Lizard Orchid

Back to Kent again today with the target being the Lizard Orchid. Success on finding this one orchid and we would have returned home happy but in the end we had the Lizard plus nine other species - Lizard, Pyramidal, Common Spotted, Chalk Fragrant, Monkey, Musk, Common Twayblade, Greater Butterfly, Fly, and Late Spider.

Harrap reports the Lizard Orchid as being rare and very localised. As a statement for the country that may well be true but it does not apply to Sandwich Bay. We found them growing along the side of the road, on the golf course, at the back of the beach and in peoples front gardens. There were thousands of them.

Lizard Orchids - Himantoglossum hircinum

The Lizard Orchid is on the edge of its range in England and numbers have fluctuated over time, probably due to climate changes. By 1900 the Lizard was down to just four remaining sites and extinction in England was threatened. Even as late as the 1970s and 80s a twenty four hour guard was maintained at the largest site at Sandwich Bay to deter orchid collectors. Now it seems to be thriving and gradually expanding its territory.

Lizard Orchids - Himantoglossum hircinum

Lizard Orchid - Himantoglossum hircinum

Lizard Orchids - Himantoglossum hircinum

It is not the easiest of flowers to photograph as the greyish green flowers blend into the background of long grass in which it grows. Close up, however, there is some nice detail in the individual florets.

Florets Lizard Orchid

The bright colours of Pyramidal Orchids were a constant distraction whilst seeking out Lizards to photograph. In the end I couldn't resist taking a few pictures for the blog.

Pyramidal Orchid - Anacamptis pyramidalis

Pyramidal Orchid - Anacamptis pyramidalis

Pyramidal Orchid - Anacamptis pyramidalis

Next stop was Park Gate Down where we had seen a report of three spikes of Musk Orchids. It is a small insignificant orchid and finding it would be much harder than last years search, when we visited Noar Hill to see thousands of spikes carpeting the reserve.

Park Gate Down was a glorious sight. It had changed significantly from when we visited only a couple of weeks ago. Common Spotted and Chalk Fragrant orchids now covered the slopes in huge numbers.

Common Spotted Orchid - Dactylorhiza fuchsii

The plant below is a very pale version with limited and very faint pink markings but it probably falls within the normal range of colour variations for the Common Spotted Orchid.

Common Spotted Orchid - Dactylorhiza fuchsii

Chalk Fragrant - Gymnadenia conopsea

Chalk Fragrant - Gymnadenia conopsea

Chalk Fragrant - Gymnadenia conopsea

Although it is a fairly common find, it was nice to see a pure white specimen of the Chalk Fragrant.

Chalk Fragrant  - Var. albiflora

Floret - Var. albiflora

Lots of Common Twayblades. Once you get to recognise the plant it seems to be everywhere.

Common Twayblade - Neottia ovata

Monkey orchids were still around but going over fast. I wanted to record it again but I had to photograph the side in shade and I have "healed" a few decaying arms and legs in photoshop!

The hard work was in finding the three spikes of Musk Orchid. We knew which field they were in but finding, what turned out to be two and a half, ten centimetre spikes, in a field of grass and wild flowers was never going to be easy. Newly emerged Twayblades in particular kept giving false indications of successes.

After about an hours of searching we stopped for lunch, starting to think that we would have to pay a return visit to Noar Hill to see them again. Fortunately Dave was on top of his game and by lining up anthills on a photograph he had seen and saying a few magic words he managed to find them. A great achievement, standing just six foot away and with Dave pointing at them I still struggled to pick them out.

Musk Orchid - Herminium monorchis

Musk Orchid - Herminium monorchis

Other finds included a few Greater Butterfly Orchids, as below and a good number of Fly Orchids, which were well past their best and which I did not bother to photograph

Greater Butterfly Orchid

We had one final stop to make for the day. We had seen Late Spider Orchids earlier in the year, before they had flowered and I had been back to see them in bloom. Unfortunately Dave had been chasing butterflies in the Pyrenees at the time and had missed out on seeing them in flower. We thought he may have missed out on the chance for this year but the return visit found a couple still looking good and we were able to record them.

