Oh so there they are!

My favourite group of plants are the orchids, and the last two year's have seen some great additions to my list with the last one being the Bird's Nest Orchid. In the same area of my local site are records for Frog Orchids, and after picking the brains of several people I managed to narrow down roughly where they were.

Unfortunately, Sheep graze the particular slope where they apparently grow, so this was going to be a hindrance. For the past three years each June and July I have been painstakingly searching the area, spending hours on occasion, and each time leaving feeling disappointed at not finding any.

This year however, my friend who is a parks ranger had a tip off from a fellow ranger who said he had recently seen some Frog Orchid leaves, and we were given a better location. This was exciting news, and by Thursday afternoon I couldn't contain my excitement any longer and I was off, back to the area in question.

I settle down to search for them, but they were nowhere to be seen. After about an hour I called my friend and he told me what he had been told. I must be in the right spot, but where are they.

I searched some ore and still nothing. I decided to change tactics, and sat down on the slope looking upwards. Now I had a more bird's eye view of the slope, and after a while there amongst the green of the sheep grazed slope I picked out a tiny pale flower. My excitement started to grow. Could this be it?    Yes it was, a tiny flower on a stem less than an inch high, with another close by. Here they are, Frog Orchids - a new species for me and another 'wow' moment.

This curious looking orchid is now rare in Wales. The specimens I photographed are of the paler green colour whereas some are a deep red.  Either way, I was overjoyed to finally find some.