SOUTHERN MARSH ORCHID - (Dactylorhiza praetermissa)

Somewhat late appearing, being 27th May, and curiously bunched together and with no appearance of the Early Marsh Orchid, or Bee Orchids for that matter, here are a neatly bunched group of the British Orchid the ...

Southern Marsh Orchid ...

A selection of the surrounding flora ...

Ah now if you can see it, or them rather, in the pictures above and below those dots, or green blobs, you can see everywhere...those are the Primrose seed heads.

Those peculiar few orange and red flowered ones have a few bunches on the far right, on the line of bushes. Plus a couple not far off the centre, just a little to the right and towards the camera lens.

THE BRITISH AURICULA

I am not going to say much about the following photographs ... I have said it all before anyway lol ...

Oh and the largest congregation of both Early Marsh Orchids and Southern Marsh Orchids are underneath this lot somewhere ...

I AM BACK! WITH A BRIMSTONE BUTTERFLY

The early start to what I hope to be a busy year?

Well it is going to be a busy year when it comes down to my corruption blog as a humongous great battle that is shocking, heart wrenching and two decades long is about go come to an end in a big way that will act like the catalyst of catalysts to everything I do on a rather big way. In the not too distant future by all accounts.

Still...I have to concentrate on what I started and get some work in!

So here is a Brimstone Butterfly and a few other early Spring, 2015, pictures and videos.

These always gone unnoticed by me until this year...do not aks me what they are called, lol.

A Bee-Fly ... thingey! ...

Few emerging Bee Orchids...

BEE ORCHIDS 2014

Now there did not seem to be many of these about, but I have to go back and double check a few things!

Last year the surrounding plants were a great deal lower than they are this year and I cannot emphasize this enough! So I do not know if I just cannot see the others, which might be why I have not found them previously, or much more likely that the excessive and constant Winter, Spring and early Summer rain has allowed the normal plants to block out the light from the Orchids?

There was one Bee Orchid, shown in one of the videos, which was much taller than the others and all of them were much taller than the ones I saw last year.

Bee Orchids Patch One

A nice example of a Bee Orchid in Patch One

Bee Orchids Patch Two

COMMON SPOTTED ORCHID NEW SITE CONFIRMATION

Shocking myself by walking up to the same point I saw these Orchids last year or the year before by some miracle I filmed and can now confirm the existence of Common Spotted Orchids are Site 1 of my various sites.

Now I state that I walked to the same spot but while looking the same there were just two Orchids where last time I thought there were three of two different yes, I remembered them being closer together, but might have just been that one has not appeared alongside another just yet.

Also you have to remember that after spotting the Bee Orchids and Common Spotted Orchids last year I then SCOURED the area looking for other Common Spotted Orchids to no avail. I of course did this again after finding these but only found several Bee Orchids. Some of the buds of the latter were not open so I will go back up in a few days time and ... scour once again.

Also bear in mind that I have been visiting thhis site dozens of times each year for at least 6 maybe 7 years now and yet only in the last 12 months have I seen both Common Spotted Orchids at this site, not documented as far as I know, and Bee Orchids, which are documented as being here for sure.

So the most boring site of all the Orchid sites has now become the most ... intriguing!

A DAY WITH ORCHIDS: EXPERIMENTAL WITH PYRAMIDALS

OK a few wider shots and a few experimental shots that are even wider STILL!!

LOL.

Well they are panoramic shots that I want to do more of from now on of they are a hit with viewers of course, lol.

On a bank right next to where I stopped with my old cycling buddy who himself was interested to see the Orchids but they never showed and he never saw them. This was a few feet from where we were hiding from the rain one year, lol.

This shot is a panoramic one that I tested to see if I could have narrower shots and choose where I want the photo to end.

This following shot was mad and came out a bit mad but was not that difficult to do! It also can be stopped at any point or you can just continue and it also allows you to PAN in the four axes, up, down, left and right. As soon as you move in the direction you want the camera knows and presents you with an arrow to guide you to keep steady. GREAT STUFF!!

A good background shot!

COMMON SPOTTED ORCHID SITE - DACTYLORHIZA FUCHSII

Finally I manage to post up the last of the series, well until I am up there next today or tomorrow, on my British Orchids?!

PHEW!

The weather had been extremely forgiving unlike the insects which manage to find two spot not covered by insect repellent. One on the outside of my right hand and the other on my left elbow.

Both areas become quite swollen and my knuckles red...THE BLIGHTERS!!

If I said that the Orchids were late this year that would be an understatement! These are just opening as you can see and yet normally in June these flowers would have been and gone for a couple of months on many like the Southern and Early Marsh Orchids. Granted the Common Spotted Orchids you see here are a little later than the others but they are still late.

With a little luck I shall get shots of them fully opened and hope the weather is on my side. Also if I am really lucky I will get some good shots of Common Twayblade Orchids and Pyramidal Orchids.

The former I have only just located and the latter I have not seen for a couple of years so fingers crossed!!!

After that I may just be able to start planning trips to locations further afield with Orchids and of course other wildlife?!

Toes crossed!! LOL.

 The wiggly lines common on the Dactylorhiza I visit.

 You can see the spotting on the leaves here, a shame the flowers do not last longer than they do like tropical Orchids!

 I like this photo.

 As you can see some have more spotting on the leaves than others

 Oddly I usually see some with flowers so pale they are almost WHITE. I am trying to figure out why this is.

 Heavy spotting but for me often the ones with fewer but large spots look a little better.

 Oops an Early Marsh Orchid crept in the post?!

 I did a few arty shots too over on my photography blog.