August 2014

July has been a fantastic month for sunshine and as a result of good weather, for wildlife too. Bindon Hill is covered with plants that flower for most of the summer, together with the late flowerers such as Harebells, and Autumn Gentians.

Dyer’s Greenweed, an attractive member of the Pea family, is in flower in the shorter grass areas on top of the hill. Clustered Bellflower and Betony are more noticeable this year, scattered over a wider area. Devil’s-bit Scabious joins Small Scabious; getting its name from roots that stop abruptly, because in folklore it was thought that the Devil bit off its roots in a fit of rage on seeing it flowering so beautifully so late in the year. In the Daisy family, Saw-wort, Greater Knapweed and Carline Thistle will continue to flower through the next few months.

In hedgerows, the ‘lady’ part of Lords and Ladies look bright and enticing, consisting of a stem of red berries. These are extremely poisonous to humans if eaten. Blackberries are ripening too; they start the ‘berry’ season and are ready for the taking throughout autumn.

What a fantastic butterfly year it has been; we are now seeing Chalkhill Blue, Grayling, Gatekeeper, Marbled White, Dark Green Fritillary, Small Tortoiseshell, Meadow Brown and Small and Lulworth Skipper butterflies in healthy numbers.

Last month we had confirmed sightings of a good number of Silver-studded Blue butterflies on Bindon Hill; this is a first for this site. This species is mainly found on Heathland but sometimes coastal habitats, and is a UK BAP Status Priority species.

We have chosen Devil’s-bit Scabious for flower of the month, a good nectar source for butterflies. This has a longer flowering season than the other Scabious species and is a slightly darker mauve to purple colour.