline but just a short walk gave way to a completely rural landscape.I well remember that Nightingales seemed to be everywhere and as it was May they were very vocal.In the meadows the butterflies were numerous with Queen of Spain and Spotted  Fritillaries as well as several species of 'Whites'.Among them were the Eastern Bath White,Eastern Dappled White,and my personal favourite, the Black-veined White.
Superficially the Dappled and the Bath White look the same but there are features which can separate the two.The green mottling on the underside of the Dappled can be said to resemble shadows formed by dappled sunlight through tree leaves and usually has a yellowish appearance to it.There are neat white "keyholes" around the outer-margin of the hindwing, and also of the outer-margin of the forewing but especially towards the wing tip. The underwing  green  of the Eastern Bath White is not so dappled and more of an olive green and less often yellowish.
This can be seen in the following photo of a mating pair of Dappled Whites from '86 and two examples of the Bath White,one from the same date and another seen on Lefkada in 2013.

  

    

The Queens' Pearls.

The Queen of Spain Fritillary is widespread in continental Europe and most abundant in the southern range.It is a rare migrant in the UK although occasionally a colony is discovered in the counties that border  France and the Low Countries across the English Channel.The most recent seems to be in Sussex where the butterfly was suspected of breeding in 2009.

This fritillary is particularly distinctive with its elegantly curved forewings,which is a unique feature among european fritillaries.So too is the underside which displays a collection of large silver spots or 'pearls' that can glitter and shine when struck by the sun's rays.Hopefully these features can be appreciated from my two photographs taken in 1986.This individual was seen in the Halkidiki region of Greece and although regarded as being common it is the only time that  I have seen this species.

2026 update! Several individuals have been seen in woodland close to Brighstone Forest on the Isle of Wight in July.