10th July - Old Winchester Hill, Hampshire

The third recorded heatwave of the year was just around the corner and today felt a lot warmer than the previous fresher days.  So in my wisdom I decided to visit Old Winchester Hill.  There had been reports of Quail calling there the day before and it was a lot closer to go here than to drive all the way to Martin Down, where several have been heard and even seen.

Leaving the car park I walked along the top path and coming out of the tree tunnel was amazed to find a Beautiful Demoiselle on the leaves of a hazel tree.

There were plenty of butterflies amongst the grasses where there was als a good amount of Field Scabious.  It was mostly large and Small Whites on the wing, but amongst them was a Red Admiral and a single male Brimstone.

At the bramble bushes a lot of the flowers have now gone over, but where there were still flowers they were attracting quite a few Peacock and Comma and amongst these was a single Painted Lady.

On the edge of the path was a Large Skipper.

I walked around the top path to the fort, listening out for Quail, without any luck.  I decided to walk down the south slope.  This is the best site for Silver Spotted Skippers, normally a late emerging butterfly, being seen in early August, but everything this year has been early so I was hopeful.

The ground was very dry and the grasses very yellow.  There was quite a bit of Field Scabious in flower and this was attracting the white butterflies once again.  It was also nice to still see good numbers of Marbled Whites.  

A Large White on Field Scabious

On reaching the bottom of the slope the Chalkhill Blues appeared.  Some of the females were searching the grass to lay eggs, while the males whizzed around chasing each other and nectaring on the flowering thyme.

A female Chalkhill Blue.

I also managed to find a Common Blue.

Unfortunately there were no Silver spotted Skippers, still a little too early maybe.  However what was encouraging was the amount of Ground Thistle flowering, a food plant of the skipper.

I walked to the top of the hill and then up on to the fort wall.  The breeze was very welcome as it was now quite hot.

The view here is spectacular every visit and I thought I would celebrate it today with some nice black and white photographs.

Walking around the north side of the fort, there were more butterflies, several Dark-green Fritillaries were zipping about.  I think this must be a female as it was crawling about in the grass, maybe to lay eggs?

A little further along a lovely Marbled White had settled on a Field Scabious and despite the breeze continued to nectar.

Some orange movement caught my eye on the slope and it turned out to be a Small Tortoiseshell.

Everyone I have seen this year has either been here at Old Winchester Hill or on the other side of the valley at Beacon Hill.

Another Dark Green Fritillary, a little faded and resting on a nettle.

I sat on the bench at the entrance to the fort to eat my lunch and was entertained as a pair of Raven flew over calling to each other.

I walked the slopes and was rewarded with a very nice Red Admiral.

I debated whether to walk back along the top path or tke the slopes.  I went for the slopes, in this heat I must have been mad!

All the butterfly action was at the bottom of the hill before the entrance to the copse.  A large Skipper

And a nice male Brown Argus.

Walking through the wood there was a Peacock sunning itself on an old log.  The second brood of this species appears to be doing very well.

Coming out of the wood it was quite quiet, only a few butterflies along the path.  A surprise was this Small Copper on the path being one of them.

Then the sun came out and this Dark Green Fritillary appeared, looking for suitable plants to sit on while avoiding the attacks from Meadow Browns

Walking up the slope there were plenty more Peacock nectaring on the thyme.

One final black and white view before the steep climb back to the car park.

A visit of just over two and a half hours produced twenty two butterfly species, the best daily record of the year so far.

3rd July - Four Marks, Greywell Moors and Magdalen Hill, Hampshire

A short drive to meet Ian this morning, staying in the village and meeting him at Swellinghill Pond.  I arrived before him and nostalgically, took a walk around the pond.  There were many white butterflies around the bramble bushes, nectaring on the flowers, mostly Small and Large White butterflies, they were easy to photograph.  A Large White

We were here for Ian to see the Violet Helleborines, whilst they had grown since I last saw them they were still not in flower.  The flower spikes curving over, hopefully once they do there will be a good show

Back at the pond there were some more butteflies on the bramble.

And a Peacock that are now emerging as a second brood.

We then set off for Greywell Moors, a small reserve just outside Odiham, there was a stop in Alton along the way but we arrived at the Pumping Station.  We had to climb the gate and then walked through the long grass towards the hedge alongside the stream.  A Small Skipper showing well on a leaf.

We were here for a special orchid, we had seen them last year but came a little later in July.  The word was that they were flowering now and it didn't take long to find the Marsh Helleborine.

A stunning orchid of wetland areas, the Marsh helleborine can be found in fens, damp grassland, marshes and dune slacks, particularly on chalky soils. Its rather loose flower spike carries up to twenty white-and-pink flowers during July and August; in some areas, forests of hundreds of plants can colour the green marsh vegetation, which was very much the case here at Greywell. But despite its profusion in places, the Marsh helleborine is declining due to habitat loss.

