It’s back home for my next blog, my monthly trip to Raisby Hill. Actually three trips, as two of my friends were keen to visit the site too, so some of the plants I’ve listed were flowering early in the month but not by the time of my final visit, in the middle of this week’s hot spell.  With temperatures forecast to rise to the high 20s in the afternoon, I set off early to enjoy the cool of the morning.  The first meadow has changed appearance completely since last month – the Cowslips and Water avens are long gone and Meadowsweet and Marsh thistles dominate.

Last month’s spotted and marsh-orchids (and their hybrids) still hung on at the start of the month but were gradually replaced by tall Fragrant orchids – mostly Marsh fragrant-orchid, Gymnadenia densiflora, with a few Common Marsh-orchid, G. conopsea, thrown in for good measure. There are still plenty of tall Twayblades hiding in plain sight too.

Fragrant orchids in the UK all used to be lumped together as a single species but have more recently been separated into three different ones, on the basis of the shape of the flowers (though this is notoriously variable), flowering period and habitat.  Both the species I’ve found like limey soils so its perhaps no surprise to find them at Raisby Hill.  The obvious physical characteristic which links the three species is a long, nectar-bearing spur behind the flower itself.  The nectar can only be reached by butterflies and moths with a long proboscis, so these are the main pollinators.  As the insect approaches to suck the nectar, the flower’s pollinia stick on to the proboscis and are then transported to the next flower visited.  It’s not a great photo, but you can see that this Burnet moth on knapweed has already picked up plenty of club-shaped orchid pollinia. 

The number and diversity of butterflies and moths on the site yesterday probably explains these orchids’ good seed set and abundance here.

Climbing the hill onto more open ground, Betony and Harebells are suddenly abundant and there is plenty of Agrimony, Centaury and Ladies’ bedstraw amongst the grasses; a proper wildflower meadow rather than an artificial ‘pictorial meadow’ of the type often created by councils using artificial seed mixes .  There are many more Fragrant orchids too and a few Bee orchids in a patch of shorter grass at the top and one of my favourite, tiny flowers – Fairy flax, Linum catharticum.

Beyond the fence the scree slopes have changed again, though still have a yellow tinge. The Rock roses are largely finished but now there is plenty of Yellow-wort amongst the Hawkweeds and what I was previously calling Cat’s ear but now know to be Rough hawkbit.  A session with Sue at South Gare last week taught me that I need to look more carefully at the involucre bracts behind the yellow flower to distinguish between the two; Cat’s ear has a distinct ‘cockscomb’ at the tip of each bract and the outer ring of florets are grey beneath whilst Rough hawkbit is covered in hairs and the florets are yellow underneath .  

The real stars of the scree this month, though, are the Dark-red helleborines – the largest colony of these in County Durham.  Wandering back and forward across the screes you see many of different sizes and colours.  Next week I’ll be returning to the reserve with Wildlife Trust volunteers to count the flower spikes as part of their site monitoring.

The old quarry at the far end of the site was, again, fertile hunting ground.  Golden Carline thistles stud the short grass and I find aromatic wild basil amongst longer vegetation around the edges, as well as Pyramidal orchids to add to the tally.

On my way back to my bike I could see that the fen area cleared in February is already being recolonised, mostly by opportunists such as willowherbs and bracken – the latter will need watching.  There are lovely stands of Perforate St John’s-wort, Valerian and Meadowsweet higher up the banks, though, and wild strawberries provide a tasty snack.

By this stage the peace of the morning was being shattered by the sound of several strimmers wielded by Trust volunteers hard at work, clearing paths through the reserve.  Necessary as this is, I was glad to have more or less completed my visit before they started!  The list below of 80 or so species in flower includes many I haven’t mentioned for lack of space, so here is a collage of just a few of them to give a flavour of the diversity on display.

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Meadow buttercup	Ranunculus acris
Creeping buttercup	Ranunculus repens
Common mouse-ear	Cerastium fontanum
Bladder campion	Silene vulgaris
Wood dock	Rumex sanguineus
Perforate St John’s-wort	Hypericum perforatum
Slender St John’s-wort	Hypericum pulchrum
Square-stalked St John’s-wort	Hypericum tetrapterum
Common rock-rose	Helianthemum nummularium
Agrimony	Agrimonia eupatoria
Smooth lady’s mantle	Alchemilla glabra
Meadowsweet	Filipendula ulmaria
Wood avens	Geum urbanum
Tormentil	Potentilla erecta
Creeping cinquefoil	Potentilla reptans
Bramble	Rubus fruticosus agg.
Meadow vetchling	Lathyrus pratensis
Bird’s-foot-trefoil	Lotus corniculatus
Black medick	Medicago lupulina
Lucerne	Medicago sativa ssp. sativa
Zigzag clover	Trifolium medium
Red clover	Trifolium pratense
White clover	Trifolium repens
Bush vetch	Vicia sepium
Tufted vetch	Vicia cracca
Rosebay willowherb	Chamerion angustifolium
Great willowherb	Epilobium hirsutum
Broad-leaved willowherb	Epilobium montanum
Fairy flax	Linum catharticum
Common milkwort	Polygala vulgaris
Meadow crane’s-bill	Geranium pratense
Herb-Robert	Geranium robertianum
Hogweed	Hieracium sphondylium
Burnet-saxifrage	Pimpinella saxifrage
Upright hedge-parsley	Torilis japonica
Yellow-wort	Blackstonia perfoliata
Common centaury	Centaurium erythraea
Viper’s bugloss	Echium vulgare
Wild basil	Clinopodium vulgare
White dead-nettle	Lamium album
Selfheal	Prunella vulgaris
Betony	Betonica officinalis
Hedge woundwort	Stachys sylvatica
Wild thyme	Thymus polytrichus
Ribwort plantain	Plantago lanceolata
Hoary plantain	Plantago media
Eyebright	Euphrasia agg.
Red bartsia	Odontites vernus
Yellow-rattle	Rhinanthus minor
Germander speedwell	Veronica chamaedrys
Harebell	Campanula rotundifolia
Crosswort	Cruciata laevipes
Lady’s bedstraw	Galium verum
Common valerian	Valeriana officinalis
Field scabious	Knautia arvensis
Yarrow	Achillea millefolium
Carline thistle	Carlina vulgaris
Common knapweed	Centaurea nigra
Greater knapweed	Centaurea scabiosa
Marsh thistle	Cirsium palustre
Spear thistle	Cirsium vulgare
Hawk’s-beard	Crepis sp.
Hawkweed	Hieracium agg.
Common ragwort	Jacobea vulgaris
Rough hawkbit	Leontodon hispidus
Oxeye daisy	Leucanthemum vulgare
Mouse-ear hawkweed	Pilosella officinarum
Dandelion	Taraxacum agg.
Pyramidal orchid	Anacamptis pyramidalis
Common spotted-orchid	Dactylorhiza fuchsii
Dark-red helleborine	Epipactis atrorubens
Common fragrant-orchid	Gymnadenia conopsea
Marsh fragrant-orchid	Gymnadenia densiflora
Common twayblade	Neottia ovata
Bee orchid	Ophrys apifera
Meadow foxtail	Alopecurus pratensis
Quaking grass	Briza maxima
Crested dog’s-tail	Cynosurus cristatus
Cock’s-foot	Dactylis glomerate
Tufted hair-grass	Deschampsia cespitosa
Red fescue	Festuca rubra
Yorkshire fog	Holcus lanatus
Annual meadow-grass	Poa annua