Leo's Nature Trips: Oxfordshire - Wiltshire Trip 11-12.5.14

A trip I have long wanted to make, the principle target being the Marsh Fritillary butterfly which being mainly on the west and southern part of England and into Wales I hadn't yet seen. It's such a beautiful butterfly I didn't want to let another year pass without seeing it, so planned a trip with many potential sites to visit and hoped for good weather and timing. On the way down to Wiltshire I couldn't miss the chance to see the Monkey Orchids at Hartslock in Oxfordshire, as the timing for flowering matched perfectly. It is a really stunning location, on a bank above the slender curving River Thames, and very carefully looked after and monitored by dedicated volunteers, being one of only two sites in England open to the public for the Monkey Orchid. I took some photos, taking great care with each step as the site is precious and the orchids very fragile, and wondered at the rich colour and intricate forms of these incredibly rare plants. There are hybrids here, and its fascinating to see the pure Monkeys, pure Lady and hybrids between them.

Then I drove up to Seven Barrows near Wantage as being a potential site for Marsh Frits, but it was either cold or too early for this site. So then I went over to Bentley Wood as a couple had been spotted that week, didn't see any, but Pearl-bordered Fritillaries were a good consolation.

The next day I was up early, and optimistically checking the weather over breakfast, I could see a sunny window of opportunity, so went over to Cotley Hill near Warminster. Driving along the A303 past Stonehenge and beautiful countryside was a treat, and I arrived in sunny conditions so raced to the top of the hill to see what I could find. I found some nice Green Hairstreak on Hawthorn but realised I was probably in the wrong place, so came around the hill and found what looked to be better habitat. The grass was thick and rain soaked, and I found some Grizzled Skippers perching waiting for warmth to send them on their way. And through some grass caught sight of something orange and knew it wasn't a Small Heath, I had found my quarry nestling deep in some grass and eagerly took photos. The feeling of discovering something long wished for is a great one and I greedily checked my photos to see how they had come out. They weren't all that good but I didn't really care, I had seen them and the trip was justified. From that view point, and with a strong wind in my face, I could see the threatening dark clouds zooming along toward me from the West and soon it was hammering it down, so retreated down the precipitous slopes to my car. After changing shoes and spotting a break in the clouds, I went back and got some better photos. It was just the most fun as there were around 20 in very good condition, and getting close to them was amazing to see how beautiful they are. With wet the conditions (not called Marsh Fritillary for nothing!) apparently an earlier name for them was the Greasy Fritillary, which belies their ability to withstand wet conditions by having a coating to their wings which the water beads off. I had about 10-15 minutes of beautiful sun and then the heavy rain came again, and I felt exhilarated to have seen so many in such a short space of time. I had been the only person there, and had a special experience watching these gorgeous butterflies go about their business.

With the forecast for the rest of the day being very mixed I thought finding Orchids might prove more successful so went to Pewsey Down (which also has Marsh Fritillary) to find Burnt Orchids. I searched over a wide area, through pouring rain, but really wasn't getting anywhere until I met a helpful chap and after some more searching, he found them. I had no idea how small they were, being tight in bud, and felt very fortunate to have seen them.

All in all a brilliant trip to a beautiful part of the Country, will love to go again for longer.