A few more insects on the wing

Popped up today to check the progress of the orchids … and the answer to that question is – “very, very late”. I am estimating they have another 2 weeks before many will be in flower – monkey orchids might even be later than that. It all depends on the weather of course and things will accelerate if we have warmth and some rain.

On the plus side, there was my first Grizzled Skipper of the year and quite a few Orange-Tip butterflies. There were also the first Gymnocheta viridis of the year, sunning themselves on the fence posts by the entrance gate and lots of Osmia bicolor bees, investigating old snail shells. Talking of bees, I also saw Bombus terrestris, lapidarius and pascuorum queens.

Cowslips are looking magnificent and the views are spectacular, as usual.