2 Jul 18

Bottom Combe Quarry

I tried again for the Large Tortoiseshell this afternoon, and missed it again. It was only when I got home and met up with one of my neighbours, that he told me he had seen it this morning. Apparently Bottom Combe is one of his daily walks and he had met a lepidopterist there, who was photographing it at around 8:30am.

Well I did give it a good go, along with Mike Gibbons and his wife, but apart from Mike spotting a Small Tortoiseshell (which I missed), all we could find were Marbled Whites, Gatekeepers, Meadow Brown, Ringlets, Small Skippers, Large Skippers, Lulworth Skippers, 2 Speckled Woods, Large White, several Small Blues and a Red Admiral.

Also recorded were several Six-spot Burnet moths, 3 Silver Y moths and my first Five-spot Burnet (Zygaena trifolii) on Portland.

Other invertebrates seen were Swollen-thighed Beetles (Oedemera nobilis), Common Red Soldier Beetles (Rhagonycha fulva), a 7-spot Ladybird (Coccinella septempunctata) and a Common Drone Fly (Eristalis tenax)

Here are few images from this afternoon:

Marbled White

Gatekeeper

Gatekeeper

Small Blue

Red Admiral

What I thought was the Large Tortoiseshell, turned out to be a Speckled Wood. But what was that large butterfly that took off close by!!

Another Speckled Wood.

I cant believe its taken me over a year to record my first Five-spot Burnet moth on Portland.

A male Swollen-thighed Beetle and courting Common Red Soldier Beetles

A 7-spot Ladybird

A Common Drone Fly.