Weymouth Relief Road Walk.

A walk today down the bridleway alongside the Weymouth Relief Road  currently covered in Oxeye Daisy and Kidney Vetch ,and towards the bottom of the slope, a magnificent display of Bee Orchids.

 Weymouth Relief Road bridleway     Click to enlarge.

The first Bee Orchids to arrive here were two that were seen a couple of years ago and they have now increased in number to 198.

                                                                       Bee Orchid     Click to enlarge

 Among the Bee Orchids there was a single Pyramidal Orchid.  The rather cold, unseasonal weather meant that there were few butterflies in evidence,  two Small Blue and two Adonis Blue were seen, and one day flying moth, a Burnet Companion

Privet Hawk Moth.

                                            Privet Hawk Moth                    Photo. John Elliott

The first of the Hawk Moths to come to my UV light trap this year, the Privet Hawk Moth has
 a 10 cm. wing span, slightly more than that of a House Sparrow. It normally perches with the upper wings closed showing only the rather drab browny patches, but when preparing for flight it reveals a bright pattern of pink and black stripes on the underwing. Other species regularly caught at the moment include Hebrew Character, Treble Lines, White Ermine, Muslin Moth, Buff Tip, Dark Arches, Heart and Dart, and, a first for Martinstown, a Streamer.

Emerging Damselflies.

The recent much warmer weather has brought out the damselflies from my garden pond. First to appear was a Large Red damselfly, followed closely by the two Azure Blues shown above.  These are both males, seemingly resting on the sage bush in complete harmony, though dragonflies and damselflies can be fiercely territorial and will try to eject intruders.  The Azure Blue prefers small ponds, like garden ponds,  but the very similar Common Blue prefers much larger bodies of water and is rarely seen in gardens. I am hoping that the large lake at Rew will be included in the forthcoming Open Gardens, it revealed large numbers of damselflies last time.

Potential Conkers.

                                                                     HorseChestnut

The view from my bedroom window is now almost blocked by the Horse Chestnut, now in full leaf, and so hiding the activities of the nesting Rooks. Another pair have taken up residence this year, bringing the total to eight The  'candles' are also in full bloom, all 1,200 of them, each one bearing fifty or so pinky-white flowers. That makes 60,000 potential conkers, but very few of the flowers will be fertilised and manage to mature, so we will be lucky to find more than twenty or thirty later in the year. Still, these will be eagerly snapped up by the children,  that is if the ladies who consider that conkers deter spiders don't get there first.
No sign yet of the leaf miners which are the larvae of the Horse Chestnut Moth, and which will disfigure the leaves as they eat their way between the two outer skins of the leaves.

Ridgeway Doline

Nothing much to do with wildlife but the dinner plate sized hole on the Ridgeway has now collapsed revealing what must have been a very large cavity beneath it. This will eventually collapse further into the conical shape of the other 200 or so dolines in the area.

Hirundines Here.

The Ewelease Dairy Swallows arrived during the week and  the Chantry House Martins were flying strongly this morning. A Swallow mingled among them for a short while but then flew off northwards.

Black Down Butterflies

A bitterly cold north wind sweeping across the higher areas of Black Down meant that there was little insect life in evidence on a walk round today until I reached the lower, more tree sheltered area, of Benecke Wood. There the butterflies started to appear patrolling up and down the path, some nectaring on the Bluebells which are

 in full bloom at the moment and covering an increasingly large area. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                  
First to appear and most numerous were Speckled Woods, chocolate brown with yellow spots. The unmistakable Red Admiral came next in numbers, though as it makes a habit of patrolling up and down the same length of path it is difficult to avoid counting it more than once. A couple of Brimstones supplied a splash of bright, sullphureous yellow.  Both male and female Orange Tips appeared, the former easilly identified as it lives up to its name, but the female has greyish wing tips and can easily be mistaken for a Small White unless the delicate green and white mottleing of the underwing can be seen. A single Small Copper, a butterfly that seems to be having an unusually good year, made up the total.

  Birds were keeping low in the very windy conditions, but two House Martins passing over high up were a welcome sight.  There was only the briefest glimpse of a Common Lizard as it dashed across the path.

                                                           Red Admiral

This is one of the species that over winter as adults, this one has lost several bits from the rear edges of its wings, probably due to bird attacks.

                                           Red  Admiral nectaring on Bluebells and Greater Stitchwort.