Birds, Butterflies and Orchids: June Around Beverley
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Birds, Butterflies and Orchids: June around Beverley Wet, cool, a bit miserable, but it’s summer, and the wildlife is happy. Well, maybe not this bedraggled Wood Pigeon fledgling that landed on our garden feeder. Too big to be prey for this Greater Spotted Woodpecker that’s been feeding regularly. I was surprised to read that a quarter of blue tit nest boxes were predated by woodies in a recent study (cited by Richard Shillaker’s posting on the Hull Nats website news page). They just drill holes through the front door, but this can be prevented with wire netting. I’ve been seizing every sunny day to search for butterflies. Skippers can be a challenge (large, small or even Essex?) but there are marvellous websites and helpful groups on Facebook. 1 This one above is, I believe, a Small Skipper, with fairly plain under wings. I could see the male sex brand on the upper wing, a fine line at a slight angle to the edge of the wing. The ones on the next page are Large Skippers, with more mottled wings and the male (top) has a bigger, smudgier sex brand. The female has none, and also has black antennae. The antennae on the Large Skippers have a pronounced hook on the end. 2 Above: male Large Skipper. The sex brands produce scent pheromones to attract the female. Below: female Large Skipper. These Skipper butterflies feed on the nectar of many plants but lay their eggs on grasses. The favourite larval grasses of the Small Skippers are Yorkshire Fog, and of Large Skippers Cock’s- foot. 3 Chalk Grasslands are great for butterflies. The Marbled White can be seen in large numbers in chalk quarries like Kiplingcotes Chalk Pit and Wharram Quarry. This one is feeding on an early-flowering Greater Knapweed which grows at Kiplingcotes. The underwings are also beautifully marked. The Marbled Whites love to nectar on purple flowers so can be found on scabious and thistles. They are more site-specific than most of our commoner butterflies so it’s worth seeking out wildflower- rich chalk quarries or wildlife corridors like the Hudson Way to find them. 4 This is a day-flying Companion Burnet Moth which is common in unimproved chalk grasslands in early June. Below is a common Cinnabar Moth which I also found at Kiplingcotes, although its main food larval plant is Ragwort. The poison ingested from Ragwort protects the caterpillars but also the emergent adults. The bright colours are warning signs to hungry birds. 5 Also common in these chalk grasslands is the Common Blue. I found the mating ritual of these two at Kiplingcotes fascinating. In the top picture the male (below) is stroking the wing of the female (above). In the bottom picture they have moved onto a Bladder Campion where the mating is taking place. This time the female is below. 6 This Willow Warbler was singing on a Hawthorn at Kiplingcotes. I also saw these birds feeding on Cow Parsley by the roadsides before flying back up into the trees. This tiny Scarlet Pimpernel (Anagallis arvensis) likes dry and stony conditions like those at Kiplingcotes. Its flowers only open as the sun comes out. Also appearing in the quarries are the Common-spotted and Pyramidal Orchids (Dactylorhiza fuschii and Anacamptis pyramidalis), a lovely sight every year. 7 Above: Common Spotted Orchid at Wharram Quarry, with its characteristic leaves. It’s growing with Rattle (Rhinanthus minor), an annual hemi- parasitic plant that obtains part of its food from the roots of grasses, which allows wildflowers space to grow. Left: Pyramidal Orchid at Kiplingcotes Chalk Pit. 8 This orchid I saw on Mappleton Cliffs, with a Six-spot Burnet moth on it. Like the Cinnabars, these moths use chemical weaponry, hydrogen cyanide in this case, which the caterpillars metabolise from their main food plant, Bird’s-foot Trefoil. As for the orchid I would say it’s Northern Marsh (Dactylorhiza purpurella), but the Dactylorhiza species hybridise freely among themselves, and this region is the boundary between the Southern (Dactylorhiza praetermissa) and Northern Marsh territories. The Dactylorhiza orchids are deceivers. They attract pollinating insects with their lurid colours but carry no nectar. It’s thought that the range of colours and marking of this genus of the orchid family are part of their armoury to trick pollinators into visiting several non-productive plants before they learn they’re wasting energy. Here on the cliffs at Mappleton in mid-June I saw this summer’s first Bee Orchid (Ophrys apifera). It demonstrates an extraordinary sexual mimicry and deceptiveness. Despite its sophisticated ability to look like a bee and thus attract pollinators, in fact it’s believed that in our latitudes, bee orchids have lost their bee partners and are all self-pollinated clones. This would explain why there is so little variety in patterning among our native bee orchid population compared to that of southern Europe. 9 These cliffs of glacial till have sported many Opium Poppies (Papaver somnifera) this year, which have appeared almost everywhere, in pavement cracks all over Beverley. I suspect the hot May was responsible for this, as it’s originally a native of the Mediterranean. These poppies are the source of edible seeds, and the latex in the unripe seed heads gives us opium. Below: Bee Orchid 10 On Mappleton Cliffs I also saw my first Painted Lady of the summer, probably at least a second- generation born during the great migration from North Africa. Like all good nomads, the Painted Lady butterflies leave no trace when they disappear in the autumn. It was only in the late 90s that researchers realised that they did not die off but made the return journey to North Africa on high- altitude air currents. So, a generation or two further on, the descendants of this creature might make that journey. We don’t know why they make this migration. One theory is around the prevalence of a predatory wasp in North Africa that attacks the larvae. 2019 was a very good year for these migrants, but I haven’t seen many this year to date. This Red Clover is one their preferred food plants. The chalk cliffs of the Flamborough area, the most northerly in the UK, are also rich in wildflowers as well as their world-famous seabird colonies and glorious scenery. Here on p. 12 is part of a swarm of Northern Marsh Orchids, possibly hybrids, on the cliffs around Thornwick Bay, and below, Sea Mayweed (Tripleurospermum maritimum) grows on the clifftop looking north to Bempton. 11 12 The chalk cliffs here are heavily faulted, which makes for some magnificent cave and inlet formations with a variety of life. Great fun to be had at low tide. This is the area where you’ll see most of the chalk buildings in East Yorkshire, including what’s left of Flamborough Castle and the old lighthouse. On page 14 , the eroded clifftops of glacial till above the hard chalk looking south. 13 At the southern end of the chalk is Welton, where quarrying of the clays has left Welton Water as an amenity. Nearby, on ‘wasteland’ is a lovely wildflower meadow rich in Hedge and Lady’s Bedstraw (Gallium verum and mollugo), where butterflies romp. 14 Above are a pair of mating Meadow Browns, our commonest butterfly. The duller male is below. Left are a pair of Ringlets, both seen near Welton Water. It’s harder to tell the sexes apart. Always look for courting butterflies as their preoccupation makes them easy to photograph. Helen Kitson June 2020 15 .