2013 UK orchids (9 Viewers)

[lizard orchid]

I am noticing a number of times in recent years that the finger gets straight away pointed at people digging up orchids when sometimes this is not the case. I heard this once with a bog orchid site where persons were blamed for removing them. In fact they had popped up the following year in the exact spot where they were thought to be removed. I know I did not see the damage with the Red Helleborine Bucks site from the other year but reports from various friends suggested cages were not put back and and reports from one friend what he described was that deer got in and got at the unprotected orchids. It would have been useful to see pictures of the persumed human damage. Of course sometimes it is humans that have removed orchids from the wild with holes in the ground which is good enough evidence for man being involved.
With the recent posts on the Bristol Lizard Orchid site maybe there is going to be no flowering spikes this year but I bet there was a number of non flowering wintergreen rosettes earlier on. There was around 40 odd a couple of years ago and I don't think all would have been dug up. In fact some people would not recognise a non flowering rosette of Lizard Orchid especially if it was a small specimen. I know the number of flowering spikes has dropped at the Bristol site over the years but the rosette counts I have done in the past has stayed constant. Could the bare soil that has been seen been done by animals such as badger? I have not had time to see the site myself this year so if anyone can post some pictures on here including what is thought to be human damage or removal then that would be useful to see. Lets hope it is not humans being a pain again.

Brian Laney.

 

[lizard orchid]

A second site for Man Orchid was found in Warwickshire a number of years ago containing a single flowering plant. I have tried to relocate the find as well as to look for non flowering rosettes without success so far. The site is heavily rabbit grazed but it is still suitable for Man Orchid to occur even as ticking over as non flowering rosettes. Further searches are planned.
At the main single known site in Warwickshire there was 11 in flower last Saturday. The ground around them is getting a bit trampled but not as bad as I have seen as at some popular orchid locations. However the Man Orchids should cope though.

Brian Laney.

 

[lizard orchid]

Can anyone tell me if Man Orchid has been seen at one particular Wiltshire site this year? A friend was asking me the other day. I saw non flowering rosettes back in 2004 at the site but I have not been since.

Brian Laney.

 

[lizard orchid]

I've just had a look at the Bristol Lizard orchid site and am concerned - I couldn't see any plants, though I'm not brilliant at spotting them and I look from the edge as I don't want to trample about amongst the plants.
What I did see though were quite a few patches of bare soil. This is quite a concern as a few years ago a number of plants were dug up from the site.
The first time I went to this site I saw 15+ plants and each year since the number has diminished.
If anyone one else has been there recently and seen plants appearing please re-assure me.
There are lots of robust Common Spotted and a few Pyramidal showing.
Helen

Was the bare soil patches you saw all across the bank or along the crash barrier at the top of the bank?

Brian Laney.

 

[rmielcarek]

Can anyone tell me if Man Orchid has been seen at one particular Wiltshire site this year? A friend was asking me the other day. I saw non flowering rosettes back in 2004 at the site but I have not been since.

Brian Laney.

Brian

the answer to the above is yes and no! Gpg reported seeing a couple of plants in bud a few weeks ago but subsequent searches by myself and palmarosa failed to find any plants.

I saw the plants in flower in both 2006 and 2007 but the bank they were on was subsequently trampled by cattle and, as far as I know, they did not reappear.

Rich M

 

[lizard orchid]

Brian

the answer to the above is yes and no! Gpg reported seeing a couple of plants in bud a few weeks ago but subsequent searches by myself and palmarosa failed to find any plants.

I saw the plants in flower in both 2006 and 2007 but the bank they were on was subsequently trampled by cattle and, as far as I know, they did not reappear.

Rich M[/QUOTE Thanks for your update. I will let my friend know about the current situation.

Brian Laney.

 

[StevePreddy]

This is a worry. Still worth anyone about this area to keep an eye on the site incase of any late flowering plants. Friend went last week to Cambs Lizard orchid site and they were still a way off flowering.

Brian Laney.

