On Tuesday, after I bowed out due to the heat, Ian dropped into the Alver Valley and the area known as Sandhill. He reported back on finding numerous Bee Orchids and a single Lizard Orchid. So I decided to visit today, early morning before the heat built up once again. Ian had provided me with plenty of detail on how to find the location and a short video, I felt that I already knew where to go. As I approached the area I used the WhatThreeWords Ian had provided, but before I could reach his spot I found a single Bee Orchid.
And a nice close up.
I carried on to the spot and found a lot of Bee Orchids in the grass. One of the best know and loved of our Orchids here in the UK, it resembles a fat furry bumblebee perched on a stalk. Here several plants together, the only time I have seen this with this species was at Dancing Ledge in Dorset. That year there were many in a field, then the years after nothing. Last year was not a good year for Orchids and I only managed to find one, so this is quite amazing.
The three large pink sepals contrast with the velvety maroon, pouch like lip which is decorated with yellow markings and forms the body of the bee. The two side lobes are particularly hairy and resemble the bee's knees. The slender greenish or pinkish brown petals form the bee's antennae. Bee Orchids can vary in colour, shape and markings. The flowers have evolved to attract male bees as pollinators, by luring them into mate. However almost all the plants are self pollinated. Soon after the flower opens the anther releases the pollinia which dangle like little balls on the ends of their flexible stalks to be blown by the breeze on to the stigma.
Having found the Bee Orchids I decided to look for the Lizard Orchid, again I had directions and I knew where it may be. As I left the Bee Orchids I came across a single Pyramidal Orchid just beginning to flower.
It didn't take long to find the single Lizard Orchid. It isn't fully out yet with plenty more flowers to open at the top.
The Lizard Orchid is the largest of the "mimic" species in Hampshire. It is a large plant with tall spikes of straggly greyish green flowers which resemble a maypole in action. On closer inspection each individual flower has the appearance of a lizard with the three-lobed lip resembling the long tail and hind legs. The palle flowers are streaked or rimmed with brownish purple.
The stem has large leaves that wither when the plant is in flower giving a dirt appearance. Lizard Orchids are long lived and can live for up to nineteen years.
The Lizard Orchid is pollinated by insects, primarily bees. The flower has a rather foul smell, which is said to resemble the smell of goats.
I spent time talking to some other people who had turned up and as we chatted a male Ketrel hunted overhead.
I went back to the Bee Orchids and walked around the wider area and found a lot more orchids. Most of the stalks having at least four flowers maybe more with several still looking to emerge.
It is not that clear here, but there are quite a few Bee Orchids in this patch, close inspection needed. The area was formerly a quarried area which was then later used to dispose of household waste. It was then clay capped and is now predominately grassland. The Bee Orchid is an adaptable grassland species and can be found in well drained grassland, disused gravel pits and roadside verges.
It was wonderful to see so many in this spot.
Five flowers here on a spike with at least another tree to emerge.
There were also more emerging Pyramidal Orchids.
And some more multi flower plants.
Before I left I went back to the Lizard Orchid one more time, passing through a cloud of Ox-eye Daisies.
The Lizard Orchid is on the edge of its range in England and its distribution numbers can fluctuate notoriously, it grows sporadically in well drained, open sunny spots on chalk and limestone grasslands. among both closely cropped and long grass.
This orchid was a surprise here, there never having been one before, how it got here will be a mystery, but welcome, the hope now is that there will be more to come.
It was a case of job done, so I walked around the lake with Swifts above me and Whitethroats singing from the bushes.
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