Friends of Groyne No.4: Greater Butterfly Orchid

Saturday, 15 June 2019

Lizard Orchids in Kent

Another orchid foray into deep,deep,deepest Kent, all the way to Sandwich Bay. Lizard Orchids were the target and we were visiting the colony at Royal St. Georges golf course. Orchid hunting is either - turn up, see orchids - often in huge numbers, or of course, the reverse. A single small orchid and very hard to find. Today's excursion very much fell into the first category.

We left early morning and, for once, had an uneventful journey, only the closure of the toll bridge in Sandwich causing a minor diversion. We decided to head for the beach via the private toll road and approach the golf course from the sea and as we turned down King's Avenue Martin said " I think I've seen one". Sure enough in the gardens and hedgerows were Lizard Orchids, tall flowering spikes that the residents had mown around. This was definitely going to be a doddle. We turned down the opportunity to photograph the first specimens and continued with our plan to park on the beach road. As we parked up and left the car we could see Lizard Orchids just about everywhere, hundreds of them in the dunes gently swaying in the breeze.

Recorded for posterity, the two spikes that greeted us as we parked up.

No difficulty in finding them

Lizard Orchid, Himantoglossum hircinum

Lots of little lizards.

Lizard Orchid, Himantoglossum hircinum

Plenty yet to bloom.

Lizard Orchid, Himantoglossum hircinum

In the dunes were plenty of purple lollipops of the Pyramidal Orchid.

Pyramidal Orchid, Anacamptis pyramidalis

Plenty of really bright Viper's Bugloss, Echium vulgare in flower and the bumblebees were happy.

Sea Holly, Eryngium maritimum, sadly no flowers yet.

Next site was a revisit to Park Gate Down, only because there had been a report that Musk Orchids were in bloom in the third field. We had a bit of a shock as we entered the reserve, a sea of Chalk Fragrant Orchids clothed the slopes of all three fields. Not only the fragrants, huge numbers of Common Spotted Orchids were all in flower. I recorded a few and then went off in search of anything unusual and I managed to find an almost white CSO and the white form of CFO Var. albiflora.

Chalk Fragrant Orchid

Chalk Fragrant Orchid, Gymnadenia conopsea

Chalk Fragrant Orchid, Gymnadenia conopsea Var. albiflora

An almost white specimen of the Common Spotted Orchid, Dactyorhiza fuchsii

In the third field we found Greater Butterfly Orchids which I recorded.

Greater Butterfly Orchid, Platanthera chlorantha

The search for Musk Orchids had proved fruitless so I sat down and had my lunch pondering what to do next. There were lots of small dried up Common Twayblades and these were distracting - just similar enough to the Musk to cause you study more closely.

I was just about to give up when I spotted a tiny little pale yellow spike nestling in the grass. As this area was a tad vulnerable I did a careful search to ensure that we would not damage anything before photographing the diminutive and delicate subject. In the end we found three, two normal size and one that really amounted to a half.

Musk Orchid, Herminium monorchis

Well we were certainly having a good day. Then Martin suggested we revisit the Late Spider Orchid site. We had visited nearly a month earlier and all the specimens were in tight bud. I have a criterion that to tick an orchid then at least one flower must be open and visible. After that visit I went off to the Pyrenees but Martin had returned and recorded the orchids. I had given up seeing one this year but magically several were still in bloom and one or two looking fresh.

Late Spider Orchid, Ophrys fuciflora

So the end of a great day where we saw at least 10 species of orchid and amazingly the Lizards were the first I have seen in the UK. I have a suspicion that our orchid hunting will start to get a little more difficult from here on in - but I have to admit it has been great fun so far.

Sunday, 20 May 2018

Orchids in Kent

Birders look away now - this blog is all about plants!

Most of my trips out with the camera are about birds or butterflies, occasionally other insects get some attention but a day hunting for orchids is a bit of a rarity. So, when Greenwings advertised a day out with Jon Dunn, he of Orchid Summer fame, then I grasped the opportunity and signed up straight away.

I rose early on a fine day and made my way via extremely quiet motorways to deepest, darkest Kent.The Royal Wedding was distracting everyone and I guessed it would be quiet everywhere, a double bonus as a long day in the field meant that I would avoid all the television coverage - bliss.

I arrived in the charming village of Wye, just east of Ashford, parked up and went for a stroll around the churchyard. Hopes of a Redstart or Spotted Flycatcher amongst the forest of headstones were dashed so I occupied the visitor's bench and waited for the others to arrive. Andy and Sally arrived to keep me company and we chewed the fat about nature matters until Jon herded us all together into the mini bus and we were off.

All the venues we visited have public access, most are well known and we made no visits to private land. Of course what we did have was Jon, whose knowledge is immeasurable and Alfie, the man with the deep local gen.

What follows is my photo-diary of the day, all in chronological order, probably far too many photos for a blog.

First stop was Denge Wood and the aptly named " Bonsai Bank" so named due to an unsuccessful attempt to grow conifers. No matter it is now a stunning location for Lady Orchids, here there are hundreds. With a supporting cast of Early Purple, Common Twayblade, Greater Butterfly and White Helleborine it could keep the enthusiast occupied for a day - or more.

Lady Orchid, Orchis purpurea

Lady Orchid, Orchis purpurea, a light "champagne" coloured specimen

Lady Orchid, Orchis purpurea

Lady Orchid, Orchis purpurea, a really dark specimen

It seemed that those growing in shade developed more "spots"

The spots are composed of tufts of papillae

Supposedly like "Angels"

Lady Orchid, Orchis purpurea, var albida

Lady Orchid, Orchis purpurea, var albida - using Andy's black trousers as a background.

Finally - the largest spike I could find.

A tad early for the Greater Butterfly Orchids, Platanthera chlorantha

Similarly for the White Helleborine, Cephalanthera damasonium

Though I managed to record one open bloom.

Common Twayblades, Neottia ovata were everywhere - spiders love them.

Common Twayblade

Butterflies added an extra dimension, Duke of Burgundy, Green Hairstreak and Brimstones all on the wing.

Duke of Burgundy

Green Hairstreak

For balance, having seen so many Lady Orchids it was time to record some Man Orchids, Orchis anthroprophora.

Man Orchid, Orchis anthroprophora

After all the excitement it was nice to have a lunch break at the Tickled Trout in Wye, then it was back out on the trail.

The first venue in the afternoon kicked off the excitement all over again, a single specimen of the rare Late Spider Orchid, Ophrys fuciflora conveniently in bloom early.

Late Spider Orchid, Ophrys fuciflora

Queuing patiently to record a rarity.

After that we just had to find Early Spider Orchid, Ophrys sphegodes most of the specimens we found were just past their best, top blooms only in reasonable condition.

Early Spider Orchid, Ophrys sphegodes

The final venue gave us Monkey Orchids, Orchis simia, Fly Orchids, Orchis insectifera and some fresher Early Purples, Orchis mascula.

Monkey Orchid, Orchis simia

Early Purple Orchid, Orchis mascula

Fly Orchid, Orchis insectifera

Then we had run out of time, arriving back in Wye after 18:00, the end of a great day. Though I have a suspicion that most of us would have carried on until dark.

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Saturday, 15 June 2019

Lizard Orchids in Kent

Sunday, 20 May 2018

Orchids in Kent