I am noticing a number of times in recent years that the finger gets straight away pointed at people digging up orchids when sometimes this is not the case. I heard this once with a bog orchid site where persons were blamed for removing them. In fact they had popped up the following year in the exact spot where they were thought to be removed. I know I did not see the damage with the Red Helleborine Bucks site from the other year but reports from various friends suggested cages were not put back and and reports from one friend what he described was that deer got in and got at the unprotected orchids. It would have been useful to see pictures of the persumed human damage. Of course sometimes it is humans that have removed orchids from the wild with holes in the ground which is good enough evidence for man being involved.
With the recent posts on the Bristol Lizard Orchid site maybe there is going to be no flowering spikes this year but I bet there was a number of non flowering wintergreen rosettes earlier on. There was around 40 odd a couple of years ago and I don't think all would have been dug up. In fact some people would not recognise a non flowering rosette of Lizard Orchid especially if it was a small specimen. I know the number of flowering spikes has dropped at the Bristol site over the years but the rosette counts I have done in the past has stayed constant. Could the bare soil that has been seen been done by animals such as badger? I have not had time to see the site myself this year so if anyone can post some pictures on here including what is thought to be human damage or removal then that would be useful to see. Lets hope it is not humans being a pain again.

Brian Laney.

Was the bare soil patches you saw all across the bank or along the crash barrier at the top of the bank?

Brian Laney.

Brian

Absolutely correct with your second post, sometimes there are completely innocent explanations for this kind of thing. In a past life I've been involved in habitat management for Fine-leaved Sandwort, which involves creation of patches of bare ground, and we always took care to explain to locals what we were up to & why, to avoid this being misinterpreted as habitat damage. You & I don't know each other so you're absolutely right to be sceptical as you have no idea of my ability to distinguish damage from some other cause.

I check these plants every year, so have a reasonably good knowledge of where the flowering spikes are. The bare soil patches are exactly where I would expect to see Lizard Orchids at this time of year: not just up at the crash barrier, where some of the plants grow, but well down the bank where others grow. They're also neat round patches, not the sort of random diggings that a badger might make (and good luck to any badger living right by the M4!). I only had a few spare minutes yesterday so didn't get the chance to check for non-flowering rosettes, and it's quite possible that I missed a soon-to-be-flowering spike. On the other hand, as far as I could tell, Pyramidal and Common Spotted had been left untouched, suggesting that the soil patches were created by someone who knew what they were doing. I plan to get some photos over the weekend to add to the police file, while you're welcome to look at. Please pm me with your email address and I'll send them to you.

An officer from the local station in that part of Bristol called me this morning to discuss things. There is no CCTV at the site, so that won't help. Probably the only way of catching anyone is to appeal for information from the public. I'm not sure this is a sexy enough story for Crimewatch to want to cover though...

If anyone knows of any other techniques that have proved helpful with solving plant crime elsewhere, I'd be interested to hear from you.

Steve

 

[Leifus]

Hi Leifus

We have just come back from a trip to Kent today, where we saw a colony of Late Spiders nicely flowering in one of the main sites. Admittedly still a few buds to open, but the next week or so should see them fully open. Certainly plenty to photograph.

Martin

Nice, thanks very much Martin!

 

[Leifus]

What stage are the Kent lizard orchids at?

 

[lizard orchid]

Thanks Steve for your interesting reply. But it does sound bad. Just hope some rosettes escaped being dug up. In future years I hope to do some management again at the site.

Brian Laney.

 

[PaulClack]

Fen orchid?

Afternoon all,

I will be in S Wales at the weekend, and wondered if anyone has information on fen orchid yet this year?

Cheers,

Paul

 

[Bodhyfryd]

Afternoon all,

I will be in S Wales at the weekend, and wondered if anyone has information on fen orchid yet this year?

Cheers,

Paul

I understand from the management there that just one Fen has been seen so far this season, and that it is not yet in flower.

Martin

 

[leptochila]

Pseudorchis albida et al.

Visited a meadow on the Powys Breckonshire border today for Small White orchid, of which there were 4 in flower along with 8 Greater Butterflys (in bud), around 300 Heath Fragrants just coming out and thousands of Heath Spotted fully out - at least double the number of plants for all 3 species compared to last year. From a general wildflower point of view, the profusion of Bluebells (still mint condition!), Dyer's Greenweed, Wood Bitter Vetch and Great Burnet only added to the impressiveness of this stunning site whilst a Cuckoo echoed through the valley. Midgies were the only negative!

Mike

 

[Leifus]

Early Marsh ssp. incarnata still flowering but beginning to go over in Hampshire, southern marsh looking fine.

