Tuesday 7th.July 2009

A week off from working up on the Greensand Ridge , and with the forecast , I wasn't too upset . However , the morning , after a very grey start , began to improve , and even some blue sky and sunshine . Knowing that the weather could change at any time , I went back onto the Common . The first thing I checked on were the Garlic plants , growing in the long grass , that I posted last week . Some have started to flower , and the green buds are starting to turn pink .Others are not producing flowers , but the bulbils are swelling up . Both these things , according to the books , point to it being Crow Garlic as opposed to Field Garlic . As I walked down one of the rides , I noticed a Magpie , with more sense than me , who had found a nice shaded spot from the sun , which was starting to get very hot again . In the very next glade , I got another year first , in the form of a pristine female Gatekeeper . I got to within camera distance , she had her wings fully open , and as the camera focused , a passing male saw her , and she was no longer in the viewfinder . Needless to say , the male wouldn't take 'no' for an answer , and I watched her land on some Gorse , closely followed by him . Within seconds , they were mating . I recorded several other males on site , but that was the only female . I had spent some time on arrival at the Ash tree , without any PHs coming low down , but when I got to Orchid Glade , I recorded several on a large Oak in the far corner , and also one , down on the Bracken in front . I went through the usual routine of a record shot from a distance , but it wouldn't even wait for that , it was off . It was on the edge of the same glade that another year first was found , a pristine Essex Skipper , identified by the black tips to the antennae . As they were about , I thought I would post the other two 'golden Skippers' that are on the wing as well for comparison . A tatty Small Skipper , but it's the tips of the antennae that is diagnostic , and the Large Skipper , which is the first of the three to emerge , identified by the marbling of the wings , the clubbed/hooked antennae , and of course , it's size .
In the same glade , I noticed something hanging in a stand of Rosebay Willowherb . As I got closer , I thought it was a wrapper that had blown onto the plant . When I got up close , I realised it was three Bumble Bees , which I think were Buff-tailed Bumble Bees . Two were what I would call normal sized , but one was enormous . I thought it at the time , and am more sure now , that the large one was a Queen . I managed to get one shot , then the three of them broke away from each other , and I watched the probable Queen fly off , disappearing into the surrounding trees . I followed her , but didn't find her , but did come across some very robust Pyramidal Orchids in an area that we cleared last Winter . There must have been 15/20 plants , the seeds of which must have been laying dormant , shaded out by the mass of Aspen that we subsequently removed , making the hard work of the Winter , very rewarding . Not as exotic , but still a pretty flower , was the Yarrow , another of the Daisy family . Usually it's found in it's white form , but also in this pink form . By now , the sky was darkening from the Southwest , but on my way back to the car , I stopped to see how the Broad-Leaved Helleborines that we found in another area of the Common , were doing . When we cleared scrub and small trees from the area last Winter , we found the remains of over 50 of the plants . Would our work have helped or hindered them . Two things were very obvious , there were just as many plants as last year , if not more , I stopped counting at 53 , but the most striking thing was how robust this year's plants are , compared to some of the spindly plants found last year . So I think that work was a real success story as well . I got to the car as the first spots started falling , and by halfway home , was driving in a monsoon . This afternoon has just been a succession of showers and thunderstorms , so I'm well pleased I got out this morning .