2009

2009 21 APR
Early Spider Orchids Print
Tuesday, 21 April 2009

Early Spider Orchids

 

  • Click on the image above to view gallery

 

Samphire Hoe
The Early Spider Orchid is one of the first orchids to flower in the year, and one of the best places to see them is at Samphire Hoe. Samphire Hoe was created from 4.9 million cubic metres of chalk marl excavated to create the Channel Tunnel. It was deposited in the area known as Lower Shakespeare Cliff then landscaped to make the place we can now visit. Samphire Hoe is bound by a new mile-long sea wall. Once landscaped the Hoe was sown with wild flower seeds collected from the nearby cliffs and chalk grasslands. From a starting point of 32 species there are now 164 different types of wild flowers and grasses growing at Samphire Hoe.


Some of the original seeds sown have been more successful than others and the poor soil really seems to suit the Early Spider Orchid as some 9000 of them were counted in 2008. I made a couple of trips to Samphire Hoe to see them this year, the first on 21st April when there were some very nice ones just starting to flower, but I could also tell a second visit to see more of them in flower was probably going to be a good idea. I made my second visit on 2nd May and wasn’t disappointed at all by the number I know found flowering.


Like the Fly Orchid, The Early Spider Orchid it attracts insect pollinators by sexual deceit. In this case it is the male Solitary Bee which gets the pollinia stuck to the front of its head. The plant has a three-year life-cycle from seed to flowering, so seed is vitally important if a population is to persist.


Early Spider Orchid taken with long lens
I was very fortunate as on both occasions the wind was minimal: very unusual for a location right next to the sea. I’ve been taking pictures of the orchids that grow in Kent for a few years now and each year I try to do better than the previous year as I learn better ways of doing things. So armed with my large diffuser to filter out the harsh sunlight and a gold reflector to help light up areas of the flower not usually seen with the naked eye I was keen to see what would work best. My favourite picture this year I have to say was taken using my new long lens where I’ve managed to isolate a single flower spike, which isn’t easy as they seem to grow in groups mostly in long grass. Using the long lens with a shallow depth of field has meant it looks isolated.  


There are a couple more locations where I’ve found Early Spider Orchid growing too. One was on the cliffs above the docks at Dover, not too far from the National Trust car park at Langdon Cliffs. We also found some growing on the cliff top close to the excellent little Bluebird Café at St Margaret’s Bay. We enjoyed a Sunday afternoon walk along the cliffs to Kingsdown and back again after really good coffee and cake at the café.


Pictures in the gallery that accompany this journal entry have been taken on a few different days but all on the same days I was out and about finding the Early Spider Orchids. These include a time on the cliffs at Kingsdown trying to get pictures of the Fulmars and Gulls in flight something I need a lot of practise at but for my first attempt I was quite pleased.

Fulmar in flight 1
Fulmar in flight 2

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