Military Orchid

Another week and another journey in search of Orchids. This time to the Chilterns with the first stop Homefield Woods for the Military Orchid. Follow the postcode for the Beds, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust site. Use a map for the last couple of hundred metres to the small car parking area. Pass through the gate and about a hundred and fifty metres in, up a path on the right, you are in a small meadow with the Military Orchids.

It was my first visit and I was surprised to get such easy access to such a rare orchid. As far as I am aware there are only three sites in the country where this orchid can be see, two in the Chilterns and one up near Mildenhall.

My pocket guide shows the flowering period as mid May to Mid June but when we arrived on the third of June the bulk of the plants were past there best. We found a couple of good specimens to record but I wouldn't have wanted to be any later.

Military Orchid  -  Orchis militaris

Military Orchid  -  Orchis militaris

Military Orchid  -  Orchis militaris

Military Orchid  -  Orchis militaris

Military Orchid  -  Orchis militaris

Military Orchid floret  -  Orchis militaris

Twayblades, Fly and Bee orchids could also be found in the same small area and there was another meadow area a bit further on which we did not visit. 

Bee Orchid  -  Ophrys apifera

Bee Orchid  -  Ophrys apifera

A quick record of the Bee Orchid and we were off to our next location, the wonderfully named Bix Bottom for the Warburg Nature Reserve. It has to be said that this was a bit of a disappointment. Again this was our first visit. We wanted to have a look around the reserve but our real target was the Lesser Butterfly Orchid. 

It is a big area to cover and we had been hoping that there would be someone on site to give advice. Without that we ended up covering a large area but saw very few orchids, no Butterfly Orchids, not even a Greater and only one White Helleborine. They were probably there somewhere but we were running short of time and decided to cut our losses and head off to Hartslock to look for the Lady/Monkey Hybrids.

White Helleborine  -  Cephalanthera damasonium

Parking up in Goring we walked the mile or so to the Hartslock Reserve. No problem here, the orchids were easy to find, however, they were all well past there best. Careful selection of plants and the use of camera angle and we got acceptable record shots but another couple of days and we would have missed them.

Lady/Monkey Hybrid  -  Orchis purpurea x simia

Lady/Monkey Hybrid  -  Orchis purpurea x simia

Lady/Monkey Hybrid Floret  -  Orchis purpurea x simia

Lady/Monkey Hybrid  -  Orchis purpurea x simia

Lady/Monkey Hybrid  -  Orchis purpurea x simia

The hybrid is quite a robust plant probably dwarfing both its parents. I say probably as there were no Lady Orchids in the area and only a few of the much smaller Monkey Orchids.

Monkey Orchid  -  Orchis simia

Monkey Orchid  -  Orchis simia

We had also intended to have a look for Common Clubtail Dragonflies, at the railway bridge, about a mile up river from Hartslock. It's a reliable site for them but again we were running out of time and so decided to call it a day and head for home.

Another good day with the orchids and at least they don't fly away when you are trying to take a picture.