a female and male of the same species

Epallage fatime / Odalisque Damselfly

Found dancing around a freshwater spring

📍 Rhodes, Greece

A small selection of the many Ophrys bee orchid hybrids & varieties we saw during last week's #OrchidsOfRhodes tour. If you'd like to join us for the best #orchid tour to Rhodes next year, with the best chances of seeing such treasures, bookings are open:
mariposanature.com/tours/botanica…

Today marks the end of my amazing #OrchidsOfRhodes adventure 💔

I saw 50+ orchid species this week! & many other wonders thanks to the excellent guides Jon Dunn 🇺🇦 & Dr Richard Bate

(check out Mariposa Nature Tours for other wildlife adventures they offer🦋)

📍Rhodes, Greece

I found a Worm Snake! Xerotyphlops vermicularis

Easily mistaken for an earthworm, this blind snake feeds on small invertebrates and can be found living under rocks in Europe

📍 Rhodes, Greece
#herpetology Mariposa Nature Tours

Sitting among a sea of brilliant purple orchids - Anacamptis laxiflora

📍 Rhodes, Greece
Mariposa Nature Tours

The amazing flowers of a giant parasitic orchid: The Violet Limodore

📍 Rhodes, Greece

I’m mostly here looking at the ground in search of orchids and insects, but I do occasionally look up to admire the views!

📍 Rhodes, Greece
portrait by Paul Upward Photography

Look what I just saw! The incredible giant Dragon Arum Lily / Dracunculus vulgaris 🪰

📍 Rhodes, Greece

This beautiful plant is one of the first orchid species I saw when I arrived on the island: this is Ophrys ferrum-equinum

📍 Rhodes, Greece

A glimpse into my camera roll on day 4 of my orchid adventure across Rhodes

I haven’t managed to identify all of these Ophrys species yet, but I know there are some really cool hybrids among them!

📍 Rhodes, Greece
Mariposa Nature Tours

The photographs & the photographer 📸

Here’s another orchid species I photographed and saw for the first time today: Anacamptis laxiflora / The Loose-flowered Orchid

(thanks Roger Harding for getting that snap of me at work!)

📍 Rhodes, Greece
Mariposa Nature Tours

A couple of phone snaps with some of the many beautiful Orchis provincialis flowers we’ve seen today

📍 Rhodes, Greece
Mariposa Nature Tours

Another Juliet Turner special for us - an arresting hyperchromic example of Ophrys cretica ssp beloniae. We've been exploring a wonderland for Ophrys orchids today, bursting with species, variations, and that's before we touch upon the hybrids! Safe to say it's a LOT of fun.

Outstanding Ophrys rhodia variations found by guests Juliet Turner and Steph today - a chlorotic plant, and an aberration where normal lip markings have been subsumed by a pale panel. Brilliant work from Team Mariposa! We're all finding things for one another already this week.

Today is day 2 on my botanical adventure and I managed to photograph a fly visiting the flowers of this little orchid (which I am told is Ophrys umbilicata spp rhodia)

📍 Rhodes, Greece

2/4/24 Rhodes - A wonderful chlorotic example of Ophrys umbilicata ssp rhodia (Ophrys rhodia) found by one of Mariposa Nature Tours’s guests on our second day, Juliet Turner #OrchidsOfRhodes

Thank you everyone for your suggestions and help. Sadly she didn’t survive, but at least fell asleep in a sheltered box in my garden instead of being bothered by dogs.

Unexpected twist to my day: I found an injured dove in my lunch break. I stayed with her a while to see if she recovered. She didn’t move, and dogs were approaching, so I picked her up and carried her home.

I’ve contacted a wildlife rescue, but not sure what they’ll do?