Nick Turner's Nature Blog: May 2021

Sunday, May 30, 2021

Warton Crag & Gait Barrows - 30th May

A trip to Warton Crag to look for Pearl-bordered and/or Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary proved frustrating although I did find a nice fresh male Northern Brown Argus. The colour of the NBAs here seems very dark brown and quite distinct from the warmer brown colour of the Brown Argus found on the South Downs. I then moved on to Gait Barrows where ironically I found a Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary which stopped long enough for me to take a photograph.

male Northern Brown Argus

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Saturday, May 29, 2021

Nob End SSSI - 29th May

The end of May is a little bit early for a first visit of the year to Nob End SSSI. However I did manage to find a couple of what looked to me like Northern Marsh Orchids. I must admit I find it difficult to separate this species from Southern Marsh Orchid but these plants appeared darker purple. Further along the river I found Water Avens in flower.

Northern Marsh Orchid

Thursday, May 27, 2021

Fletcher Moss Park - 27th May

At Fletcher Moss Park in Didsbury the Southern Marsh Orchids are just starting to flower. Due to the recent rain the whole area is under water and you need Wellington boots if you want to venture out among the orchids to take photos.

Southern Marsh Orchid

Tuesday, May 25, 2021

Horseshoe Plantation - 25th May

Back down to earth at Horseshoe Plantation where the highlights were some Common Blues and Brown Argus amongst the usual butterflies.

male Brown Argus

male Common Blue

Sunday, May 23, 2021

Chappetts Copse & Mount Caburn - 23rd May

My first orchid trip into Hampshire with one key target in mind, to add Sword-leaved Helleborine to my all time orchid list. Chappetts Copse, which is just over the border from West Sussex, is the ‘go-to’ place for this Helleborine with a large colony. The drive took ca. 2 hours and finding this small copse did not prove too difficult, nor parking nearby. Inside the copse the Sword-leaved Helleborines were easy to find due to their abundance, even though they were only starting to flower. Quite a stunning sight to see such a rare orchid in these numbers! There also a few White Helleborines and what looked like hybrids between the two, essentially very tall White Helleborines. As a real bonus I also found two Bird’s-nest Orchids by the path. My second ‘first’ of the day (if that makes sense?). On the way home I couldn’t resist dropping in at Mount Caburn to have a final look, for 2021, at the Burnt Orchids, some of which were now starting to go over.

Sword-leaved Helleborine

Bird's-nest Orchid

White Helleborine

Burnt Orchids

Burnt Orchid

Burnt Orchids

Wednesday, May 19, 2021

Darlands Bank & Yockletts Bank - 19th May

Back over to Kent today with a first visit to Darlands Bank near Gillingham which has the reputation of having one of the largest colonies of Man Orchids in the UK. I figured that given the cool Spring that I might be a little early and that turned out to be the case with most of the plants I found just coming into flower. Still this looked like a great place to come back to in a couple of weeks’ time when they should be nearer their peak. Thereafter I headed down to Yockletts Bank where things were now in full swing compared to my visit just over a week ago. Plenty of Lady and Fly Orchids in full flower including a very pale coloured Lady Orchid. Common Twayblade were also plentiful and the White Helleborine were just beginning to flower.

Man Orchid

White Helleborine

Lady Orchid

Fly Orchid

Common Twayblade