Well, I say Holiday...
...what I actually mean is: I had some time off work (always a plus) and we decided to make the most of it by going out for a few day trips to some different locations nearby.
As usual, the locations are small Nature Reserves, usually out of the way (down pokey little roads) and generally ignored by most people. This means that they are generally nice and quiet, and gives us an opportunity to take our time and explore the habitat and see what we can see.
The weather forecast for the whole week was sunshine and rain showers, so we put on our coats, and crossed our fingers...
Bloxholm Wood
After the morning spent at Digby we had a quick picnic (well, a cheese roll and a bag of Hula Hoops) and we set of to a nearby reserve at Bloxholm Wood. It is a small reserve managed by the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust, and is one of the few places in Lincolnshire to see Early Purple Orchids.
We had seen them here before, so we had a vague idea where to go in the wood to find them, but on the way to the location there was plenty more to look at...
First up is some White Dead-nettles (Lamium album). The common name comes from the fact that it is related to Stinging Nettles (but they don't sting)
Lords-and-Ladies (Arum maculatum) - an unusual looking plant, and more easily recognised when they produce a small clump of red berries in the Autumn
No trip to a British woodland in Spring would be complete without a shot of some Bluebells. Beautiful looking flowers, although I suspect these are actually either Spanish Bluebells (and introduced variety) or a hybridized version (spanish x english).
There were a few insects to be seen inbetween the flowers. This was a type of Hoverfly (ID still unknown, I need to brush up on my fly knowledge)
This is one of the Dagger Flies (or Dance Flies), it could be something like Empis tessellata
And the more I looked in the undergrowth, the more I could find, including this smart looking Crab Spider...
and then I spotted this Female Hairy Footed Flower Bee (Anthrphora plumipes) feeding on some more White Dead-Nettles.
Then there was a couple of Speckled Wood Butterflies flitting about in the dappled sunlight...
and another species of Bee, this is a type of Nomad Bee (Nomada sp).
After lots of cool minibeasts, it was time to get back to flowers. This tiny little blue flower belongs to one of the Speedwells (I think its a Germander Speedwell? I need more practice)
And finally, the plant we were looking for: Early Purple Orchid (Orchis mascula)
Lots of flower spikes had appeared this year, so we spent a little time photographing them, here is 
I'll be honest, I am more into insects than flowers, but even I will admit that Orchids are rather special. In June we are hoping to go away for a few days (covid permitting) and we hope to see some more interesting Orchids fingers crossed.
Anyway, this was a productive day, and I got a few decent images for my effort 😁
Keep an eye out for Part 3 when we went to look for some more cool stuff to see
All names confirmed and checked via Wikispieces
Further information from Wildlife Trust
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