That certainly is what you call a surprise!! Ardnamurchan and North Uist have happy memories for us in yielding Irish Ladies Tresses in tiny numbers three or four years ago.
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2018 Orchid Thread (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Rafeabrook
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That certainly is what you call a surprise!! Ardnamurchan and North Uist have happy memories for us in yielding Irish Ladies Tresses in tiny numbers three or four years ago.
We visited a Tresses site a couple of weeks ago and no sign then. We will go next week again but it has been a strange season over here with no rain for months so you never know how this might have affected the Tresses. The Bog Orchids had done OK in some sites though.
Lee
muba
Well-known member
Highlights of my year so far #1
The Fly x Bee hybrids in southern Somerset. 18/05/18
This hybrid is not known from many sites; I know there may be one in Kent, and am more confident of one not far from Stroud.
Is this the only orchid hybrid to have an airline named after it?
The Fly x Bee hybrids in southern Somerset. 18/05/18
This hybrid is not known from many sites; I know there may be one in Kent, and am more confident of one not far from Stroud.
Is this the only orchid hybrid to have an airline named after it?
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muba
Well-known member
Highlights of my year so far #2
A nice 13-spike clump of Violet Helleborines on a beech wood slope at Coalbrookdale, today! I have found 2 or 3 spikes together here before, but this knocks spots off those. Very happy.
One of my first Orchid books was Wild Orchids of Britain by Summerhayes. There is a plate of a clump of VH on a Hampshire roadside, and I often dreamt of finding similar. This clump is nearly twice as big as that.
A nice 13-spike clump of Violet Helleborines on a beech wood slope at Coalbrookdale, today! I have found 2 or 3 spikes together here before, but this knocks spots off those. Very happy.
One of my first Orchid books was Wild Orchids of Britain by Summerhayes. There is a plate of a clump of VH on a Hampshire roadside, and I often dreamt of finding similar. This clump is nearly twice as big as that.
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That's certainly a lovely clump of Violet helleborines- a great find! Thanks for the photo too. I feel that it enhances the forum if we can have photos wherever possible.
We still have our copy of Summerhayes - it's a treasure and while it of course reminds us of the numerous changes of nomenclature in the past 50-60 years, it remains a joy to read.
We still have our copy of Summerhayes - it's a treasure and while it of course reminds us of the numerous changes of nomenclature in the past 50-60 years, it remains a joy to read.
muba
Well-known member
Summerhayes should be the starting point for an orchideer. Yes, some of it is obsolete, but I would hope today's readers would recognise that that was the norm for the period. It puts into words what other books try to achieve less effectively. There is a prose to it that leaps over the formulaic and rigid descriptions of other works.
ILT's
Always lovely to see this orchid (thank you for submitting the photo), especially for those of us who live south of the border. Brings back memories of our trip to the Uists and Benbecula 3 or 4 years ago in late August, when ILT's were few and far between. Our most exciting find was an ILT on the banks of Loch Shiel, on the Scottish mainland, in bud!
Always lovely to see this orchid (thank you for submitting the photo), especially for those of us who live south of the border. Brings back memories of our trip to the Uists and Benbecula 3 or 4 years ago in late August, when ILT's were few and far between. Our most exciting find was an ILT on the banks of Loch Shiel, on the Scottish mainland, in bud!
muba
Well-known member
Highlights of my year so far #3
Chappett's Copse in Hampshire is said to be home to Britains largest population of Sword-leaved Helleborines, Cephalanthera longifolia. I can well believe it. You walk into a glade and see hundreds. It is also home to White Helleborines and the hybrids, Bird's-nest Orchids and Fly Orchids. 21/05/18
Chappett's Copse in Hampshire is said to be home to Britains largest population of Sword-leaved Helleborines, Cephalanthera longifolia. I can well believe it. You walk into a glade and see hundreds. It is also home to White Helleborines and the hybrids, Bird's-nest Orchids and Fly Orchids. 21/05/18
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muba
Well-known member
Highlights of my Year #4
Bonsai Bank in Denge Wood, Kent, must be the place for Lady Orchids. Literally hundreds of them. I believe this area had a major cutback of the scrub a couple of years ago, and the orchids look as if they approve. You can certainly see them well. They have to be one of my favourites, tall and stately, yet seemingly fragile.
