Six in six

The spaniel and I had a long very wet walk on the South Downs this morning during which we encountered six orchid species in as many minutes. Most exciting of all was the discovery of a group of ten rare Musk orchids (Herminium monorchis). These pale green orchids are super difficult to spot, especially here on the South Downs where they don't grow to more than 3 or 4cm high.  Even in this morning's drizzle they were producing a very distinct honey and lemon scent. The other orchids encountered were common spotted, twayblade, chalk fragrant, bee and pyramidal orchid.