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After lunch in Salisbury-a Cornish pastry of course-we headed to Martin Down for afternoon. We were hoping for more Marsh Fritillaries, and we found some. Not high numbers, but very welcome. I was also pleased to find Dingy and Grizzled Skippers, and many Small Blues.

Some noisy Ravens were on site, and we heard our first cuckoo of the year. More yellow hammers and corn buntings were singing. Some nice plants are at Martin Down. I always look out for the burnt orchids on Bokerley Dyke. The chalk milkwort brightens the spring turf, with its light blue flowers. A less well known plant, found here, is the field fleawort. It looks a little like ragwort, but flowers earlier, in late spring. A scarce inhabitant of chalk, this is the only place I have found it.

In the evening, it was back to Salisbury for dinner. A super day out!

Orchid bonanza!

Last Sunday, it was time to see some of the late-spring orchids of Kent.

One of the best orchid sites in the country is Park Gate Down. Not only does it have the biggest colony of monkey orchids in Britain, but it has a very rich orchid population in general. The monkey orchids reach their peak around the late-spring Bank Holiday weekend and, sure enough, they were at their splendid best when I arrived. Many other people were enjoying them too, including a couple from Newcastle, doing an “orchid weekend”. A single lady orchid grows on site. Normally she is past her best by time the monkeys are out, so I was delighted to find her in full bloom this time. Perhaps this is due to the ‘squashed ‘ spring this year. Fly orchids also occur at Park Gate. They can take a while to find, but once you get your eye in, they start to appear in greater numbers. They are a marvellous example of insect mimicry and, although not spectacular,they have a certain charm. The greater butterfly orchid were starting to flower. It seems these orchids have evolved to glow in the dark, as they are pollinated by moths. This is not a rare species, but is always sought after.

In afternoon, I headed to the North Downs, overlooking Folkestone and the Channel Tunnel. Here, the late spider orchids grow, one of the rarest and most endangered of our orchids. They flower mainly in June, but on this south-facing slope, they start slightly earlier. I had never seen them here before, so didn’t really know where to look. But, after some time searching, I found them in two areas. One site was fenced off, to prevent trampling, as it is next to a footpath. Seeing them gave me great pleasure! Plenty of butterflies fly here, including Dingy Skippers and Adonis Blues in good numbers, as horseshoe vetch in plentiful. In the bare areas were Walls, and I nice sparkling Painted Lady was perhaps an arrival from France, visible across the water. But by then my camera battery had run out! But a super May day it had been.

Woah where to begin Essex Those Orchids are great and some class Adonis, Small Blue and Marshie shots I also reckon that I know where you were at Martin Down as I photographed (possibly exactly the same) Field Fleawort

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Yes Wurzel, you’re right. High on the Bokerley Dyke!

On Bank Holiday Monday, I had commitments in the morning, but then there was time to visit the Chilterns.

The military orchid is one of our rarest and most spectacular orchids. It occurs naturally at only three sites regularly, though odd plants turn up elsewhere from time to time. It is one of the “manikin” orchids, each flower resembles a soldier, complete with helmet. Thankfully,at the site at Homefield Wood, visitors are welcome. It’s been several years since my last visit, and I’m pleased to say, the military orchids here have gone from strength to strength. Much work has been done by volunteers to increase their numbers, so the population becomes viable. Their efforts should be congratulated! Other orchids are here, such as fly and greater butterfly, which we have seen. In the shady woods, grow white heleborine.

Then it was off to Aston Rowant for the evening. I was pleased to see Grizzled Skippers here, these, sadly, are probably my last for the season. Also here were Common Blues and Brown Argus. Lastly, Dingy Skippers were here. Many were indeed dingy, but there were still a few good ones around. They were enjoyed for, again, they could be my last for the season.

Your Butterfly images are always enjoyable, Mark,
but those Orchids are something else, stunning.

Trevor.

Your PD has been a kaleidoscope of colour lately, Mark. The butterflies add animation to those wonderful flowers, most of which will be strangled out by the start of July.

This is perhaps the finest time of the year.

Just catching up on your recent outings Mark, you certainly get about a bit. Some great reports and photos as usual, I really like the variety in your reports

Cheers,

Neil.

Some great shots of both butterflies and flowers Mark.
Very nice to see you on Sunday.

Thanks Trev, and great to see you a couple of times recently!

Thanks David. May has been so glorious this year that I had to show it off in my pictures!

