Didsbury - 22nd to 28th June

Both the flowers and butterflies are growing in numbers and variety in the areas of Fog Lane Park, Fletcher Moss Park, Stenner Woods and the fields that border the River Mersey in Didsbury. Small Skippers are emerging as well as fresh Small Tortoisehells and there are plenty of Meadow Browns. On the 27th I found my first Ringlets near Stenner Woods and the River Mersey. Commas are also now visible as well as some nice Large White Butterflies. Flowers around Stenner Woods include Meadowsweet, Meadow Vetchling, Feverfew, Sneezewort and Corncockle.

Corncockle

female Meadow Brown

Feverfew

Large White

Meadow Vetchling

Meadowsweet

Ringlet

female Small Skipper

Small Tortoiseshell

Sneezewort

Sneezewort

Warton Crag & Gait Barrows - 24th June

On the hottest day of the year, where temperatures reached 30oC in Manchester, Josh and I headed north with the first stop being the limestone outcrop of Warton Crag. Walking up towards the top of the crag we found several Northern Brown Argus and some Grayling settling on the path and the limestone outcrop. On the top where there is extensive bracken we found several Dark Green Fritillary, most flying far to fast to photograph although occasionally one would settle. Other species seen included Small & Large Skipper, Ringlet, Brimstone, Small Tortoiseshell, Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Comma, Speckled Wood, Small & Large White and Meadow Brown.

Grayling

Grayling

Northern Brown Argus

Northern Brown Argus

Next stop was Gait Barrows in the hope that the Dark-red Helleborines would now be in flower. We were not disappointed! Three magnificent spikes were in full flower growing in between the fissures in the limestone pavement. To finish the day off we had a quick stop at Hawes Water about a kilometre further down the road where we found a few Fragrant Orchids and some Common Spotted Orchids.

Common Spotted Orchid

Common Spotted Orchid

Dark-red Helleborine

Dark-red Helleborine

Dark-red Helleborine

Dark-red Helleborine

Fragrant Orchid

Didsbury - 15th to 21st June

The first Small and Large Skippers this week on the 21st in the fields near the River Mersey. I also found here a rather sickly and solitary orchid which looks like a hybrid Northern Marsh x Common Spotted Orchid.

Northern Marsh x Common Spotted Orchid

Large Skipper

Large Skipper

male Small Skipper

Ashdown Forest - 13th & 20th June

On my way to and from Sussex I decided to stop off at Ashdown Forest to see if I could find some Silver-studded Blues, recognising that it was a little early in the season, certainly compared to 2019. However, since most butterflies seem to have emerged earlier this year due to the warm weather it seemed like a worthwhile trip. There is a small colony just behind Smugglers car park and this is where I focussed my efforts. On the 13th June the weather was a little cloudy and after searching for an hour I was about to give up when I spotted a single pristine male Silver-studded Blue. For the return trip on the 20th June the weather was similarly cloudy but fortunately the sun emerged and I found 3 male and 1 female butterflies.

male Silver-studded Blue

male Silver-studded Blue

male Silver-studded Blue

male Silver-studded Blue

male Silver-studded Blue

male Silver-studded Blue

female Silver-studded Blue

Horseshoe Plantation - 16th & 17th June

The afternoon trip on the 16th started unexpectedly when a growing number of birdwatchers arrived to listen to, and ultimately see, a Blyth's Reed Warbler in the large bush near the car park. The song was very attractive and distinctive. Butterfly action was provided by the usual species to be expected here including plenty of Large Skippers.

Large Skipper

The following afternoon I found two Small Blues and later on when the temperature started to drop the Marbled Whites and Dark Green Fritillaries started to settle. I also found a pair of Common Blues mating which always provides for excellent photographic opportunities.

Dark Green Fritillary

Large Skipper

Marbled White

mating Common Blues

mating Common Blues

mating Common Blues

Small Blue

Small Blue

Ditchling Common - 16th June

I found a very helpful link on a website which reported a colony of ca. 150 Heath Spotted Orchids at Ditchling Common so decided to venture there to see what would be a new species of orchid for me. The website even gave a grid reference and so in the end it turned out to be quite easy to locate them. I probably found about 50 spikes without too much effort, most very pale pink in colour and clearly smaller and more delicately marked than Common Spotted Orchids. One flower was particularly small and essentially pure white in colour.

Heath Spotted Orchid

Heath Spotted Orchid

Heath Spotted Orchid

Heath Spotted Orchid

Heath Spotted Orchid

Heath Spotted Orchid

Heath Spotted Orchid

Heath Spotted Orchid