19th March 2019, Durleston (SY 99626 76929)

Yes, it's still only March and a hasty trip down to Purbeck is arranged after reports of the Early Spider Orchids starting to flower start to come in. Last visit we trekked along the South Coast Path from the Durleston Reserve car park and found it quite a trek indeed, so this year we parked in the NT car park at Worth Matravers (SY 99743 78288) and took the shorter route. However, we underestimated how steep the final bit of the path was, and how exhausting the climb back up could be!

I took a short while to get our eye's in on the orchids, but they were there dotted about the cliff tops for quite a distance - perhaps over a mile. Admittedly we were a bit too early to see them at their finest, but this trip had to fit in with work as well. None of the other early flowering orchids were to be seen, and many of the Early Spiders were still in bud. However, they were easy to spot and not tread on once a couple had been seen; they were a much yellower green than the grass and other vegetation. A visit two weeks later would have shown many more in flower, and much taller flower spikes.

Sadly, no variants were seen, but then Purbeck is not noted for these, unlike the Kent populations. A few plants did had flowers that had a distinct yellow edge to the labellum, but this seems to be a normal finding and it is part due to the unfurling of the flower parts.

The were some rosettes that were of a noticably deeper green than the regular Early Spiders, and I wondered if these may be Bee Orchids just starting off from their winter rosettes. Both ESO and others shown below

I did have a look for the Sawfly Orchid that flowered here for a few years up to 2016, scouting around the exact GR of its location and found nothing. Not surprising though. The was a dig hole seen however, and it could have been that someone had removed the Sawfly as it is generally thought that it was deliberately planted there, and not an accident of nature. The could easily been someone uprooting an Early Spider just as much, or perhaps even more so!