Orchids, thistles and a lovely ancient Beech tree

We went for a walk today, looking for Fragrant and Musk Orchids. After a bit of hunting and climbing up some steep banks, we found Pyramidal, Common Spotted and Fragrant Orchids (and yes, they do smell very sweet!). We even found a white Fragrant Orchid.

No sign of any Musk Orchids, but they're short and green-yellow and are supposed to be very hard to spot.

Fragrant Orchid

Fragrant Orchid

White Fragrant Orchid

Pyramidal Orchids

Common Spotted Orchid

Common Spotted Orchid

We found an enormous ancient Beech tree, which was definitely worth a couple of photos.

There were lots of pretty Thistles, which the butterflies are going to love. I hadn't really noticed before that they come in all shapes, sizes and colours!

Very pretty flower, full of little black beetles

There were low growing thistles

Tall thistles

Thistles with extra spiky flower heads

There were even Thistles with white flowers



We saw a few butterflies, including a Marbled White and this lovely Speckled Wood.



 There was plenty of Great Mullein just starting to flower.