Steve's Birding,Wildlife & Walking Blog: The Isle Of Wight....Monday 6th June

Sunday, 19 June 2016

The Isle Of Wight....Monday 6th June - Friday 10th June 2016.

Our first visit to this supremely beautiful Island for a week of walking and hopefully some wildlife sightings along the way,saw us enjoying a fantastic week of soaring temperatures and stunning scenery,with a couple of 'New' species for us thrown in.
Tuesday 7th June:

Today saw us catching the local bus to Ventnor after a brief visit to Ryde and we decided to walk back along the coast to Shanklin.
With a stroke of luck while walking down to the beach in Ventnor town i managed to find a single Wall Lizard which i managed some half decent photos of,but they are like lightning.This was a superb bonus to the trip and a new species for both of us,although the species is thought to have been introduced to the UK,this population at Ventnor is thought to be the oldest.
After enjoying this stunning reptile we continued our walk along the coastal path along some fantastic habitat for Lepidoptera,with masses of Red Valerian,Bird's-foot Trefoil and Kidney Vetch and sure enough it wasn't long before we had found our first ever Glanville Fritillaries.
They had been on my radar for the trip and i knew we would be in the correct area to see them,but was just worried about timing.This was confirmed as most of the individuals were not pristine specimens,being slightly worn,but beggars can't be choosers when watching such a stunning little species.This along with most of the other Fritillary species have become incredibly rare,so it was a great privilage to see these beautiful butterflies.
The coast along here proved a mecca for Leps,with other species seen including Common and Holly Blue's,Speckled Wood,Green-veined White,Painted Lady(Including individuals arriving in off the English Channel),25 Silver Y moths and 50 plus Diamond-back Moths and the scenery was just amazing too,what a great day out!.

Wednesday 8th June:

Another fantastic day out today saw us visiting The Needles,Alum and Freshwater Bays,the scenery here was just breathtaking and we also managed to see a few more interesting species which included more Diamond-back Moths,Painted Lady and Common-blue Butterflies.The flora was pretty special here also and included masses of the lovely pink Thrift,Wild Cabbage,Bird's-foot Trefoil and Sea Carrot along the cliff top paths.

This Island has to be visited to be truly appreciated,with some fantastic coastal scenery and some very special residents,one of which i will certainly be returning to see.