New Forest Sat 27th June

Spent the day in the New forest for some of the Orchids that occur here. Heath fragrant, Heath spotted, Bog, Lesser butterfly and "Pulchella" Early marsh Orchid were all seen.

 Lesser butterfly Orchid

 Heath fragrant Orchid

 Heath spotted Orchid

Heath spotted Orchid

 

 Heath fragrant Orchid

 Bog Orchid

 Heath spotted Orchid

 Heath spotted Orchid

 Heath fragrant Orchid

 Bog Orchid

 Lesser butterfly Orchid

 Bog Asphodel

Whitecross green BBOWT Reserve,24th June

Had an evening visit to the reserve in the hope of finding some roosting Marbled whites but instead I came across this cracking "Praenubila" Four spotted chaser.

 Four spotted chaser "Praenubila"

 Four spotted chaser "Praenubila"

Whitecross Green BBOWT Reserve,22nd June

I decided to stop off at the reserve this afternoon on my way home to look for the Black Hairstreaks again. It was very windy but there were still at least 8+ flying around the tops of the Blackthorns. A few were coming down quite low but soon flew off again. After a bit of searching I finally came across an obliging female sat low down on Blackthorn near the pond. I managed a few shots before she flew off.

 Black Hairstreak

 Black Hairstreak

Butterflies seen today:-

Large Skipper
Small white
Black Hairstreak 8+
Common blue
Comma
Meadow brown
Speckled wood

Dragonflies:-

Emperor dragonfly 2
Black tailed skimmer 2

Cothill fen & Parsonage moor Reserves, 16th June

Spent an hour at these reserves this afternoon to check the Dragonflies and Damselflies out.

 Female Small red damselfly

 Female Common blue damselfly

 Male Southern damselfly

 Male Southern damselfly

 Narrow leaved marsh orchid

 Common spotted orchid

Dragonflies/Damselflies seen today:-

Large red damselfly
Small red damselfly 15+ inc Male & Females
Common blue damselfly
Southern damselfly 8+
Four spotted chaser
Keeled skimmer 10+ mostly Tenerals but 1 adult male
Common darter 1

Narrow leaved, Common spotted and Southern marsh orchids seen.

Barton fields and Radley lakes 15th June

After seeing the records of variable damselflies in barton fields over the weekend I decided to take a look today. I had heard they were around this area a couple of years ago but never went to search for them. Once on site there were at least 10 flying amongst the vegetation near the small pool. Blue tailed, Common and Azure blue damsels were also seen here. A Cetti,s warbler was also singing and seen near the pool. After spending a bit of time here I decided to head for Radley lakes to see what was around there.

 Variable damselfly

 Variable damselfly

 Common blue damselfly

 Common blue damselfly

 Blue tailed damselfly

 Scorpion fly

 Scorpion fly

Dragonflies/Damselflies seen today:-
Banded Demoiselle
Azure damselfly
Common blue damselfly
Variable damselfly 10+
Blue tailed damselfly inc "Rufescens"
Red eyed damselfly
Emperor dragonfly 2
Black tailed skimmer 5+
Four spotted chaser 3
Ruddy darter 1 "Teneral"

Butterflies seen today:-
Large skipper
Brimstone
Common blue
Red admiral
Small tortoiseshell
Marbled white 2
Meadow brown 1

WHITECROSS GREEN BBOWT RESERVE:-
I decided to stop off here on my way home to see if any Black hairstreaks were around yet,but none were seen.Although one person had reported seeing some this afternoon.

Dragonflies/Damselflies seen here:-
Beautiful demoiselle 1
Blue tailed damselfly
Hairy dragonfly 3
Black tailed skimmer 2
Broad bodied chaser 1

 Broad bodied chaser

Butterflies seen here:-
Large skipper
Brimstone
Common blue
Painted lady
Meadow brown
Speckled wood

Otmoor,Roman road,10th June

I stopped off at Otmoor on my way home today and had a slow walk along the roman road to see what dragonflies/Damselflies were around. Azure damselfly was by far the most numerous species flying around.2 Large red damselfly,1 Blue tailed damselfly,3 Red eyed damselfly,1 Black tailed skimmer and 1 Broad bodied chaser were the only other species around. No hairy dragonflies were seen.

 Azure damselfly

 Red eyed damselfly

 Female Azure damselfly

 Large red damselfly

 Red eyed damselfly

 Female Azure damselfly

 Broad bodied chaser

Dry sandford pit BBOWT Reserve, Mon 8th June

Had a brief look around the reserve to see what dragonflies were around. 5 male Southern damsels were seen, also 4 Large red damsels, 1 Keeled skimmer and 2 Broad bodied chaser.

 Keeled skimmer

 Keeled skimmer

 Southern damselfly

 Southern damselfly

Bucknell wood, Northamptonshire, Sat 6th June

Spent an hour or so at Bucknell wood on Saturday for the Woodwhite. 25+ were seen along one of the rides including a courting pair. Brimstone & Speckled were the only other butterfly species seen.
2 Broad bodied chasers were also seen.

 Woodwhite

 Woodwhite

 Woodwhite

 Woodwhite

 Courting Woodwhites

 Broad-bodied chaser

 Broad-bodied chaser

 Broad-bodied chaser

Bentley wood & Chappetts copse, Hants ,Sat 30th May

Last Saturday I made my second visit of the year to Bentley wood to see the Small-pearl bordered fritillary in the eastern clearing and about a further mile into the wood for the Marsh fritillary. About 20+ S P B frits were seen along with a few faded and slightly worn Pearl borders. 1 Argent and sable moth was also seen here.2 Marsh fritillaries were seen in the other part of the wood. Grizzled skipper, Brimstone, Speckled wood, Peacock and Small heath were also seen.

 Small-pearl bordered fritillary

 Small-pearl bordered fritillary

 Small-pearl bordered fritillary

 Marsh fritillary

 Marsh fritillary

 Marsh fritillary

After Bentley wood we headed for the Hants & Iow wildlife trust reserve Chappetts copse for the Sword-leaved helleborine.1000's were in flower along White helleborine, 38 Bird's nest orchids and a few Fly orchids. There were 2 plants present that had good characteristics for Sword leaved X White helleborine.The leaves were broad like White helleborine  and the flowers were similar to White helleborine but they were whiter like Sword leaved flowers. They were also much taller than the others.

 Sword-leaved helleborine

 Sword-leaved helleborine

 Poss hybrid flowerhead

 White(L) Sword(M), Hybrid? (R)