Tuesday 5 June 2012

New Bee Orchid Colony found

Whilst in the Lowestoft area this morning, I stumbled on first 1 and then 17 Bee Orchids seen in a very suitable area of grassland. There were near a fence, or just west of it where the fence juts out near a stepover. Some were in flower some were not yet in flower. They were all in an area measuring barely 6 metres by 4 metres square. This was an exciting new discovery of a new Bee Orchid colony in the Lowestoft area. It was interesting to note that several plants (c5%) showed a pointed lip to the labellum, (see picture) a feature also noticed by Ricky, the lip is similar in shape to the Wasp Orchid variant, although the patterning on the flower shows that these are not Wasp Orchids. The pointed lip is a feature I have not noticed before on Bee Orchids. A trip back there in late afternoon to do a full survey revealed an incredible 41 Bee Orchid plants. Later on in the morning, at another site, by some Sallows, a female Broad- bodied Chaser posed very well for the camera, she was initially perched on a small Oak, then she flew onto a blade of grass (see header picture). The hoped for Green Hairstreaks at the same site failed to show, probably the gusty weather hadn't helped.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Could you contact me ?
I would like to buy the right to use this picture on the cover of "L'évolution vue par les botanistes" written by Jean-Marie Pelt, that we are publishing (pocket book edition) on october.

Best

François Lamidon
Éditions J'ai lu
France

flamidon@jailu.com