Hopton Quarry 20th May 2019

It's bit of a slog driving west to east across the midlands, especially with roadworks and all that. But it is worth it to see the Spring Burnt Orchids here. Of course we did have to climb a barbed wired gate and cross a fiels with frisky bullocks, but are living to tell the tale. We count 36 of them, the tallest a mere four inches tall. The seem to congregate in two patches of the field. Despite the bright white and contrasting purple brown colouring of the flowers they are not easy to spot. You find one and only a careful study nearby shows more of them.

The field also boasts a few Early Purple Orchids. Unfortunately the next day I am informed that if we had continued just a hundred yards further on we would not only have found swathes of these and a host of Fly Orchids; possibly even Frog Orchids. One for next year perhaps?

Wenlock Quarry 24th May 2019 (SO 61318 99967)

Having heard of a Bird's-nest Orchid and having (excellent in retrospect) directions this seems a good opportunity to investigate an area of Wenlock Edge that we haven't been to before. The object in question is found easily enough, and is quite a nice specimen, protected by a jenga arrangement of twigs. It seems that the numbers of this orchid here can fluctuate year to year. Hence do not expect to find it growing here in future years. A roam around the wood reveals nothing, but only afterwards do I hear that there are a few Greater Butterfly Orchids dotted about. Yet again we miss out on the supporting cast.

For an encore we tramp for an hour or so on more familiar territory, following the lime kiln track and further from the Presthope carpark, but find absolutely no sign of any orchids. Strange when this should be such a classic area.

Llay Industrial Estate 26th May 2019 (SJ 32295 56601)

It's good to see the Bee Orchids here are just as impressive as last year. Then we caught them at the end of flowering, while this year it is at the start. Consequently, there are some flowers just unfurling their labellums and looking odd, almost Wasp Orchid-like. They are not, but it is an easy mistake to make. One flower is definitely rather horny! Great that this verge is left unmown and protected.

Hirnant Valley 27th May 2019 (SH 94591 27166)

This is our third visit here, the last one being five years ago. The first time was fruitless, perhaps we were there at the wrong time, or perhaps we were not sure what to look for. The second time, trying a different patch of heathery sphagnum rich heath we struck lucky quite quickly. Now, we have difficulty until at last a few small flower-less Lesser Twayblades are found. They are barely much more than an inch across, cearly juvenile examples, only one shows any evidence of being likely to flower. Just compare the size of the sphagnum to the pairs of leaves for an idea how small they are. Add to the mix that heather had to be parted lifted to see them shows why we spent an hour in wet moorland, with showers to find just a handful of specimens.

Warrington 31st 2019

A disappointing day, without a single orchid sighting, at Moore Nature reserve and Sankey Valley Country Park. To add to the misery we were bitten by irritating flies at Moore, and had a disturbed painful itchy night. Not a place to return to!