Green-winged Orchids

My nearest nature reserve (not the one I manage) is looking absolutely stunning with great carpets of Cowslips punctuated by the vivid purple spikes of Green-winged Orchids. These orchids are only just starting to flower. Over the next couple of weeks thousands will flower here and some of the drier ridges (of the ancient ridge and furrow fields) will turn from a yellow cowslip haze to a purple/pink orchid haze.

Over a hundred years ago, many of the fields in this part of Buckinghamshire would have been covered in Cowslips, Green-winged Orchids and other wild flowers in the spring - now just a handfull have been saved from agricultural 'improvement'. Thank God there were some far-sighted and committed local naturalists to rescue special places like this during the last century.