Early Purple Orchids , Minchinhampton Common , Cotswolds 02/05/2012

The first Cotswold Orchids of 2012 are appearing on the commons. These Early Purples on Minchinhampton Common have been battered by wind and heavy rain for a couple of weeks but luckily there was a break in the weather on Wednesday when it was possible to get the camera down in the grass and get some shots. It was still very dull and a bit breezy so not the best conditions for photography.

This year the Early Purples seemed scattered about in quite small groups , maybe there are more to come up but their purple spikes look so amazing against the miles of grass on the common . 

Minchinhampton was also covered with thousands of Cowslips which is worth the effort of a walk despite the weather.