Following a successful visit to Eaton Wood in 2005 to see the White Admiral, we decided to see if the Marbled White was still present at a site near Kirkby-in-Ashfield recently.

Location

The Marbled White can be found in a small section of Portland Park, between Kirkby-in-Ashfield and Annesley at SK562489. Following the directions given in The Nottinghamshire Naturalist, Dilys and I eventually found the colony in the old quarry workings area. This was quite well away from how it was originally described, but the Marbled White was indeed present - and in good numbers too.

Colony origins

Little debate has been given to the origin of the Portland Park colony, as it is almost undoubtedly from released stock.

However, that should not lessen the value of having Marbled Whites successfully established in the county. They are delightful butterflies and away from here, you would have to travel some miles to see them in the wild. Whether you agree with the release or re-introduction of butterflies into areas where they normally would'nt occur, is a matter of personal preference. As a grass feeding species, there is certainly no danger of their presence being detrimental to any of the other browns found on site.

To see the Marbled White, drive along the B6021 at Kirkby-in-Asfield and look for the signs to Portland Park. Turn off the B6021 next to the Kingsway pub and follow the obvious rough rack leading to Grives Farm. This also takes you to the car park.

From the car park, take the footpath through the Top Meadow, through Spring Wood (following the line of the new fence) and then take the right-hand path through the fence to view the grassy banks of the old workings.

Pick a sunny day in July and the butterflies should be easy to find. There is access to the site to view them, but the site is quite steep in places.