15th April - Noar Hill, Hampshire

Today I was concentrating on the summer stuff with a visit to Noar Hill, which is just around the corner for me.  Last time I was here it was to look for the Frog Orchids and I was surprised to find the Duke of Burgundy butterflies still about.  Then the reserve was covered in cowslips, no doubt today it will look a lot different.

It was a cloudy start, but as I was looking for orchids that wasn't a problem, but by the time I arrived there were pockets of blue sky and some sunshine which had warmed things up.  As I walked into the first chalk pit I was taken by the number of Common Spotted Orchids.  They seemed to be everywhere amongst the grass with a few small buds of Pyramidal Orchids amongst them.

True to its name, it is both common and has clearly spotted leaves.  The flowers form a pyramidal spike and are various shades of pink and violet, and often very pale as can be seen in the one above.

The lateral sepals are asymmetrical and held horizontally, patterned with lines and spots.  The lip is decorated with dark lines and loops and is divided into three lobes with a longer and more triangular central lobe.  The green leaves are marked with solid dark spots all over.

The orchid does not produce nectar but is pollinated by insects who are duped into thinking there is by the mildly scented flowers.

Rather than present a story of the walk around the reserve I will focus on the plants I have photographed and then on anything else I saw of interest.

The Pyramidal Orchids were quite small, but there were several larger specimens amongst them.

The densely packed, pyramid-shaped spikes of deep pink flowers make this orchid easy to see and identify.  They are quite common found on the calcareous bedrock.  As the flowers open the shape of the spike changes from a pyramid to a globe.

Each flower has one sepal and both petals that form a hood over a broad, deeply three-lobed lip and long, thread like spur.  The orchid is pollinated by both day and night flying insects.  During daylight hours the vivid colour of the petals attracts the insects and then by night it has an increasingly strong, sweet and musky scent that lures night-flying moths.  A sugary sap is contained within the walls of the spur which only an insect with a long proboscis can access.

Locally common across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight it grows on well drained grassland on chalk or limestone.  It has the ability to rapidly recolonise new grassland and abandoned pasture including road verges and disused railway lines.

Whilst the Common Spotted was probably the most numerous orchid amongst the reserve, the Chalk Fragrant was not far behind.  I do not recall seeing so many and this was remarked on by other visitors.

The photographs do not show well the prolific amount of orchids spread through the grass land.

The Chalk Fragrant:

This delicate and very pretty orchid has a long, tall flower spike that varies in colour from shades of pink to a reddish deep purple and sometimes at the other end, white.  Each flower has two lateral sepals spread out horizontally with a "rolled-up" appearance and a flat three lobed lip that lacks "shoulders" with a long slender, down curved spur which is filled with nectar.

Here the long, tall spike.  As its name suggests this orchid grows in rich chalk grassland.  It favours dry and open locations such as chalk pits and downland.  It once grew in large colonies but as downs and pastures were turned over to farmland this is a less occurrence.  This reserve is testament to benefit of providing the opportunity for this orchid to flourish

The 20 - 50mflowers emit a spicy scent with a hint of carnation which attracts both day and night moths and butterflies.  The scent can sometimes be considered a rather rancid smell, but getting close you can definitely smell this orchid.

The Chalk Fragrant was known as the Common Fragrant Orchid, but since 1997, using new molecular and genetic data the fragrant orchid has been separated into three distinct species Chalk, Marsh and Heath Fragrant.

Amongst the Common Spotted and Fragrant orchids but by now showing signs of going past their best were the Common Twayblade.  This orchid gets its name from the pair of large oval leaves at the base of the stem.  It is derived from the the leaves looking like "Twin Blades"

The petals of this orchid form a hood-like structure which is green with some purple patterning.  A long green, strap like lip hangs downwards and divides into two and holds a channel of nectar that acts like a landing strip for visiting insects.  Attracted by the musk like scent they crawl up the lip following the nectar channel and the pollinia becomes stuck on the insects body by the sudden release of a drop of sticky liquid which the insect triggers.  This is a highly efficient method of pollination and most flowers will set seeds.

