We had quite a wet morning so concentrated mainly on the plants to be found, although a few butterflies, flies, beetles and grasshoppers were seen.
The hogweed was its normal attractive self, and was drawing in a variety of flies including these Episyrphus balteatus, three on this one head - by no means unusual.
We had a good look at some remaining chalk grassland on a steep slope, where there were some beautiful field scabious plants, Knautia arvensis
We found the Essex Skipper (Thymelicus lineola) here, with the underside of its antennal tips black, as opposed to orangey as seen in the Small Skipper (Thymelicus sylvestris. No photos of the Essex Skipper, but I did manage to snatch one photo of one of the Marbled White, Melanargia galathea, taken from a rather odd angle, nectaring off a Mallow plant. This is actually a member of the Browns, rather than the true Whites.
This is Blackstonia perfoliata, a nice plant common in this habitat
There were a few Melanostoma scalare or lookalikes to be seen, this on Mignonette, Reseda luteola.
Scattered on the steep slope were some pyramidal orchids, Anacamptis pyramidalis. Note the overall uniformity of pinkish colour, the three wide-spreading oblong lower lobes and the two raised ridges running down onto the lower lip.
The hogweed was its normal attractive self, and was drawing in a variety of flies including these Episyrphus balteatus, three on this one head - by no means unusual.
We had a good look at some remaining chalk grassland on a steep slope, where there were some beautiful field scabious plants, Knautia arvensis
We found the Essex Skipper (Thymelicus lineola) here, with the underside of its antennal tips black, as opposed to orangey as seen in the Small Skipper (Thymelicus sylvestris. No photos of the Essex Skipper, but I did manage to snatch one photo of one of the Marbled White, Melanargia galathea, taken from a rather odd angle, nectaring off a Mallow plant. This is actually a member of the Browns, rather than the true Whites.
This is Blackstonia perfoliata, a nice plant common in this habitat
There were a few Melanostoma scalare or lookalikes to be seen, this on Mignonette, Reseda luteola.
Scattered on the steep slope were some pyramidal orchids, Anacamptis pyramidalis. Note the overall uniformity of pinkish colour, the three wide-spreading oblong lower lobes and the two raised ridges running down onto the lower lip.
