We love the orchids, the team can't stop waxing lyrical about them! Here is Adam with a little more info on these beautiful, short lived flowers.
Common spotted orchid, taken by Becca Bratt
It’s orchid time here at RSPB Coombes Valley and actually, the orchids aren’t alright. They’re AMAZING!!
The common spotted orchids look to be having a bumper year, with swathes of them in flower at the moment. These are interspersed with our true star of the show, the greater butterfly orchid, which are also doing incredibly well. In fact, it might just be the best orchid display I’ve ever seen here at Coombes Valley. Recent tweaks to our grazing regime seem to be having the desired effect. The orchids have gone from strength to strength in recent years, with numbers building steadily upwards.
I highly recommend you come and see the orchids for yourself. But, how will you know what you’re looking for unless you’re a professional botanist? Well, along with our helpful visitor centre team who will no doubt help you out, here are our top tips for recognising our orchids.
Greater butterfly orchid, taken by Becca Bratt
Common spotted orchid. These are by far the most numerous orchids we get here. Their small white-purple flower spikes are easy to pick out amongst the other vegetation. When you start to see them just standstill, and take in how abundant they are. It’s a real WOW moment to see so many rare flowers all in one go. Once you get up close, carefully look at the leaves at the base of the plant. The dark oval spots are the giveaway sign it is a common spotted orchid. These spots are also the basis of the name for this stunning plant.
Greater butterfly orchid. With tall spikes of white-green flowers, rising up from the surrounding grass, these are incredibly beautiful plants. Nothing else on site looks like these, so no worries about confusing them with something else. The flowers are said to look like butterflies, hence the name. They were once called night violets, due to their scent being strongest through the night. This suggests that they are pollinated by nocturnal insects such as moths. Luckily, the unimproved grassland these are found in are also home to a real diversity of moth species; making pollination no problem at all. If you want to find out more about the moths here at Coombes, check out some of our previous blogs
http://www.rspb.org.uk/community/placestovisit/coombeschurnet/b/coombeschurnet-blog/archive/2014/05/31/recent-sightings-the-monsters-of-the-moth-world-descend.aspx
Common spotted and greater butterfly orchids, taken by Becca Bratt
I think one of the best things about the orchids here are how accessible they are. They’re literally two minutes walk from the car park, and not up or down hill either! Perfect for everyone to come and see.
If you want to see the orchids, pop in to the visitor centre and a member of our team will give you directions to them. Any photos you manage to grab would be very welcome on our Facebook and Twitter pages.