In The Pines

''In the Pines, In the Pines,

Where the sun never shines''

The Triffids - In the Pines, 1986

Pine plantations can be dull and depressing places, devoid of life and sound. The sun struggles to penetrate the dense evergreen canopy and little grows on a forest floor that is often cloaked in a thick blanket of dead needles. This photograph was taken in Baldwin's Wood, near Wendover in early March this year. The winter sun lighting up the bright green moss at the base of the trees brings some welcome colour to the otherwise gloomy scene.

Baldwin's Wood, near Wendover (05/03/2011)

Adonis Blue

I've come to the conclusion that the Blues are some of my favourite Butterflies. Maybe it's because they are such a familiar and welcome sight dancing over the grassy slopes of the Tring area or perhaps it's because they provide a real identification challenge, as anyone who has been butterflying in Southern Europe will know only too well. Maybe it is that these tiny glittering jewels are so redolent of high Summer in England. Whatever the reason there is no doubt that of all the Blues, the most beautiful must be the sky blue Adonis. I have spent many hours this summer photographing these glorious little butterflies at Radnage, near Princes Risborough. The small population on the grassy south facing slope above the village has been in decline recently but this year made a spectacular recovery, with a particularly strong second brood in August and early September. Sadly, the late summer weather was not kind, with constant cool nagging wind and low light levels, which suppressed butterfly activity and made photography a bit of a challenge. The Butterflies were often buried deep in the grass or clinging on for dear life to wildly shaking grasses and flowers. It took several trips to Radnage and a huge amount of patience before I had some pictures I was happy with. The Adonis Blue is our rarest blue, having suffered a long term decline due to agricultural intensification, so it is great to know that it's numbers are now rising thanks to careful land management and grazing. Losing such a beautiful butterfly would be unthinkable.

Adonis Blue Lysandra bellargus  (Radnage, 21/08/2011)

Adonis Blue Lysandra bellargus  (Radnage, 21/08/2011)

Adonis Blue Lysandra bellargus  (Radnage, 21/08/2011)

Adonis Blue Lysandra bellargus  (Radnage, 21/08/2011)

Incombe Hole

September has flown by and summer is slipping into Autumn. A music festival in Dorset and then a holiday in Norfolk has left me little time to get out and about locally and of course the penalty for taking time off when you are self-employed is that there is always a mountain of work to catch up with. Things have calmed down now and on Saturday morning I decided to head for the hills and spend a couple of hours at Incombe Hole, a narrow, steep-sided valley just south of Ivinghoe Beacon. The trees and scrub at the bottom of the Hole are excellent for migrant passerines and I was spurred on by the news that a friend had found a Firecrest in the area earlier that morning. It was a windy morning but in the relative calm of the valley it was obvious that there was a lot of activity. Blackcaps gorged themselves on Elderberries and several Chiffchaffs flitted restlessly through the bushes, a large flock of Mistle Thrushes burst angriliy from the trees and a Raven kronked lazily overhead, but there was no sign of the Firecrest. Birding was curtailed for a while, when a noisy group of people climbed down the slope and milled about at the bottom for a while, before realising that they couldn't think of anything to do and then climbed noisily back up again. I occupied myself for a while with the late Summer butterflies that had been encouraged out by the warm weather. Speckled Woods danced in the morning sun, a very faded and ragged Common Blue basked on a patch of bare earth, a few Small Heaths flitted about and this beautiful fresh Brimstone Gonepteryx ramni perched for a while on a Clustered Bellflower Campanula glomerata.

Brimstone Gonepteryx ramni (24/09/2011)

Despite the warm weather the seasons are changing and the signs of Autumn are everywhere. The dry chalky slopes are still studded with Clustered Bellflower, Autumn Gentian and Devilsbit Scabious, but the flowers are slowly fading away. The Whitebeam Trees are laden with bright red berries, the Hawthorn bushes are turning brown and a multitude of Mushrooms are exploding through the soil. This pristine Dung-heaped Ink Cap Coprinelluss cinereus, growing from some Sheep droppings, caught my eye. This common mushroom, also known as Grey Shag has a conical white cap, covered in flaky white scales, that gradually turns a smoky grey as it expands.

Dung-heap Ink Cap Coprinelluss cinereus (24/09/2011)

Late Summer Butterflies

Adonis Blue Lysandra bellargus  (Radnage, 21/08/2011)

Silver-spotted Skipper  Hesperia comma (Aston Rowant, 14/08/2011)

Brown Hairstreak Thecla betulae (30/07/2011)

Chalkhill Blue Lysandra coridon (Radnage, 15/08/2011)