Silver-washed Fritillary

I found this stunning Silver-washed Fritillary Argynnis paphia basking in the early morning sun at Finmere Woods, near Aylesbury. The females are darker and more heavily spotted than the bright orange males and tend to be less conspicuous, often keeping to shadier areas of a wood as they search for clumps of Common Dog-violets growing at the base of Oak trees. The eggs are laid in crevices in the tree-bark, where the caterpillars hibernate before emerging the following year to feed on the Violets. 

 Female Silver-washed Fritillary Argynnis paphia - Finmere Wood, Buckinghamshire, 21/07/2012

Chalkhill Blue

It's turned out to be a great year for one of my favourite Butterflies the Chalkhill Blue Lysandra coridon. Last week, bathed in sunshine, Ivinghoe Beacon was glittering with hundreds of these beautiful little Butterflies.

Male Chalkhill Blue Lysandra coridon - Ivinghoe Beacon, 27/07/2012

Male Chalkhill Blue Lysandra coridon - Ivinghoe Beacon, 27/07/2012

 Female Chalkhill Blue Lysandra coridon - Ivinghoe Beacon, 27/07/2012

Male Chalkhill Blue Lysandra coridon - Ivinghoe Beacon, 27/07/2012

Male Chalkhill Blue Lysandra coridon - Ivinghoe Beacon, 27/07/2012

Male Chalkhill Blue Lysandra coridon - Ivinghoe Beacon, 27/07/2012

Purple Emperor

On hot, humid mornings Purple Emperors can usually be relied on to disgrace themselves in front of the cameras! This stunning male was photographed feeding on something unspeakable, at Bernwood, in Oxfordshire.

Purple Emperor Apatura iris - Bernwood, Oxfordshire,  22/07/2012

Meadow Brown

Meadow Brown Maniola jurtina -  Bernwood Meadows, Oxfordshire, 22/07/2012

It's been heartening to witness so many Butterflies on the wing as they make the most of the much needed hot weather of the last few days. Last weekend we went down to Bernwood, near Thame, land were thrilled to see the flower meadow positively shimmering with Marbled Whites, Ringlets and an astonishing number of Meadow Browns. I suppose the terrible weather in June and early July has meant that instead of coming out over an extended period, the mid-summer Nymphalidae have all hatched at once. I know that they are one of our commoner butterflies but I can't remember seeing so many Meadow Browns before. Sadly Tortoiseshells, Peacocks, Commas and Red Admirals seem to have been hit very badly by the weather and I haven't seen a Common Blue since May. These are worrying times for some of our hard pressed Butterflies.

Meadow Brown Maniola jurtina -  Ragpits, Buckinghamshireshire, 24/07/2012

 Meadow Brown Maniola jurtina -  Ivinghoe Beacon, Oxfordshire, 08/07/2012

Dark Green Fritillary

Arriving back at Gatwick Airport after a week in Bulgaria, a beautiful, unspoilt country simply alive with Butterflies, I was depressed, but I suppose not that surprised, to find the weather at home as terrible as ever, with barely a Butterfly to be seen all week. Sunday turned out to be that rare thing this Summer, a sunny pleasant day, and I decided to head for the hills where I was immensely cheered to find good numbers of Dark Green Fritillaries, Meadow Browns and Marbled Whites racing around the breezy slopes of Ivinghoe Beacon enjoying the warm weather. 

Dark Green Fritillary Argynnis aglaja, Ivinghoe Beacon, (15/07/2012)

Dark Green Fritillary Argynnis aglaja, Ivinghoe Beacon, (15/07/2012)

Marbled White  Melanargia galathea, Ivinghoe Beacon, (15/07/2012)

Cornfield Flowers

The Arable Weed project at College Lake Nature Reserve looks wonderful at the moment - a sea of Corn Chamomile Anthemis arvensis, dotted with bright red Corn Poppies Papaver rhoeas and livid blue Cornflowers Centaurea cyanus. A closer look reveals rare or virtually extinct arable plants such as Corncockle, Pheasant's eye and Field Cow-wheat. Sadly this is a sight lost forever from the British countryside.

Corn Chamomile, Corn Poppy and Corn Marigold - College Lake, Buckinghamshire (17/06/2012) 

Corn Chamomile, Corn Poppy and Corn Marigold - College Lake, Buckinghamshire (17/06/2012)        

Fly Orchid

One compensation for the dreadful spring and early summer have been the Orchids, which have been thriving in the wet conditions. In early June I paid a visit to a small local Nature Reserve to check on the Fly Orchids Ophrys insectifera and was amazed at the number I found. A quick search turned up 30 plants and I have since found out that the official count for whole Reserve is many times that figure.

Fly Orchids are rare in the UK and are mainly found in the Southern half of the country. Despite it's name the flower mimics the female Digger Wasp, even producing a Pheromone to entice a male wasp into acting as an unwitting pollinator as it attempts to mate with it. There can be as many as 20 flowers on each spike which can grow as tall as 60 cm, but the plants can be very inconspicuous and hard to find. Although tolerant of a broad range of habitats, Fly Orchids prefer calcareous soils and can be found in Beech woods, grassy places in shade and even fens.

Fly Orchid Ophrys insectifera (04/06/2012)

Fly Orchid Ophrys insectifera (04/06/2012)

Fly Orchid Ophrys insectifera (04/06/2012)

Fly Orchid Ophrys insectifera (04/06/2012)

Fly Orchid Ophrys insectifera (04/06/2012)

Fly Orchid Ophrys insectifera (04/06/2012)