July 4th Fragrant Orchids & Mousehold Heath

Ever since I found that lesser butterfly orchid two weeks ago, I have been more accustomed to the site where it is at. And though I have moved on from the lesser butterfly, this site in North Norfolk has been drawing me back. There was another orchid here that I've been waiting eagerly to see. Marsh fragrant orchids. Last week, I made my second visit to the boggy section of the site and found nothing other than a few marsh helleborines and hundreds of common spotted orchids. I left disappointed. Today, I have returned for my third visit in three weeks. This time, it was third time lucky.

Marsh Fragrant Orchid

I still can't really reveal the site's name as a precaution in order to protect the lone lesser butterfly orchid, but I can tell you that the fragrant orchids were now beginning to show themselves. The common spotted orchids were still dominating and the marsh helleborines have now doubled in their numbers since last week, but some of these fragrant orchids were towering above them all. There are three subspecies of fragrant orchid in the UK and the marsh fragrant is the tallest, growing up to 30-60cm. At the top of the tower of stem and leaves is a delicate looking spike full of tiny purple flowers that are slightly spaced apart from one another. As the plant's name suggest, the flowers have a strong, sweet aroma to them. I had a sniff and I have to say that it was a rather pleasant smell, like a sweet smelling perfume. It is up there as one of the nicest orchids I've ticked off so far. Only 6 more to find now! (I got it wrong in the video, sorry about that!)

Scarce Silverlines

Hours after seeing the fragrant orchids, I was out again. It was moth night at Mousehold Heath. And what a night for it! Conditions were perfect and the moths were out in force. We didn't call it a night until 1am! It was just hard to tear ourselves away. There were so many moths that they were becoming a nuisance as they kept bombarding us and even found themselves crawling under my clothes! Some of the highlights include; swallow-tailed moth, buff arches, green silverlines, scarce silverlines, large yellow underwings, spectacled moth, buff ermine, mottled beauties, heart and clubs, beautiful hook-tip, yellow oak button and many, many micro moths to name!