After only recently discovering early purple orchids at Littleferry and beyond Golspie golf course it seemed almost too much to hope that we would find a further species so soon but, this morning, while walking through the woodland above Golspie Tower, we stumbled across this.
It's very difficult to distinguish between some of the orchid species, many of which make life even more complicated by happily hybridising with their close relatives, but this seems to be nearest to the health spotted orchid, based on the rounded blotches on its leaves and the small, central tooth on the flower's lobe.
Nearby, there was a second orchid, a little pinker than the first, and then we found....
....two others, another whiter one and....
....another delicately pink one.
It's fairly evident that these orchids, like the early purple, are only just appearing but they are roughly on time - the heath spotted is usually first recorded in June.
We need to go back to have another look at them as they are only just starting to flower and should, in a few days time, be much more spectacular. We might also find a few more....
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