First orchids! (dragonfly-free post, promise)
Yes, we have some species of wild orchids in The Netherlands.
Right on the edge of the peat bog where I walk around a lot, there is a small area that is just right for the common spotted orchid (Dactylorhiza fuchsii).
I had already noticed the typical leaves a few days ago:
Olympus Stylus 1s, 42mm, ISO400, f8, 1/50s
The spots on the leaves gave them away immediately. Yesterday, they started to flower:
Olympus Stylus 1s, 42mm, ISO125, f8, 1/160s
One of the other species that used to grow here, the great-smelling lesser butterfly-orchid (Platanthera bifolia) hasn't been seen for a few years now, and there are far less spotted orchids than before.
I think something has gone very wrong for the orchids with this habitat. There are fewer species, and far less of the species left. They also seem to be less exuberant than the first time I saw them here years ago:
Let's hope they recover.
Thanks for watching!
Gorgeous flowers, hate to see them disappear. Have there been big changes to the bog area? Drainage or development additions/subtractions, etc? Nature sure seems to get the short end of things more and more all the time. So very sad.
With agriculture next door, it was always a struggle to keep enough water in, and the artificially added nutrients out of the peat bog. Small country with small bits of everything, coexisting can be hard.
So true, and even in a larger country, they just make expand it all to scale, and it's still right on the edge.
That is disconcerting to see plants diminish in a place over time, especially within a time-frame that people notice. Your photos are good documentation of the changes!
Beautiful flowers. Yes, they seem to be having problems everywhere.
They are found here in Ireland in conservation areas mainly, although even here they are not as many as in past years.
Overuse of pesticides and other chemicals, plus mismanagement of land is part of the cause. Acid rain is another.
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Wow amazing photographs ..::)
Thank you.
Welcome..:))
Orchid , my best flower ever.
I like your post and the photos are so professional.
Thank you.
Very beautiful flowers. Following you. Cheers!!!!
Thanks!
Following you too. Playing music from your blog in the background now 8-). Blues is the thing.
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