19th June - Martin Down, Hampshire

As we started the first real heat wave of the year, Ian and I decided to meet at Martin Down, a location that when it gets hot, can be very hot!  Nevertheless we met just before 9.00 in the morning with the temperature showing in the car of 27 degrees celsius!  We were here to try and find the Frog Orchid we hadn't managed to locate at Noar Hill last year.  The signs were good, a photograph had been reported on Facebook and we had this to go with.

Normally we would walk up the hill towards the ditch on the left hand side of the car park, however today we made our way directly towards the rifle ranges.  On the way there were Large kipper in the grasses by the side of the path.

There was a lot of Knapweed in amongst the grasses.  Here a Forrester Moth, a day flying species, nectaring on the Knapweed.

Marbled Whites were also attracted.

A Skylark was singing from a small hawthorn bush.

A Small Heath on the Knapweed.

And a female Marbled White.

WE reached the Bokerly Ditch and then turned right heading towards the ranges.  As we walked through the grasses there were lots of Dark-green Fritillaries, we counted easily into the fifties, but none of them looked to stop, despite appearing to search the grasses.

Other butterflies in good numbers were the Marbled Whites and Meadow Browns.  On the ridge of the ditch was a singing Corn Bunting.

And a male Stonechat.

We reached the chalk area that is on the south side of the largest rifle range.  The grass here was short, but with bushes and longer grass around the outside.  Looking at the photograph that had been posted, we were able to work out the area where the Frog Orchid had been seen, however we searched and searched without any luck.  Eventually we decided to have a break and try the area on the other side of the range, the area where we had found the Frog Orchid last year.

There were plenty of Spotted and Fragrant orchids, in the field and on the banks but we couldn't find any Frog Orchids.  We walked away, came back and searched again, still without any luck.  A Yellowhammer was singing from a nearby bush and it allowed me to approach quite closely.

We searched some of the other areas that looked suitable without any luck, but did manage to find the only Ringlet of the day, not a butterfly that is common here, and this nice group of Common Spotted Orchids.

We decided to go back and search the original area again.  I wondered off to check some parts we hadn't searched before in the hope that maybe there were something there. Ian called out that there was a nice Small Skipper on a flower head and I could see him photographing it.  I made my way over, but it had gone as I reached him.  As Ian pointed out where the skipper had been, both our eyes drifted to a shape close by and that shape turned out to be the Frog Orchid!

We must have walked past it many times as we searched, there was also the risk we could have stepped on it.  The orchid was only about two inches high.  There were others in the same area, one other flowering, the others just the basal leaves.

This phot very similar to the one we had seen on the facebook page.

This is the second flowering orchid, maybe a little more advanced that the one we originally found.

The Frog Orchid is a short erect orchid, between 4-20 cm tall. It has a basal rosette of blunt hairless leaves and very narrow short leaves up the stem. The short loose-flowered spike has greenish to brown-purple flowers with a close helmet of sepals. The green-yellow or brownish flower lip hangs down below the sepals and has three teeth at the tip. Its outside edges are often chocolate coloured. The green bracts are as long as the flower stalk and flowers.

The Frog Orchid grows from tubers and flowers from June to August and grows almost entirely from seed with little vegetative spread.  It is a plant of well-drained dry calcareous soils overlying chalk or limestone, or of calcareous sands in Southern England. It can rarely occur in more neutral to acid hay meadows, such as Dartmoor and Bodmin Moor where the vegetation is shorter. Elsewhere in the UK it is associated with flushes, limestone pavement, screes, rocky ledges, roadside verges and quarries. It was probably associated with sheep-walks / droves in the past, where a long continuity of grazing kept the grass permanently short, just like the conditions we found here.

Leaving the ranges we headed back along the ditch, there we still many Dark-green Fritillaries zipping about, but by now they were beginning to run out of fuel and we started to come across them nectaring on the Knapweed.

The Dark Green Fritillary is the most widespread fritillary found in the British Isles and is a pleasure to see as it flies powerfully over its grassland habitats, frequently stopping to nectar on Thistles and Knapweed.. This butterfly can be found throughout the British Isles, although it is less common in central and eastern England. Despite its powerful flight, it is somewhat surprising that this species is not particularly mobile, staying within its breeding grounds.

The males are the more conspicuous of the two sexes, and can be seen patrolling over large areas of habitat looking for a virgin female which often rest low down in vegetation. Once found, mating takes place almost immediately. A mating pair may be found resting on vegetation and will even continue to nectar while coupled.

If you have wondered why an almost all orange and black butterfly is named a "Dark-Green", then you have to look on the underside of the hind wings.  Well, it gets its name from the green hue found on the underside of the hindwings, which are peppered with large silver spots

We reached the point of the ditch that we usually start from.  This is a good spot for the Greater Butterfly Orchid.  I saw them when they first emerged in mid May and today there were quite a few about, but they are looking to be just about going over.

