Dorset Walks

Friday May 29th 2009
Kingcombe & Powerstock Common

list of species seen

Trip Report

The meadows around the Kingcombe Field Centre were heavily grazed and consequently held relatively few flowers but we did see some good stands of Ragged Robin as well as plenty of Tormentil and Lousewort both of which indicated the acid nature of the underlying soil. Quite a few Heath Spotted Orchids were in the wetter patches, where we also saw a female Common Darter and a Beautiful Demoiselle.

Buttterflies were fairly scarce apart from the Painted Ladies which are all over the county at the moment. A few Green-veined Whites, Common Blues and Small Coppers also showed up.

Walking back to the car park along a damp and shady lane we found some beautiful patches of Yellow Pimpernel and some ageing Early Purple Orchids.
Moving on to Powerstock we found far more to look at in pleasantly warm sunshine. The star attraction was the Bird-nest Orchid, with the Wood White a close second, but there were so many other butterflies and plants crammed into a hectic half-hour.

At the pond we had brilliant views of male Broad-bodied and Four-spotted Chasers.

In total 5 different orchids were seen at the 2 sites!

The day's list...

Insects

Common Darter
Broad-bodied Chaser
Four-spotted Chaser
Beautiful Demoiselle
Painted Lady
Speckled Wood
Wood White
Green-veined White
Common Blue
Small Copper
Notable Plants

Primrose
Cowslip
English Bluebell
Yellow Pimpernel
Ragged Robin
Red Campion
Meadow Thistle
Early Purple Orchid
Common Spotted Orchid
Heath Spotted Orchid
Twayblade
Bird-nest Orchid

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