Spider orchid

The spaniel and I left the bluebell woods behind us this morning and headed instead for the South Downs on our annual hunt for the rare Early Spider orchid. On the thin dry chalk soil of the Downs this orchid only grows to a few centimeters high and it is at the northern edge of its distribution. I understand that it is pollinated by the solitary mining bee but I've never actually seen this in action. Anyway, today's expedition was a success and many hundreds of orchids were to be found once you got your eye in.