From garbage to glorious

09 Saturday Jun 2018

Posted by sconzani in birds, insects, nature, parks

Tags

#30DaysWild, 30 Days Wild, Bee orchid, Blackcap, Brimstone butterfly, Common blue butterfly, Common spotted orchid, Emperor dragonfly, Grangemoor Park, Holly blue butterfly, Large skipper, long-tailed tit, Meadow Brown, Pyramidal orchid, Southern marsh orchid

Day 9 of #30DaysWild saw me at Grangemoor Park, a place that used to be Cardiff’s rubbish dump: when it closed in 1994, it contained an estimated four million cubic metres of garbage, both commercial and household. Now, it’s not only a public park but also a SINC (Site of Importance for Nature Conservation), and is home to a wonderfully diverse range of flora and fauna. My photos show just some of what I discovered there today …

Large skipper butterfly

One of seven Meadow brown butterflies seen today

Male Common blue butterfly

Holly blue butterfly (and tiny friend)

Brimstone butterfly (one of my favourites)

Emperor dragonfly. There were many other dragonflies and damselflies at the pond but they were a bit distant for photos.

One of four newly fledged Long-tailed tits, foraging with their parents

Female Blackcap busy foraging for her family

Pyramidal orchids

Bee orchid – love their ‘faces’!

Southern marsh orchid (I think)

Common spotted orchids

Orchidelicious

03 Sunday Jun 2018

Posted by sconzani in flowers, nature, parks, wildflowers

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

#30DaysWild, 30 Days Wild, Bee orchid, British orchids, Common spotted orchid, Cosmeston, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Greater butterfly-orchid, orchid, Southern marsh orchid

180603 orchids at Cosmeston

For day three of #30DaysWild I went searching for orchids at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, and I got lucky. The Common spotted-orchids are blooming in good numbers now, two of the small number of well hidden Greater butterfly-orchids are flowering, I found my first Bee orchid of the season, and I think I found my first Southern marsh-orchid as well. It couldn’t get much better than that!

Common spotted-orchid (Dactylorhiza fuchsii)

180603 Common spotted orchid (1)

Greater butterfly-orchid (Platanthera chlorantha)

Bee orchid (Ophrys apifera)

Southern marsh-orchid (Dactylorhiza praetermissa) (and Common blue butterfly)

180603 Southern marsh orchid

Marsh orchids at Kenfig

07 Wednesday Jun 2017

Posted by sconzani in flowers, nature, wildflowers

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

British flora, British orchids, Dactylorhiza incarnata, Dactylorhiza praetermissa, Dactylorhiza purpurella, Early Marsh-orchid, Kenfig National Nature Reserve, native orchids, Northern Marsh-orchid, orchid, Southern marsh orchid

170607 Southern marsh-orchid (2)

Apart from 18 species of rust, there wasn’t a lot of fungi to be found during our foray at Kenfig National Nature Reserve last Saturday but what we did see was a lot of stunning marsh orchids.

Identifying these beauties can be extremely tricky, even for trained botanists, partly because they look very similar, partly because their colouration can vary quite a lot within species, and partly because they hybridise easily with each other. So, although the chances are that these are Southern Marsh-orchids (Dactylorhiza praetermissa), there may also be some Northern Marsh-orchids (Dactylorhiza purpurella) or a mixture of both. Whatever they are, they’re beautiful!

I am, however, quite sure about these next pictures. These are Early Marsh-orchids (Dactylorhiza incarnata). They thrive in damp calcareous habitats so the dune systems at Kenfig suit them perfectly – or, at least they will as long as the dune systems are managed to prevent scrub and trees taking hold: the orchids actually grow best when wind and rain are allowed to destabilise the dunes and move sand and plants around a bit.

Floral Friday: Orchids

15 Friday Jul 2016

Posted by sconzani in flowers, nature, wildflowers

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

British orchids, Common spotted orchid, Common twayblade, Early purple orchid, native orchids, Southern marsh orchid

In the past, when I heard the word orchid, I would think of the exotic tropical species to be found in places like Singapore and other Asian countries. Now I know there is an entirely different kind of orchid that is a British native and, while not as spectacular in appearance as some of the exotics, these natives are, I think, even more beautiful.

160715 orchids (1)

The flower spikes stand tall, like sentinels, amongst the more flippant flora of the meadows and chalk grasslands, though the individual flowers are delicate little poppets, with a surprising range of patterns and hues. This is partly because they hybridise easily which can make them difficult to identify. I think I have here examples of the Common twayblade, Early purple, Southern marsh and Common spotted orchids.