Tasker`s Meadow, 6th June 2021 (SP 43844 65162)

A good few years since I have been here, but with a family visit to the midlands it seems a good opportunity to come here again. The Greater Butterfly Orchids are not quite all out yet giving the impression that there are fewer, but seek and ye shall find. Actually they seem to be growing in a wider area than we saw them last time. Common Twayblade and Common Spotted Orchids are also in flower.

Telford Retail Estate, 7th June 2021 (SJ 66936 10642)

Saw these two years ago, and the show this year is just as good. Despite a search nearby these Bee Orchids are confined to the one traffic island at the entrance to the retail estate. This suggests that they were improrted with turf or top soil, and that they are unlikely to spread beyond this patch. You can see that they have only just started to flower. Sadly no variants to be found.

I was close by a week later and popped over to see how these were doing, and found that they had all been mown. Now you can see from the photos that this was no long-grassed island; there was no obstruction for driver`s vision from any vegetation. Were these mown down in full flower deliberately? I had been to a similar situation in Deeside Industrial Park, Flintshire, and arrived just as the mowers had finished their job.  There has been a vocal campaign to keep road verges etc un-mown during wild flower flowering season. Could some in the highways departments take the opinion that who are these people telling us what we can do, and when? If you tell someone publicly that they have been doing it all wrong over the years, surely you can expect some sort of backlash. That is not necessarily the case here of course, but why were these mown down when they caused no problem at all?

Lime Kiln Woods, 14th June 2013 (SJ 65438 09591)

Great to get a tip-off about a location for Bird`s-nest Orchids, even better when in terms of numbers it rivals places like Buckholt Woods in Gloucestershire. This is a former industrial site, as the name suggests, so cannot really be classed as old woodland. There are no really large trees, and what is there is a mixture of species. Nevertheless, I must have seen up to a hundred specimens in a relatively small area. If one wandered further through the woods no doubt more would be found. No other species of orchid are to be seen.

A word of advice. Do not drive up the track to these woods. Park your car down the other side of the motorway in the estate. The drive is private land and you may get a sticker on your windscreen advising that the car`s details have been noted and may be passed to Shropshire police.

Conwy RSPB, 15th June 2021 (SH 80175 76811)

It has been tree years since we were last here, but today we are on a mission. However, firstly, a comment on how it has changed. Whilst there are more Bee Orchids than I seem to remember (and that is despite those growing in the margins of the car park having disappeared), there is a massive reduction in the numbers of Southern Marsh Orchids and not a single Early Marsh Orchid seen. Even the Common Spotteds are thin on the ground, with a single D. x grandis seen.

The main reason for being here is because of an un-pigmented Bee Orchid, O. opifera var chlorantha being reported to be here. Is it, in common vernacular, a Green Bee Orchid or a White Bee Orchid? Who cares, because it is found, but in a slightly distressed state. Nearby is another tall Bee Orchid in bud, with apparently unmarked sepals. The same can be said for two other regular sized plants. That is the second new orchid entity of the year ticked off.

I have a return visit planned to see the unopened flowers, but am told last minute that the original plant has been nibbled and the other var chloranthas do not seem to be unfurling their flowers. However, another trip in 2022 is likely.

Llandudno Junction, 15th June 2021 (SH7939677742)

There followed a quick trip to see how the Bee Orchids at the local retail park are fairing. The answer is not so good. Only a couple in the borders above the health centre, with a few more over on the Tesco side.

Cors Bodeilio 22nd June 2021 ( SH 50659 77326 )

My last two visits here have included wellies-trapped-in-mud incidents, and I am resolved not to let it happen again. However, just like the Bee Orchid at Conwy I have reports of a Fly Orchid with the same aberration, and they grow within that mud; so here we are. First off however, the grassy part next to the boardwalk is quite alive with orchids this year. There are Northern Marsh Orchids at the end of their period, similarly Early Marsh Orchids. While most of the latter are a soft pink shade some are much deeper red in colour, nearly rivaling those found on dunes. There is said to be such a population of D. incarnata var coccinea growing at nearby Rhos-y-Gadd, which is genetically distinct. Could these be part of that population? The Heath Spotted Orchids are numerous and at their best, and the Marsh Helleborines are just coming into their own. There are Dactylorhiza hybrids too, and bearing in mind species present, numbers and appearance I think it is safe to say that D. x latirella (Heath Spotted x Northern Marsh) and D. x carnea (Heath Spotted x Early Marsh) are represented.

 
Two quite differently sized Northern Marsh Orchids

 
The Heath Spotted Orchids appeared in great numbers

 
The Early Marsh Orchids including a nice purple flowered one

 
and of course some Dactylorhiza hybrids.
I suspect the first pictured is Northern Marsh x Early Marsh, D. x latirella
while the other two likely to be Heath Spotted x Northern Marsh, D. x carnea.

For the first time here I do get to see Fly Orchids at this reserve, two off to the right of the boardwalk and one more in the sticky bit. Really great to see these after so many failed trips, but they in no way catch the eye. You do have to study the ground, square foot by square foot, and even then they are easy to miss.

The other Bodeilio speciality is the Narrow-leaved Marsh Orchid. It is a bit late for these, but I think that these fit the textbook description sufficiently. They too grew in the sticky bit near the Fly Orchids.