What have the Orchid Observers been up to? | Orchid Observers

Kath Castillo, Project Officer for Orchid Observers, gives an update on what’s been happening with the project so far:

It’s been a busy time for Orchid Observers! The project got off to a great start when the website went live on the Zooniverse platform on 23 April; the very first of the season’s field records was uploaded on day one!

The Orchid Observers Team
The Orchid Observers team. From left to right: Jade Lauren Cawthray, Jim O’Donnell (Zooniverse web developer), Lucy Robinson, Mark Spencer, John Tweddle, Kath Castillo, Chris Raper and Fred Rumsey

At the time of writing this blog we now have 567 registered users on the website who have enthusiastically completed 11,044 classifications, by verifying and transcribing data for our historical specimens and identifying species and flowering stages for around 700 photographic records already submitted by participants.

The field records collected span the country, from Cornwall to Perth in Scotland, and from Pembrokeshire across to Norfolk. So far, for early-purple orchid (Orchis mascula) and green-winged orchid (Anacamptis morio) approximately 9% of the records are from new/unknown sites (as measured by 2 km square/tetrad); this is valuable information, particularly for green-winged orchid which is considered at risk of extinction in the UK.

A herbarium sheet of green-winged orchid (Anacamptis morio)
A herbarium sheet of green-winged orchid (Anacamptis morio); one of around 10,000 historical specimens available online for data verification or transcription

Whilst we have not been able to fully compare the Orchid Observers phenology data with our museum records (as yet, the relevant, verified, 2015 UK weather data has not been released) we have already been able to see that the median date of this year’s flowering of two species (early-purple and green-winged) is at least 10 days earlier than the museum data (which mainly covers 1830 to 1970).

These are early figures only, and the full data set will be analysed later this year. We are immensely grateful for the time and good will of all our participants – without this effort we would not have been able to collect this data. And we’ve still got the rest of the summer to collect more data for all our 29 species in the survey! The Orchid Observers team had a very busy in May, showcasing the project to the public at the Lyme Regis Fossil Festival, in Dorset and on Fascination of Plants Day and at Big Nature Day at the Museum.

Orchid Observers at Big Nature Day
Orchid Observers at Big Nature Day

Some of us in the team have also managed to get out to various sites to record and photograph orchids ourselves. Here’s a snapshot of our recent activities:

Visit to Stonebarrow Hill, Dorset, 1 May

After a busy day on the stand at the Lyme Regis Fossil Festival, Kath, Mike and Chris drove up to the National Trust’s reserve at Stonebarrow Hill to look for orchids and found two beautiful ancient hay meadows of flowering green-winged orchids (Anacamptis morio), including the occasional white variety in a sea of purples.

Kath photographing green-winged orchids (Anacamptis morio) at Stonebarrow Hill, near Lyme
Kath photographing green-winged orchids (Anacamptis morio) at Stonebarrow Hill, near Lyme
Green-winged orchids (Anacamptis morio) at Stonebarrow Hill
Green-winged orchid (Anacamptis morio) at Stonebarrow Hill
Green-winged orchid (Anacamptis morio) at Stonebarrow Hill
The white variety of the green-winged orchid (Anacamptis morio) at Stonebarrow Hill

BBC News report at Darland Banks, Kent, 19 May

Next up, Mark and Kath travelled down to Darland Banks, in Kent, to film a piece for BBC South East News, with reporter Charlie Rose. The south-facing chalk grassland slopes were abundant with the man orchid (Orchis anthropophora). You can see the film piece here.

Orchid Observers in the News: The man orchid (Orchis anthropophora) at Darland Banks
Orchid Observers in the News: The man orchid (Orchis anthropophora) at Darland Banks

Visit to Box Hill in Surrey, 29 May

At the end of May, and despite a weather warning to expect heavy rain later in the day, a group of us left Victoria station in the morning sun and headed down to Box Hill to search for and photograph orchids. Box Hill forms part of the North Downs and is a well-known site to spot many of our wild orchids – there are around 17 species here.

We were able to find and photograph 5 of our 29 target species: common spotted-orchid (Dactylorhiza fuchsii), common twayblade (Neottia ovata), bird’s-nest orchid (Neottia nidus-avis), white helleborine (Cephalanthera damasonium) and fly orchid (Ophrys insectifera), by the time the skies darkened. Some species, such as the bird’s-nest and fly, are hard to find at the best of times, and were particularly difficult to photograph in a thunderstorm!

Lucy, Jade and Mike collecting photographic records for common spotted-orchid (Dactylorhiza fuchsii)
Lucy, Jade and Mike collecting photographic records for common spotted-orchid (Dactylorhiza fuchsii)
The beautiful bird's-nest orchid, (Neottia nidus-avis) in woodland
The beautiful bird’s-nest orchid, (Neottia nidus-avis) in woodland
Drenched but happy: orchid observers Jade, Sally and Lucy at Box Hill
Drenched but happy: orchid observers Jade, Sally and Lucy at Box Hill

Filming in nature reserves, mid-May

We’ve also been busy filming a piece which has just launched on the Museum’s citizen science Orchid Observers webpage. Kath organised with the Museum’s Broadcast Unit to film a short piece to explain the research behind the project.

So, mid-May saw Kath, together with Emma Davis and Hannah Wise, setting off early one morning with two carloads of film equipment, a group of Museum volunteers and Mark Spencer. The team went to Oxfordshire, to a couple of the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust’s finest nature reserves. We are very grateful to BBOWT’s Giles Alder and Laura Parker for hosting us.

Find out about why the Orchid Observers research is so important by watching our film here.

Filming for Orchid Observers at Warburg Nature Reserve in Oxfordshire
Filming for Orchid Observers at Warburg Nature Reserve in Oxfordshire

Kath Castillo

Kath is a biologist and botanist working as the Orchid Observers project officer and, along with the Zooniverse web team, developed the Orchid Observers website. She now tries to get out into the field whenever she can to find and photograph wild orchids!

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