Showing posts with label Noar Hill. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Noar Hill. Show all posts
Tuesday, 17 August 2021
Adventures in Orchidaceae pt 8 .. upon a Chalk Hill ..
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| St Hubert's of Idsworth |
The day started with a pilgrimage to, and a guided meditation, within the grounds of the exquisite St Hubert's of Idsworth.
The church is surrounded by a wide belt of wildflower meadow, whose beckoning of flora and butterflies was somewhat distracting - given the main purpose of my visit.
Spiritually refreshed, I headed to Noar Hill in the search for Musk orchid (Herminium monorchis) and Frog orchid (Dactylorhiza viridis), I could not find the latter, but once my eye was in on the musk orchid I was pleasantly surprised by its abundance - finding its short, pale spikes throughout much of the short grassland of the quarried centre of the hill.
Whilst the location of the frog orchids remained elusive I thoroughly enjoyed the supporting cast of orchids I encountered: common spotted-orchid (Dactylorhiza fuchsii), although very much over; Pyramidal orchid (Anacamptis pyramidalis), and chalk fragrant-orchid (Gymnadenia conopsea) again edging heavily toward seed.
This hill always keeps giving when you start looking through the turf. However, today was not the day for wider scrutiny, not the time to get bogged down with the effort to observe and record everything that I could find and name.
My mood of late had been in desperate need of lightening. This combination of pilgrimage, meditation and a new orchid species to observe - was the uplift that I so very much needed and I left the hill in high spirit.
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| Musk orchid |
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| Common spotted-orchid |
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| Pyramidal orchid |
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| Chalk fragrant-orchid |
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| Musk orchids |
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| Noar Hill |
Saturday, 25 April 2015
Noar Hill - Duke of Burgundy (Hamearis lucina L.)
Having noted a window of opportunity in the weather forecast this afternoon - we headed to Noar Hill, where Duke of Norfolk butterfly have been reported since the 18th of April.
Hitting the briefest of sunny patches between 13:00 and 15:00 we were lucky to find up to 8 individuals, a fine showing in comparison to the singles of orange tip (Anthocharis cardamines), brimstone (Gonepteryx rhamni) and holly blue (Celastrina argiolus). Also of note was a common purple and gold moth (Pyrausta purpuralis), and a common or dark bordered bee-fly (Bombylius major).
Saturday, 16 November 2013
Hazel Dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius L.), Noar Hill, Hampshire
The adult male hazel dormouse pictured below, is one of seven dormice found today at Noar Hill, by the Hampshire Dormouse Group.
In total five adults and two juveniles were found in nest boxes along with a number of empty nests. The male pictured, weighed in at 23g.
Information about Hampshire Dormouse Group can be found at:
http://hampshiredormousegroup.co.uk/
In total five adults and two juveniles were found in nest boxes along with a number of empty nests. The male pictured, weighed in at 23g.
Information about Hampshire Dormouse Group can be found at:
http://hampshiredormousegroup.co.uk/
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©Alison Hogan |
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| ©Alison Hogan |
Saturday, 23 July 2011
Hazel Dormice (Muscardinus avellanarius L.) survey, Noar Hill
The highlight of the morning for our cohort of dormice surveyors, a single torpid female dormice weighing in at 18.5g found in the last nest box checked, sleeping under brown leaves over what may have been an old birds nest.
Earlier a birds nest was found containing 8-10 eggs, although it was unclear whether it remained a viable nest? A quick search of the internet back at home and the origin of the eggs remain uncertain Cf tree-creeper (Certhia familiaris); wren (Troglodytes troglodytes) or blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus)?
The other cohort of surveyors totalled five dormice on site, including both a breeding and non-breeding pair.
Sunday, 22 May 2011
White Helleborine (Cephalanthera damasonium L.), Noar Hill
photo 1-2 white helleborine orchid; photo 3 meet the grazing programme crew 6 x dexter bullocks
Saturday, 21 May 2011
Hazel Dormice (Muscardinus avellanarius L.) nest box survey, Noar Hill
Photos 1-4 processing dormice; Photo 5 white helleborine orchid (Cephalanthera damasonium)
Saturday, 20 February 2010
Volunteering at Noar Hill, Selbourne
At Noar Hill I learnt how to fell small trees with hand tools, under the instruction of the Hampshire Conservation Volunteer [HCV] Trainer, David Hurst.
http://www.hcv.hampshire.org.uk/
Whilst we concentrated on cutting back Ash (Fraxinus excelsior) and holly (Ilex sp.) with hand-tools, chain-saws dealt with the much larger beech (Fagus sylvatica). The felling took place as part of the Hampshire and IOW Wildlife Trust management plan, to clear secondary woodland and expand the chalkdown grassland on site.
http://www.hcv.hampshire.org.uk/
picture courtesy Mark Dakin [HCV]
Whilst we concentrated on cutting back Ash (Fraxinus excelsior) and holly (Ilex sp.) with hand-tools, chain-saws dealt with the much larger beech (Fagus sylvatica). The felling took place as part of the Hampshire and IOW Wildlife Trust management plan, to clear secondary woodland and expand the chalkdown grassland on site.
Despite excellent health and safety instruction the day was only slightly marred by a freak handsaw accident.
1 x red kite (Milvus milvus) was the birding highlight of the day.
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