Chris Lansdell's Birding & Nature Diary: An Orchid roadtrip through Suffolk and Cambs, 2 June 2018

Despite the wet start to the day it had started to clear up by late morning so I took to the road to clear up a few orchids I've not seen yet this year.

First stop was a roadside nature reserve where I counted 73 Man Orchid flowering spikes. Most were starting to go over but there were still some nice ones too.

Next up was a private site where, after a long walk I easily located plenty of nice Fly Orchids together with 18 Greater Butterfly Orchids and 2 Bee Orchids. In the same clearing were a Brown Argus, 2 Common Blues, 1 Small Heath, numerous Burnet Companion moths and a bizarre-looking Giant Ichneumon looking like a large black dragonfly with a really long ovipositor! A mixed-singing Willow Warbler/Chiffchaff was also there plus Garden Warbler, 2 Common Buzzards and dozens of Speckled Woods and a Large White

Finally I headed west into Cambs where some White Helleborines were easily found in a beech wood. A nice surprise there was a singing Corn Bunting, new for the year.

Yearlist = 210