Still adding new plants

Yellow Rattle (Rhinanthus minor)

Unidentified Vetch

Hybrid Orchid?

Bladder Campion (Silene vulgaris)

A good look around Stobswood the other day produced a couple of firsts for the area. Yellow rattle was growing on a wooded edge of the new road between Felton Lane and Widdrington village, no doubt planted as part of a damp meadow but hundreds of the white flowering Vetch was growing amongst this but I'm not sure what kind it is. Hopefully I will find out when the flowers are gone and I will look at the seed pods. The other addition was Duke of Argyll's Tea plant growing in the hedge near Felton Lane level crossings.

Another mystery was a strange orchid growing on the edge of the old tip. I was counting the Northern Marsh and Common Spotted Orchids as well as some of these hybrid plants when I came across this small orchid. Early Purple Orchid grows here in early Spring and it looked like the flowers were just about gone and the recent rains had hammered it a bit. The leaves were shiny and unspotted but it was fragrant and I was wondering if it may be a possible hybrid of Early Purple and Northern Marsh or just a deviant unspotted fading Early Purple.

Plenty of birds around but the only notables were Garden Warbler and Cuckoo. Large Skipper butterflies were abundant and well into double figures though it was the only species I saw.