The Marsh helleborine has broad, oval leaves at the base of the stem, and narrower leaves higher up the reddish stem. The flower spike consists of a loose cluster of white flowers that have a white, frilly lip and reddish sepals which look like wings; they hang on reddish stalks.

For me the Bee and Fly orchids are amazing but I find the Marsh Helleborine very special, a real looking orchid.  It also bizarrely reminds me of the Stinky Pete character from Toy Story 2.  Check it out!

In amongst the forest of Marsh Helleborines were Southern Marsh Orchids and Marsh Fragrant Orchids.  These are Southern Marsh Orchids.

There were plenty of butterflies about, here a Marbled White on the thistle flower head.

A Red Kite drifted over, but I was distracted by a butterfly settled on the Hemp Acrimony.  Using the binoculars I focused on it and could see it was a Hairstreak and went for Brown.

We defaulted to Brown Hairstreak, but it wasn't until Ian had a closer look that we realised it was actually a White-letter Hairstreak, the Brown Hairstreak has two white lines on the underside, this had a distinctive "W" shaped white lines.

Looking around the area we could only find one tall Wych Elm, plus it was now almost mid day and they are usually in the top of the trees at this time, only coming down early morning and late afternoon.

It very kindly flew to a flower head in much better light and allowed some great shots.

Normally they are way up in the trees and all you get is a distant view and photograph.  Here I can get a close up on the insect.

A lovely background too.

It finally flew off and lost to view.  We returned to the orchids and had the surprise of a Small Skipper on a Marsh Fragrant Orchid.

Of interest was this wasp nectaring on the Marsh Helleborine flowers, note the pollen sack on the head of the wasp, job done for the orchid.

A Red flash alerted me to a moth again nectaring on the many flowers.  A closer look revealed it to be a Scarlet Tiger.

We walked around the open area where there were many butterflies.  A nice Common Blue, probably just emerged from a second brood.

Another Small Skipper.

At the back of the reserve there was a group of Reedmace, the area though completely dry, testimony to the dry weather we have had.  In the small willow bushes growing amongst the reedmace was a Sedge Warbler.

Walking back, we met another visitor and he was able to help us with some of the orchid identification struggles.  He pointed out the the white form of the Marsh Helleborines, which we hadn't noticed as we walked around the many plants.

In the pale-flowered Marsh Helleborine variation epipactis palistris ochroleuca, the yellow-white toned flower is almost devoid of red and the three sepals are mostly a greenish-yellow. The hairy stems are likewise less reddish and more green. This variation is more often likely found in coastal dune systems than the fenland found here.

It would be a miss to have not shown the Marsh Fragrant Orchids.  Marsh Fragrant Orchid occurs only in alkaline marshy ground fed by calcareous water. It is thus more distinguishable from the two other British fragrant species on grounds of habitat rather than significant physical features. 

The plants here appeared quite similar to the closely related Chalk Fragrant species, and seemed to confuse some of the identification apps. The spikes are said to be more tightly packed, and there can be up to 100 flowers in shades of pink on the tallest stems (up to 70 cm) from late June to August. However it seems it is very difficult to separate reliably as the Marsh Fragrant without DNA analysis being employed, we were happy though to take the comments of the visitor we met

As we left another Scarlet Tiger was settled on the Hemp Acrimony.

From Greywell we headed south on the M3 to Magdalen Hill, a reserve just outside Winchester.  It was warm and we fancied a butterfly afternoon, with the chance of getting another early emergence.

We walked through the large flower meadow in overcast conditions with few butterflies about, but as soon as the sun came out they were everywhere, Small and Large Whites flying over the flowers, Meadow Browns weaving amongst the grass stems and Marbled whites cruising around the knapweed.

Getting onto the slopes there were Gatekeepers around the hawthorn and bramble.

The view looking south across the farmland.

A skipper low down in the grass had some dark black clubs on the end of the antennae, an Essex Skipper.

There were plenty of Brown Argus zipping around the slopes, but a few did settle when the sun went in.

As we came down the slope toward the bottom, a pale blue butterfly passed us and settled on a dead yellow rattle stem.

Then came to the thyme bushes to nectar, a Chalkhill Blue, the butterfly we had hoped to see this afternoon.

It even graced us with open wings, showing the lovely pale blue, contrasting with the grey tips and edges.

Walking on a nice view of a Small Skipper head on.

And around the thyme a tiny Mint Moth.

Another nice Small Skipper

Walking back towards the cars, a Crab Spider, feeding on an insect on a Field Scabious

A great day, with some surprises.