Friends of Groyne No.4

Thursday, 5 May 2022

Rhodes Orchid Odyssey (IV)

Overnight the wind had abated somewhat and it looked as if the weather was set fair. My pre-breakfast stroll in the agricultural area gave distant views of a Hoopoe but there was no sign of where the Scops Owl might roost throughout the day.

Post breakfast we boarded the mini buses for what was a fairly long journey to a most orchidaceous hilltop venue in the south of the island. The roads were of mixed quality, alternating between tarmac and rough gravel, but it wasn't too bad and as a distraction the views were fantastic. An unplanned stop before the summit proved to be very fruitful and I finally caught up with Ophrys bombyliflora and Ophrys tenthredinifera in its full blown prime.

Ophrys bombyliflora

The Ophrys tenthredinifera were probably the most 'showy' of the orchids that we encountered, well you can't miss them even when surrounded by vegetation.

Ophrys tenthredinifera

Orchis anatolica were not hard to find, in fact the hillside seemed to be covered in them.

Orchis anatolica

Ophrys ferrum-equinum

Tracey found a single bloom of Paeonia clusii ssp rhodia, another of the bucket list ticked off. Oddly, yet again, we were promised an abundance of them on a lower slopes. This time I decide on caution and photographed it. As it turned out the abundance was a single bloom, all the other flower heads were displaying a wealth of seed pods.

Paeonia clusii subsp. rhodia,

Orchis provinicialis, a fairly plain understated orchid proved very popular with the group. It just looks so clean. In the harsh sunlight it was easy to over expose the shot and burn out the highlights.

Orchis provincialis

With the wind rising and the turbines humming even louder, it was time to drop down off the mountain to more sheltered sites. First stop was a pine wood on the way back to Kattavia. Here we found some Ophrys Mammosa

Ophrys mammosa

Then another unexplored hillside that gave Ophrys cretica, Ophrys iricolour and Ophrys calypsus.

Ophrys calypsus

Some large stems of Ophrys creticum ssp belionae that were overgrown by other vegetation, shame as they would have been good to photograph out in the open. A case where "judicious gardening" was impossible.

Ophrys creticum ssp belionae

Ophrys creticum ssp belionae - surrounded!

Ophrys iricolour

Everything surrounded by the "chicken wire plant" botany of the devil!!

Finally, on the way back, we made another roadside stop. A known site for Anacamptis sancta, sadly, despite a detailed search, they were a victim of the late spring and nary a sign could be found. On the plus side Tina found an Anacamptis pyramidalis with just one flower - that was sufficient to add it to the list.

Anacamptis pyramidalis

Monday, 2 May 2022

Rhodes Orchid Odyssey (III)

As I lay in bed. serenaded by a Scops Owl, I could hear the wind rising and by dawn it was rattling the window shutters and howling through the trees. Our planned venue was "Windmill Hill" the site of a wind farm high up in the south eastern part of the island. A change of plan was hatched at breakfast and we headed off for lowland sites on the east coast. First stop was on the beach road near the River Gaidouras where we explored some olive groves.

As we got out of the bus the first Serapias were just in front of us, but it was a large pink object that caught my eye. The first Orchis italica, all on its own and needing to be recorded. Sometimes called the 'Naked Man' orchid for fairly obvious reasons. Duly recorded with the promise from our guides that there would be plenty more to be seen and in better condition.

Orchis italica

I started to record the Serapias blissfully unaware of the discussions that would take place over the following days as to their true identity. We were expecting parviflora or maybe bergonii. However, diligent research by our guides revealed that they were actually politissi, the effects of late spring had struck again.

Serapias politissii

With so many orchids present it wasn't surprising to record Ophrys polyxo, Ophrys mammosa and Ophrys colossaea. We even managed to find Ophrys tenthredinifera albeit in a parlous state.

Ophrys colossaea

Ophrys mammosa

Ophrys polyxo

Ophrys polyxo

Further down the lane we reached the beach, not many orchids but I did record the ever present Ophrys regis-fernandii. The birding picked up as we saw Pallid Harrier, Marsh Harrier, Woodchat Shrike and Stone Curlews plus the usual suspects.

Then on to another venue for a lunch break, the most obvious plants being the Persian Buttercup, Ranunculus asiaticus - oddly for a buttercup it's bright red. However, I did manage to find an orange one.

Ranunculus asiaticus

Serapias carica

Orchis anthropophorum

Ophrys sicula

We moved on, further down the track to another olive grove. Here the Anacamptis papilionacea were stunning, in large groups and every hue of pink. One extremely dark specimen caught the eye of Ian and from the whoop he gave I think he was delighted to see it.