Snake Violets.

 

 Dog Violets.  Photo: John Elliott

Species come and species go. During nearly fifty years in the village there have been quite a few changes, birds in particular have suffered losses, Greater Spotted and Green Woodpeckers, Nuthatches and Tree creepers being notable examples. These are typically woodland birds likely to fall prey to Grey Squirrels. Among plants Brooklime with its attractive blue flowers, seems to have gone from the stream, but Hemlock Water Dropwort, Britain’s most poisonous plant, is flourishing, largely due to the riparian owners ‘gardening’ in the name of flood prevention.

It was a pleasure therefor to see a patch of about 35 Dog Violets (Snake Violets in Dorset dialect) beside the footpath behind the Manor House this morning. I don’t recall seeing these in the village before. Violets are the food plant for all the Fritillary species, the most likely of which is the Silver Washed Fritillary, since there is a sizable colony of these up on Black Down and they might well spread from there into the village.

A further delight today, the sulfurous yellow of a Brimstone butterfly in my front garden, with one reported further down the village