After visiting the reserve yesterday to photograph the Lady, Monkey & Lady/Monkey hybrids, I returned today to help out with some voluntary work.

Today, like yesterday was an absolute scorcher, so thankfully Chris, the warden, didn’t have anything too strenuous lined up & most of the work revolved around identifying which of the orchids were in flower & mapping any new plants.  My little group of 4 found 5 new flowering plants in just two of the 10m grid squares used to map the orchid population, so that was pleasing.

Later in the afternoon, we were given some very good views of some Green Hairstreaks, which are the best views that I’ve had in years.   There were also plenty of Small Heath, Brimstone, Orange Tip, Dingy Skipper and I saw a single specimen of Grizzled Skipper as well.

We finished off working at about 15:00, had something to eat, then Chris very kindly gave me a lift back to the train station.

Whilst walking back to the house from the station today, I saw my first Swifts of the year. I can’t say that I’ve been looking hard, but these were certainly the first that I noticed.

Today I decided that I’d go hunting for the Purple Pitcher Plant (Sarracenia purpurea) which has colonised Holmsley Bog in the New Forest.  I remember searching for this as a teenager, a few years after it was discovered at this location, without success I might add.

However, the specimens are now of such a size that you’d have to be blind to miss it.  In addition to the main plant (about 3 feet in diameter), I counted about another 17 smaller plants, so I can see how this plant has become an invasive pest in parts of Cumbria.

The plants were obviously not at their best after the winter, but still impressive, and I will make sure that I return here later in the year when they are in flower, as that must be an impressive sight.

After leaving this location, I called in at the New Forest Reptillary just outside Lyndhurst.  At the moment, there is an exhibit manned by RSPB volunteers showing a Goshawk on the nest, and I spent an interesting hour or so talking to the volunteers, who were very knowledgable.  I also spent some time here photographing the various reptiles & managed to get some good shots of the Sand Lizard, Grass Snake & Adders.

In the afternoon, I decided that I’d take a trip down to Hatchet Pond, where I knew that another of my favourite springtime plants grew.  Although the name Bogbean isn’t particularly inspiring the actual flower is rather a pretty star shaped white flower whose petals are covered in hairs, whilst the three, smooth edged leaflets look like bean leaves hence the “Bean” part of the name.

I decided to take Woody, the dog, with me as he really loves the water &  Hatchet Pond is one of his favourite places for a walk.

The Bogbean grows on the NE side of Hatchet pond & really cannot be missed, its extent is even clearly visible on Google Earth if you find Hatchet Pond in the browser.

However, photographing the flowers proved to be quite difficult, crouching shin deep in mud and water holding the camera & long lens in one hand and a dog on an extending lead in the other.  How the camera didn’t end up lens down in the pond with me still attached is unknown.

The photographs were not too bad and can be seen below.