We had 25 species of butterfly recorded around the village last year with 19 species reported in gardens as well as the wider countryside. 

Adonis Blue

One of the best places to see butterflies are the footpaths near the bottom of the chalk down land near the spring basin particularly on a still sunny day. Butterflies only have short flight seasons which are not all at the same time of year so you can’t see every species at the same time.
The most commonly seen species are Peacock, Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell, Speckled Wood, Meadow Brown, Common Blue and of course the various Whites. We have a good population of the Adonis Blue which are quite a sight with their iridescent colour set against the yellow of the vetches along the footpaths. We also have a number of national quite scarce species such as Small Heath, Wall Brown and the Dingy, Grizzled and Lulworth Skippers.

Lulworth Skipper

Skippers are not as colourful as some of the other species and are a lot smaller but if you look carefully in the bramble patches around the bottom of the downs you can usually find the more common Large and Small Skipper as well as occasionally the Lulworth Skipper. These are quite engaging little creatures as you can see from the picture opposite.
Wessex Water with Natural England are working with the Tenant Farmers to reduce the long invasive Tor-grass on the side of the down land to encourage more wild flowers. The steep sides of West Hill have been fenced to introduce a limited number of horses in an effort to graze down the long rank grass. More wild flowers will increase the number of butterflies as well as, hopefully, making the hill side more visually attractive from the village.