 

[palmarosa]

Brian

Absolutely correct with your second post, sometimes there are completely innocent explanations for this kind of thing. In a past life I've been involved in habitat management for Fine-leaved Sandwort, which involves creation of patches of bare ground, and we always took care to explain to locals what we were up to & why, to avoid this being misinterpreted as habitat damage. You & I don't know each other so you're absolutely right to be sceptical as you have no idea of my ability to distinguish damage from some other cause.

I check these plants every year, so have a reasonably good knowledge of where the flowering spikes are. The bare soil patches are exactly where I would expect to see Lizard Orchids at this time of year: not just up at the crash barrier, where some of the plants grow, but well down the bank where others grow. They're also neat round patches, not the sort of random diggings that a badger might make (and good luck to any badger living right by the M4!). I only had a few spare minutes yesterday so didn't get the chance to check for non-flowering rosettes, and it's quite possible that I missed a soon-to-be-flowering spike. On the other hand, as far as I could tell, Pyramidal and Common Spotted had been left untouched, suggesting that the soil patches were created by someone who knew what they were doing. I plan to get some photos over the weekend to add to the police file, while you're welcome to look at. Please pm me with your email address and I'll send them to you.

An officer from the local station in that part of Bristol called me this morning to discuss things. There is no CCTV at the site, so that won't help. Probably the only way of catching anyone is to appeal for information from the public. I'm not sure this is a sexy enough story for Crimewatch to want to cover though...

If anyone knows of any other techniques that have proved helpful with solving plant crime elsewhere, I'd be interested to hear from you.

Steve

Hi Brian, if I get a chance over the weekend I'll go over and take some photos for you, have been busy at work this week. Steve has perfectly described what I saw - it certainly doesn't look like the work of non-human animals, too neat and distinct in shape in the areas where I've seen plants in previous years.
Helen

 

[StevePreddy]

Bristol lizard orchids

I went to the Lizard Orchid site again this evening and had chance to study the diggings over a more prolonged period. I'm now not so sure what to think. Several of the bare soil patches are small, but some are quite large (over a foot wide) and I can't think why anyone would remove that much vegetation - surely you'd try to cover your tracks? Not having previously encountered an orchid theft, I don't know what the modus operandi of these guys is - do they take lots of the surrounding soil in order to maximise their chance of cultivating the plants, or are they more amateurish than that? I'm still convinced that this is human handiwork. It did occur to me that Brian's past conservation work at the site might involve removal of trees that then leaves patches like this, but Vic said that the patches weren't present two weeks ago so we can rule that out. I've taken a few photos to send to Brian for a second opinion: this is one instance where I'd be delighted if I'm wrong.

The good news is that there are two plants about a week away from full flowering, at opposite ends of the crash barrier. If this was a theft attempt, the perpetrators have kindly left us some plants to look at, so they're clearly not such bad people after all

 

[Sphegodes]

Man O in Bedfordshire probably at their best today. During brief visit to Ivinghoe Beacon could not find any Frog O but possibly still in bud at this rather exposed site, as were most Bee O.

 

[naturenutz]

Thanks to rich and steve for identifying and answering my orchid / wild flower questions. I went to the lizard orchid site on the 5th june and did not see any spikes and left a short message on here to say so. Although I never saw any dig marks I was not really looking and did not step over the barrier to look,i was looking for raised spikes above the rich undergrowth. . However I also went tonight and all I can say is I saw quite a few large bare circular patches. I would say even bigger than steve has suggested,poss 18" across and almost exactly circular.. I first thought they were bare ground ants nests but the ground is dead flat and hard , not like an ants which is usually a raised mound. They are quite near the barrier but without being a gloom merchant I wonder if a chemical spray would leave these patches or are they just old bare patches ?. I cant say for sure but most of the soil is very rich in vegetation including many other orchids etc .the bare patches look odd in such rich vegetation.
I did not see any of the orchids tonight that steve has mentioned so I need to look harder next time. So far I have only seen large bare patches roughly where I saw some orchids last year but I have not seen dig marks .
Hope some of this makes sense.

 

[Gareth Stamp]

Kenfig, South Wales

3 fen orchids in full flower. I searched an area where I found them last year but 3 was all I could come up with.

Early purple orchid coming into flower.

Plenty of southern marsh orchids

6 bee orchids.

 

[naturenutz]

Forgot to mention common spotted orchids in full flower at lower woods and also nearby at inglestone common last night. birds nest orchids as good as over at lower woods.