Monday 8th May 2023

Coronation Day (UK) public holiday.

Orchid day (Ian only)

Sunday, I was if not housebound, then bound to within walking distance (there and back) from Chez Jelltex, and when the weather was far nicer than expected all day Sunday, then my desire to get out to the Kentish orchid fields were all the more stronger.

With the best of Monday's weather being for the morning, I would need to be up and out early, doubly so if I wanted to go to Marden. Marden are three freshwater meadows, filled with thousands of Green WIng Orchids, and like all orchids, its best to photograph them in sunshine to get the best of the orchid's colours.

I had set my alarm for six, but my mind and body woke me up at ten to five, so I got up, got dressed and had a coffee, so that at six I was heading out the door. Outside and all the way into town and to Folkestone it was thick fog, it thinned out as I went inland, but not much. Not to worry, I needed sunsine, so I knew the sun would burn it off, so was able to be happy and content cruising at 60.

At Maidstone, the first breaks in the fog were seen, and colours of trees and villages, like Leeds, really began to pop. And as I took the lanes across The Weald, the sun became stronger and stronger, and the mist just melted away, which meant by the time I pulled up at the meadow, conditions were perfect: the meadow , grass, ferns and orchids covered with a thick dew, that listened like jewels in the low sunshine.

I have gone mad here before, taking hundreds of shots, so this time I walked round, snapping the larger and pinker spikes, though I saw no white ones, but they were there, anyway, as my feet got wetter, I racked up the shots, taking time to get the effect of ten thousand orchids, causing the green of the meadow to have a purple smear.

And being early, I had the place to myself, and it was only the passing electrostars that broke the peace on such a fine morning.

I could have stayed there all day, but with the weather expected to turn at eleven, there was no time to lose. Back to the car, and deciding that the quickest way to Stockbury was through Maidstone, I guessed, correctly, that at eight on a bank holiday morning, traffic would be light. It was light, but the one way system is difficult, and I headed out on the A229 rather than the 249, meaning once at the motorway I had to go one junction back, then up Detling Hill to Stockbury.

The reserve is within earshot of the main road, but is an oasis of calm and beauty, one with the hum of traffic, but is still wonderful. And because of the cool weather experienced in England whilst we were baking in Spain, the peak of the bluebells was last weekend instead of the week before, and there was enough still in flower to make the visit more than worth it.

There are orchids here too, anyway.

I parked near the resrve, limboed under the gate, then tok shots of the bluebell path while the sun shone. Not perfect, but close to it.

Along the path, Early Purples were mixed in with the bluebells making a very nice colour contrast. Then there was the climb down to the meadow, which was tricky in the damp mud and without a walking pole. But I made it, and along the path first were the Lesser Butterfly spikes, which were still not out, but very, very close, then several Lady Orchids in part flower and most worth snapping.

I am still at the point of the season where I want to photograph EVERY Lady Orchid.

Anyway, back to the car, and a quick blast up the A2 to Canterbury, for the first stop of the season at Woolage to check on the Birds Nests. I had seen shots of several, not from Kent but elsewhere, in #wildflowerhour on Sunday, so I had hopes, but much searching of the leaf-strewn wood revealled not one Birds Nest, but dozens of White Helleborines, but again, none in flower.

Back to the car, and the weather was changing, but bright enough for a call at Lydden on the Man Orchid colony. I parked in the central reservation, climbed over the fence, and found that numbers in the colony have more than doubled from previous years. Where they would only grow up the bank, the tiny spikes now extend on the flatter part of the meadow to the storm drain culvert. I really had to watch where I was standing, and some spikes even had one or two open flowers.

The last stop was Folkestone to check on the Late Spiders.

The orchid books say that Late Spiders only emerge at the end of May to peak in June. But thanks to climate change and the fact orchids don't read field guides, some open earlier. One opens much earlier. May 8th is the earlist I have known it open, so it was likely to be a wild goose chase, or end in disappointment. And by the time I arrived, there was almost total cloud cover, no sunshine, and as I stood peering over the electrified fence hoping to spot an Ophrys rosette, nothing leapt out at me.

And then on the third scan walking up and down, I see the top of a single leaf showing where the closest plant to the path is, and the earliest to flower. Not in flower. So happy in having found it, I walk back tot he car to drive back along the Alkham Valley to St Maggies.

Jools had been gardening, so was ready for a coffee and some fruit for a late breakfast. As was I.

And 90 minutes later I prepare chicken Kyiv salad with freshly boiled baby potatoes for lunch.

Yummy.

And then, to the final game of the season for Norwich. Pukki's last game a a real change coming in the summer with other players to leave too. A home game against already relegated Blackpool should have been an easy one for City, but a poor performance and poor defending meant we slipt to another home defeat, 1-0. And that is that.

More footy to watch on the tellybox, mainly the Forest v Southampton game, which was exciting, but neither team could really defend, so the end to end action created a hatful of chances and a Forest win, 4-3, which almost certainly sent Southampton down to the Championship. Earlier, just to show we all know nothing about football, Everton thrashed Fulham at the Cottage 5-1 to greatly strengthen their chances of staying up. Well.