Up at 4.15 this morning for an early start to Red Hill, Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust Reserve in the Lincolnshire Wolds between Louth and Horncastle. The reserve comprises an old quarry with a famous exposure of red chalk rich in fossils, and ancient fragment of Lincolnshire Wolds downland. There is also a larger area that was purchased in the 1960s which is slowly being colonised and reverting to the open Wolds grassland that dominated until the mid 19th century.
On 5 June 2013, Red Hill nature reserve was named as one of the 60 Coronation Meadows across the UK to mark the 60th anniversary of The Queen's Coronation.
The initiative came from HRH The Prince of Wales after reading Plantlife's report on the scale of the local loss of wildflower meadows. The UK has lost 97% of its wildflower meadows since the 1930s, with every county across the UK losing, on average, a wild flower every two years - the majority of these are meadow and grassland species.
The scale of the loss has left the remaining wild meadows fragmented and wildlife isolated and even more vulnerable. Even common hay meadow plants, like yellow rattle, eyebrights and greater knapweed are in decline. These flowers, along with many others, can all be found at Red Hill nature reserve. Red Hill is one of the most attractive and interesting fragments of ancient 'sheep walk' downland which once covered much of the chalk wolds. Part of the site used to be a barley field. Now an extension to the SSSI, it is one of the best chalk downland meadows in Lincolnshire.
After the wonderful weather of the last few days, I was hoping for a still, warm sunny morning. Although mist and cloud was forecast for the coast inland should have been clear skies. Not so. When I arrived and met up with fellow photographer Mark Johnson it was cool, foggy and windy with some drizzle. Undaunted we set to to search for our target species: marbled white butterflies, a specialty of the reserve. We quickly located several of the insects and, although a sunny morning would have been preferable, the cool conditions meant that they were very static and easier to photograph. The down side was the wind which was blowing them all over the place and, being cool and dull, we could only capture closed wing shots. With these and many other butterflies though I actually prefer the underwing.
There was an abundance of plants in flower, some of the most interesting being pyramidal and common spotted orchids, yellow rattle, common scabious, knapweed and birdsfoot trefoil. Dog roses and honeysuckle were also in flower. Yellow rattle is a common downland flower and is so named that after flowering the seed rattle in the seed pod when blown by the wind. Bee orchids are also a feature of the reserve but, although I have photographed them here before, none were in evidence this morning.
The saddest part of the morning was the amount of rubbish that had been left in the quarry after people had been picnicking: bottles, disposable BBQs and various containers. Even worse the quarry had been used as a toilet with the evidence plain to see. Some people are just disgusting!!
To see the images large click on one thumbnail and then they can all be scrolled through.
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| Marbled White |
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| Marbled White on Pyramidal Orchid. |
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| Marbled Whites on Pyramidal Orchid. |
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| Marbled White |
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| Marbled Whites |
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| Marbled White, wings open taken 2012. |
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| A particularly fine Pyramidal Orchid. |
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| Bee Orchid taken 2012. |
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| Dog Roase. |
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| Dog rose |
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| Honeysuckle |
