Early Spider Orchid

I dabbled a bit with Orchid hunting last year but truth be told I have never really understood the obsessive nature of the orchid hunt. It's not like a bird, butterfly or other insect where you have to use field craft, it doesn't even move. Then today, I found myself laid out full length in the pouring rain, desperately trying to get a photograph before the wind and the rain flattened the specimen I had found. Perhaps I am beginning to understand!

Our first Orchid hunt of the year and I went home with three life ticks, Early Purple, Green-winged and Early Spider.

First stop was Lancing Ring for the Early Purple Orchids. We found a few specimens but this is a much used and abused site. A car park gives easy access and family picnics, children enjoying the area and dog walkers, have resulted in a worn and tired environment and certainly somewhere where you need to carry out a detailed inspection before you get face down on the ground to get a picture.

Next stop Anchor Bottom, a great place to visit, for most of the spring and summer, for flowers and butterflies. The Green-winged Orchids are on the north facing slope with hundreds of specimens visible. Just a pity we got caught in a cloud burst whilst we were viewing them.

Lots of purple and pink variants but we couldn't find any white.

Our last stop for the day was at Castle Hill Nature Reserve, one of the last remaining fragments of chalk downland and probably the best site in the country for the Early Spider Orchid.  Natural England reports 50,000 plants at this site, we didn't count them. There were certainly a lot visible but don't get the impression that they are easy to find. This is a small flower spike and a dull flower and is restricted to a small part of the reserve. Look for the pale green stems rather than the flower. Once you locate the right area and get your "eye in" they are all around you.

We also found Early Purple Orchids towards the top of the slopes. This was a very exposed site compared to the more sheltered Lancing Ring area and it showed in stunted growth and generally weathered specimens. However, find a fresh growth or sheltered spot and there were some delightful orchids waiting to be photographed.

The challenge of the orchid hunt is not so much in the finding of the plant on the day as in the research in working out when and where to look. I think I might be adding a few more to the list this year.