There is some bad news despite the excellent orchid showing - the deer are back in large numbers and predating orchids quicker than I can find them. I am thinking of some alternative protection strategies for next year, perhaps protecting some large areas with deer fencing rather than trying to protect individual orchids. Back to the numbers - Common Spotted Orchids have rounded off with an amazing 719 spikes - a huge increase on last year's 285 total. Broad-leaved Helleborines have also shown a substantial increase with 41 compared with 25 last year (and probably one or two more to come). Three other species have also shown up with 4 Heath Spotted, 2 Twayblades and 1 Bee Orchid. By far the best year ever. That has been true of every year as numbers have always increased but this year is a different league. The biggest previous increase was last year when the Orchid Index increased from 231 to 312, an increase of 81 orchids. This year the increase is 455 Orchids!
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