Thanks Neil. Glad you like the images, I certainly like to get out and about!

Thanks Andrew. Hope you managed to see some SPBF action later on Sunday.

Now we are into June-early summer- I wasn’t intending any more spring trips out. But following reports on UKB and BC Sussex, of big Adonis Blue action at Anchor Bottom, I really couldn’t resist a slice of blue action. Leaving my Essex home just after six on Sunday and no rush hour traffic, I made good progress. I was hoping to see the Adonis warming up, and some were, but most were already active, a turf shimmering with blue. A couple of distant people turned out to be Katrina and Andrew 555. A UKB social! Great to see you both! By 9AM, the Adonis were pairing up, and soon there were mating pairs by the dozen, and probably many hundreds over the whole site. We made made out way very slowly, to give any mating pairs we hadn’t seen on the path time to escape, enjoying bee and fragrant orchids along the way. The Meadow clary is a much rarer plant in Britain, though common in Europe. The first Large Skippers were about, and we were surprised to find a couple of Small Blues, as we hadn’t seen any kidney vetch. A closer look did reveal some though.

Just catching up with your adventures, Mark - you've picked some brilliant spots and there have been some terrific butterflies out there, especially the Adonis at Anchor Bottom. If the weather continues even half-decent, goodness knows what it will be like in August...

Dave

I had commitments lunchtime, but the days are long now, so there was time to head to Folkestone, where I had another look at the excellent late-spider orchids from last week. More flowers were out this time, but still plenty to come, they will be good for a couple of weeks yet. Butterflies were more worn than a week ago, but I was delighted to find a female Clouded Yellow, my first since November.

Yes Dave, if we get anything like reasonable weather this summer, there could enormous numbers in the second generation. Here’s hoping!

I found some White Heleborines last weekend - do their flowers open out any more? Some cracking hots recently especially the final Dingy from Aston Brill! Then you go and top it with a Cloudy

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Hi Wurzel, no. White heleborine flowers hardly open at all, the one in my picture was at it’s peak!

Was great to meet you again and to meet Andrew 555. Good spotting of the small blue and thanks for sharing your knowledge of flowers!

Lovely first image of the mating pair of Adonis, Mark, and well done with your relatively early Clouded Yellow. Let's hope quite a few head north to escape the generally poor French weather. The month of May has seen a role reversal between there and the UK.

Thanks Katrina, lovely to see you again. David, that Clouded Yellow is not the only butterfly trying to escape the European weather, judging by the numbers of Painted Ladies I’ve seen this week...

So, we move into early summer. What a strange spring? It took a long time to get going but, with an abundance of colour, generally good weather, and a good emergence of spring butterflies, May was an absolute belter!

Gone are the Orange Tips for another year. My OT season ran from 21 April to 27 May-a total of 37 days. What a short season they have? But the countryside had come alive in that time, when you think at the start of that period most of the trees were still bare.

Although we are now into June, my last “spring” outing last Monday was to Mount Caburn,near Lewes. Here, a strong colony of Adonis Blues is found and, like colonies of AB elsewhere, there has been a good spring generation this year. Also at Mount Caburn, the burnt orchid occurs in good numbers. Many were beginning to fade, but there were still a few good ones around.

Cheers for the Heleborine info Essex Cracking Adonis shot, it fair leaps out of the screen

Have a goodun

Wurzel

It’s been a few years since I saw a Black Hairstreak, and the last few days I have been keeping an eye on sightings, and of course the weather forecast! Today was glorious and sunny and I had a spare afternoon, so I was off to Northamptonshire, to visit Glapthorn Cow Pastures. Despite the roadworks on A14, I arrived in just over an hour, hoping an afternoon would be long enough for a few sightings, and hopefully some pictures.

I needn’t have worried. For, after an hour, I had seen good numbers, and had all the photos I could want. Several other people were there too, and they confirmed what I had already noticed, that there had been a fantastic emergence this year. The best for many years! We collected around some bramble bushes, that had several Black Hairstreak feeding on them. We then simply took turns to get our images, and we all had plenty of chances for this. One adult had clearly just emerged. It’s was crawling up a grass stem, and the wings were soft. Lots of pictures were taken. Then, after about half an hour, a male flew down, knocked her off her stem, and she flew off into the hedge. However, it was the sheer numbers that was most impressive. After the photos, I had a walk around the site. Every hedge and clump of blackthorns had several flying around it, and the Hairstreaks were virtually ever-present throughout my visit. Here is a male.