We sat on the bench, had lunch and enjoyed the "hockley" style view across the grassland and the distant fields.

After lunch we set off back to the car park, heading down the path with the distant field still in view.

The three most numerous butterflies were now well into the hundreds on our count.  The Dar-greens the most numerous, we were treated to one more nectaring on the Knapweed.

We brought what was now a very hot day to a close after a very successful Frog Orchid search and plenty of butterflies.  The butterfly final count was as follows

6th June - Martin Down, Hampshire

June is always a good time to visit Martin Down so I had arranged to meet Ian relatively early this morning.  As it was it wasn't as early as I liked but on arriving the weather was good and despite the cold wind it was a pleasant sunny morning.  We set off up the hill towards the Bokerly Ditch once more this year.

On our last visit the Greater Butterfly Orchids had been just stalks, the hope was that today they would be in flower.  As we approached the ditch we could see the bank covered in white flowers and as we got closer we could see these were in fact Greater Butterfly Orchids and more than we have ever seen at this location, they were literally everywhere.

While some were more of a stalk, this one had fewer flower heads, but it provided the chance to see the delicate nature of these orchids.

There are two species of butterfly orchid, greater and lesser.  They are best told apart by the angle of the pollinia, they are parallel in the lesser, but as can be seen here in the Greater they are more angled.  The pollinia are the orange marks in the middle of the flower head.

Everywhere you looked there were stalks of these lovely delicate flowers.

The Greater Butterfly Orchids were not the only orchid species, there were at least a couple of Fragrant Orchid species.  Chalk Fragrant Orchids

And what looks like a Heath Fragrant Orchid.

There were also plenty of Common Spotted Orchids.

We walked along the ditch once more, passing so many Common Spotted and Fragrant Orchids.

At the junction with the Jubilee Way we found a Spotted Flycatcher in the dead branches of an Ash tree.  By the way it stayed in place we think it might be a newly fledged youngster, but were not certain.

The dark background of the trees provided a lovely frame for this male Yellowhammer.

The female, here with food.

And a Five Spot Burnet in the grass of the dutch.

We walked up the Jubilee Way looking for more Spotted Flycatcher, we could hear them in the copse.  Ahead of us was a Roe Deer feeding by the gate.

Then we came across a Brown Hare in the grass.

We walked to the top of the path without seeing anymore Hare, then as we came back a Spotted Flycatcher flew out of the trees, but we were distracted as there were two Brown Hares that ran past us very close.

The Spotted Flycatcher then came back and sat for us on an old post.

We returned to the ditch and continued the walk.  A Small Heath settled in the grass.

Then a flash of electric blue and a male Adonis Blue settled on some Kidney Vetch in front of us, a stunning butterfly.

With wings folded it doesn't stand out.

Rooks were all over the grassland and would settle together calling constantly in the hawthorn bushes.

At the next footpath cross roads a Small Blue, looking a little faded.

The Burnt Tip Orchids were still in flower, but were looking as if they were about to go over very soon.

But the other rare flower here, the Field Fleawort, were showing very well.  Favouring chalky soils, this is a strong hold for a species that is becoming quite rare.

Just before the rifle ranges is a very good place to find the Common Spotted Orchids, this one a very special specimen.

A Small Heath nectaring on the bramble flowers.

Another Five Spot Burnet.

We walked around the rifle ranges and headed to a corner of one where there are usually good numbers of Fragrant Orchids.  As we worked our way through the Fragrants I came across what at first I thought was an orchid that had gone over.  But a closer look showed it to be fine and after Ian checked it with his app, we were looking at a Frog Orchid, a first for both of us.

It is a relatively small orchid and can be difficult to spot, however the shape and colour are distinctive once you know what to look for.  They are scarce favouring chalky and limestone soils.

They have downward facing flowers with rounded a rounded hood and long reddish green lips which have two side lobes and a tiny central one.

There were plenty of orchids along a bank that was now being warmed by the sun.  Never give up the chance to photograph moth or butterfly settled on an orchid.  Here a Five Spot Burnet on a Common Spotted Orchid.

Then the butterfly that is special here, an almost immaculate Marsh Fritillary.

There were Common Blues and and a few Brown Argus buzzing around in the sunshine.

Another Moth on an Orchid, this time a Burnt Companion, a fairly common day flying moth in these grasslands.

The grass on the bank.

Walking back there wasn't much of any other interest, but this Grizzled Skipper showed itself from a different angle showing off the lovely patterns of the underwing.

These dainty little butterflies are now coming to the end of their season, a chance to enjoy them until next year.

We walked around the edge of the fields hoping for Turtle Dove without any luck.  A Lesser Whitethroat gave us the run around before we walked back to the car park and I headed home with time to get myself ready for my coming trip.