Nob End - 17th July

I have been meaning to pay a visit to Nob End near Bolton for the past few months and finally got around to it. This is the site of a former chemical factory that used the old Leblanc process for the manufacture of sodium carbonate or washing soda as it is more commonly known. It is a relatively small area but there is one field that has hundreds of Marsh Fragrant Orchids and thousands of Marsh Helleborines together with a few Common Spotted Orchids. In the neighbouring wood there are Broad-leaved, Dune and Green-flowered Helleborines including an astonishing example of the latter with eight spikes containing many flowers.

Green-flowered Helleborine

Broad-leaved Helleborine

Marsh Fragrant Orchid

Marsh Fragrant Orchid

Marsh Fragrant Orchid

Marsh Fragrant Orchid

Marsh Helleborine

Marsh Helleborine

Marsh Helleborine

Marsh Fragrant Orchids

Green-flowered Helleborine

Ainsdale Dunes - 12th July

Another trip across to Ainsdale Dunes to monitor progress of the Helleborines. Among the dune slacks I found three Dune Helleborines in flower although they were all quite small and two of them had started to finish flowering. However on the edge of the Scots Pine forests it was a different story with large numbers of tall Dune Helleborines, most just starting to flower, as well as a few Green-flowered Helleborines in full flower. It looks like being a very good year for both species. I also found an attractive Dune Pansy.

Dune Helleborine

Dune Helleborine

Dune Helleborine

Dune Helleborine

Green-flowered Helleborine

Green-flowered Helleborine

Green-flowered Helleborine

Green-flowered Helleborine

Green-flowered Helleborine

Dune Pansy

Green-flowered Helleborine

High and Over & Hollingbury Park & Horseshoe Plantation - 10th July

An all day trip that started with my first visit to High and Over - a beautiful location on the South Downs that overlooks the Cuckmere Valley on one side. Plenty of Pyramidal Orchids still in flower here and my first Chalkhill Blue of the year plus several Marbled White. Then on to Hollingbury Park in Brighton where I managed to find a couple of White-letter Hairstreak nectaring on the thistles as well as a pair of Small Skipper mating. On the way home I dropped in at my patch Horseshoe Plantation to watch the Blues and the Browns slowly going to roost - always a magical moment.

view from High and Over

Marbled White

Pyramidal Orchid

Pyramidal Orchid

Shaggy Ink Cap Mushroom

Small Skipper pairing

White-letter Hairstreak

White-letter Hairstreak

White-letter Hairstreak

Brown Argus

male Common Blue

male Common Blue

Marbled White pairing

male Chalkhill Blue

Horseshoe Plantation - 7th July

Quite a diverse range of butterflies at Horseshoe Plantation today including a pristine Brown Argus, Small Skipper, Marbled White, Dark Green Fritillary, Gatekeeper, Common Blue and Chalkhill Blue, some of which were caught in the act of pairing.

female Brown Argus

male Chalkhill Blue

female Common Blue

male Dark Green Fritillary

Marbled Whites pairing

Small Skipper

Small Skipper

Small Skippers pairing

Knepp Estate & Ditchling Beacon - 6th July

Spent the morning doing a 10Km walk around the Knepp Estate 'purple path' where we saw a lot of Purple Hairstreaks and one Purple Emperor high up in a tree. Also some Marbled White, Small Skipper and fresh Gatekeepers. In the afternoon we paid our first visit to Ditchling Beacon where we found a few pale pink Marsh Fragrant Orchids coming into flower on the steep chalk slopes as well as Round-headed Rampion.

Purple Hairstreak

Purple Hairstreak

Marsh Fragrant Orchid

Marsh Fragrant Orchid

Marsh Fragrant Orchid

Marsh Fragrant Orchid

Marsh Fragrant Orchid

Round-headed Rampion

Round-headed Rampion