15th June- 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.

15th June - Portsdown Hill, Beacon Hill & Chappetts Copse, Hampshire

Saturday morning was a wake up call, overcast, strong winds and sporadic rain.  A long way from the blue skies and warm temperatures we had left behind in Sicily the day before.  I had arranged to meet Ian at the top of Portsdown Hill, today was to be about Orchids and hopefully butterflies but the latter was not going to be easy.  As I sat in the car, parked in the lay by the rain became heavy, the wind rocking the car and the rain thumping on the windscreen and roof.  When Ian arrived he joined me in the car and we chatted until the rain eased and there was signs of blue sky away to the west.

Leaving the car we were joined by a Kestrel using the up draught from the hill to hover over the grass area.

We walked down the hill and through the grassy paths, as I said we were here to look for orchids, and some special ones at that.  Along side the paths there were Pyramidal Orchids in bloom.  The pyramidal orchid lives up to its name - look for a bright pinky-purple, densely packed pyramid of flowers atop a green stem. 

Eventually the path took us to a grassy area that was below the chalk cliffs of Portsdown Hill and in amongst the tall grass was the orchid we were looking, the Lizard Orchid.  I have seen these before, but in the Dordogne area of France, this was the first time I had seen one in this country.

The Lizard Orchid grows on calcareous soils and likes sunny positions on the edges of open woodland and on roadside verges. This orchid also grows in dry meadows, rocky areas, and open woods.

The long, tail-like lip is usually spiralled and dotted with pink or purple in the centre. Lizard Orchid’s flowers have a rather foul smell, said to be similar to the smell of goats.

Lizard Orchid is usually rare in the UK but in the right location it can be found in great numbers. It grows up to a metre in height but can nonetheless be difficult to spot when growing in long grass on roadside verges.

The scientific name (Himantoglossum) derives from the Greek for ‘strap-tongue’ Hircinum is Latin for ‘goat-like’, and refers to the strong, foul smell of the flowers.  In most European languages it is known as ‘(Billy or male) goat orchid’.

The Lizard Orchid is pollinated by insects particularly bees.

In the same area as the Lizard Orchids were several Bee Orchids.  These were looking particularly superb with most of the flower heads in perfect condition.

The Bee Orchid is a sneaky mimic - the flower’s velvety lip looks like a female bee. Males fly in to try to mate with it and end up pollinating the flower. Sadly, the right bee species doesn’t live here in the UK, so the UK Bee Orchids have to rely on self-pollination.

A small orchid, the bee orchid has a rosette of leaves at ground level and two leaves that grow up the stem as a sheath. The stem displays a number of relatively large flowers with pink sepals that look like wings, and furry, brown lips that have yellow markings on, just like a bee.

A drop of water left over from the rain was clinging to the velvet like abdomen of the "bee".

As well as these two special orchids there were others, the Common Spotted Orchid.

Despite the overcast conditions a Marbled White flew past us, but didn't stop, a first for the year.  But then Ian found one settled on the top of a Pyramidal Orchid.

A newly emerged male, sitting out the cool conditions.

We climbed up the side of the cliff, it looks quite dramatic close up.

At the top of the cliff we walked through loads of daisies and Common Spotted Orchids.

Despite the overcast conditions, the sea around Portchester Fort looked distinctly Mediterranean.

We disturbed a group of Ravens that were feeding on a dead rabbit, they took off and flew around us using the wind to not go away too far.

From Portsdown Hill our next destination was to be Beacon Hill.  We had been here for the first time earlier in the spring, and I an had visited in the week and found Man Orchids.  He was happy to return so I could see them.

We walked around the hill, taking in the wonderful view on what was now a lovely morning.

After reaching the area we eventually found a single Man Orchid, a spike about 20 centimetres tall alongside a small Blackthorn bush.

The Man Orchid takes its name from the appearance of its hooded flowers, with dangling appendages that look like a head and limbs. It grows from tubers, does not always flower annually and is now a rare sight in the UK.

This is an orchid of short alkaline grasslands and is most often found growing full sun or mid-shade, but the Man Orchid is also found occasionally along the edges of open woodland and in scrubby areas.

As I have written the name Man Orchid refers to the human shaped lip of the flower which, together with the sepals and petals which form a hood above the lip, gives the flower a strong resemblance to a small human figure. The plants grow to around 40cm tall and there are 5-10 basal leaves which are unmarked but clearly veined. The colour of the flowers varies from greenish-bronze to pale yellow and they are usually marked with bronze.

I am a sucker for a tree on the horizon.

The side of the slope was covered in Chalk Fragrant Orchids.

This we considered is a Heath Fragrant Orchid.

A superb Common Spotted Orchid.

Another Chalk Fragrant.

A close up of the petals.

Walking back to the cars, the slopes were covered with daisies and buttercups.  Back in April it was Cowslips.

Our final stop of the day was Chappetts Copse just outside West Meon.  This is a reserve managed by the Hants and IOW Wildlife Trust and consists of ancient woodland.

We were here for more orchids, this time Helleborines.  Unfortunately the two orchids we hoped for, Frog and Bird's Nest were now past there best, but this didn't stop us looking for them.

In the dark conditions under the Beech canopy Ian pointed out a White Helleborine.

White Helleborine is a slow-growing orchid that grows under Beech trees. It has angular ribbed stems and ribbed leaves. Its small flowers are creamy-white and elongated with a curved tip, borne in spikes. On opening, the flowers show a yellow lip, which gives rise to the alternative common name of 'poached egg plant'. However, the flowers do not always fully open, as the plant relies mainly on self-pollination.

There are two other Helleborines here, the most numerous being the Sword-leaved Helleborine.  There are getting to the end of their flowering period, but there were still a few showing flowers.

The Sword-leaved Helleborine grows to about 40 cm in height and is distinguished from the Broad-leaved Helleborine by the shape of its leaves, which are long and narrow. Both the Latin namelongifolia which means long-leaved and the English common name 'sword-leaved' refer to the distinctive shape of the leaves.

Although generally associated (in the UK, that is) with the chalk-rich habitats of southern England, the Sword-leaved Helleborine also occurs in western Scotland, in a few sites in Ireland and on the western fringes of Mid and North Wales. This species is in steep decline both in the UK and throughout mainland Europe, where it is widespread but nowhere very common.

Not far from the Sword-leaved Helleborines were the similar Broad-leaved Helleborine.  These are not quite flowering just yet so we had to make do with the flower heads and the broad leaves for identification.

The Broad-leaved Helleborine is a tall, dark orchid with leaves that spiral around the stem and purple-tinged, drooping flowers. It flowers from July to September and can mostly be seen in woodlands and scrub.

It has broad, oval leaves, with strong veins, at its base, and smaller leaves that wind their way up its stem. A single flower spike has loose clusters of 'drooping' flowers that are greenish with a purple tinge.

Some species of wasp and bee that are attracted to Broad-leaved Helleborines have been noted as becoming 'intoxicated' after visiting these orchids for nectar - it appears that the flowers can contain a kind of alcohol as a result of a fungus! The bees like it so much, they come back for more, ensuring the flower is pollinated.

We will be back to Chappetts Copse earlier next year to hopefully find the Fly and Bird's Nest Orchids.  Today we were happy with the two Helleborines.

Despite the weather it had been a very successful day with three new orchids for me and the lovely Lizard and Bee Orchids.