More butterflies and orchids, this time in North Norfolk, 22 June 2019

With the day to myself I opted not to twitch (and dip) the Black-winged Pratincole at Frampton despite and invite from Jus. Instead I carried on with what I'd planned for the day.

And that was to spend a bit of time at Buxton Heath in the late morning/early afternoon. I wanted to see Silver-studded Blues as it's been a few years since I saw them and they didn't let me down. Indeed, they seem to have expanded their patch and I had to walk only a short distance before I saw c50. The views were excellent as ever with a mating pair being particularly photogenic. A few Painted Ladies were also whizzing about and my first Ringlet of the year was by the carpark. A family party of Stonechats were calling all the time I was with the butterflies and both Willow Warbler and Yellowhammer were singing.

 Silver-studded Blues

I ventured back to the carpark to don my wellies and head into the wet valley area in search of orchids. The numbers of plants this year is really high with many hundreds of Heath Spotted Orchids of every shape and hue. A few Southern Marsh Orchids were mixed in including a few 'schoenophila' specimens and at least one hybrid Southern Marsh x Heath Spotted which is a new hybrid combo for me (and hybrid no.17). Small Copper and Large Skipper were also seen.

Heath Spotted Orchids

Heath Spotted x Southern Marsh Orchid hybrid

'schoenophila' Southern Marsh Orchids

 Southern Marsh Orchids

Having had my fill I then drove up to Sheringham (via some lunch in Corpusty) and a particular Common. Armed with some accurate directions I found the single Lesser Butterfly Orchid in its cage and was delighted that it was in tip top condition. Common Spotted Orchids were everywhere plus a couple of 'schoenophila' Southern Marsh Orchids. Then a check of another area of the common revealed a single Marsh Helleborine just coming in to flower and 2 Keeled Skimmers, the female of which hung around briefly for a pic.

Lesser Butterfly Orchid

Keeled Skimmer

Marsh Helleborine

Common Spotted Orchid

 'schoenophila' Southern Marsh Orchids

A visit to Cromer was then in order for a much needed coffee and also the breeding Peregrines on the church. I managed some nice views of birds flying around the tower and also both adukts and 3 large chicks on the webcam inside the church. A finla port of call at Holt CP and I quickly found 5 Birdsnest Orchids in the usual spot. They had gone a bit past their best but with this species it doesn' matter too much!

    Birdsnest Orchids