Another early morning outing - acting upon information received as they say. An email from Dawn and Jim alerting me to the presence of yet more Frog Orchid x Common Spotted Orchid hybrids. Dactylorhiza viridis x Dactylorhiza fuchsii is known as Dactylorhiza x mixtum, All very complicated yet the resulting flowers are pleasingly simple - uncomplicated.
Having a precise grid reference helps enormously - using the app on my mobile enabled me get within a couple of metres of the target and then it was down to the Mark 1 eyeball. Once you have seen one then the eye is conditioned to identify a target amidst a sea of other orchids.
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| Dactylorhiza x mixtum |
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| Dactylorhiza x mixtum |
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| Dactylorhiza x mixtum |
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| Dactylorhiza x mixtum |
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| Dactylorhiza x mixtum |
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| Dactylorhiza x mixtum |
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| Dactylorhiza x mixtum |
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| Dactylorhiza x mixtum |
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| Dactylorhiza x mixtum |
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| Dactylorhiza x mixtum |
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| Dactylorhiza fuchsii and Dactylorhiza x mixtum |
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| Dactylorhiza x mixtum |
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| Dactylorhiza x mixtum |
Having recorded at least six specimens I moved on in search of other species, a tad difficult as there were literally thousands of Common Spotted Orchids present. Of course it's about knowing where to look and from the experience of previous years I located around a dozen spikes of Fly Orchid, Ophrys insectifera. Here and there I found even more Frog Orchids, they really do seem to have had a good year and some of the spikes are larger than usual.
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| Fly Orchid |
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| Fly Orchid |
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| Common Spotted Orchid and Bumblebee |
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| Frog Orchid |
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| Frog Orchid |
Next on the agenda was the Bee Orchid, Ophrys apifera and I wasn't disappointed, finding half a dozen fresh specimens. Oddly the inverse on the Fly Orchid in that I found them in a new location rather than where they usually are - the unpredictability of nature!
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| Bee Orchid |
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| Bee Orchid |
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| Bee Orchid |
By now the sun was getting some strength and some really fresh Marbled Whites, Melanargia galathea were on the wing. Then a couple of fresh out of the box Dark Green Fritillaries, Speyaria aglaja put in an appearance and one was happy nectaring on a dandelion and so was duly recorded.
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| Marbled White (m) |
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| Dark Green Fritillary |
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