Bonsai Bank in Denge Wood, Kent, must be the place for Lady Orchids. Literally hundreds of them. I believe this area had a major cutback of the scrub a couple of years ago, and the orchids look as if they approve. You can certainly see them well. They have to be one of my favourites, tall and stately, yet seemingly fragile.
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ALTs - Gop Hill
We were hoping to try Gop Hill in the coming days, but family illness may prevent it. Any news about the ALT's there would be welcome.
We were hoping to try Gop Hill in the coming days, but family illness may prevent it. Any news about the ALT's there would be welcome.
muba
Well-known member
Highlights of my year #5
No-one is really sure how a small colony of a hybrid between Ophrys scolopax (the Woodcock Orchid) and O. insectifera came to be growing on a Dorset roadside. The foreign parent plant has not been seen there. The explanation I find most plausible is that when the road was re-aligned a few years ago it was seeded with a foreign mix of wildflower seen, or that foreign top soil was used.
Jon Dunn gives some serious thought to such introductions in his book Orchid Summer. I never got to see the O. tenthedrinifera at Durleston - it didn't flower last year when I visited there, but that one is looking increasing likely as a deliberate introduction. O. bertilonii was seen there in '76.
No-one is really sure how a small colony of a hybrid between Ophrys scolopax (the Woodcock Orchid) and O. insectifera came to be growing on a Dorset roadside. The foreign parent plant has not been seen there. The explanation I find most plausible is that when the road was re-aligned a few years ago it was seeded with a foreign mix of wildflower seen, or that foreign top soil was used.
Jon Dunn gives some serious thought to such introductions in his book Orchid Summer. I never got to see the O. tenthedrinifera at Durleston - it didn't flower last year when I visited there, but that one is looking increasing likely as a deliberate introduction. O. bertilonii was seen there in '76.
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muba
Well-known member
I hope you can get there. I hear that there are a thousand, repeat a thousand, this year. The numbers may be apparent because the turf got really parched and the ALTs really stand out. Normally we may just not see them hiding in the grass. 100s reported on Great Orme too.
I shall be there in a day or two
That is most interesting. I feared that after this summer numbers might actually be reduced. If we possibly can go we will seek to do so. We went a few years ago and counted around 100 on the main hill, so it will be interesting to get some sense of what has happened this year.
Very interesting. I just wanted to say how grateful Elaine and I have been for your "highlights" contribution to this forum. It has definitely added a valuable dimension this year. I hope that 2018 will not mark the demise of Birdforum, but if it does we at least have a worthwhile record of some interesting finds and reflections from you. Incidentally, while out blackberrying (fruits not phones!) with the grandchildren last week, we found a (to us) new and more extensive BLH site (all well over of course, but distinctly identifiable) in the Tanyfron area. I'll PM you the details for your interest.
Martin
Interestingly we obtained John Dun's book earlier this year; Elaine has read it and it is on my reading list. Last winter we read and enjoyed Leif's account of his gap year : "Orchid Hunter".
muba
Well-known member
We saw about 100 on Great Orme, about 50 on Little Orme, and saved the best to last. Go over the stile, up the hill at the Y Gop signpost, and when you emerge from the gorse just stand and Behold! There must be over 10,000 ALTs out there on slopes where we've never seen them before
Just watch where you tread
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muba
Well-known member
Hihlights of my year #6
I nearly forgot to mention Eades Meadow near Droitwich back in May. This is a premier flower meadow absolutely full of Green-winged Orchids at the time of year. Paths are mowed and gates unlocked when the orchids flower. Count them in tens of thousands! We even bumped into 3 generations whose name was Eades and may have descended from the C18 chap that gave the field his name. That rounds off a visit so well.
I nearly forgot to mention Eades Meadow near Droitwich back in May. This is a premier flower meadow absolutely full of Green-winged Orchids at the time of year. Paths are mowed and gates unlocked when the orchids flower. Count them in tens of thousands! We even bumped into 3 generations whose name was Eades and may have descended from the C18 chap that gave the field his name. That rounds off a visit so well.
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So pleased this thread is still going, although l haven't contributed as, sadly, l haven't had a very good orchid year. I got off to a good start in Mallorca, although it was quantity rather than number of species. On a previous visit orchids were in short supply, this time l was falling over them. I hope the thread is here next year and I'll be able to post.
