Saturday 21st. July 2012

With the big day coming up tomorrow , I thought I had better do a visit today to see if there was anything about for the Kent BC visit . A quick stop on the way up on the Common was fruitless , but the cloud had just rolled in as I arrived . The car park at High Elms was packed , just as it will be tomorrow , but the cars today turned out to be members of Orpington Field Club , on a field trip to the site . I found them later up on Burnt Gorse , there was hardly room for me .  Butterfly numbers over the whole site were up , but nothing like the 'norm' , if there is such a thing . Two of the three species that tomorrow's visitors will hope to see were not found today . They were White Admiral and White-letter Hairstreak , and Silver-washed Fritillary numbers do not seem to have increased since last weekend , but there were long cloudy periods during the visit , and the species just disappears without the sun . Tomorrow , hopefully will be less cloudy . The best news was the 17

Marbled Whites found , by far the best total recorded since they arrived on the site , interestingly none found on the fence Conservation Field , which was cut and grazed last Winter . The rest of the

species list was , Small Skipper 23 , Green-veined White 1 - this female was frantically trying to find suitable egg laying sites , Gatekeeper 17 - including my first female , Meadow Brown have exploded

to 200+ , Comma 2 ( 1 pictured ) , Ringlet 35+ - not doing so well this year , Small Heath 1 , and Silver -washed Fritillary 5 - 3 males and two females . All were seen on Burnt Gorse , none at the end

of the Orchid Glade or the other small glades . The males , with the dark sex brands on the forewings

were constantly approaching the two larger females , but they were not interested in the male's attention , and just carried on feeding . When fed up with the males , the females would carry on

feeding , wings closed , making themselves far less obvious , and showing that superb underwing . A few flowers found on the way round included ;

Musk Mallow / Malva moschata .

On the Conservation Field , a single flower of Perrenial Flax / Linum perenne ,

Feverfew / Tanacetum parthenium , a member of the Daisy family .
Other interest found included ;

One of several Cinnabar Moth caterpillars found on their foodplant , Ragwort .

Another Crab Spider , this one feeding on a Honey Bee , as if the species didn't have enough problems . Many thanks to Greg for the correct ID of Comb-footed Spider , Theridiidae .

Another , or the same immature male Southern Hawker , much more drab than the blue one seen last wekend .

A very defiant Devil's Coach Horse , rearing up in my hand , having found it struggling on a path .

A few seconds later , a change of tactic , feigning death . I returned it to the side of the path , from there it scuttled away .

I met up again with some of the OFC members below the Orchid Bank , and asked if they knew about the Yellow Birdsnest . They didn't , and were amazed by the sight of so many of this rare plant that have emerged this wet Summer .