I had a little detour in early June after a check up at the dentist in Blandford, I went to Martin Down reserve off the Salisbury road for a couple of hours. The butterflies have been reluctant to make an appearance locally but with some better weather I was hoping to see a few.

It took me a while to get my eye in and was beginning to think it was a wasted trip but then I started to see one or two blues. I headed towards Bockerley Dyke, I ended up in a very deep ditch, whether that was the dyke I’m not sure but there was an abundance Butterflies in there and I spent a while trying to photograph a few and hoping I would manage to get out again!

I was really pleased to see the a couple of Marsh Fritillaries, I didn’t expect to see them at Martin Down and as usual I’d forgot how small they were.

When I got of the ditch and heading back to the car park Was lucky to see a couple of Butterflies I hadn’t seen before, a Grizzled Skipper and Dingy Skipper it was lucky I spotted them as again they are very small, both are priority species for conservation.

There were quite a number of moths flying as well and when I saw the Tiger Moth on my computer I realised it was a different one to the usual Garden Tiger Moth as it had yellow bordering the wings and head, a little bit of research I found out it was a Wood Tiger Moth.

An enjoyable time and I was pleased to see the different species and some new sightings for me.