Orchids of the Via Gellia

Making the most of the sunshine I spent the morning with Pam orchid hunting in the Via Gellia. There were plenty of Early Purple and a few Common Spotted Orchids but most of the former were now past their best, but my main target were the rarer species. 

In one area I found a good number of Burnt-tip Orchids and nearby, rarest of them all in Derbyshire, just five spikes of the Green-winged.

Green-winged Orchid

Burn-tip Orchid

After some careful searching we also found the striking Fly Orchid but we were perhaps a little early for the Frog Orchid which occurs in similar habitat.

Fly Orchid

More orchids and the Grey Gorse Piercer moth

In addition to the Green-winged Orchids yesterday I saw a single Burnt Orchid which was only about 5cm high. Last year I visited the area in early June and there were more Burnt Orchid so I'm guessing I'm a little early for them flowering.

Burnt Orchid

In the area of the Green-winged Orchid I came across a few fresh looking orchids that I think may be hybrids with Early Purple. The Early Purple had mostly gone over but these orchids were fresh but lacked the distinctive dark lines on the sepals but otherwise the flowers looked similar to Green-winged.

Possible hybrid Green-winged x Early Purple Orchid

Passing through an area of gorse I disturbed many small grey looking micro moths which turned out to be the Grey Gorse Piercer ( Cydia ulicetana) a moth I have occasionally caught at home but nice to see it amongst the gorse.

Grey Gorse Piercer Cydia ulicatana

Orchid hunting around the Via Gellia

I spent the afternoon, which started cool and overcast but ended in sweltering sunshine, searching for some of our early flowering orchids around the Via Gellia. My main target was the Burnt or Burnt-tip Orchid but I think I was slightly late as I only found three flowering spikes and only one of these was in reasonable condition. Nearby were the shrivelled stems of two Green-winged Orchid which I have still yet to see in good condition locally so will have to return a little earlier next year.
There were however lots of Fly Orchids and these appear to be flowering later than normal, as I usually expect to see them at their best in the last days of May. I didn't search all that hard but only found a single Frog Orchid.

Burnt Orchid

Fly Orchid

Frog Orchid

Burnt-tip Orchid - Longcliffe

Regular followers of this blog will have noted that many of the sightings and photos featured are the result of the efforts of other wildlife enthusiasts and hopefully I have credited and thanked them in the relevant posts. 
Last night I had a call from fellow Darley Dale resident Alan Stewardson to let me know that he had seen Burnt-tip Orchid near Longcliffe over the weekend. 
Having never seen the Burnt-tip Orchid in Derbyshire, this is the only area where it is known to occur in the County, I was keen to see it. I counted about 20 flowers, Alan had seen about 40, but I didn't do a thorough search. The plants are less than10 cm tall and are easily overlooked.

Burnt-tip Orchid