Frog Orchids in Oxfordshire 29th June 2024

Enthused by my recent trips to view some of the fifty or so different species of orchids growing wild in Britain I am naturally keen to continue the experience but although immensely grateful for information being passed to me by Duncan and Peter about where to go to look for wild orchids I  now felt the urge to attempt to find my own.

I decided on the Frog Orchid. 

Quite some time ago I saw a small colony of them at Aston Rowant NNR, that lies just within the southern boundary of Oxfordshire but never went back to check on them, spending all of the subsequent years being distracted by looking at the many species of butterflies found on the reserve.

With the weather set fair for sunshine and a pleasant warm breeze I decided to take a chance and go back to Aston Rowant and see if I could locate the Frog Orchids, assuming they were still there. I could remember approximately where they had been on what is a very large reserve but not the precise location and the subsequent passage of time would certainly have dulled my memory.

I left it until early afternoon to visit but my journey was disrupted by a serious accident on the M40 motorway  which brought traffic to a standstill just before the junction where I needed to turn off. Frustratingly, three lanes of traffic edged at a snail's pace  towards the turnoff but eventually I made it and was soon parking in an unexpectedly deserted car park at the top of the reserve.

I took a track that runs along the top of the slope looking down to the motorway and saw the lanes of static traffic on the southbound carriageway had now cleared.

I rejoiced that I had escaped the motorway and was now high on the hill enjoying the surrounds of nature.Between me and the distant motorway lay a steep and sloping escarpment, a sea of summer grasses swaying in the wind with the bright magenta heads of  Pyramid Orchids, hundreds of them, glowing like precious gems within the grass.

I walked onwards, uncertain of how far to follow the track but pursued it to the end where it wound off to the right and over a rise, closing out the sound of the motorway. I passed through a gate at the very top opening onto an area that looked familiar but was daunting in its extent. A carpet of multi coloured downland flora and herbs greeted me and frankly, even if I failed in my mission, I felt the effort would still be worth it just to experience this sensory overload of colour and floral profusion. I encountered no one in this lonely spot and commenced wandering across the expanse of sward thay lay around me. Still unsure if this was the right place.

To walk on this ground was refreshing after the hard chalk of the track as the density and springiness of the short vegetation underfoot cushioned my feet, almost as if I was walking on a deep pile carpet with all the while the faint scent of wild thyme lingering on the air. Another half an hour passed, still with no result and I found myself back at a spot I was sure I had covered before.My eyes felt strained from constantly and closely scrutinising the ground below me.

Vague tracks left by the sheep which graze here in winter meandered through the flora.I followed one as orchids often have a preference for such tracks but met with no success. I began to doubt myself but persisted in my search.Maybe that patch over there? Maybe this one? I was floundering I had to admit. 

Much of the habitat was so alike but also looked a little too lush for orchids so I looked for areas with shorter grass, that were more open and sparsely vegetated. Areas where herbs such as wild thyme, salad burnet and other low growing plants I could not name grew.

Frog Orchids are short and unspectacular, just like the Musk Orchids I saw on Wednesday, marginally duller and blend perfectly with their surroundings which makes them the devil to locate.The flowers vary from yellowish green to reddish brown and with a generous use of imagination can look vaguely like a frog.You really have to concentrate to pick them out from all the weird and wonderful confusion of flowers, leaves and stalks at your feet.

Frog Orchids are described as local and are in long term decline. The Plant Atlas 2020 describes them as potentially Britain's fastest declining orchid which does not bode well.  Although widely distributed in northern and western Britain they are only to be found at a relatively small number of sites and have also declined in central England and East Anglia but are said to be still present in reasonable numbers on the chalk hills that run from Sussex to Wiltshire.The reasons for its decline are linked to improvements in agriculture, undergrazing and more recently droughts.

Over an hour of fruitless searching had passed and I had all but given up and was returning to the main track and as I did, there right at my feet was a Frog Orchid. A eureka moment instantly followed by relief that I had managed not to tread on it..

My sense of achievement was almost overwhelming. An absolute joy of discovery and a feeling of self satisfaction enveloped me. I even let out a  cry of triumph, there was no one around after all.

For a minute I stood looking down on my unassuming  prize - no more than two and a half inches high with mostly tightly furled buds giving it a distinctive knobbly appearance.It will soon open its buds in the coming days but this did not concern me, all that mattered was it was a Frog Orchid, I had found it myself and best of all, despite declining nationally there were still Frog Orchids growing here after all the years that had passed since last I had found them here.

I took some images, careful not to flatten the vegetation in case it would betray its presence but need not have worried as the vegetation underfoot was so thick, short and tightly bound together it just sprang back and you  would never know anyone had been here.

Fired with renewed enthusiasm I endeavoured to look for more.All those years ago I had found quite a number.Surely there should be more or was this the only one left? Careful not to tread on any undiscovered orchids I wandered around looking but for some while met with no success but then with 'my eye in' I found another two and then another three in discrete pockets nearby and so it went on until I had found exactly thirty spread over two relatively close areas.

Most were nowhere as tall as the first one I had found and were very hard to discern unless you knew that they were likely to be there.So unassuming in both colour and form they almost melted into their surroundings. As with the Musk Orchid this works to their benefit as few if any will notice them even though they are relatively near to a track used by dog walkers and hikers.

I found another small colony nearer to the gate, right by the track and one of these was of the reddish brown form as opposed to the original one that was yellowish green. Even better as I took its image I noticed it was more advanced with its frog shaped flowers more fully open.

I had spent two very pleasant and rewarding hours up here, in my own world and encountering absolutely no one.I returned the way I had come and there was time to admire a Clustered Bellflower and an aberrant pale pink Pyramid Orchid as I made my way back to the car, feeling a palpable sense of triumph at having found the Frog Orchids.

Clustered Bellflower

Aberrant Pyramid Orchid

There is no better feeling. Little inconsequential things such as this are the stuff and variety of life that make it all worthwhile.

Postscript

I went back on Sunday the 7th of July and conducted a more thorough search and found no leas than fifty two Frog Orchids including two that were at least fifteen centimetres high.