Orchid year Part 2 Kent
A trip to Kent was very much on the cards this year to take in some of the UK rarest orchids. Adrian having been before had a few sites for us to visit. I won’t mention the names of some of these sites due to the rarity of these orchids. If you look hard enough on the internet you can find them all on other blog posts. One orchid in particular the Late spider orchid has suffered with theft in the past and it’s only found in around 6 sites. This orchid was going to be first up for us and after a lengthy travel delay on the M4 we arrived in the Folkestone area overlooking the English Channel hopeful about finding our first orchid.
It was a short walk from the car and the first orchid that took our eye was a few Man Orchids. These were a new orchid for me and very much on our radar but it wasn’t what we were looking for here. The orchid in question the Late Spider soon revealed its self and we counted around 6 of these extremely rare plants. They looked fabulously and we took a few pictures of one individual going very careful not to damage anything in the vicinity. I also managed a few pictures of the few Man Orchids at this site.
Late Spider-orchid, Kent, May 2024
Late Spider-orchid, Kent, May 2024
Late Spider-orchid, Kent, May 2024
Late Spider-orchid, Kent, May 2024
Man orchid, Kent, May 2024
Man orchid, Kent, May 2024
Man orchid, Kent, May 2024, (iPhone pic)
Next we headed inland to ancient chalk grassland on the hunt for our next orchid. The Monkey Orchid was next on our list we arrived on site and met a group from Yorkshire doing the same thing as us. After a brief chat and some shared info we caught site of the first of quite a few Monkey Orchids. The site was set over 2 fields with the monkeys hanging around in the first field. We headed to the 2nd field first to have a look at what else was on site.
Before we started to photograph the Monkey Orchids there was another rare orchid at this location that’s stood out like a sore thumb. It was a single lady orchid another new orchid but seemed so strange to see it here all on it’s own. I spent a bit of time photographing this one whilst Adrian walked around and found a few other good orchids on site.
Lady Orchid, Kent, June 2024
Adrian came across some cracking looking Fly orchids and a few Greater Butterfly-orchids. Also here there were 100s of Twayblades, some Early Purple Orchids that were almost over and a few Common spotted that were just starting to flower. We also come across some native columbine, Aguilegia vulgaris.
Fly Orchid, Kent, May 2024
Fly Orchid, Kent, May 2024
Fly Orchid, Kent, May 2024 (|iPhone pic)
Greater Butterfly-Orchid, Kent, May 2024
Greater Butterfly-Orchid, Kent, May 2024
Greater Butterfly-Orchid, Kent, May 2024 (iPhone pic)
After a good hour or two on site we walked back to the monkeys and we spend some time checking them out. Difficult to get an exact count but there was probably over 50 flowers here. These are another extremely rare orchid and is only found at 3 sites across the Uk. When you really look up close you can see where they get their name from. Stunning little things.
Monkey Orchid, Kent, May 2024
Monkey Orchid, Kent, May 2024
Monkey Orchid, Kent, May 2024
Monkey Orchid, Kent, May 2024
Monkey Orchid, Kent, May 2024
Monkey Orchid, Kent, May 2024
Monkey Orchid, Kent, May 2024
Monkey Orchid, Kent, May 2024
Monkey Orchid, Kent, May 2024
Monkey Orchid, Kent, May 2024
Monkey Orchid, Kent, May 2024 (iPhone pic)
Next up was a trip to Yockletts Banks. This is an ancient woodland on a chalk escarpment and a fantastic spot for a good range of orchids. We were here to see a Green fly orchid which is a rare variant of the fly orchid. It’s documented as being here but it's a closely guarded secret to its exact location. We had some information on where it might be so off we headed. We saw plenty of Fly orchids here so were very hopeful of coming across the green one. Despite being down on our hands and knees for best part of an hour we drew a blank. We were joined by another chap which meant we were in the right area. Sadly it wasn’t to be this year. Still there was plenty of other orchids to take in. We walked a few of the wooded paths and came across some beautiful lady Orchids these were difficult to photograph as they were surrounded by long grass. I like to try and get just the orchid in my pictures with a defused background as your eyes are then drawn into the orchid in focus rather than a messy grassy background. To stand any chance of showing off the lady orchids here it would have meant cutting back the grass of flattening it and that just isn’t right. I have often removed a blade of grass or 2 nearby to highlight an orchid but with ai in photoshop nowadays you can use that technology to remove it. I left these orchids alone in the natural beauty and hoped to come across some more in a more photographic location. Also on the woodland verge here we come across more flys, White Helleborine, Common Twayblades, Greater Buttefly-orchids and some Early purples coming to an end.
