#30DaysWild day 30: Summer's arrived at Dancersend

For the last day of #30DaysWild I decided to visit Dancersend, a BBOWT reserve that I last visited in the middle of May looking for Fly Orchids. As I stepped through the gate into the reserve, I was blown away by how much it had changed over the last six weeks. It was absolutely stunning in the sunshine. Orchids and other wild flowers had popped up everywhere and were buzzing with butterflies.

Common spotted orchids looked like sticks of candy floss

I don't think I've ever seen so many meadow browns, ringlets and marbled whites. They were literally everywhere you looked. It was lovely!

Meadow Brown

Ringlet

Marbled White

I also saw red burnet moths buzzing around, small whites, several small and large skippers and at least two dark green fritillaries. I followed them around for a while, but I didn't see them settle once, so couldn't get a photo.

Large Skipper

The common spotted orchids were beautiful and really looked at their peak. The twayblades were still flowering and the greater butterfly orchids were still going strong in the shadier areas, although many had gone past their best.

Greater butterfly orchid

Common spotted orchid

Twayblade

There were plenty of other wild flowers to admire, including ...

Agrimony

Nettle-leaved bellflower

Nettle-leaved bellflower

Wood vetch

Lots of insects were enjoying the sunshine and the crickets serenaded me as I walked around. I spotted a lovely little fat-legged beetle and saw a couple of scorpion flies. I would have stayed longer, but I was being followed around by a small swarm of horse flies (I'm afraid my new found appreciation of flies doesn't stretch to horse flies!) so called it a day and left feeling like summer had finally arrived.

Fat-legged beetle

Scorpion fly