Noar Hill

On Wednesday 14^th May we went to Noar Hill. Noar Hill is a nice place, everybody says so-and it is. Noar Hill is located near nowhere in particular but is quite close to Selbourne in Hampshire. It is one of the few places where you can go for a walk by standing still. Well not quite but everyone you meet is standing looking at the butterflies or flowers that you get the impression they have not moved all day. Noar hill as its name suggests is a hill made of chalk that has been quarried sometime in the distant past by digging saucer shaped depressions in the chalk. Nature has since taken over the job of looking after the site by covering it with lime loving plants and their associated wildlife. The saucer shaped depressions leave a series of oases like the displays at Chelsea flower show, each with their own plants and insects.

We parked at the end of the lane and walked up to the main entrance. On our left was a field left as a meadow which at this time of year is covered in buttercups. There are a number of different buttercups and they frequently grow close together. Meadow buttercups which are quite tall obviously grow in the meadow but creeping buttercups and bulbous buttercups grow in the lane. You cannot tell if a buttercup has a bulb without digging it up of course but they conveniently use their stamens on the flower to point down to the bulb which gives you a good clue.

Walking in at the main entrance you soon notice the woodland plants of sanicle and woodruff under the trees and wood avens or geum are just coming in to flower. The main flower you notice all over the grassland however is the cowslip which is really prolific on Noar Hill. They apparently have a slight smell of apricots and have an apricot colour too. The only orchids in evidence at the moment are the early purple orchid and the twayblade. Early purple orchids have spotted leaves and an upturned spur on the flower. Twayblades are evident by their two leaves, hence their name, and are almost as prolific as the cowslip.

The main attraction at this time of year is the Duke of Burgundy Fritillary butterfly which is rather scarce but locally common on Noar Hill which attracts a number of visitors to see it.

The butterfly is not a Fritillary despite its name and does not look like the Duke of Burgundy either. It is in a class of butterflies on its own in this country but closely related to the blues. It lays its eggs on the cowslip which is probably why it thrives on Noar Hill. Other butterflies seen included orange tip, peacock, brimstone, small heath, speckled wood and at least two dingy skippers.

We also saw two broad bodied chasers, one of which appeared to have just emerged as it looked in pristine condition, a good indication that summer has arrived. Another indication is that the birds foot trefoil is just coming in to flower which together with the salad burnet and bedstraws are all good plants for the butterflies.

We spent a lot of time standing and looking but eventually managed to walk back to the car and home having enjoyed a warm sunny day in the best of English countryside.