green winged orchid – Grantham Ecology

2018 in Wildflowers

December 28, 2018January 19, 2019Grantham EcologyLeave a comment

As anybody who follows my twitter feed will know, wildflowers are a constant source of inspiration and fascination for me. Here are a few of my favourite finds from 2018

FKEU6697 — This tiny forget-me-not is called changing forget-me-not because of the way the petal colour changes as the flowers mature – they start off yellow/cream and brighten to blue in time

SYJC9411 — Red campion is a common wildflower in the midlands, especially in shady habitats like hedgerows and woodland edges. It can be a beautifully architectural plant

PHMS4033 — Wood sorrel is a woodland wildflower of early spring – this was taken in the Quantock Hills in a pine plantation.

VKRS5149 — Wood anemone are a characteristic indicator of ancient woodland – spreading at a rate of only a few metres per year, they are testement to the continuity of the habitat

ELLM5983 — Green winged orchids are one of the first to flower in the spring – I am lucky enough to live very close to Muston Meadows which has a stunning display each year

DEMF9746 — An ancient woodland in South Wales rewarded me with herb paris this year – the first time I’ve seen this species in perfect flower in the UK

FSYT1381 — Pasque flowers are a real rarity these days, but are emblamatic enough to be the designated County Flower of two different counties in England. This one taken at Barnack Hills and Holes NNR

JVRC6199 — A sea of English Bluebells with a mighty fallen oak branch to lend character to the sunlit scene

OMEK8236 — Oxlip is one of our rarest wildflowers – the ancient woodland of Hayley Wood near Cambridge is one of the best places to enjoy them amongst the bluebells

BWBX9330 — There can be few sights more synonymous with springtime that the white of greater stitchwort and the bright blue of the bluebell amongst the fresh green leaves

EUVX4196 — The limestone grasslands which punctuated the Peddar’s Way in May rewarded us with these salad burnet – tiny red stars set within a globular flower head

FEKJ0714 — A trip to see the fly orchids in Bedford Purleius NNR has become something of an annual tradition now – they never fail to delight!

JWXG2736 — A new species for me this year and a wonderful treasure hunt to find it – violet helleborine in Bedford Purleuis NNR

BSQT8448 — Small but stunning – the arable flora on St Mary’s, Scilly away from the industrial scale agriculture of the mainland meant a host of scarce arable wildflowers persist, such as this small-flowered catchfly

MXEM3555 — Yellow bartsia – a relative of yellow rattle and eyebright – was another first for me on the Isles of Scilly

LNOZ7092 — Pale toadflax established on a railway arch near the Thames

VYSS5123 — Black nightshade is a member of the same family as potato and tomato and could be found flowering right up until Christmas!

Wild snake’s head fritillaries flowering in Portholme Meadow, Huntingdon

Cowslips flowering along the cycle path which passes along the Grantham Canal in early springtime

Harebell flowering in the dry grasslands in the meadows above Grantham

Early purple orchid amongst the bluebells and greater stitchwort flowers in a woodland edge in Lincolnshire

2016 in Wildflowers

December 12, 2016July 31, 2017Grantham Ecology1 Comment

Every week this year, with just one or two exceptions, I’ve taken part in the excellent #wildflowerhour on twitter where people across the UK share their sightings for the week between 8-9pm each Sunday – an excellent way to draw a weekend to a close.

Many of these photos made an appearance at some point but this is a run-through a few of my favourite wildflower finds or photos from 2016. The absence of orchids can be explained by a whole post all of their own from earlier this week – take a look here!

flowers20161 — Tree flowers are some of the first to make their appearance each year and this set shows a few of these in silhouette against a white February sky. The photo on the left is the male catkins of alder whilst the right two images are the female flowers of two different willow species. Many of these early tree species have both male and female flowers. Some, such as the hazel and alder, have both male and female flowers on the same tree. Others, such as these willows, have male trees or female trees which produce just one type of flower.

muston — An early-morning walk in May treated me to these frosted flowers in Muston Meadows NNR. The sward was still low, with many of the larger, later meadow species such as salad burnet and meadowsweet still to appear, and these smaller early-summer flowering species were the stars of the show. Clockwise from top left are bulbous buttercup, cuckooflower, green-winged orchid and cowslip.

img_8737_27075197361_o — Spring sandwort is a member of the campion family and I came across these cushions of flowers at a disused leadworking site in Derbyshire. It is quite a scarce plant across the UK but frequents these old spoil heaps – such is its connection that leadwort is another name for this flower. I like that this species has specific habitat preferences which are far from the pristine grasslands and woodlands which are associated with the conservation of many species.

img_8609_27020458036_o — This is another example of where a closer look rewards the curious – this is a view down the spadix of an arum lily – also known as Lords and Ladies. This reminds me of one of the plasma balls I used to see in Science Museums when I was younger!

img_5743_26817630992_o — It would be difficult to exclude bluebells from this selection as the sight of a good bluebell wood, with wood anemone, primrose, violets and yellow archangel mixed in, is one of those sights which is profoundly uplifting after a long winter. Many species begin to flower before these, but the bluebell season marks a threshold between the sparsity of spring and the abundance of summer which is just on the horizon. I like the lightness and delicacy of this shot – taken at the Notts Wildlife Trust site – Treswell Wood.