Green Fly area, Kent, June 2024 - needle in a haystack
Greater Butterfly-orchid, Kent, June 2024 (iPhone pic)
Lady Orchid, Kent, May 2024 (iPhone pic)
Lady Orchid, Kent, May 2024 (iPhone pic)
We crossed over the road to look around the other side of the reserve pretty much the same orchids seen but we did add what looked like Broad leaved Helleborine coming through. There was some more huge flys and common Twayblades. The lowlight levels within the wood must be a factor into these growing so tall. We also came across a pocket of Lady Orchids that looked really nice in the low level woodland light. There was also a few more White Helleborine here.
Broad leaved Helleborine, Kent, June 2024
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Lady Orchid, Kent, May 2024 (iPhone pic)
Lady Orchid, Kent, May 2024
Lady Orchid, Kent, May 2024
Lady Orchid, Kent, May 2024
Last stop of the day was to reserve on the North Downs near Wye. We hoped to see some more Man Orchids here. We soon found a few but numbers seemed to be down on last year.
Man Orchid, Kent, May 2024
Man Orchid, Kent, May 2024
Man Orchid, Kent, May 2024
Man Orchid, Kent, May 2024
Man Orchid, Kent, May 2024
Man Orchid, Kent, May 2024
Man Orchid, Kent, May 2024
The area also held, Common Twayblades, Chalk fragrant-orchids, and we even found a few White Helleborines.
The next morning we had planned a morning stop at Denge Wood. Its an ancient semi natural Woodland It’s a great spot for Lady Orchids and in various colours. We parked up and walked through the surrounding woodland. We had numerous firecrests calling as we walked in. We arrived at the spot for the Lady Orchids and I wasn’t disappointed. There were 100s everywhere and in some fantastic colours we walked around the area admiring the sheer volume of them. Amongst the Lady’s there was also numerous Fly Orchids, Common Twayblades, Greater butterfly orchids and a few White Helleborines. There was also a few Common Spotted coming through. I found a nice spot and got the camera gear out. First up I started photographing some of the Greater Butterfly-orchids these looked fantastic.
Greater Butterfly, Orchid, Denge Wood, May 2024
Greater Butterfly, Orchid, Denge Wood, May 2024
Greater Butterfly, Orchid, Denge Wood, May 2024
Greater Butterfly, Orchid, Denge Wood, May 2024
I then spent some time looking at and photographing the Fly Orchids and the White Helleborines. This really was an amazing place with an area the size of a A4 piece of paper you had Fly, Common Twayblade and white Helleborines all growing side by side with Lady and Butterfly orchids all in the same field of view.
White Helleborine, Denge Wood, May 2024
After I had finished with these orchids I moved onto the Lady Orchids and I had a few marked up that I wanted to photograph to show off the amazing colour range.
Lady Orchid, Kent, May 2024
It was at this point the sky started to go darker and darker. A light rain shower started that quickly turned into torrential rain. We tried to shelter from in but it just got heavier and heavier. I wasn't very well prepared as the rain wasn’t due to arrive until the afternoon and it was long before I was soaked to the skin. Adrian had a small Umbrella that did little in the heavy downpour. I tried in vain to photograph the orchids but in the end I had to pack up as it was impossible to keep my kit dry. It was a real shame and we left with unfinished business. It was an uncomfortable walk back were the once dry paths were now little streams. We dried up jumped in the car and started to the homeward journey.
Lady Orchid, Kent, May 2024
Lady Orchid, Kent, May 2024
Lady Orchid, Kent, May 2024
Lady Orchid, Kent, May 2024
Lady Orchid, Kent, May 2024
Lady Orchid, Kent, May 2024
Lady Orchid, Kent, May 2024
Lady Orchid, Kent, May 2024
Lady Orchid, Kent, May 2024
Lady Orchid, Kent, May 2024
Lady Orchid, Kent, May 2024
Lady Orchid, Kent, May 2024
Lady Orchid, Kent, May 2024
We had a shop planned for the way home and it was for another super rare orchid. Military orchids are only found in 3 sites throughout the Uk and we planned to stop at one of them. It was a short walk through a woodland to a small meadow. As you walk through the gate you can already see the pinkish orchids standing loud and proud across the slope. Some lost in the grass but a few really stood out and were great for photography.
Military Orchid, Homewood, May 2024
Military Orchid, Homewood, May 2024
Military Orchid, Homewood, May 2024
Military Orchid, Homewood, May 2024
Military Orchid, Homewood, May 2024
Military Orchid, Homewood, May 2024
Military Orchid, Homewood, May 2024
Military Orchid, Homewood, May 2024
Military Orchid, Homewood, May 2024
Military Orchid, Homewood, May 2024
Military Orchid, Homewood, May 2024
Military Orchid, Homewood, May 2024
Military Orchid, Homewood, May 2024
We took a short walk through some pretty dense woodland admiring more fly orchids that were the biggest we had seen yet before arriving at another meadow this one slightly larger and again packed with Military Orchids. A large chunk of this was off limits to help with protecting these rare orchids but a few outside this boundary were worth photographing. A few fly orchids nestled among them. This Brought a close to our Kent trip we missed a few aberrations but ticked all the main species we were after.
