Alyn Waters Country Park 12th June 2024 (SJ 31995 54686) 

In my attempts to find new orchid sites I had noticed a gate above a sand and gravel quarry near Rossett in Wrexham. This may be interesting I thought. It turned out just to be a permissive path to allow local folk to avoid the lane where heavy trucks and so on pass on a frequent basis. Nothing seen.So it is an about turn and head off the Alyn Waters to see how the Bee Orchids are doing. The answer is very well. With reference to my arial map from May this year I would say the latest location E has some 400 Bee Orchids in flower. some 12 at spot D, just 1 at C, while B and A are still devoid. After all these specimens why no nice varieties to drool over?

Minera Quarry 18th June 2024 (SJ 25156 52172)

Back here again ... sigh. This new sites lark is not quite going to plan; but I do want to see if there are any hybrids lurking, and how the sepaloid Bee Orchids are shaping up. Well, no hybrids to be found in the usual spots. The Bee Orchids all seem to be regular forms too, but why? Have they regressed or is it that they are resting after flowering last year and will re-appear sometime in the future. Was there just one with the faulty gene which spread some seed around? There are now 3 Bee Orchids where I first saw one here, after a gap of a few years. The marsh orchids are out - Northern Marsh, D x venusta and what I consider to be Welsh Marsh Orchid. See my other entries for this site in June for my reasoning on this. One oddity is a Common Spotted Orchid that has a fork in the flower spike leading to a bump on the side. You can find nice `family groupings` of CSOs here.
Since last year there had been a lot of groundwork done. Perhaps they are creating habitats for things such as solitary bees like at Marford Quarry.

      
Northern Marsh and Welsh Marsh Orchids

In the spirit of this year`s mission on the 19th we head off up the Wirral. At Royden Park there are supposed to see Common Spotted Orchids in a flower meadow, We see none. Passing over into Thursaston Common we a looking for the Southern Marsh that feature on the info boards. We see none.

Undaunted, on the 24th I decide to have a look at the fate of the Bee Orchids that grew next to what is now HMP Berwyn. I have not been back since the prison opened because lurking around just outside the fencing with camera and phone in hand looks mighty suspicious. Curiosity overcomes me, and I have yet another disappointing day. the verge where the Bee Orchids grew is hopelessly overgrown and all that can be seen are a couple of Common Spotteds.

Pantymwyn 26th June 2024 (SJ 1943 6497) 

I have been here previously, perhaps 10 years ago, looking for Butterfly Orchids based upon some on-line historical records, but found nothing. It seems the village is built around a central area that is much overgrown with scrub and bushes, but with paths used by locals going every which way. Now we are back after a tip-off - thanks Dan! Amidst the bushes there are a couple of open areas and this is where we find orchids at last. There is a good number of Greater Butterfly Orchids, a few Lesser Butterfly Orchids and one I a prepared to call the hybrid of the two Platanthera x hybrida. The pollinia are nearly vertically parallel as in the LBO, but further apart than usual, but not widely apart like GBO.
There are other species too. The inevitable Common Spotted Orchids, Common Twayblades, a couple of Marsh Fragrant Orchids and evidence of Early Purple Orchids flowering in the spring.

 
Three of the Greater Butterfly Orchids and one of the Lesser Butterfly

 
Close ups of the Greater Butterfly, the hybrid, and the Lesser Butterfly

Graig (Llanarmon-yn-Ial) 28th June 2024 (SJ 2012 5698) 

Looking at the OS maps for new places I spot where, just outside Llanarmon-yn-Ial, the Clwydian Way heads north alongside a working limestone quarry. This looks promising. At the outset, from the road, things are not promising, but soon there are spots with groups of Common Spotted Orchids and Early Purple Orchids now well gone over. however they must have looked great in their prime. Things get more orchidy as we come to the higher points. there are a few Common Twayblades, Pyramidal Orchids and even a diminutive pair of Frog Orchids. However it is the Marsh Fragrant Orchids that catch the eye. Dotted between CSOs, they come in a range of shades.

Up there there is a good view around the area. There is another quarry not far away across the road. Perhaps a place to visit later. I unfold the map to see where it is and find to my amazement that this is the quarry just below the Eryrys site, and we have actually been up here a couple of times previously; just having approached it from the opposite direction. So not a new site, but at least at a new time of the year with a lot more species in flower.

Maes Hiraddug (SJ 0614 7941) 

A pair of meadows kept as a nature reserve on the edge of Dyseth. One has a large number of Common Spotted Orchids and the occasional Common Twayblades. The other just a few CSO. Oddly though, I feel as if I remember this second meadow from some time in the past. Very deja vu. Conversely I have no recollection of being here before. There is no sign of other species said to dwell here.

Returning home I notice several collections of orchids, mostly besides the dual carriageways where one cannot stop for a closer look.
A5151 on leaving A55 and heading north. Still a good collection of Common Spotted Orchids
A55 just by J31 alongside both carriageways but mainly on the westbound side. Many Common Spotted Orchids along 300 metres or so,
A55 between J34 and J35 on the bank at the top of the hill going east. Lots of what seem to be Common Spotted Orchids and Pyramidal Orchids.
A483 Rosset turn off on Wrexham side. More Common Spotted Orchids