Peter Jones Wildlife blog

No photos today, but started the day at the Most pond, Thursley Common. A renowned spot for Brilliant Emerald. Sure enough, saw three or four, high over the trees. Look like a dazzling insect, so hopefully better views one day. Also Downy Emeralds in the sky.. Slightly smaller, duller, and the elevated abdomen giving them a totally different appearance. Quite bizarre to be confidently identifying such similar species, at such long range. An Emerald was showing around the bank of the lake, but this was a Downy.

I visited Ladle Hill, which is renowned for the late flowering Burnt Orchid, but in two visits now, no joy. Will wait until next spring for the larger early flowering variant. Did however take some pics of some other flowers which I have identified on the PC, and with the Collins Wildflower guide back at home. Also popped into Greywell Moors, and saw Water Forget Me Not, and Brooklime https://photos.app.goo.gl/fAJUBkrptTzqijuT9

Very lucky living in Hampshire. We seem to have some incredible diversity for all wildlife groups. Orchids are no exception with a good selection in the county. Marsh Helleborine and Broad-leaved Helleborine seen yesterday in Wildlife Trust reserves. https://photos.app.goo.gl/6W1D2AUY6KabdZL79

Success in my search for Bog Orchid. Matley Bog is pretty dry at the moment. Stories of people going under to their waist in this bog seem hard to believe judging by this summer. In fact I struggled to find any wet boggy areas, which made the orchid hunt easier once I found water. Took about 30 minutes to see my first one, then realising there were at least double figures in the vicinity. A tiny Orchid, about 6-7cm high. I suspect in wetter summers, this particular area of the bog would be impossible to get to. https://photos.app.goo.gl/4q6V9PMwuRF6CBh47

A couple more flowers seen recently. Ladies Bedstraw at Ladle Hill, and Lesser Centaury at Baddesley Common. Both took me an age to identify!

I spent two dubiously enjoyable afternoons searching in vain for Bog Orchid. New Forest is a stronghold for this plant, but these Orchids are tiny, and in the middle of bogs, so not easy to find. I did, however, see some other cool plants typical of boggy habitats.. Sundew, Marsh St.John's Wort, Common Cottongrass, Bog Asphodel, and Bog Pimpernel https://photos.app.goo.gl/MUuAY4WDa2LbELmb9

Some very smart Green-veined Whites at Ladle Hill this week.

Plenty of Butterflies out in the New Forest. Silver Studded Blue, in good numbers on the heaths. Photo shows the "silver studs", i.e. tiny blue dots inside the black circles on the hindwing. A test of how good your eyesight is for sure. I'm also seeing Sundew, in the boggy areas, an insectivorous plant, so counts as a mini-beast!

Originally shared by Peter Jones Plenty of Orchids this week, with hundreds of Common Spotted and a few Chalk Fragrant on Pewsey Downs, and a nice assortment of Bee, Common Spotted, Pyramidal, and Greater Butterfly at Collard Hill. https://photos.app.goo.gl/PvSiS6XtFHfGPAb39

Originally shared by Peter Jones Plenty of Orchids around, a few hundred Heath Spotted in the New Forest during my Reptile Survey a week or so ago.

I've renamed this collection to include wild flowers and plants seen in Hampshire and the UK mainly. This should breathe some new life into the collection as I see a lot more flowers than fungi!

Spent a hot Sunday afternoon on a Nature reserve near Alton, which was packed with Orchids. Common Spotted and Pyramidal were most numerous, plus a small number of Fragrant Orchids. New species for me were Common Twayblade, which were in decent numbers, a Fly OPrchid which was sadly just past it's best, plus the tiny Musk Orchid, which is about 2 inches high, and the similarly diminutive Frog Orchid. Two other Orchid watchers kindly showed me the Fly and the Frog. I'd have never found them on my own! https://photos.app.goo.gl/zRZ6SVWNtNuY3GCi9

Ventured into Devon through the week to hopefully catch up with three new Butterfly species for me. All so rare, that realistically you have to travel to known colonies to see them. Heddon Valley, is managed for High Brown Fritillary, and I eventually saw a handful. Difficult at first to nail the key features, but managed to get photos verifying the extra row of underwing spots, and the off-centre dot on the upperwing. Very smart Butterflies. I also saw a Small Pearl Bordered Fritillary, Smal Copper, and Green Hairstreak. On to Haddon Hill, where the Heath Fritillaries were quite abundant, managed 1 cracking photo of a pretty smart individual, which was lucky, as they weren't the easiest to photrograph. Finished off at Collard Hill. Plenty of Large Blues at this introduction site, and also Common Blue (Beware!), Painted Lady, and Small Tortoiseshell. Not often you get a 100% success rate when "twitching"! https://photos.app.goo.gl/GoGwrJfWcm1CJC957

A failed attempt for Common Clubtail Dragonfly on the River Thames, but I was treated to nice views of a Little Owl hunting. Don't see many in the Test Valley, they are about, but not often as blatant as this one.

A Narrow-bordered five-spot Burnet Moth, in Brittany

The most memorable New Forest Reptile survey I have done so far, this morning. An Adder on top of one of the survey refuge sheets gave me good photos, while I decided how I'm supposed to look underneath the sheet! Fortunately, the snake moved on. Also, my first Smooth Snake, a young one only about 15 cm long, and a first for the survey area, which was a big surprise. 3 Grass Snake, Common Lizard and Slow Worm too, so 5 out of the 6 native Reptile species seen in one morning. Also Dartford Warblers and Nightjar.

A nice surprise in the garden yesterday as a female Demoiselle landed briefly in our small apple tree, before flying up into Wysteria where I got the photo. Unlike the males, female Demoiselles are pretty difficult to identify. I'm pretty sure, with the brown wings, that this is a Female Beautiful Demoiselle. Nearest population of this species, that I know of is about a mile down the stream which runs past the house. They would be more than welcome to colonise the stream outside our house! Also, two Large Red Damselflies were in the garden yesterday.

Water Vole in a small stream in Campsite, Brittany https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WL9vcv0A_Ek&feature=share

Have just returned from a family holiday in Carantec, Brittany. Spent some time searching for wildlife around the campsite, which was fairly intensely farmed, with a couple of small lakes, streams, and seashore. The weather was also pretty changeable which made things difficult, but I found a small selection of birds and insects throughout the week. Actually, the best of the wildlife was seen on the round trip to and from France.. a Nightjar over the car park at Newhaven just after dusk was a super start to the week, and Bottlenose Dolphins on the return ferry (out of St. Malo were also pretty good) Best of the birds in Brittany were Serin, Turtle Dove, Med Gulls, and Cetti's Warbler. Butterflies were fairly thin on the ground with Red Admiral, Painted Lady and Speckled Wood the most numerous. A stream running thru the fairly large campsite had a family of Water Voles. I think we were the only people who saw them out of the dozens of other tourists! The nearby lake had both Marsh F...

Another Reptile survey in the New Forest, my license runs for the 1st half of the month, so I get a break now until June. Today's survey was quiet sadly, with just a fleeting glimpse of a Common Lizard. Hot days perhaps not the best for surveys. I did, however, find a couple of nice insects: a Pine Ladybird, which is a fairly small species, with comma shaped red marks; and also a Dor Beetle.