Sunday 13th June 2021

In recent years, by now the main season would be all but over, and there would be a pause of a couple of weeks before the Lizards and Marsh Helleborines, Pyramidals and so on begin to appear. But the season is late, and the main season is just about still going, with Monkey, Man and Lady still worth seeking out, and those that flower a little later, like Heath and Common Spotted and Butterfly Orchids should be approaching their peak.

Hope this is making sense.

Last year I went to see the Heaths at the end of May, and, OK, there was just one in flower, but were about to pop. Two, if not three weeks later this year, and I arranged for us to meet my new padawan, Ian, at Hothfield for some acid bog botanising, if he was up for it.

He was.

As Hothfield is popular with families and dogwalkers, I try to get there early to avoid crowds and questions. So, we arrange to meet at eight. Meaning we had to be up and out pretty sharpish, and on the road by quarter past seven. Sounded OK when I made the arrangements, but we were slow in getting going, and after coffee we had to leave, so we called in at Hythe Services for supplies, eating sandwiches, samosa and crisps on the go.

We arrive at Hothfield at five to eight, Ian arrives just over five minutes later; and so the gang was all here.

Kent is mostly chalk, and so alkaline in PH, meaning although there are downs, marshes, meadows and brownfields sites, acid based ones are rare. One of the few is Hothfield, and there is an orchid for almost every habitat, and for acid there is Heath Spotted. This is similar, but different to the Common Spotted, I won't go into details, as they are boring, and I don't think even the books are that reliable. For me it is knowing the sites, so I can say here, at Hothfield they are Heaths, most other places they will be CSOs.

Hope that makes sense too.

So, in order to see most species the county has to offer, a visit here is needed each year, and I come early. It is a short walk, five minutes, from the car park, through the wood and into the fenced off area which is the bog itself, and soon among the overgrown paths were a few small Heath spikes. Other species have been left to grow, so there are fewer orchids. Much fewer.

We snap as many as we can, but about half are yet to fully open.

We walk to the boardwalk, and I show Ian the bog specialists: bog cotton, Lousewort and Sundew. Sundew is carnivorous, and each fleshy leaf is covered in spines tipped with sticky stuff that catches insects, and so once caught the leave folds over and the plant absorbs the insect, because the bog is lacking in nutrents, so it gets its own. Not only interesting, but a beautiful one, so we take shots too.

There was the chance to go to the other boggy area to look for hybridgs between SMOs and the Heaths, but the temperatures was already climbing quickly, so we decide to go to the second and final call, Stalisfied to Sprockle Wood to look in on the Greater Butterflies. I have been going there for three years and never seen a spike open, as in 2019 work got in the way and last year a late frost destroyed pretty much every spike, so one flowered.

We drive along the A20, then up the hill, parking opposite The Plough again, Jools said she would sit this out and read on a wooden bench, so Ian and I strap on our cameras and set off down the lane in the increasing heat. I know we complained when it was grey and cool, but is the other extreme.

At least it was downhill, so we walked across the field and into the wood, the gate to which seemed to be the entrance to the underworld as the trees were so dense now, blocking most of the sunlight out. Not many come here, the path down was all but invisible due to encroaching undergrowth. At least the mud had dried.

We reached the bottom path, then walked up to the high fence over which we had to scramble, carring our gear, and on the other side we could see the majestic spikes of dozens of GBOs streting away up the down.

At last.

We take shots of a few of the spikes, but then just wander through the meadow, up the down and back along. We were looking for Flies or maybe a Bee or two, but the grasses had sprouted and the Fly couldn't be found, maybe they had faded and frazzled?

And that was it.

We tried to chase a butterfly or two, but our hearts were not in it. We walk back to the fence, climb back over and begin the long haul up the down, through the wood and over the fields.

Phew.

Back in the car, I announce we were to go home, no other calls, which Jools was pleased about.

We drove back to the M20, but I could see a jam heading towards Dover, so instead we drove up to Challock through King's Wood, then to Faversham. But Jools using her phone said there was an accident on the A2, so we cut through Chartham, over the railway which reminded me it has been a good two years since I snapped a railtour through there.

And back to Barham, up onto the A2 and then to home.

Made it.

One reason for being home was at two England were playing Croatia, who knocked us out in the World Cup three years back. I had low expectations, but in the end, England played well, were pretty much in control, and Sterling scored the only goal for a deserved win.

Yay.

Jools went swimming, and I messed around here, before preparing fritter batter, and once Jools came home, I fried them up into a golden plateful of scrummy spicy food.

I am still off the booze, and as I said, don't really miss it.

The evening was #Wildflowerhour for which I had dozens of shots, and keeping an eye on the evening game on ITV, sitting on the sofa with Scully beside me.