Marbled White back

I saw my first Marbled White on 27th June - a little later than last year. With the weather being rather cold and overcast I am not sure that others will follow until it brightens up. The photo is an old one taken in sunnier weather.

Even more astonishing year for Orchids

There is some bad news despite the excellent orchid showing - the deer are back in large numbers and predating orchids quicker than I can find them. I am thinking of some alternative protection strategies for next year, perhaps protecting some large areas with deer fencing rather than trying to protect individual orchids. Back to the numbers - Common Spotted Orchids have rounded off with an amazing 719 spikes - a huge increase on last year's 285 total. Broad-leaved Helleborines have also shown a substantial increase with 41 compared with 25 last year (and probably one or two more to come). Three other species have also shown up with 4 Heath Spotted, 2 Twayblades and 1 Bee Orchid. By far the best year ever. That has been true of every year as numbers have always increased but this year is a different league. The biggest previous increase was last year when the Orchid Index increased from 231 to 312, an increase of 81 orchids. This year the increase is 455 Orchids!

Some recent sightings

Today - a large grass snake pretty much in the same place on the compost heap where I saw a large grass snake last year. Hopefully laying some eggs. Red Admiral - the first of the year for me. An aberrant Heath Spotted Orchid with strangely formed flowers. Importantly that makes four definite Heath Spotted Orchids this year. A pair of Red Kites overhead a few days ago - I have seen a single kite on a few occasions but this is the first time I have seen a pair. Plenty of large trees here for them to nest in.....

Ox-Eye Daisy

Last year we had one Ox-Eye Daisy in the West Field. In previous years none. This year we had two - I went to photograph them and found one bloom had been predated and the uneaten flower head was just lying there!

Outstanding Year for Orchids

Ten years of management for flowers (and fungi) has paid off this year with record numbers of Orchids. Starting with 14 Common Spotted Orchids in 2011 (and only 11 in 2012) we have reached the dizzy heights, so far this year, of 480 Common Spotteds and a further 26 Orchids from four other species making 506 orchids in total. The other 26 are 21 Broad-leaved Helleborine, 2 Twayblades, 2 Heath Spotted and 1 Bee Orchid. Also from having Orchids in only two fields we now have them in all four plus several including a Twayblade and a Bee Orchid outside the field areas. The increase from last year is already more than 60% although it is true that the dry April helped us to spot Orchid rosettes that might otherwise have been missed with greater grass growth. A number of those will not manage to flower and could have remained uncounted in previous years. I think that next year I won't be caging the Common Spotteds to protect them from deer and rabbits - I'll just protect the more unusual species and specimens.

Definite Heath Spotted Orchid

I have had an Orchid in the East Field for a few years that looks pretty Heath Spotted to me, albeit the leaves were a little darkly spotted. The consensus of expert opinion was that it was probably a Heath Spotted but it did seem odd to me to have just one of this species. There are on the other hand a number that look like hybrids between Common Spotted and Heath Spotted so there are some genes around. yesterday I found a 'nailed on' Heath Spotted and it has been confirmed as such by the experts. Strangely I was the same day alerted by my neighbour as to an orchid in his field and that turned out to be a Heath Spotted too. Even stranger the Heath Spotted in my field is right next to a classic Common Spotted and my neighbour has just two spotted orchids in his field - one of each! The differences relate to the number of flowers and shape of the flower head, the protusion of the central lobe, the shape of the outer lobes, the pattern on the flower, the spots colour and shape on the leaves and the extent of the keel on the leaves. On all counts the latest example is a Heath Spotted.

Return of the Bee Orchid

A single Bee Orchid appeared much to my surprise in 2017. I searched the same area each year since but nothing has shown. Now four years later another specimen has appeared about a metre away from the original one. Information on the life cycle is scarce but there seems to be a general narrative that from seed to flower may be five or six years. That raises the question of whether the second Bee Orchid is a result of seeds from the first four years ago or from seed that has been in the soilprior to that and has developed from the management of that area over the last six or seven years.

New Species - Shield Pinkgill

I had actually spotted this Pinkgill the previous year but had been unable to determine its ID. This year armed with my new Entoloma books I decided it was Entoloma clypeatum a spring species that is relatively common and is associated with Plum and Hawthorn. I've had the ID confirmed so I can add it to the Pinkgill species list for The Beeches.