NORTH DOWNS & BEYOND

I like counting things - birds, plants, moths, butterflies, it doesn't matter. I'll even count my books, CDs, fingers and toes if there is nothing else on offer. So when confronted with a fine show of Man Orchids on one of the lower slopes of Box Hill this morning, I started counting... a minimum of 350 spikes was the not to shabby total. I was also pleased to find my earliest ever Meadow Brown. Afterwards a quick visit was made to the eastern-end of Denbigh's Hillside where I was able to count more stuff - Adonis Blues - with at least 45 being present, but only a small part of the slope was searched. Quite a few were resting on bare ground, but a stiff breeze made photography a little challenging. Only a couple of Bee Orchids (bottom) were found.

Back in December, wildlife author and blogger Jon Dunn (above) asked me if I could help him out with a few orchid sites this summer. He was keen to see both Bird's-nest Orchid and White Helleborine - both species that 'my' part of the North Downs is blessed with. I was only too pleased to help him out, especially as it was to be research towards his new book project. Today we finally met, after being 'virtual' friends for a couple of years - this social media is a strange beast when you really think about it. Two strangers, meeting for the first time in a car park, who know that they have a lot in common, but have never spoken or clapped eyes on each other! Luckily we both hit it off very quickly and the day was an absolute pleasure. I had set up an itinerary that took in a number of Bird's-nest Orchid sites (in the Box Hill - Mickleham - Ranmore area), several of which also boasted White Helleborine. I also included the southern slope of Box Hill where ...

I needed to recce a few sites in preparation for a visit, this Thursday, from Jon Dunn , who is currently writing a book on the UK's orchids. The good news is that the particular species that he is targeting this week are present, with some only just flowering - it seems to be a late year. I will hopefully have a full post about what we get up to later on in the week. Back to today - I made a whistle-stop tour of Juniper Bottom, Juniper Top, Mickleham Downs, Box Hill (several sites) and White Downs. The targets were present, in varying stages, with few out in flower, but producing a spectacle non-the-less - in fact some of these orchids look more fascinating even before reaching full flower. Birds were not to be left out, with the lower slopes of Boxhill producing a singing Firecrest and two croaking Ravens along the scarp. Butterflies were few, the temperature being quite inhospitable for them whenever the sun went in, which it did more frequently as the day wore on. Green...

I'm guilty of taking Man Orchids for granted. In 'my' part of Surrey they aren't exactly common, but there are quite a few places that you can go to and expect to see them at the right time of year. Today saw me visiting one such place, a small meadow not far from Box Hill. I could only find the one, but that was good enough. The number of Common Spotted Orchids here was low and Fragrant Orchids were only just starting to show themselves. An hour later found me on the other side of Box Hill where I came across 39 more spikes of Man Orchid in a place that I hadn't recorded them before. This site had moderate numbers of Common Spotted and Fragrant Orchids - Common Twayblades were in fine number across the greater Box Hill area. Other botanical highlights included Common Figwort, White Helleborine, Greater Butterfly Orchid (17 spikes), Sainfoin, Common Hound's-tongue, Tutsan, Hieracium maculata (in profusion at Brockham Quarry), Viper's Bugloss, Yellow-...

...Mangora acalypha - smart, isn't it! A few Man Orchids are present on Colley Hill, always a pleasure to see them.