Badbury orchids

It wasn't just a wonderful sunrise which was on show at Badbury Rings this morning, the ramparts were thronged with orchids. Man, there were just so many of them, it was a wonder. Not just in numbers either, on the cursory observations of an untrained eye, I saw five different types. From top down: Common spotted Orchid (Dactylorhiza fuchsii), Butterfly Orchid (Platanthera chlorantha), Bee Orchid (Ophrys apifera), Common Twayblade Orchid (Neottia ovata), Pyramidal Orchid (Anacamptis pyramidalis). How bloody marvellous is that!  Proportionally the Common Spotted was indeed the most common, then a ways off was the Pyramidal, then way way down in numbers was the Butterfly, with only a handful of Bee and Twayblade; as I said though, I only made a cursory observation, being blown away by the spectacle of it all.

Bee Orchids

The main purpose of my walk over this way a week or so ago was to see some Bee Orchids (Ophrys apifera), although checking my past posts I was still a bit early, today though my mission was more successful, some had flowered and I was lucky enough to spot them. The Bee Orchid really is a spectacular flower, one of my favourite orchids and one that I'll actively seek out when its season comes around, as its habit is such that it can be abundant for a year or two and then absent for many.  As it happens, last year there was an abundance of Bee Orchids in the spots I know, whereas this year so far they've been scarce. There are several varieties of Bee Orchids, this variety is (Ophrys apifera aurita), it's the only one I've come across to date, though I'll keep looking.