Exciting Finds on the Ashby Bypass - early July, 2019

Early in July, Brian Hammond, our group Chairman, was travelling along the Ashby de la Zouch bypass when an interesting-looking flower at the roadside caught his eye. He later made a return visit and made some very interesting discoveries, which he later publicised to the group. I was more than a little interested, and Brian very kindly offered to meet me on the evening of Friday 12th July and show me what he had found. Here's how the evening unfolded.

I arrived at the appointed lay bye to find Brian waiting there - his son had dropped him off a little earlier.  We set off along the northern grass verge and things soon started to get interesting, with plenty of insect life including many grasshoppers.

Six-spot Burnet (Zygaena philipendulae stephensi f. unitella) - Ashby bypass

Lesser Marsh Grasshopper (Chorthippus albomarginatus) - Ashby bypass

There were two plants that had caught Brian's eye. The first was an unusually dark pink form of  Common Hogweed (usually white or pale pink) and the second was a white form of Musk Mallow (more commonly pink).

Common Hogweed (Heracleum sphondylium) - Ashby bypass

Musk Mallow (Malva Moschata) - Ashby bypass

The real botanical find that Brian had made, however, as far as I was concerned, was a colony of Bee Orchids. Sadly these were now way past their best. There was some variation between flowers, partly through age, but also in markings.

Bee Orchid (Ophrys apifera) - Ashby bypass

We'd seen Common Spotted Orchid on the embankment on the south side of the road, so crossed over to investigate. I'm no expert, but I believe these all to be Common Spotted Orchid, although there was much variation in flower colour and markings.

Common Spotted Orchid (Dactylorhiza fuchsii) - Ashby bypass

Brian had told me he'd also seen Marbled White butterfly here and this, in fact, had been my main target for this visit. We had, however, not seen any and were thinking it was too late in the day. I'd seen a set of steps ascending the bank and decided to take a look, closely followed by Brian. It proved to be a good move as we found several Marbled White flying around at the top.

The first, below, is a female - you can tell by the brownish leading edge to the forewings, and they also show some brown underneath. The other two are males - showing no brown. Very smart butterflies!

Marbled White (Melanargia galathea) (female) - by Ashby bypass

Marbled White (Melanargia galathea) (male) - by Ashby bypass

In the past, I've travelled to Ketton Quarry, the other side of Oakham, to get my annual Marbled White fix (and also for Bee Orchid), so I'm delighted to know that there's a colony almost on my doorstep. Thank you, Brian - I shall be looking out for these next year.