First orchids of the year Minchinhampton Common, Cotswolds, 27th April 2014

Conditions were not good for photography today with strong winds, showers and poor light on Minchinhampton Common. However the Orchids seem to be thriving this spring with many more and much healthier specimens than last year . The Early Purple and Green Winged Orchids were both flowering and looked splendid in the wet conditions. 

 Please click on the pictures once and then a second time to view in full quality .

Green Winged Orchids

Unusual light pink coloured petals on this Green Winged Orchid

Just to show the small size of these flowers and how wet the conditions were , in this case Early Purple Orchids sharing space with Cowslips, the Green Winged Orchids were even smaller 

Early Purple Orchids