Final? Orchid Count

I had an 11% increase when I counted up the orchids as of the end of May. However the final tally has exceeded my expectations with 216 orchids - an increase of 57% on last year. As before the vast majority are Common Spotted Orchids but there has also been a stand out increase in Broad-leaved Helleborines. There was a total of 5 last year and there are now 11 with 5 in one group and the rest spread around the field edges. The photo is of one of these gorgeous orchids in the act of unfurling itself as they do. Of course should the Bee Orchid reappear the total will rise to 217 but no sign of it at the moment.

Butterfly update

It was looking like a very poor year for butterflies until the last week or so. Still not as wide a variety of species as previous years but at last the sunny weather has brought out the numbers and also many of the species. Recorded recently have been the Marbled White which is flying in good numbers, loads of Meadow Browns and Ringlets and some sightings of the Large Skipper and also one Comma today. The photo is a Marbled White resting.

New Species - Western Bee-Fly

I managed to get a photograph of a Bee-Fly and it seems clear that it is a Western Bee-Fly (Bombylius canescens) as it lacks the wing shading or spots of other similar species such as the Dark-edged or the Dotted Bee-Fly.

New Hoverfly species - Eristalis nemorum

Again due to the excellent 'Britain's Hoverflies' book I am able to ID a hoverfly I snapped. The strong loop in the wing vein narrows the ID down to a few species which helps. It is Eristalis nemorum which is described as a bee mimic. Could do better in that respect.......

First Waxcap of the year

In both the East and West fields I found fruiting Fibrous Waxcaps (Hygrocybe intermedia). Surprisingly early even for this fungus that is usually one of the earliest waxcaps.

Our Crows Nesting?

Possibly my favourite birds here are the resident pair of Crows whcih until the last week or so were always foraging for food together, waddling through the long grass looking for stuff. For the last few days it has been a single Crow so I am assuming that the partner is sitting on a nest somewhere. Also on the Corvid front I am seeing Magpies regularly for the first time. There could well be Corvid trouble ahead....

Green Dock Beetle Larvae

There's definitely a whole lot of Dock Beetles around. This could just be a reflection of my poor Dock removal progress but it does leave a dilemma about whether to remove Docks which are 'infested'. I've taken to removing the flowering tops if I see signs of the eggs or larvae rather than the whole plant. Here's a photo of some larvae doing their good work.