Monday 11th May

An extremley windy day with a cold NE wind blowing across the orchards. Not much to report except a couple of Swifts sliding through the wind over the strawberry plot on the Research Station land.

After work I was press ganged into collecting an Ebay purchase from Sittingbourne. Trying to make the most of a loathsome journey I picked up Mike Easterbrook to check out an orchid site on the way. I'm glad I did as we saw 25+ Lady Orchids, 6 Fly Orchids, 1 Birds Nest Orchid and a Lesser Butterfly Orchid.

Friday 8th May

Taking Greenie's advice from yesterday (not to birdwatch from a bike) I went orchid hunting in the car. One of the rare occasions I seem to have the car nowadays so I went off patch to the nearby North Downs where I hoped for a good number of Orchids.

Part of the area I visited was wooded and the Bluebells were still in bloom, but just on the turn, as were the Early Purple Orchids. Good numbers of Lady Orchids were found along with a single Fly and Birds-nest Orchids.