manning the gates

...the weather forecast this morning, filled us with the anticipation of a warm and sunny day - until it dawned on us that, according to said forecast, there should have been a clear blue sky overhead at that very moment, instead of the heavy black clouds that were actually present! In fairness, it did become increasingly sunny as the day progressed and, apart from a couple of drizzly showers, the only downside was the ongoing strong wind. The Met Office have predicted real summer days for Sunday and Monday - but do we believe them?

Sticking with the plan, we set off this afternoon and parked at the viewpoint at the MOD Ranges end of Ridgeway Hill. Access over the Lulworth Ranges was closed and the gatehouse was manned. In the car park, the army had set up a communication base that was wonderfully camouflaged.

The wind along the Purbeck Hills ridge was very strong so I was not particularly confident about getting any good butterfly images. The area around The Grange Arch is usually a good spot but not today. The arch itself, is a very attractive folly that originally formed part of the Creech Grange estate and is now managed by the NT. The Grange is stunning country manor house, some of which dates back to Henry VIII.

Continuing along the ridge, we came down to Stonehill Down Nature Reserve, which is owned by the Dorset Wildlife Trust and managed especially for butterflies. The signature species are Adonis , Chalkhill and Stilver-studded blues. My target was the Chalkhill Blue but butterflies of any species were thin on the ground and blues were non-existent! Plenty of Red Admirals and Meadow Browns were being bowled along by the breeze but it was a sudden flash of deep orange that caught my eye and I was off up and down the slopes in hot pursuit. He eventually headed into a patch of scrub and blackberry, where I collected a whole fresh bunch of scratches to get this quickly grabbed shot. This is a male Gatekeeper Pyronia tithonus and, judging by his rich colours and condition, he is only recently emerged.

On our return route, we unexpectedly spotted a Golden-ringed Dragonfly Cordulegaster boltonii...