Fen Orchid Special
One of the UK’s rarest plants, and one that thrives on this South Wales nature reserve. Join us to explore the dune systems of Kenfig NNR in search of butterflies, migrant birds and the target species – the Fen Orchid.
Day begins at 10am at Kenfig NNR car park, meet by the visitor centre, day will continue to 5pm – or when the enjoyment ends!
Suitable for children, due to the sandy bunkers along the paths, it will be unsuitable for regular wheelchair users, scooters may be adaptable – contact us first!
Overview:
We begin our day by meeting at the Kenfig NNR visitor centre where we will introduce ourselves, guests to one another and also give you a bit of background about the site. We then begin our walk to the dunes for the Fen Orchids, passing through dense scrub habitat where we may find Common Whitethroats, Lesser Whitethroats, Chiffchaffs, Willow Warbers and Garden Warblers. During this part we will also look out for butterflies such as Peacock, Red Admiral, Wall and possibly Dark Green Fritillary.
Our main target of the day is the Fen Orchid, which has thrived in this area and have a high chance of seeing, we will also look for neerlandica variation of Broad-leaved Helleborine whilst on our visit. We will stop for some time with the orchids to give you their backstory but also plenty of time for photography and to admire the plants.
Once we have enjoyed our time with the orchids and helleborine, we’ll stop for refreshments including tea, coffee and water along with a light lunch. Then we’ll make a stop to Kenfig Pool in the hopes of seeing other wildlife such as Common Darter, Emperor Dragonflies, Broad-bodied Chaser, Red-veined Darter, Cetti’s Warbler, Kingfisher, among others. During our time at the site we will also keep an look out for other bird life that pass through the site and other orchids such as Pyramidal, Bee and Southern Marsh.
