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  These little feathery lollipops are Long-tailed Tits, photographed at Upton Warren Worcestershire Wildlife Trust reserve. As well as taking cuteness to new levels they also build an exquisite domed nest of lichen-covered woven cobwebs. High in my list of favourite British birds 😍 #bird #birding #olympus

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  I was looking for birds but stumbled across this curious Muntjac and two skittish Roe Deer in the South Worcestershire farmland yesterday. #deer #worcestershire

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  Following on from @ancientsounds post, I too went out looking for orchids at the weekend, and found these Bee Orchid rosettes at a local site. Promise of summer colour yet to come during the dark winter days 😃 The last picture compares the orchid rosette with the similar Plantain, with which it often grows. #orchid

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  Redwing and Blackbird were the only birds I managed to get photos of from my local patch at Puxton Marshes, Kidderminster, today. #Birds #Worcestershire

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  Orchids of UK/Ireland 2: It's fair to say Dense-flowered Orchid, Neotinea maculata, isn't exactly a looker! Tiny, bland, a little ugly even 😎 However, it is quite rare, or at least very restricted in its occurrence here. Much more common in the Mediterranean, it is restricted to west and north west Ireland, both Northern and the Republic, where it likes short limestone grasslands. The flowering period is very short, as it self-pollinates as soon as the flowers open. #orchid #irel...

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  Red-tailed Bumblebee accidentally collecting pollen from a Southern Marsh Orchid (Dactylorhiza praetermissa) in South Wales, June 2019. The orchid is evolved to attract bees and when they visit for nectar, they only come away with pollen stuck to their faces, for the orchid carries none, deceiving the bee into visiting by looking like a species that does.

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  Green-winged Orchid, Anacamptis morio, is our first orchid to flower in decent numbers, with the first ones expected soon, during March, in the south and south west of England. It comes in a whole variety of colours from pure white to deep purple, and everything in between. Curiously, it seems to throw up "chimera" plants, where some parts are one colour and others another! Weird.

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  Coralroot Orchid, Corallorhiza trifida, doesn't need insects to replicate, as it usually self-pollinates. However, it lives in damp, boggy willow and pine forests where there are lots of aerial critters. This particular one got stuck onto the sticky stigma of a flower, where it was unable to remove itself so suffered a slow death 😩 #orchid

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  Moschatel, a spring-flowering tiny perennial which is an indicator of ancient woodland. These were part of a patch growing next to the canal towpath near Cookley, in North Worcestershire. The flowers are tiny (5mm across) and pale green, with one pointing each of four ways as well as skywards. This arrangement is what gives it the common name "Town Hall Clock"