Hinton Ampner National Trust Garden

On Thursday, we moved our location from Petersfield to Christchurch to explore the New Forest. En route we called at Hinton Ampner a National Trust property with very fine grounds. Here a selection of find from Shield bugs, Large Skipper, Hoverflies, Plant bugs and Sawflies to Spotted flycatcher (a rare bird in Cambridgeshire these days) and young Blackbird

Dawn in the Meadow and Alice Holt Forest

Further images from Wednesday starting with a prebreakfast wander round the meadows at Petersfield. After the visit to Frensham Pond, we moved to Alice Holt forest for a short walk in the conifers. As everywhere else on this trip, butterflies were in very short supply - just a Speckled Wood and Red Admiral. 

Oxeye Daisies at Buriton Churchyard

Buriton churchyard near Petersfield is a mass of Oxeye daisies at the moment. St. Mary’s Church was built between 1150 and 1200, but was preceded by a smaller one that is listed in Domesday Book of 1086.  I wonder if the church then was surrounded by these daisies as it is a native species though widely naturalised in many parts of the world. Considered an invasive weed as it can destroy pastures when too active and causes unpleasant taste to milk from cows that graze it.

Frensham Little Pond

We visited Fensham Little Pond on a warm morning hoping to see lots of Dragonflies - there were certainly many more around than we had seen previously - Black-tailed Skimmers (male and female), Beautiful Demoiselles (female with 'bombing' male, male),and Broad-bodied Chaser (female). The supporting cast included Reed Bunting, various flies, beetle and bugs.

Orchids and Their Pollination

The meadows here in Hampshire are full of Common Spotted Orchids often with some Pyramidal Orchids. As with many other flowers, they rely on insects for pollination but they have a trick to try and ensure that this is more successful. They hold their pollen in aggregates called pollinia connected to elongate stipes. These are attached to the flower by a sticky viscidium. When certaininsects such as Bees visit the flower they stick to the head or tongue and are then trnasported to the next flower it visits. The club-shaped pollinia are clearly visible in the photos or the Red-Tailed Bumble Bee.