More purring on the patch

It was a lovely evening on the patch tonight; lots of butterflies, including my first Gatekeeper of the year, plus some nice birds; the first Yellow-legged Gull of the year (an adult on the Silt Lagoon), plus single adult LBB and GBB Gulls; 3 Green Sands (all on Mons Pool); single Curlew, Redshank and Ringed Plover; and not one, but two Turtle Doves, purring in close proximity to each other on Northcroft Lane. Whilst one is undoubtedly the Heron Island bird, I'm not sure where the other has come from - maybe the Works Pond bird that I heard early in the season..?

Red Admiral

Gatekeeper

Yellow-legged Gull and LBB Gull

Earlier, I'd had a quick wander across Newstead Meadow (near, as its name would suggest, Newstead Village). This is a really nice little meadow, albeit in increasingly urgent need of some management, with Common Spotted and Southern Marsh Orchids, and their hybrids (Dactylorhiza x grandis), many of which were displaying 'hybrid vigour'.

Some huge Dactylorhiza x grandis

Back to yesterday, work took me to the Teversal Trails. As usual, I looked for the Frog Orchids in their usual spot, but could only find three in flower (plus a fourth non-flowering individual). Despite knowing more-or-less exactly where they grow, they can be very diffiuclt to spot (small green plants growing amongst taller green vegetation). There is a chance I overlooked some, but even so, I found 10 last year so this is a big dip in numbers. 

Frog Orchid

Elsewhere, I heard two Willow Tits - one on the Skegby Track and one on the Brierley Branch, where there were good number of Ringlets on the wing (at least 70). 

Ringlets