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Tag Archives: Aberbargoed Grasslands

Small heath

20 Monday Jun 2022

Posted by sconzani in insects

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Aberbargoed Grasslands, British butterflies, butterfly, Coenonympha pamphilus, Small heath

As well as the Heath spotted-orchids pictured in yesterday’s blog and the Small pearl-bordered fritillaries featured last Thursday, another of the stars of the Aberbargoed Grasslands NNR is the Small heath (Coenonympha pamphilus). Fortunately, this lovely little butterfly has adapted to life in a wide variety of habitats, not just damp grasslands, so, although it is still classed as vulnerable in the most recent conservation status report released last month by Butterfly Conservation, it is in a much better position to cope with environmental changes that those butterflies that require more specialised habitats.

220620 small heath

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Orchids on the heath

19 Sunday Jun 2022

Posted by sconzani in flowers, wildflowers

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Aberbargoed Grasslands, British orchids, Dactylorhiza maculata, Heath spotted-orchid, orchids

Variations on a theme…. Stunning Heath spotted-orchids (Dactylorhiza maculata) from a recent visit to Aberbargoed Grasslands NNR.

220619 heath spotted-orchid (1)220619 heath spotted-orchid (2)220619 heath spotted-orchid (3)220619 heath spotted-orchid (4)

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Pearls in the grass

16 Thursday Jun 2022

Posted by sconzani in insects

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Aberbargoed Grasslands, Boloria selene, British butterflies, butterfly, fritillary, Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

I can’t think of a nicer way to spend a day than to enjoy a lovely catch up with my friend Shar while wandering around a grasslands reserve looking for butterflies. Having a second pair of sharp eyes was also a bonus as the weather was quite dull, the butterflies few and mostly inactive. Still, we managed some good close sightings of Small pearl-bordered fritillaries (Boloria selene), a butterfly that thrives in the damp grassland habitat of Aberbargoed Grasslands NNR and, though one of the reserve’s largest fields was burnt recently, there are promising signs that both the violets required for this butterfly’s larvae and the thistles, bramble and bugle that provide food for the adults have survived the fire. Let’s hope both the plants and the butterflies bounce back from what could so easily have been a truly tragic event.

220616 small pearl-bordered fritillary

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M is for Marsh fritillary

18 Saturday Dec 2021

Posted by sconzani in insects

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Aberbargoed Grasslands, British butterflies, butterfly, fritillaries, Marsh fritillary

I was so very pleased when the Covid regulations were relaxed enough during the summer to allow me to visit Aberbargoed National Nature Reserve to see my beloved Marsh fritillaries, particularly as I hadn’t managed to see any in 2020. These are just such magical butterflies that I actually braved the train journey four times. Though I was too early on my first visit and only a few faded, jaded individuals remained when I visited for the final time in late June, I remember my mask hiding a beaming smile all the way home on those other train journeys.

211218 marsh fritillary

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Heath spotted-orchids

04 Sunday Jul 2021

Posted by sconzani in flowers, wildflowers

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Aberbargoed Grasslands, British orchids, British wildflowers, Dactylorhiza maculata, Heath spotted-orchid, native orchids

From the often-boggy, mostly acid grasslands at Aberbargoed direct to your screens, this week’s native British orchid is the appropriately named Heath spotted-orchid (remember, the spotted part of that name refers to the marks on its leaves, not its petals). Its scientific name is Dactylorhiza maculata, which the Plantlife website explains as follows: ‘The genus name Dactylorhiza is formed from the Greek words daktylos meaning finger and rhiza meaning root’ – so, this orchid has a multi-fingered root, rather than a single tuber. And maculata means spotted – those leaves.

210704 Heath spotted-orchid (1)

As you can see from the flower spikes below, this is another orchid with some variation in both its colours, which range from white through pink to pale purple, and its markings, which, though they look spotted from a distance, actually have various combinations of streaks and little loops. The shape of the petals is also distinctive, the lower one in particular is less deeply lobed than, for example, the Common spotted-orchid, which the Heath spotted does superficially resemble.

210704 Heath spotted-orchid (2)
210704 Heath spotted-orchid (3)
210704 Heath spotted-orchid (4)

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Small pearl-bordered fritillaries

30 Wednesday Jun 2021

Posted by sconzani in insects

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Aberbargoed Grasslands, British butterflies, butterfly, fritillaries, Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Another visit to Aberbargoed Grasslands National Nature Reserve last week produced my best ever views of Small pearl-bordered fritillaries so I thought I’d share a couple of photos of these stunning little butterflies.

210630 small pearl-bordered fritillary (1)

They get their name from the series of pearl-like markings that can be seen along the outside edge of the underside of their hind wings, though I personally think all their markings, on both the upper- and under-sides of their wings are as exquisite as pearls.

