Migrant Hawker

Aeshna mixta, Mating Pair - College Lake, Buckinghamshire, 22/09/2012

Aeshna mixta, Mating Pair - College Lake, Buckinghamshire, 22/09/2012

Aeshna mixta, Mating Pair - College Lake, Buckinghamshire, 22/09/2012

Fly Orchid f. luteomarginata

This Fly Orchid Ophrys insectifera, photographed at a local site in June, displays some characteristics of the rare form luteomarginata. This highly distinctive form, once thought to be a separate species, is characterised by a yellow margin that fades to brown with age. This interesting plant was weakly marked but looked very different from the Fly Orchids that were growing in profusion at the near-by and is far from being a typical example of luteomarginata.

Ophrys insectifera f. luteomarginata - Buckinghamshire, 16/06/2012

Ophrys insectifera f. luteomarginata - Buckinghamshire, 16/06/2012

 Ophrys insectifera f. luteomarginata - Buckinghamshire, 16/06/2012

Compare the flower above with the typical Fly Orchid Ophrys insectifera shown below, photographed at the same site a few days earlier..

Ophrys insectifera, Buckinghamshire, 04/06/2012

Migrant Hawker

On Saturday morning, for want of something better to do, I wandered down to College Lake Reserve to pass a couple of hours. The weather was cool and breezy but there were still a Common Blues and the odd Small White on the wing. There were also a few dragonflies out and about including Ruddy and Common Darters basking in the weak sun and this inquisitive Migrant Darter Aeshna mixta aggressively patrolling its territory. Migrant Hawkers are great hoverer's and this male often came close as he gave me the once over, giving me a chance to grab some flight shots. I haven't quite nailed them but they are easily the best I've managed after years of trying!

Migrant Hawker Aeshna mixta, Male - College Lake, Buckinghamshire, 22/09/2012

Migrant Hawker Aeshna mixta, Male - College Lake, Buckinghamshire, 22/09/2012

Common Darter

I found these two obliging Common Darters Sympetrum striolatum basking on canes in the late summer sunshine at Whitecross Woods in Oxfordshire. I drove out to Whitecross in the hope of photographing an elusive Brown Hairstreak, but finding none spent an enjoyable couple of hours chasing Dragonflies instead! Common Hawkers love to sun themselves on twigs or warm surfaces such as paths and can be quite approachable and easy to photograph.

Male Common Darter Sympetrum striolatum - Whitecross Woods, Oxon, 11/08/2012

Female Common Darter Sympetrum striolatum - Whitecross Woods, Oxon, 11/08/2012

Marbled White

Melanargia galathea - Ragpits, Aston Clinton, Buckinghamshire, 24/07/2012

Chalkhill Blue

Male, Lysandra coridon - Radnage, Buckinghamshire, 12/08/2012

The flowery slopes overlooking Radnage Church were glittering with hundreds of Chalkhill Blues Lysandra coridon throughout the first half of August. Radnage is one of my favourite places, an archetypal Chilterns chalk downland decorated with Knapweeds, Thyme and Scabious and alive with butterflies.

Mating Pair, Lysandra coridon - Radnage, Buckinghamshire, 12/08/2012

 Mating Pair, Lysandra coridon - Radnage, Buckinghamshire, 12/08/2012

Mating Pair, Lysandra coridon - Radnage, Buckinghamshire, 12/08/2012

Marbled White

The Summer is drifting past and Marbled Whites are already coming to end of their brief fragile lives. This very ragged butterfly,fading to silvery and brown, looked strangely beautiful in the evening sun as it nectared on one of the last Pyramidal Orchids at Ragpits. It always feel slightly melancholic as the butterflies slowly fade away marking the passing of another summer. I hate to think that I will not see many of them until Summer comes around again.

Marbled White, Melanargia galathea on Pyramidal Orchid - Ragpits, Buckinghamshire, 05/08/2012

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)

Small Heath

Small Heath Coenonympha pamphilus, Pitstone, Buckinghamshire (27/05/2012)

Small Heath Coenonympha pamphilus, Pitstone, Buckinghamshire (27/05/2012)

Small Blue

Several days of hot weather have brought Small Blues Cupido minimus out in amazing munbers. I spent a couple of hours today, photographing these tiny, active butterflies at Pitstone and simply lost count of how many I saw, but there must have been hundreds. Dingy and Grizzled Skippers along with good numbers of Small Heaths and Common Blues make for a great mornings Butterflying.

Small Blue  Cupido minimus, Pitstone, Buckinghamshire, (27/05/2012)

 Small Blue  Cupido minimus, Pitstone, Buckinghamshire, (27/05/2012)

Small Blue  Cupido minimus, Pitstone, Buckinghamshire, (27/05/2012)

Few-flowered Garlic

Few-flowered Garlic Allium paradoxum

A mass of Few-flowered Garlic Allium paradoxum carpets the shadier, dryer parts of Drayton Beauchamp Churchyard and the adjacent canal bank. Identifying the plant was not a problem as the colony at Drayton Beauchamp is actually mentioned in Fitter and Fitter's Wild Flowers of Great Britain and Ireland.
Native to the Caucasus and Iran, Few-flowered Garlic was first recorded in Edinburgh in 1863 and is now naturalised and abundant in Southern Scotland and the East of England. Flowering from April to June, it is a highly invasive plant that spreads rapidly by means of bulbils which are small bulbs produced at the top of the stem.
I picked a few leaves to try out in a salad and they were delicious, although I found out later that they are slightly poisonous, especially to dogs. I didn't notice any ill effects though! 

Few-flowered Garlic Allium paradoxum, Drayton Beauchamp. (22/04/2012)

Few-flowered Garlic Allium paradoxum, Drayton Beauchamp. (22/04/2012)

Few-flowered Garlic Allium paradoxum, Drayton Beauchamp. (22/04/2012)