Aug 9th In Search Of The Final Orchid & Aug 14th Strumpshaw Fen

Aug 9th  Autumn Ladies-tresses?

My final orchid, the autumn ladies-tresses, is only found in two locations in Norfolk (from what I was told). One is at a school, which I expect would be out of bounds to the public (if they are still there of course). The other is at the roadside verges and lawns of a small hamlet on the furthest western edge of Norfolk, a distance much further than any of my other orchid targets that I have seen so far. In fact, it turned out to be much closer to the Cambridgeshire/Lincolnshire border than the Norfolk border. It was a ridiculously long journey to see a small orchid with white flowers that spiral around its stem.

So, after finally convincing my parents that this was the last orchid to find, I was given one and only one chance to travel the long distance to this tiny hamlet to tick off my 20th and final orchid. If I didn't find it here, my orchid hunt was over indefinitely. On Friday the 9th of August, Dad and I arrived at this final orchid destination. We walked an entire loop around the hamlet, searching the grass along a river-like structure, along the roadside verges and even peered into people's front lawns. However, there was a problem. The locals had decided that Friday was the day to mow their lawns and the verges for some stupid reason. If there were autumn ladies-tresses there, they weren't now! I was so angry and disappointed. My orchid hunt had ended on a whimper.

Four orchids have now stopped me in my tracks from seeing every orchid species in Norfolk. The autumn ladies-tresses has now joined the locally extinct lizard and bog orchids as well as the green-flowered helleborine, which I know is out there, but have now given up searching for it. My orchid hunt may have now come to an end, but I have enjoyed finding the other 19 that I did see and understanding more about them. Though I have fallen short of my goal, I can be proud in seeing some of the rarest, fascinating and most challenging orchids this county I live in has to offer. It had been a great effort and I shall never forget it. And who knows, if those four species that I missed ever show up again, I may be tempted in checking them out one day.

Aug 14th  Strumpshaw Fen

Kingfisher

The weather seems to always be wet or windy most Wednesdays at Strumpshaw just lately. Today was no exception, though the rain didn't really take hold until I left the reserve this lunchtime. It had just been threatening to rain throughout morning, with the odd drop here and there though never seriously doing that much. It was mostly a dull, grey morning. There were more to see at Fen Hide than at Reception Hide today. The real highlights being a kingfisher making frequent visits and a little ringed plover that had a bit of an eye problem. Both of this poor plover's eyes were defected and it couldn't really see where it was going. It almost flew inside the hide with us, its eyes were that much of a hindrance. There wasn't much we could do, not that we could catch it anyway. Other than these two birds, it was just your usual scruffy-looking ducks and the occasional marsh harrier.

Little Ringed Plover (with two bad eyes)