I feel a bit like the person arriving late for the party, I could be the only person in Kent who has not visited Marden Meadows Nature Reserve, but today I made the effort to search out this tiny reserve to enjoy the spectacle of its Orchids in particular the Green Winged Orchid for which its famed.Marden Meadows owned by the Kent Wildlife Trust was an ancient hay meadow, apparently one of the few unimproved neutral meadows, untouched by plough and fertilizers and one of the reasons these Orchids grow here.
The hay from the meadows is cut annually and grazed by sheep until December when the livestock are removed to protect the newly forming rosettes of the Orchids.
There is a small car park, the recommended time to visit is May to June, I was here on the 30th April 2019 and the westernmost field near the ponds was covered in Orchid spikes.
This was the First time I have seen the Green -Winged Orchid, I must admit from a distance they do resemble the Early Purple Orchid until you take a closer look and note the striped hood for which its named.
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| Green-Winged Orchids |
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| Green-winged orchid (Anacamptis morio) |
The hoods look purple striped to me, maybe when the flowers first emerge they appear green. but a very nice looking Orchid all the same.
A couple of colour variants were seen as shown below, clearly showing the green striped wings.
This new Orchid sighting for me brings my Orchid list to ten species, mostly the more common species, I believe there are up to fifty two species in the UK, so plenty more to find, hopefully a few more before the season ends.
Life List 2019 List
Common Spotted Orchid Green Winged Orchid
Early Purple Orchid Early Purple Orchid
Common Twayblade. Lady Orchid
Greater Butterfly Orchid
Lady Orchid
Pyramidal Orchid
Bee orchid
Fragrant Orchid
White Helleborine
White Helleborine
Southern Marsh Orchid
Green Winged Orchid
Wow beautiful orchids
ReplyDeleteStunning!
ReplyDelete