Late Spider Orchid - Ophrys fuciflora

Late Spider Orchid - Ophrys fuciflora

Another great day Orchid hunting. It helps fill in those quiet periods in the bird spotting year and makes a change from butterflies and dragonflies.

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.

Heath Fritillary

It was half past nine and it had been a fantastic morning. Six orchids down including two life ticks and I was on a roll. The only problem was that I had not planned for that level of success and I was having to improvise on where to visit next. On top of that the clouds were starting to build and rain was threatened.

I decided to visit Blean Wood to look for the Heath Frittilary butterflies. A few years earlier this had been the site of one of my most memorable butterflying days. We had walked into a glade and finding one Heath Fritillary had rushed to get the cameras out before it disappeared. The sun then came out and a brown carpet of pristine Heath Fritillaries rose out of the grass surrounding us. Too many to count but certainly many hundreds.

Today the same glade was still delivering although, being at the start of the flight period, only half a dozen were showing. This has to be one of the easiest butterflies to photograph. They don't fly far or fast, they are not easily flushed, and they are very obliging in giving closed and open wing views. I had it in mind to visit a site near Eastbourne on the way home to photograph the Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary and that would be a challenge of another order.

Heath Fritillary

Heath Fritillary

Heath Fritillary

Heath Fritillary

Female Brimstone on Common Cow Wheat

And a few other butterfly shots taken recently. Closed wing shot of a Duke of Burgundy, they usually bask with wings open; open wing shot of a Holly Blue, they usually bask with wings closed; and a Wall Brown, unusual in that I have seen so many of them this year.

Duke of Burgundy

Holly Blue

Wall

Still only a quarter past eleven, enough material gathered for three blogs, but the rain had now set in. I went home via Park Heath Corner hoping for a break in the clouds and a chance to photograph the Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary but it was not to be. Still, it's always worth leaving something for another day.

White Helleborine

Having found my Late Spider Orchid and it still being only eight in the morning I had the opportunity to explore a bit more of Kent. My secondary target for the day was the White Helleborine, which would also be a life tick for me, and being only a few miles from Bonsai Bank I headed over there to begin my search. At least on this visit I would know the shortest route from the car park to the bank.

The Lady Orchids  -  Orchis purpurea were still putting on a good show although many were starting to go over and we have probably passed the peak flowering period.

No shortage of Lady Orchids

Lady Orchid

White dresses and straw bonnets were a great find but unfortunately I was just a few days too late and they were past their best.

Lady Orchid probably Var. albida  -  lacking anthocyanin pigments

Plenty of  Common Twayblades  -  Neottia ovata   around and a few Greater Butterfly Orchids -  Platanthera chlorantha.

Common Twayblade

Greater Butterfly Orchid

Greater Butterfly Orchid

Greater Butterfly Orchid Floret

After much searching I finally found the White Helleborines  -  Cephalanthera damasonium that I had been looking for. Perhaps a bit smaller than I had expected and tending to grow in areas of longer grass, they could be easily missed. However, having seen my first and knowing what to look for I was soon up to about a dozen plants.

White Helleborine

White Helleborine

White Helleborine

White Helleborine

And there was still more to see on the bank. Common Spotted Orchids  -  Dactylothiza fuchsii  were just coming into flower in a few of the more open locations.

Common Spotted Orchid

Common Spotted Orchid

Common Spotted Orchid

Bonsai Bank had delivered once again. I checked the time of my last photograph 09.22. I had driven a hundred miles from home, visited two sites, found and photographed six different orchids, including two life ticks and it wasn't even half past nine. A fantastic morning but what to do next. Lizard Orchids over at Sandwich Bay were a possibility but I was probably a couple of weeks too early. Heath Fritillary butterflies at Blean Wood seemed a better option and with the sky starting to darken I would have to get there quickly. See the next blog.