
Almost as common was the Conical Orchid (Orchis conica).

Patrick is very good at finding Yellow Bee Orchid (Ophrys lutea)- his favourite -

and like the gorgeous Mirror Orchid (Ophrys speculum) we found lots once we had got our eye in to their scale - little clumps and much smaller than the Naked Man Orchids.

Patrick also found some Champagne Orchids (Orchis chamapgneuxii), a species that also occurs on our more acidic soils around our village,

as does the very beautiful, highly variable and quite widespread Sawfly Orchid (Ophrys tenthredinifera).

We also found the showy Pink Butterfly Orchid (Orchis papilionacea), a species which also occurs near our village.

I was very pleased to show Patrick a few Fan-lipped Orchid (Orchis collina) - sometimes known as Hill Orchid, which flowers early so it is the end of the season already for that species.

We did not find Woodcock Orchid (Ophrys scolopax), which we did see last year, but perhaps it is a bit early for it this year. Still, we were delighted with our list of eight species, found within just a couple of hundred metres of distance in little more than half an hour.