Sunday 12th July 2020

Thing about holidays at home is that I fill them with trips out to hunt for orchids, other plants, butterflies or churches, meaning, by and large, I am busier relaxing than when at work, says it all about my working day, I suppose.

Anyway, it was Sunday, a day of rest. Or would have been for most others. For the Jelltex household, or the non-feline part, it meant getting out early for a walk in the woods.

Denge Woods is a large mixed wood near to Canterbury, famed for being home to the largest population of Lady Orchids and also home to the majestic Duke of Burgundy butterfly. It also has a rare moth or two.

But once the main orchid season and the Duke seasons ends, then few venture here. We have done and have seen many wonderful things; herds of deer, rare fungi, butterflies, rare plants and other orchids. Two years ago I found a spike, mixed in with Broad Leaved Helleborimes, that looked different. Now it is showing again, and two weeks back wasn't in flower. Maybe it would this weekend? If not, a walk is never wasted, it would be a matter of what else we would see.

We drove out of Dover, along the A2, turning off at Bridge, go through the village centre, over the bridge at Bridge, then across to Stone Street.

Stone Street is the old Roman Road that runs from Canterbury to the coast, no Romans on it now, but it is pretty straight. Apart from the bends.

Through pretty Petham, into the woods and down to Denge, where there was just one other car.

Perfect.

I have just one camera, no ring flash, so travelling light.

As we walked down the long woodland track, we heard clopping sounds behind, so we stood aside as a young lady on her steed bounced past.

All along the left hand side, in the morning sunlight, there was a riot of insects; butterflies, beetles and wasps, all looking for pollen, the walk could have taken 15 minutes, we take an hour, as we were entranced by the wildlife, especially the Peacock butterflies out in force, recently emerged and now basking with their fabulous wings tilted to the sun.

We reached the bank and walked up, the plants changed and instead of Peacocks and Gatekeepers, the air was full of Marbled Whites, still a brown, all basking or feeding in the sun.

We come to the location of the mystery orchid, which I can't find! Jools looks around and find three more similar spikes, then I find the one from two weeks ago. So four spikes. I take shots from all angles, and they are very different from the nearby BLH, which are still unfurling, but still not yet in flower. We will have to come back.

Elsewhere in the reserve, Pyramidals and CSOs are just clinging on, though even the best spikes were half burnt brown.

Time flies.

Back to the car, and I had an idea.....

The day before, on a new roundabout the other side of Barham, I saw several tall spikes of Great Mullein and Weld, both well worth a visit to take some snaps. The busy road made parking tricky, so Jools dropped me off for 15 minutes and would return to collect me when I should have the shots I wanted.

The Mullein are even better close up, I snap them, then move on to the Weld, a large and vigorous plants with multiple sharp spikes, covered with small flower.

I am done in 5 minutes, then have to wait 5 more for Jools.

She takes us home.

Once home I prepare and cook lunch: rump steak, potatoes, fresh corn and garlic mushrooms. And fizz. White fizz.

It was wonderful.

And then it was to the sofa for football. Second half of the Villa v Palace game, then the North London derby. I wish I could say it was great; it wasn't, slow paced, but littered with mistakes.

But three hours was enough, so I missed the late (and early) game, instead make supper of filled rolls and a huge brew. Of course.

After #wildflowerhour, we go back out, back to the top of the down so I could snap the comet again.

But I mess up the shots again, ISO too high, so not usable, but at least I know where I went wrong.

Once home again, I pur a wee dram or two, eat salted crunch corn and edit shots.

Midnight arrives and I go to bed.