210630 small pearl-bordered fritillary (2)

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Small, small, large

10 Thursday Jun 2021

Posted by sconzani in insects

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Aberbargoed Grasslands, British butterflies, butterfly, Large skipper, Small heath, Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

The adjectives small and large are, of course, relative: of the three butterflies featured in today’s post, the large (skipper) is actually the smallest, but it’s larger than the Small skipper to which the adjective in its name refers. So, having explained that, let’s take a look at these three latest beauties to grace my (reasonably) local airways.

210610 small heath

I wrote (reasonably) local because these first two butterflies were seen on my journeys up the Welsh Valleys to Aberbargoed Grasslands NNR. The Small heath (Coenonympha pamphilus) (above) is now only occasionally seen in my coastal area – I found one in Cardiff Bay last summer but that was, sadly, a rarity.

210610 small pearl-bordered fritillary

The Small pearl-bordered fritillary (Boloria selene), of which I saw seven on Tuesday’s trip to Aberbargoed, is a bright orange beauty that thrives in the National Nature Reserve’s wet grassland environment, though, even there, the numbers are usually quite low. Sadly, the British population of this butterfly is suffering a long-term decline, and the changing climate isn’t helping matters.

210610 large skipper

I found my first Large skipper (Ochlodes sylvanus) in the same local field where I spotted my first last year, and I’ve only seen one so far but, hopefully, they’ll soon be adorning the grassy fields in better numbers.

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Lousewort

30 Sunday May 2021

Posted by sconzani in flowers, wildflowers

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Aberbargoed Grasslands, British wildflowers, Lousewort, Pedicularis sylvatica, semi-parasitic plants

One of the many good things about visiting a different location after having been restricted to my local patch for many months is getting the opportunity to see something new. So, when I went to Aberbargoed Grasslands for the Marsh fritillaries I blogged about yesterday, I also spotted other fauna and flora I don’t usually see.

210530 lousewort (1)

Acid-loving Lousewort (Pedicularis sylvatica) thrives in the boggy fields where the Marsh frits are found. It’s actually a semi-parasitic plant, tapping into the roots of adjacent grasses and other plants to obtain the nutrients it needs to grow.

This plant’s name is odd: the NBN Atlas website explains that people used to believe that livestock that ate Lousewort would then become infected with lice. Bizarre!

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Marsh fritillaries

29 Saturday May 2021

Posted by sconzani in insects

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Aberbargoed Grasslands, British butterflies, butterfly, fritillary, Marsh fritillary

Having lucked out last week, I was over the moon during this week’s visit to Aberbargoed Grasslands NNR to see my first Marsh fritillaries of the year.

210529 marsh fritillary (1)

Perhaps it was the company of my friend Sharon that brought me luck (it was our first meeting in almost nine months).

210529 marsh fritillary (2)

And, no doubt, bumping in to the ranger on site really helped, as he pointed out which field he’d just seen half a dozen butterflies in (the main field where they’re usually seen is still very waterlogged).

210529 marsh fritillary (3)

The day of our visit was the first really sunny day in a while, and, as most of the fritillaries were sitting quietly amongst the tussocks and clumps of grass, soaking up the sunshine and flexing their wings, I got the feeling that many had only just emerged from their pupae.

210529 marsh fritillary (4)

We saw nine Marsh fritillaries in total – I’m sure there were more we missed. They are such stunning creatures that I’m already planning a return visit.

210529 marsh fritillary (5)

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172/365 Flitillaries

21 Friday Jun 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, nature

≈ 2 Comments

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#365DaysWild, Aberbargoed Grasslands, British butterflies, butterflies, butterfly, fritillaries, Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary, Summer solstice

My mis-spelling of the word fritillaries is deliberate – the darn things never keep still. They’re either constantly flitting from place to place at a great rate of knots or, when they do settle, they either disappear into the long grass so you can’t find them or they perch on a flower to refuel but never stop flapping their wings for a moment.

190621 small pearl-bordered fritillary (1)

Those are my excuses for the Small pearl-bordered fritillaries in today’s photos being out of focus and/or obscured by blades of grass!

190621 small pearl-bordered fritillary (2)

Still, I spent a glorious few hours with them, and their cousins the Marsh fritillaries, at Aberbargoed Grasslands National Nature Reserve. A little patience was required, as huge menacing clouds kept rolling over but, in the gaps between, when the sun came out, so did the butterflies.

190621 small pearl-bordered fritillary (3)

It was a magical way to spend the summer solstice!

190621 small pearl-bordered fritillary (4)

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sconzani

sconzani

I'm a writer and photographer; researcher and blogger; birder and nature lover; countryside rambler and city strider; volunteer and biodiversity recorder.

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