Adventures in Orchidaceae pt 10 .. Fairmile Bottom, West Sussex

It's been a while since I enjoyed a "Big Day Out" looking for orchids. However, with R staying over, and him not being sure he had ever seen a Fly Orchid (Ophrys insectifora)? It was a good excuse for the three of us to head into West Sussex to a site I know fairly well, and see what orchid species we could find.

Dactylorhiza x mixtum

Since I last visited Fairmile Bottom, there has been some ongoing work to reduce the scrub and trees on the main grassland - with the insidious Dogwood (Cornus sanguinea) and birch (Betula sp.) encroachment being targeted in particular.

This recent clearance seriously affected my "muscle memory" of the site and where certain orchid species might be found, but after 20mins or so of wandering in vain, I finally tripped over a small colony of Frog Orchid (Dactylorhiza viridis), along with a cracking example of what I thought was a strong candidate for Dactylorhiza x mixtum the hybrid of Frog Orchid and Common Spotted-orchid (Dactylorhiza fuchsii).

Having forgotten to bring my well thumbed copy of Britain's Orchids along with me, I had to wait until we got home to review the find. Having checked the literature, which only helped to add a level of doubt to my identification, I was chuffed to have the hybrid confirmed by one the books authors Sean Cole, via the Native Orchids of Britain and Ireland, Facebook Group. We are certainly blessed to live in an age where access to natural history experts has perhaps never been easier, which to my mind, is the main reason I remain on certain social media platforms!

Whilst R and A spent more time with the Frogs I headed uphil for Fly Orchid, of which I duly found a handful or so, along with several more Frog Orchid, and a Common Twayblade (Neottia ovata). The Fly Orchid did not seem as abundant as I remember them, perhaps suppressed by an encroachmant of Dogwood and Old Man's Beard (Clematis vitalba)?

Frog Orchids

Common Spotted-orchid

Heading to the other end of the grassland we searched for Southern Marsh Orchid (Dactylorhiza praetermissa), but I could not find any, although I turned up a few potential contenders for Dactylorhiza x grandis the hybrid Common Spotted-orchid x Southern Marsh Orchid? Having stopped to look at another Common Twayblade, R noticed a Southern Marsh Orchid rosette about a foot beyond it!

Dactylorhiza x grandis

Bee Orchid (Ophrys apifera)

Common Spotted-orchid

Dactylorhiza x grandis (flwr and leaf detail)

Southern Marsh Orchid

Hoverfly Hunt #1 - New Forest

R and I went to Denny Woods this morning, to track down one of the rarer hoverflies in the UK - Caliprobola speciosa. R had downloaded the location details from iRecord, so we knew where to head for. The car park at Shatterford was closed for the breeding bird season, so we parked at Matley and walked in from there.

Once we got to the woodland clearing with the standing deadwood beech - it did not take long to connect with our target species, and what a splendid mini-beast it is!

Caliprobola speciosa

Beech (Fagus sylvatica) dead wood habitat

We spent a couple of hours in the clearing, but only managed to track down two individuals despite the amount of suitable habitat present. Both appeared to be territorial, and faithful to the trees on which they were found? Despite high numbers of other hoverfly species present, they were also fairly easy to identify in flight once you got your eye in, as they had the habit of flying with their hind legs hanging down.

in flight with hind legs trailing

Caliprobola speciosa (second individual)

dead wood features in the woodland clearing

Wasp Beetle (Clytus arietis)

Black-headed Cardinal Beetle
(Pyrochroa coccinea)

Iceland .. Birdwatching, Lake Mývatn, and environs cont'd.

River Laxa looking east from Rte 1 road bridge

Barrow's Goldeneye (Bucephala islandica) R. Laxa

Harlequin Duck (Histrionicus histrionicus) R. Laxa

Golden Plover (Pluvialis apricaria) R. Laxa

Redwing (Turdus iliacus) R. Laxa

Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) R. Laxa

Harelquin Duck R.Laxa

Red-necked Phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus) R. Laxa

Harelquin Duck R. Laxa

Barrow's Goldeneye R. Laxa

Red-necked Phalarope R. Laxa

Lava field Dimmuborgir

Ptarmigan (Lagopus muta) Dimmuborgir record shot of pair

Ptarmigan - male displaying to female, Dimmuborgir

the "bottomless" soup bowl Sel-Hotel Mývatn

Skútinn IPA a welcome change from the Geysir Bread beer
by Mývatn Öl

Lake Mývatn and environs Bird List

(in no particular order)

