Naming orchids

This morning Pete, Chris and I went up to Castor Hanglands NNR to meet the reserve manager and agree the extent of survey to be carried out this summer. She was confident that funding would be available even though Natural England still hadn't approved all the budgets. I walked the whole area, which has an interesting transition from fen meadow to limestone grassland. The fen meadow has a wonderful display of orchids, including Common Spotted-orchid, Early Marsh-orchid, Southern Marsh-orchid and a whole range of confusing hybrids. I'm fairly sure this one is a hybrid between Common Spotted and Early Marsh-orchid, also known as Dactylorhiza x kernerorum.


In the afternoon I walked with a group of local Parish Councillors and other interested partied from Peakirk to the River Welland, and saw the site of a proposed bridge that would link Peakirk to Deeping Gravel Pits, which currently requires a 9-mile car journey each way. Plans for the bridge were on the brink of approval before Covid struck - now it seems to be an uphill struggle to get this excellent project off the ground again.