Another photograph from Treswell Wood. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen such an abundance of greater stitchwort than at this site this year – glades were filled with the snow-white flowers of this native woodland specialist.

img_4377_26890619854_o — This is another photograph from Muston Meadows NNR – this time at sunset. I liked the moody, hazy feel of this photograph with buttercups and grass flowers against a darkening sky.

flowers20162 — This set was taken on my birthday this year – we were camping just below Old Sarum outside Salisbury and woke up early to climb the old hillside and watch the sun rise. The fields and landscape below were misty and I liked the contrast of these wildflowers against the sunrise haze.Clockwise from top left is dock, cow parsley, nettle and bulbous buttercup.

img_1607_27373632725_o — Smooth tare is a member of the pea family with these tiny white flowers with delicate purple veining. Easily overlooked in a grassland sward, I like the way that they stand out against the soft greens of the surrounding vegetation when you get low enough to appreciate them!

flowers20163 — I took a treacherous walk up to the Hills and Hollows on the outskirts of Grantham one very stormy lunchtime in June – somehow these ominous heavens never opened but gave a nice opportunity to capture some common wildflowers against a dark sky. Clockwise from top left is white campion, poppy, white clover and hogweed.

28893485481_f966287176_o — I have a real soft spot for arable weeds – modern farming works hard to eradicate competition from arable fields but many species still find a way to brighten a dull monoculture. This flax field was quite an amazing sight in itself with its array of ripe seeds, but flecked throughout where the glaucous green and delicate mauve of fumitory which scrambled up and through the crop.

img_6157_29767059701_o — Harebells are common in more acidic conditions but can pop up in a variety of habitats. I found them for the first time in the grasslands above Grantham this year, nestled in amongst the Hills and Hollows, but this photo was taken on the Laurie Lee Wildlife Walk in Slad this autumn. You have to get down low to see inside these little flowers, and when i did, I was surprised to find two invertebrate residents settled in for the day. I guess a downwards-facing bell makes perfect cover for a snail to wait until nightfall!

img_9870_27467453324_o — The Longshaw Estate in Derbyshire comes brightly to life with the purple wash of heather in August and this photograph was taken on one of my favourite walks which cuts across this land. The bell heather was frequented by the beautiful heather colletes bees which emerge to coincide with this floral abundance each year, feeding on the flowers and making their nest holes in the sandy soils beneath the roots.

Another from the Peak District – this time the coconut-scented flowers of gorse against a backdrop of heather. The old saying goes, ‘when gorse is out of flower, kissing is out of fashion’ because you can find this species flowering pretty much anytime throughout the year. There are many fewer pollinators at work during the winter, but when a warm day awakens a hibernating bumblebee, it can be fairly sure of a nectar source amongst a stand of gorse.

img_9181_30492604634_o — Whilst I doubt this will be my last wildflower photo of 2016, it seems a nice place to end – a common mallow flower with ice crystals taken on my walk to work in December. A bitterly cold morning, the white edging brought a nice contrast to the deep purple of this flower. Many wildflowers of late-summer will continue flowering until the first hard frosts of winter finish them off so this might perhaps signal the end for this individual!

If you are interested in commissioning botanical surveys in the midlands, you can check out Landscape Science Consultancy’s website here!

Green winged orchids at Muston Meadows

May 21, 2013Grantham Ecology4 Comments

Only a few miles to the west of Grantham along the A52, you might be surprised to learn there is a National Nature Reserve – Muston Meadows NNR. The fields are cited as one of the finest lowland meadows in England with over 30 species of grasses and over 100 species of flowering plant – this page from Natural England has further details.

The meadows are possibly at their best to the end of May or early June, before the first cut, when a wealth of wildflowers including vetches, pignut, yellow rattle and pepper saxifrage as well as the beautiful quaking oat grass. However, the stand-out species of the meadows is the green winged orchid to which the reserve is home to a colony 10,000 strong.

The green winged orchid (Orchis morio) is a rare species whose decline is linked to the decrease in the availability of nutrient poor grassland habitats – such as those found at Muston Meadows – in which it thrives. The green-wings refer to the green veined sepals which you can see in the image below; this differentiates the orchid from the early purple orchid which has similar purple flowers. They can also be distinguished by the lack of spots on the leaves which are notable in the early purple orchid. This specimen was low growing, perhaps only 6cm tall, so a keen eye may be required to pick them out away from the main patches.

Muston Meadows can be accessed through a gate directly off the minor road between Muston and Stenwith which passes along the eastern boundary of the reserve. There was always a sign which indicated the entrance although this was missing on my visit last weekend (19th May 2013) so keep an eye out for the kissing gate opposite the entrance to the Sustrans cycle path which leads off to Redmile. The meadows are a fragile habitat and Natural England do ask all visitors to keep to the public rights of way.

While you’re there, also look out for skylarks, a wealth of butterflies and hares which can often be seen especially after the first cut when the grasses are low.