Durleston Country Park 7th April 2017 (SY997770)

I had two reasons for arranging an early season visit here in April. One is the Dorset Sawfly Orchid. One has sporadically flowered here for a few years and most people seem to agree that it is genuinely naturalised rather than being introduced here. Unfortunately 2017 is one of the years when it isn't going to flower. There is another explanation which also explains one of Dorset's rarities, but that shall have to remain under wraps for now. Luckily I found this out before leaving home, so we didn't waste time looking for it. If you come here and park at the visitor centre put a whole day on the car parking; four hours is barely enough, as it is an up and down trek to the Early Spider Orchids and there is plenty to stop an look at on the way. The scent of the gorse takes your mind off the distance. As you approach Dancing Ledge you start to find the odd specimen in the turf, and it is too tempting to take some shots as a banker in case of the rest of the trip is a damp squib. But eventually you do arrive and they are all around you. You need to watch where you step or kneel. Quite a good display but no varieties today; just a range of speculum designs.

Gop Hill 18th April 2017

We didn't visit here last year because I had been told that there were no orchids flowering at all. Must have been the weather. We are a bit too early this year, with not many of the Green-winged Orchids and Early Purple Orchids still in bud or even less developed. So I took a few photos, and perhaps come back in 10 days or so.
Is it my imagination or is the gorse, attractive as it is, taking over here. Certainly seems bushier.

 
Green-winged Orchids
 
Early Purple Orchids

Mynydd Marian 18th April 2017 (SH889773)

A list of Denbighshire rare plants has an entry for Green-winged Orchids at a precise location here from 2011, but may be too early or the field has had its use changed. It looks like it had been mowed as part of a garden and ornamental daffodils planted. I did see something in the field of about the right size and colour however, but photos were no use. On top of the hill there were Early Purple Orchids well into flowering. These showed how unfussy they can be by growing where brambles had been cleared, in open turf where they risked being bunny food, half hidden under gorse, and on the limestone ledges at the quarry rim. There were still some to come and among these were a couple that, from the colour, may have been Green-winged. The Early Purples did seem to favour the south and west facing areas.

A trip to St Mary's churchyard, Bont-Newydd, was fruitless. Again Green-winged orchids have been reported here, in 2010, but today it was clear the entire grassed area had been strimmed.

Bryn Euryn, 29th April 2017 (SH831799)

Bryn Euryn is an isolated rounded hill on the outskirts of Colwyn Bay. Apart from the orchids, it is worth a visit just for the views. In the west you can see Little Orme, Great Orme, Anglesey and Puffin Island. In the other direction you can see the North Wales coast up to Rhyl and beyond.
The Early Purple Orchids start as soon as you emerge from the woodland around the base of the hill, and they continue all the way to the top. Most are fairly typical, but you can find paler coloured plants in most groups, and even some decidedly pink. They seem to be doing well where there had been widespread scrub clearance. Leaflets and notices advertise the presence of Green-winged Orchids, unsurprisingly as it is less than a mile (as the crow flies) from Bryn Prydew where we failed to find this species three years ago, despite it being marked as a recognised location. We actually thought we had failed here too, but on examination of the photos I saw that I had actually incidentally captured one.

Gop Hill, 29th April 2017

A second visit this year here in order to see the Green-winged Orchids which were only just beginning to open eleven days ago. They were perhaps at their best today, and still had more to give. Plenty of colour variation, but perhaps not too many pink or white forms seen. It did seem that this year they spread much further east and west than I have seen them in previous visits. Perhaps previously we hadn't strayed far from the centre of the colony, but it was a great display especially as I had a report that they failed to flower last year; they have made up for it this year. There is still a strict demarcation between the two species. the GWO grew in a band above the EPO. Evidence of equine activity here since we last visited.