Sunset Over The Sea

If you've been following my blog, you'll know that after I completed the challenge of seeing all the butterfly species we have in Sussex , I began a follow-up quest to see all the species of butterfly found in the UK. Last year, in 2024, a few trips north to Cumbria and Scotland gave me the opportunity to see many of the species not found in the south, including the Chequered Skipper , Large Heath and Scotch Argus . This meant I had only three more species left to see as we headed into 2025 - the Glanville Fritillary, Heath Fritillary and Swallowtail, all of which are either rare or scarce localised species. Since they all emerge around May and June, I took time off from work so Bob and I could be spontaneous about when we'd try and see each of these species. The weather would impact us to a large extent, and so too when each butterfly species would start to emerge. My first target for the year was the Glanville Fritillary on the Isle of Wight. DAY 1 Since most butterfly species this year have been early on account of the warm dry spring we've had, we ended up booking a few nights on the island in mid-May, as soon as we knew there was a good chance of some fairly nice weather. Booking the ferry and finding a lovely B&B in Ventnor at fairly short notice was thankfully easy. We got up at the crack of dawn on the Sunday of the Bank Holiday weekend. After having a fairly straightforward drive to Portsmouth and smooth ferry crossing, we reached Compton Beach on the south west of the island by mid-morning. It was cloudy when we arrived and Bob was eager to find some roosting Glanville Fritillaries. I was just eager to see my first one. We slowly ambled along the clifftop path, our eyes scouring the flowers along the way, hoping for that first flash of orange. As luck would have it, our first Glanville Fritillary was nectaring on a thistle right beside the path. It was a lovely fresh female. Her shorter, more rounded abdomen, was very apparent.

THE DRAKE PASSAGE After spending over two weeks living on board the Plancius, I was used to the constant movement of the ship. The early bouts of sea sickness were a thing of the past and I seldom needed to take any medication. I put my wristbands on occasionally and ate some ginger chews at times too, but I felt like I'd found my sea legs. However, we were yet to cross the Drake Passage. It is infamous for its strong winds, powerful currents and giant waves, making it potentially very challenging and dangerous for ships! I just hoped it wouldn't be that bad for us, on our final leg of our sea journey. I'd been concerned about it before we left, and I knew Bob was worried too, which was why we had all sorts of medication to hand if needed. So, you can imagine our surprise when the next two days at sea passed by uneventfully. One member of staff had said the Drake Passage was a mill pond and they'd never seen it like that before. What a relief! In fact, I was amazed that during our entire journey we'd managed to avoid all the nasty weather systems that seemed either to be ahead of or behind us. Amazing! This was something I was truly grateful for! It was wonderful to experience some beautiful blue skies and to be out on deck again, enjoying the sunshine. But, it was cold! The temperature was about 1°C! I welcomed the sight of Cape Petrels flying close to us and seeing a large number of them too. These attractive birds had been our constant companions virtually throughout the trip.