Orchids: (almost?) lost and found

After the twitching excesses of yesterday, I had a low-key day in Notts, first completing my late BBS visit up at East Markham (which didn't throw up anything unusual), and then doing a bit of botanising at Gamston Wood in a bid to see Bird's-nest Orchid. I've failed to find this species in previous years, so was delighted to find a single flower spike - a Notts rarity, and an orchid tick!

Bird's-nest Orchid

Bird's-nest Orchid

Nearby, the coppice coup that last year held 57+ Greater Butterfly Orchid held at least 27 today (although this wasn't based on a comprehensive search of the area), plus at least 47 Herb-paris plants, including lots of young ones.

Greater Butterfly Orchid

Herb-paris

The adjacent sections of road verge, also part of the SSSI (and which I look after in my day job) held a further 10 GBO's - 5 in their usual spot along a drainage grip, and another 5 on an adjacent section of verge (into which they seem to be slowly spreading - there were only 2 in this spot last year), plus 2 gone-over Early Purples. When the Twayblades, Common Spotted, and Southern Marsh Orchids are added into the equation (the latter a recent colonist in the verges), this brought my orchid tally to six species in the space of less than an hour; not bad!

Flowery grassland in the SSSI verges at Gamston Wood

I then completed my orchid quest with a look at Hunt's Meadow NWT, at Kersall, to count the Early Marsh Orchids. Worryingly, I could only locate a single flower spike, in the smaller eastern meadow, and none in the larger western meadow. Orchids can be fickle, but I read at home that despite being a marsh orchid, this species cannot survive prolonged inundation; the site did feel very wet underfoot, with shallow standing water in places, so I fear that perhaps they're not doing well at this site. 

Early Marsh Orchid

The eastern meadow at Hunt's Meadow