Saturday 6h. June 2012

Had planned to do a butterfly transect today , but the high winds and grey skies made that a definite no-no . Not wanting to roam too far , I headed for a look around the Farm lake . On arrival it looked like Winter , with the bank vegetation almost horizontal at times , and the odd spit of rain in that strong wind . Butterflies and Odonata were out of the question , so it was down to plants , and in particular , Orchids . I had searched on my last visit for the Southern Marsh Orchid that had flowered

last year , but without success . As I walked the far side of the lake , a pink column amongst all the greenery caught my eye , and there it was in full flower , just the single specimen , same as last year .

Good numbers of Common Spotted Orchids , found in small groups around the lake , and amongst

them , a single white specimen . Further up the bank , the Pyramidal Orchids were found in various

stages of flowering , this one being well advanced . Amongst all the other bankside plants fighting for

space , Ribbed Melilot / Melitotus officinalis , a member of the Pea family , and well favoured by many insects , is ahead of most of it's rivals . No sign of the juvenile Little Grebe , but I did hear the species calling . Only other interest as the skies got even darker , a female Mallard that was keeping

her ten newly hatched young as far as she could away from the camera . That threatening sky then opened and I just got back to the car before the worst of it . After a coffee at home , I dropped Carol in the town , and made my way to Hutchinson's Bank , to carry on the Orchid theme , as Martin the butterfly recorder was leading an Orchid walk , which I tagged on to . I think the weather put many off , but a few hardy souls set off , hoping for butterflies as well as the Orchids . After Broad-leaved Helleborine at the start of the walk , it was some way to the next Orchids , so the odd butterfly took

over the interest . Just a few Small Blues were seen , well fewer than on my last visit , but a bonus was my first Large Skipper of the year , the first of the 'Golden Skippers' . The first was amale that evaded the camera , but then a female was spotted  sheltering amongst the grass , identified as such

the lack of a sex brand , dark line on it's  upper wing . Once we got to the main Orchid area , species started to increase , with Common Twayblade , White Helleborine (flowers gone over) , Violet Helleborine (still to flower)  and the star of the show , Greater Butterfly Orchid , of which two were

in flower . In a beautiful 'U shaped' , botom of a valley meadow , we added Man Orchid and lots of Pyramidal Orchids , but failed to find any Bee Orchids , which have been recorded in the past on the site . Mind you , we were distracted by a Common Buzzard being driven off by two local Corvids . In a sheltered corner of the meadow , Meadow Brown , Common Blue and Small Heath butterflies were found , but it was too windy to find any Green Hairstreaks in their favoured spot . A day flying Cinnabar moth and several Burnet Companion moths were also seen . On our way back ,

another couple of male Meadow Browns were seen , and one made it to the viewfinder . Not much

excitement on the way back apart from a couple of plants , Hop Trefoil / Trifolium campestre ,

another member of the Pea family , as is one of my favourites , Grass Vetchling / Lathyrus nissolia . So it finished up a nine Orchid species day , with many thanks to Martin for leading today's search .