West Blean and Thornden Woods - Hunt for the Heath Fritillary!

Hello again to you all and welcome back for another instalment of Invicta Zoologia! Before I start I should warn anyone who's bored to the back teeth with Lepidopterans, this post is full to the brim with butterflies ;)

In this post I will be looking at the West Blean and Thornden woods reserve, which is nestled in the larger Blean woods and forms a link between the East Blean Woods NNR, Clowes Wood to the west and the Blean Woods NNR to the south. Managed by the Kent Wildlife Trust along with other organisations, management of the woodland, including removal of the conifer plantations, has allowed native species such as the heath fritillary (Melitaea athalia), it's larval foodplant the common cow-wheat (Melampyrum pratense), hazel dormice (Muscardinus avellanarius), bluebells (Hyacinthoides non-scripta), nightingales (Luscinia megarhynchos), nightjars (Caprimulgus europaeus) and wood anemones (Anemone nemorosa) to naturally regenerate.

For more in depth information on the woods, the KWT site can be found here:
http://www.kentwildlifetrust.org.uk/reserves/west-blean-and-thornden-woods

Sky over the conifers

Helpful information boards

Although I have visited the site previously, my most recent exploration was with the 'Wild Sites on Your Doorstep' group for a photo walk to observe some of the local butterfly species, abundant in the summer sun. This group is all about using photography and art to show some of the lovely wild areas local to Kent, and run creative workshops, exhibitions and more for any who are interested - http://www.wildsites.org/

Whilst out with the group and visiting family, we saw some beautiful examples of butterflies that can be found through the reserve, a particular personal highlight being the chance to see a few Heath Fritillary, considered one of the UK's rarest butterflies. Through habitat loss, this species was on the brink of extinction in the late 1970s and even now is restricted to a few sites across the South of England. The work being done to understand its open heath/recently coppiced habitat preferences and to allow the caterpillar's foodplant, the common cow-wheat, to thrive has helped this species tremendously though, and the Blean is now one of the best places to see the Heath Fritillary.

First glimpse and quick shot
 of a Heath Fritillary

Speckled wing pattern of the Fritillary

Shot of the underwing pattern whilst
a Fritillary briefly perched

Flowers of the common cow-wheat

A Heath Fritillary feeding on flowers

Open habitat perfect for
the Heath Fritillary

The heath fritillary is in no way the only stunning butterfly species present in the open heath and coppiced areas however, and we were lucky enough to see a plethora of them in the June sunshine. Amongst these, as you can see below, are the comma (Polygonia c-album) with it's black spotted orange wings and the meadow brown (Maniola jurtina) with it's striking orange eye-like markings on it's brown wings. Found hidden at first behind a leaf seen to the left of the photo, we also saw a large-white (Pieris brassicae) with it's black-on-white colouring. Seeming a lot smaller than the other species, we almost missed the small skipper (Thymelicus sylvestris) seen below, a species of which I am particularly fond due to it's wing folds and distinctive head.

Comma about to launch

Spread wing comma perched on a fern

Large white basking in the sun

Meadow brown with it's orange markings

Small skipper perched on some buds

Through the western section of the reserve, we also saw multiple ringlet butterflies (Aphantopus hyperantus), identifiable due to their multiple light-coloured rings on their wings, a couple of which can be seen below. It should be noted though that aberrations have been recorded with these rings being reduced or even absent from the wings.

Characteristic ring markings
 of the ringlet

An aberrant ringlet with no visible rings

A stroke of luck also meant we were able to see some admirals, of the red (Vanessa atalanta) and white (Limenitis camilla) varieties, although we had a little trouble at first learning what exactly a white admiral looks like, at first confusing it from the name with a large-white! Now knowing it to be a white spot on black butterfly as opposed to the other way round, we managed to correctly spot a couple while walking.

Red admiral with wings spread

Closed wing red admiral camouflage

Red admiral soaking up the sun

White admiral hidden amongst
 the leaves

White admiral showing under wing pattern

For those of you with an affinity for other species however, butterflies weren't the only insects I have seen through this woodland, with a myriad of damselflies, including the common blue (Enallagma cyathigerum) and dragonflies such as the common darter (Sympetrum striolatum) flitting across the open areas.

Common blue damselfly clinging to a stem

Common blue damselfly on fern

Common darter briefly stopped on a dead log

Common darter perched

Not only is the woodland in general a beautiful place, the stands of trees and the lovely Wild Art trail that runs through the east section of the reserve can make for some striking images themselves. From the darkness of thick conifer woods even during the day to the carved totems and wicker figures placed along the route, every visit yields something new. Interestingly, these figures even include pig herders travelling along one of the banked drove-ways, known as radfalls, that passed through the Blean for moving livestock from north-east Kent to the Stour valley west of Canterbury, and back again.

One of the trail's carved totems

Found some gnomes having a meeting

Wicker ants beside a real nest

Wicker pig herding along one of
 the Blean's radfalls

Striking yellow flowers in the sun

Cobnuts in the early stages of growth

Daylight darkness through the
conifer stands

One of many informative windows
to tree species

This is where I leave you today unfortunately, but if any of you are in the area, hopefully I've swayed you to give these lovely woods a visit. If you are particularly hoping to see the Heath Fritillary though, it's worth mentioning that the butterflies are only really around in June/July and you'll need luck on your side with the weather!

I hope you enjoyed the photos, and for anyone who wants to see more of my work you can check out some of my galleries at the links to the right.

Till next time then, stay fantastic and go explore those nature hotspots round the corner from you!