The orchid I was here to find though was a lot smaller than those I had already found.  They are one of those orchids that once you see them you find many more.  I made my way to the location where they had been last year and quickly found a group.

This is the Musk Orchid, the stem is yellowish green to dark green and is ridged towards the top.  The tiny angular, bell like flowers are tightly clustered on the spike, with 20 - 30 small flowers on most plants

Each flower is entirely greenish-yellow with a three lobed lip which is hardly separated from the rest of the flower and the sepals and petals form a loose tapering hood.  The flowers do not open widely but have a subtle scent of musk or honey.  They are pollinated by a variety of small insects which crawl into the flowers and unwittingly pick up the sticky pollinia

It is found on short well drained grassland on chalk or limestone.  Because it is a small plant it can't compete with taller vegetation.  It has been lost from 70% of its historical range mostly due to agricultural 'improvements' and the ploughing of chalk grassland.  It is also vulnerable to drought conditions and a hot dry summer can cause a dramatic fall in the number of flowers the next year.  Here today there were a few, but not as many as seen last year.

With the Musk orchid found I decided to have a look around this area as this was where the Fly Orchids were earlier in the spring.  I was quite surprised to find one spike with two good flowers.

This is a very distinctive orchid and a fascinating example of insect mimicry among British orchids.  The tall slender spike have well spaced flowers which resemble a group of flies sitting on the stem

The folded dark purple lip resembles an insect's hairy body and at the base of the lip there are two glistening eyes.  The slate blue band across the centre forms the speculum and shines like folded wings.  The column forms the insect's head, while there are two small brown petals that are the insect's antennae.

I then found another one, but the flowers were a little worn now.  The orchid does not produce nectar but it does release a scent that mimics a female wasp's sexual pheromones.  This scent and the shape and velvety texture of the flowers prove irresistible to male digger wasps which attempt to mate with the flowers and inadvertently help to pollinate the plant.

Although slightly moving over a good view of the amazing mimicry.

The Fly Orchid is found at the edge of Beech woodlands and chalk scrub on chalk and limestone soils.

This orchid is red listed, considered vulnerable and on the \\\\biodiversity action plan UK list of priority species.

So a pretty impressive list of six orchid species on the reserve at this time of year.  As well as the orchids there were other plants of interest.  These two stood out.

The Knapweed Broomrape:  A stout, upright plant growing up to 75cm high with a long spike of honey-coloured (usually tinged purple) flowers. The flowers are tubular, curving from upwards to outwards like ship ventilators.  Knapweed Broomrape totally lacks chlorophyll and cannot photosynthesis itself, it is totally dependent upon its exclusive parasitic host, Greater Knapweed for nutrition. It's host may be several metres away, connected by the underground root systems, but always on calcareous soils.

This caught my eye, the Clustered Bellflower, a member of the Campanula family and similar to those I have in my garden.

This was a small moth, called the Orange Conch, it was the colour that caught my eye.  A brightly coloured Tortrix moth, having golden-yellow forewings with metallic blue markings.  It is rather scarce in Britain, occurring locally in the southern half of England.

The moths fly from May to July, and the larvae live from September throughout the winter, feeding in the roots of ragwort

Then some more moths and butterflies that are a little more well known.

The Small Heath:

At last some acceptable shots of the Meadow Brown.

A Cinnabar moth.

Large Skipper:

A bit of a surprise a rather worn Small Blue.

And last but not least a Painted Lady that was on the path just before the gate to the reserve.

The orchids were stunning and photographs will never do them justice, a lovely three hours to enjoy all that is good about Noar Hill.

