Homefield, 6 June

On Saturday morning I visited Homefield Wood near Marlow. Military Orchids were just past their peak with some plants browning, although those in the shadier areas still looked pretty good. I've visited this site at least once for the past three years and my impression was that there were fewer plants this year, and most were smaller in size than I remember them being. Perhaps I was looking through rose-tinted spectacles in the past.

 Military Orchid

The most impressive specimen

Common Spotted were beginning to flower while a nice carpet of Common Twayblade were approaching their peak.

Common Twayblade

A few Greater Butterfly Orchids were looking spectacular, as they always do.

Greater Butterfly Orchid close-up

I also found this dopey Slow-worm under a tin, which was evidently still too cold to move and simply sat there looking a bit pissed off with life.

Slow-worm - always a treat

I then moved round to nearby Moorend Common, where the southern meadow was awash with Southern Marsh, Common Spotted and assorted hybrids, all beginning to flower and probably still a fortnight off looking their best. The northern meadow is supposed to contain hundreds of flowering Heath Spotted Orchids - a potential tick for me - so I headed there next. Plenty of Heath Spotted, yes, but none yet in flower ...

Heath Spotted Orchid - still a way off flowering

Homefield Wood

Orchid-filled meadows at Homefield Wood

On Wednesday, I visited Homefield Wood, near Marlow, for the first time. I'm a self-confessed amateur with all things orchids (and other plants), but keen nevertheless. My aim was to have a look at the Military Orchids that occur here with anything else a bonus, so I was pleasantly surprised (thrilled) to find the area teeming with Common Spotted Orchids of all shapes and sizes:

Quite a lot of Military Orchids in flower including some impressively-sized specimens. The vast majority were past their best (many well past), but some still in good condition:

Fly Orchid had always been a species I was keen to see and I'd read on Matt Eade's blog that he'd seen them at Homefield in late May. The vegetation had grown up considerably since then and no doubt most had already gone over; nevertheless found a few of these tiny but beautiful flowers. Again though, they were ever so slightly past their best.

 Somewhat embarassingly, Common Twayblade was a new one for me too:

...as was Greater Butterfly Orchid. There were three of these at the far end of the enclosure, one past its best but two still looking nice:

Finally, a few Chalk Fragrant Orchids were just starting to come in to flower:

Add to this a few Pyramidal spikes and it was a particularly productive couple of hours in which I had five orchid ticks! To top it all off, several Red Kites were lazily floating around in the (very) warm sunshine and a couple of Buzzards also showed well.

Small Blues etc.

As I'm sure I've said before, my dad is fortunate enough to live right on the edge of Kenfig NNR. Despite spending plenty of the time exploring the dunes over my numerous visits, I must admit I've always remained relatively ignorant of the rather impressive array of wildlife that inhabits the place. Following the carpet of Early Purple and Green-winged Orchids seen back in May, my surprise this time out came in the form of a couple of new butterflies.

The first was Small Blue, which seemed to be everywhere once you looked closely enough. A rather pathetic and weak-flying insect; their size seemed primarily responsible for their inconspicuous nature. Given the recent weather, it perhaps wasn't surprising that a lot of them looked as if they had been put through the washing machine; many were particularly tatty and colourless. In addition, they proved difficult little bastards to photograph in the hazy sunshine, although did calm down considerably as the sun went in and the temperature dropped slightly - naturally, I pounced:

Small Blue studies (click for larger)

While I was scrotting around trying to get some macro images of the Small Blues, I also had a couple of fly-by Dark Green Fritillaries. Another new species for me (butterfly amateur). Quite a lot of Marsh and Common Spotted Orchids also flowering, and also heard a couple of juvenile Long-eared Owls. Sod all else on the bird front, but much nicer than being in west London looking a parakeets.