A Day at Martin Downs

On one very hot June day me and my partner went to Martin Downs Nature Reserve in Hampshire (10 miles from Salisbury) to look for butterflies and orchids. Martin Downs is 350 hectares of beautiful chalk downland, great for butterflies, moths, birds, insects and orchids.

We spent most of the day strolling past tall grass and flowers where butterflies fly past and bird song fills the air.

Butterflies, Moths and Caterpillars

Above: Small Heath Butterfly

With so many flowers on offer, it's not surprising that there are so many butterflies, the favorite is the Adonis Blue (shown below)

Beetles and other Insects

Above: A shiny leaf beetle

Martin Downs is fun of life, every direction you look there are insects.

Reptiles

I was lucky enough to see this beautiful adder, Britain's only venomous snake.

Birds

There is bird song through out this amazing place, skylarks and corn buntings sing high up in the bushes and the fields.

Above: Skylark sat on a twig in the field

Flowers

Martin Downs has many flower which attract all the insects, the most attractive are the orchids. There are eight different species of orchid here such as common spotted, fragrant, frog, green-winged, greater butterfly and burnt-tip orchids.

Above: Common-spotted Orchid

#2018 #MartinDowns #LowlandChalkGrasslad