Pond13 travelled on the minibus wondering whether we were going to be lucky or unlucky with the weather and whether we had brought the right clothing. The weather was decidedly uncertain as we headed to the deserted medieval village of Wharram Percy in the Yorkshire Wolds and there were several showers as we travelled, some of them heavy. However, the scenery en route was beautiful, especially the vast expanses of poppies some of them intermingled with bright yellow rape.
Bee Orchid After a welcome stop at a cafe to use the facilities and have a cuppa we continued on to our destination meeting up with 4 people who had come by car. The views of the Wolds were splendid. We headed along the path through fields full of wild flowers to the village of Wharram Percy. The plan had been to walk down fairly quickly and to botanise on the return leg, but it became apparent that this was never going to happen! 18th century farm cottages, the ruins of a medieval church and a recreated fish pond were the main points of interest at Wharram Percy. The cottages were snuggled into the hillside in such an idyllic setting. It is believed that families had to leave the village in the late 15th century as it was turned over to pasture for sheep.We had lunch by the church and then made a circuit of the pond before returning to the bus. 114 plants in flower were seen including dropwort. Today's trip was more about the botany than the birds, but we did see linnets and also a yellowhammer in full song. From Wharram Percy we drove just a short distance to Wharram Quarry, a chalk quarry managed by the Yorkshire wildlife trust. Now disused, the quarry has a flat floor and steep cliff faces with scooped out hollows.
Scorpion Fly In the short time we had available to us we recorded 57 plants in flower. 
Bordered Sallow MothThe highlights were the common spotted and bee orchids, and also broom rape, probably thistle broomrape. Clustered bellflower was also seen. Throughout the day we spotted several butterflies including common blue and small heath which were abundant at the quarry. Also, a marbled white and ringlet butterflies were seen as well as an uncommon moth - a bordered sallow, the first recording on this site for 12 years. As we returned to the bus, the weather was really closing in. Most of us managed to avoid the heavy downpour but a couple did get a good soaking.Sue