Red-necked Phalarope

Slavonian Grebe

Great Northern Diver (Gavia immer)

Red-throated Diver (Gavia stellata)

Whooper Swan

Greylag Goose (Anser anser)

Mallard

Gadwall (Anas strepera)

Wigeon

Long-tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis)

Scaup (Aythya marila)

Tufted Duck

Harlequin Duck

Barrow's Goldeneye 

White Wagtail (Motacilla alba)

Meadow Pipit

Snipe (Gallinago gallinago)

Redshank (Tringa totanus)

Golden Plover

Black-tailed Godwit (Limosa limosa)

Raven (Corvus corax)

Redwing

Ptarmigan

En route to Keflavik added:

Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus)

Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus)

Arctic Skua (Stercorarius parasiticus)

Common Scoter (Melanitta nigra)

Iceland .. Birdwatching, Lake Mývatn and environs

We transferred to Lake Mývatn from Egilsstaðir on Tuesday, following the ring road - Rte 1 – north then west across a high plateau, in monochrome of snow, ice and black lava fields.

Pink-footed Gosse (Anser brachyrhynchus) were everywhere in the landscape, and we added Northern Pintail (Anas acuta), and our first Ptarmigan (Lagopus muta) to the trip’s birding list. Passing Hverir, we descended Mt. Namafjall (Namaskard) and enjoyed our first views of Lake Mývatn to the immediate west.

Arriving at Sel - Hótel Mývatn Ca. 16:30, we checked in and grabbed a craft beer or two of the local Geysir bread IPA brewed by Mývatn Öl.

 
We raised the glass to twenty years of wedded bliss and congratulated ourselves for finally completing the Rte 1 - this being our third and partial tour of Iceland. The first part completed on our Honeymoon, the second on our 10th Wedding Anniversary, and this trip to tie the ends together and celebrate our 20th Wedding Anniversary.

In 2003 we had both started birdwatching solely in preparation for our honeymoon trip to Iceland – on the recommendation from A’s work colleagues, who said that we should not (and could not!) miss the spectacle of Iceland’s breeding avifauna.

My sharpest of recollections of that inaugural trip are of the bonkers landscape, and the quality of the bird species which we saw (often for the first time ever) as we made our way slowly north and then east from Keflavik to Lake Mývatn.

A Red-necked Phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus) feigning a broken wing and leading me away from its nest site, as I had naively strode-out across a lichen encrusted lava field, from a viewpoint on the mountain pass to Stykkishólmur. Not understanding that the desolate landscape was probably chock-full of ground nesting birds. White-tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) nesting on a rock outcrop in the middle of the natural harbour between Stykkishólmur and Landey, a second of this species seen later as it flew around and below us whilst we stood on the low hill of Helgafell.

Then at Lake Mývatn when a small flotilla of Red-throated Diver (Gavia stellata) swam towards us in a heart-stopping moment, whilst around them like whirligigs a handful of Red-necked Phalaropes pirouetted in an insect feeding flock. And that Great Northern Diver (Gavia immer) in full sparkling summer plumage still on the stillest of lake waters, some 20m offshore. Watched, as I ate my packed lunch of salami and cheese sandwiches and drank strong black, and sweet Earl Grey Tea from my vacuum flask.

Iceland was the gateway drug to my birdwatching as an adult – a hobby that would become something of an obsession in those early years following our honeymoon – and the point on which my life would slowly turn towards a future career in conservation and habitat management.

That was then, and now we were back – full circle – refreshed and recovered from the day’s drive, we finished our beers and headed across the road to the Psuedocraters.

Lake Mývatn, pseudocraters

Lake Mývatn, towards Vindbelgjarfjall

Slavonian Grebe (Podiceps auritus) 
Tufted Duck (Aythya fuligula)

Red-necked Phalarope

Arctic Tern (Sterna paradisaea)

Whooper Swan (Cygnus cygnus)

Wigeon (Anas penelope)

Arctic Tern

Meadow Pipit (Anthus pratensis)

Arctic Tern

Slavonian Grebe

return to Lake Mývatn 20yrs on

Over the last part of this week, we have re-explored the landscape and birdlife around the Lake, spent many hours photographing Harlequin Duck (Histrionicus histrionicus) and the areas specialty Barrow’s Goldeneye (Bucephala islandica) on the River Laxa, re-visited the Sulphur pits at Hverir, and the lava field at Dimmuborgir.