Smudger's Nature: And the Eyes in his Head, See the World Spinning Round

My yearly sojourn to Old Winchester Hill in Hampshire was upon me. My timing here coincides with the late Summer showing of several Butterflies.
It is mid August, I'm a bit slow updating my blog, so my apologies. It's nice to look back at the end of Summer I'd say as we are now entering Autumn. It was only a couple of months ago anyway. Can you believe it?

The drive up the hill to the car park seems endless from the main road. A gradual incline to one of the best sites to obtain enviable views across to the South coast.

If you have read my blog before you will remember this place. Managed by Natural England, this site dates back to as early as the Bronze Age. Some 4500 to 3500 BCE. The Hill Fort which is the promontory is Iron Age and is well defined and built around 600 - 300 BCE.

Nowadays it is a thriving nature reserve, full of diverse flora and fauna. I must visit here more often, especially earlier in the summer as different species appear in different months.

Having eventually parked in the small car park, my usual route is to track the higher northern path around to the fort. I dispensed with it on this occasion and took the descending southerly path. What goes down I thought as I went....
The day was calm and warm which was in stark contrast to last years stiff biting wind. Being of such an altitude and open to the elements from the distant Solent and English Channel it is inevitable the weather can be a little unpredictable.

The high bank before the open downland was still full of flowering scrub. I caught glimpses of Gatekeepers that like to keep a discreet distance in the shady grasses, never venturing too close for decent portraits.

One of my main objects of the day was the quintessential downland butterfly. The Chalkhill Blue. This part of the country is the perfect place to see them in high numbers.
I took every moment to grab some shots as soon as I saw them, thinking I wouldn't manage the chance again...

The females show more brown on the upper and underside of the wings than the blue males.

As I started my steep descent I could make out a pair of Kestrels hunting below hovering in classic fashion in search of a mammal meal.

The further down I trod the less I should have concerned myself with sightings of the Chalkhills'. They were absolutely everywhere. In fact in their hundreds across the short rabbit cropped slopes.

So pleasing to see this amount of Lepidoptera in one place, especially with the ever present headlines of decline in species. So you will forgive me for my indulgence at the bounty before me.

As I reached the lower point just before the ninety degree left turn along the level path, I glanced up towards my previous exalted position.

Then across to my fortress destination.

It was at this junction that I happened across my next subject. Still early for them and in small numbers, the Silver Spotted Skipper was a welcome relief. I wasn't sure I was going to stumble across them today.

There were around half a dozen at least, mostly feeding on Scabious flowers.

A keen eye is needed to spot them. Not only are they tiny, they don't hang around either. Trying to keep them in sight can be a real challenge once they leave their nectar source in rapid flight.

I kept on moving along the path, all the while coming across more Skippers and Chalkhill Blues.

I watched closely as this Silver Spotted Skipper worked it's way over the flower head, nectaring as it went with it's long black proboscis.

The Kestrels weren't too far away from me as they hunted for food.

After a brief dip into woodland, I reached the light and the base of the hill that leads to the fort. No ordinary hill either. This was some gradient. I like to think I'm fairly fit but I had to keep stopping every now and then to catch my breath on the ascent.

Breathless but eventually at the top of the hill, the first to avail itself was a Red Kite gliding on the thermals just distant from me.

Down below, the moat around the fort is filled with wild flowers these days rather than water and nectaring on these were the usual suspects from earlier, including a few extras not seen so far. Two are common species, the other a rare migrant.

The commons were a Large White...

and a Meadow Brown..

The rare migrant was a Clouded Yellow which are regular sightings in late Summer but in limited numbers so it's a good day when you happen across one, or in my case on this day, two.
I love their mustard yellow colours. It's great to catch one on camera. They don't hang around for long so I was a lucky boy on this day.

The Red Kite I happened across before had returned and continued it's glides across the line of the fort and my eyeline gliding on the thermals and gentle breeze.

It gradually worked it's way around until it was directly above me.

Some top views of a an impressive predator. More of a scavenger really. They are looking for easy pickings of carrion rather than hunting live prey. They have quite weak talons in comparison to other raptors, so a quick snatch of carrion suits them perfectly.
Down below in the undergrowth were more migrants. This time a Silver Y Moth. It does exactly as it says on the insect. These are very common and I've seen these in their hundreds nectaring on bushes in my back garden in a good year.