Over the bank holiday weekend, I ventured into the far west of West Sussex in search of one of my favourite orchids, the Bird's-nest Orchid. I could've easily located colonies that I've known from other years, however, there is something very satisfying about finding your own colony. The assumption is others have located this colony before, but it's not clear if this is the case, so with my mind set on finding this plant, I was very pleased to have found them within the superb beech woodlands.
What was probably more unexpected was finding two
Pearl-bordered Fritillaries along the woodland rides here, though I'm very much assuming the butterfly mob have released this species here, rather than this being a naturally occurring colony.
During the week, I visited the badger set once again. I'm still yet to see the cubs, despite them being extremely vocal - maybe on the next calm evening they will finally surface. What was noteworthy however, was a close and almost intimate view of a male
Goshawk as it swooped low between the set and myself. A singing
Cuckoo and displaying
Tree Pipit was also great to see/hear.
A long walk on Saturday revealed the presence of many recently-emerged Beautiful Demoiselles, and a couple of Banded Demoiselles were also present along the lovely streams. Very few birds about, and despite hearing a few Willow Warblers now this spring, I'm still yet to see one...….very depressing to have not been able to see any passerine migration this year!
 |
| Bird's-nest Orchid in West Sussex |
 |
| Cuckoo above Alton |
 |
| Roe Deer at my beloved badger set |