13th June - Pig Bush and Shatterford Inclosures, New Forest, Hampshire

At last, a clear blue sky and sunshine first thing in the morning and you could be confident it would last.  Ian and I had trusted the weather forecast earlier in the week and had planned to make this a day in the New Forest in the hope of catching up with some of the summer specialties.  On arriving in the car park I was a little surprised to feel it a little cool, despite the sunshine there was a fresh wind blowing.

Undeterred, we set off through the wood and out on to the main track leading out to the wood at Rowbarrow, as we crossed the open heath there were Skylarks singing.  Going into the wood we remarked on the complete lack of bird song, how quickly the spring activity has turned into the summer malaise.

A search if the Nightjar tree found nothing and we walked around the outside of the wood where we cane across, what can only be a juvenile Cuckoo, it flew across in front of us and then into a tree.  It came out a little later chased by a small bird, which may have been it's foster parent.

We stopped in the ope that we would see it again, but had to make do with a view of the impressive oak trees in the area.

We continued to walk around the outside of the wood and came across this juvenile Redstart, totally unphased by what it was standing on.

Already we had seen quite a few Chaffinches and along with Stonechats and Robins we would see a lot more over the course of the day.  Not often photographed, but maybe they should be.

Crossing heath once more we could hear and see Dartford Warbler in the distance and then flushed this Woodlark from the path.

A Willow Warbler had been singing from a nearby bush.  As we stopped to see if we could locate it we were quickly aware that there was more than one.  At one point we counted six Willow Warbler which were clearly a family group.

Here the lemon yellow wash of a juvenile bird.

They were active flying between the small hawthorn bushes and the bracken.

We walked into the wooded area close to the railway line.  Once again our search for both Redstart and Spotted Flycatcher didn't turn up anything, but as we searched I came across this rather worn looking Marsh Tit.

And a Treecreeper, in pretty much the same area that I had p[hotographed one in April.

We crossed the railway bridge and walked towards the Shatterford area through a wooded area.  Blackcap were singing and Great Spotted Woodpecker called.  We came into an open area surrounded by tall Silver Birch trees.

A Spotted Flycatcher sat on a prominent branch to the right of the dead birch tree in the centre of the photograph.

We picked up the main path that leads to Woodfidley from the Shatterford car park.  We walked towards the car park.  Clear blue skies over the heath and Bishop's Dyke.

We were looking for the fourth blue butterfly to emerge this year, the Silver-studded Blue.  They like the pink Bell heather and there were quite a few in flower along side the path.  It didn't take long to find one and it was a beautiful one, just emerged most likely.

The butterfly gets its name from the silver spots that can be seen on the hind underwing at the edge of the wing in the orange.  Not so clear in this shot.

But as it sat up on the braken and closed the wings they were clearly visible.

having found one quite quickly we expected more, but it wasn't to be so we turned back and headed to wards Woodfidley and then on towards Denny Wood.  A dead tree amongst the oaks caught my eye and it looks quite spectacular in black and white.

In the winter a Great Grey Shrike was present in the area behind the pond.  Today there were Marsh Frogs calling.  These are a recent introduction to the Nee Forest, having spread west from their first colonisation in Essex and Kent.

Ditches cross the area and feed into the pond, alongside these are hawthorn bushes and in one of these we had a brief view of an adult male Redstart.

We walked through Denny Wood, once again in the hope of finding Redstart, but without any luck.  We did though come across this Wren that was sitting on a dead bough in a small spot of light and was singing away at full voice.

A beautiful background to enhance the scene.

At the edge of the wood we did find a few Redstart, mostly juveniles and there was a Garden Warbler singing in the middle of a bush.  We crossed the heath towards the Shatterford car park and stopped at the ponds by the side of the track.  Common and Blue-tailed Damselflies were buzzing around the vegetation and they were joined by an Emperor Dragonfly.  It was as we tried to photograph the dragonfly that we realised we had been joined by House Martin who were looking to drink from the pond.

For as long as I have been coming to Shatterford there has always been a House Martin colony around the houses alongside the railway line and station, the House Martins must have come from there.  As we came through the wood at Shatterford there was a large puddle with water and mud and there were more House Martins there collecting mud for their nest building and repair.

While the back and head are a shimmering navy blue, the wings appear brown close up, but this could be something to do with the light refraction.

To features that stand out in this photograph, first the feathered legs I referred to in the post from Titchfield a week ago, and secondly, I never realised that they had so large eyes in comparison with the head.

Whether it was the same birds coming back time and time again I couldn't tell, but they kept coming and it was lovely to watch them close up and on the ground.

We walked over the bridge and then alongside the road, heading back to Pig Bush.  Rather than keep going on the road we struck off in the direction of Furze Hill and the small copse.  Coming out of the copse we could hear Curlew calling and we found one in the middle of the bog.

Curlew do still nest in the New Forest, but their numbers have declined dramatically.  There was a sign on Yew Tree Heath road advising caution in case of chicks on the road, the chicks are precocious and feed for themselves while the parents look out for them.  This bird was calling and went through it's whole repertoire, from calls to the bubbling song that characterises open space such as this.  Another bird was responding, it may have been a mate or maybe well developed chicks calling back.

Eventually it flew of in the direction of the calling bird, calling back as it flew.

We carried on and made our way back to the car park for lunch and a drink.  After lunch it was time to search for the other summer specialty we were hoping for.  A little later last year we had been successful in finding the Lesser Butterfly Orchid on the heath opposite the car park, so we were back and were hoping to find them again.

We followed the path from the road down and then cut in to the left.  Last year it hadn't taken me long to find one plant and then with Ian's WhatThreeWords reference I found quite a few.  We followed the reference and worryingly it took us through and area of burnt gorse.  Bracken was growing through, but there wasn't any sign of the butterfly orchids.  We made our way back to the area that didn't look like it had burnt and searched there.  Finally Ian found one, ironically close to the road and the path we had initially walked down.  When I came over I then found another one.

Though very similar to the gReater Butterfly Orchid we see at Martin Down, the Lesser is a little smaller and more dainty.  It also has fewer flowers on the spike, which is a little narrower.

In Hampshire the Lesser Butterfly Orchid is much scarcer than the Greater Butterfly Orchid.  It is very local and tends to hind beneath Bracken and in the case the heather in acid grasslands of the New Forest.

While it also has white flowers with a narrow lip and an extremely long spur, the mouth of the spur is narrower and tends to be straighter.  The main difference though is the arrangement of the pollinia, which unfortunately we can't see here.  In the greater Butterfly Orchid they are widely spaced and converge towards the top of the flower, whereas the Lesser has the pollinia closer together and parallel.

There were a lot more Silver-studded Blues in the area and there was an opportunity to photograph them as the flew amongst the heather.

Another good view of the "silver studs" that give the butterfly its name, the studds "sparkling" in the four lowest black spots amongst the orange.

A walk around the heather and bracken found quite a few Spotted Orchids.  Now identification is always a challenge with Spotted Orchids as there are so many possible hybrids.  The Common Spotted Orchid has flowers with dark lines and loops.  What we thinks we have here are Heath Spotted Orchids.  These are known to have a lip that resembles a wide petticoat and the side-lobes are much wider than the central lobe.  So what do we find, well the colour varies as is the case with all the spotted orchids, but I am fairly confident these are all the Heath Spotted.  These are very acid soils, hence the Lesser Butterflies present and the Heath Spotted is the New Forest's most common and abundant orchid.  

This one seen from above.

Another factor in favour of the Heath Spotted is that the New Forest Heath Spotted are shorter and can have a dense conical spike of pale pink flowers around the tip.

The colour variation is wide, but the shape of the petals remains the same.

It had been a long day and we had walked a good ten kilometres around the area.  As we walked back to the car park a Spotted Flycatcher showed briefly in the canopy.  A good day though and we managed to see al we had to hoped to, while it was nice to be out again in the warmth and sunshine.