www.northwalesbirding.co.uk

As we all know the Great Orme can be an excellent place for birding but it is also home to a profusion of rarely encountered species of wildflowers. Some species seen on my walk yesterday from the gunsites around to the pier via Haulfre Gardens included:

Agrimony
Alpine Penny-cress
Aubretia
Beaked Hawk's-beard
Bristly Ox-tongue
Buck's-horn Plantain
Columbine
Common Milkwort
Common Rock-rose
Dropwort
Goat's-beard
Green Alkanet
Hoary Rock-rose
Ivy Broomrape
Love-in-a-mist
Marjoram
Opium Poppy
Pyramidal Orchid
Rock Samphire
Sanicle
Scarlet Pimpernel
Sea Holly
Sea Mayweed
Sea Stork's-bill
Seaside Centaury
Slender Thistle
Small Scabious
Small-leaved Cotoneaster
Snapdragon
Stinking Iris
Stinking Tutsan
Vervain
Welsh Poppy
White Horehound
Wild Cabbage
Wild Madder

Of note also was the dazzling picture of flowers beyond the gunsites at the moment made up largely of Wild Thyme and Bird's-foot Trefoil which is attracting a cloud of butterflies in the warm weather. Photos attached.

Wild Thyme and Bird's-foot Trefoil


Vervain


Great Mullein


Pyramidal Orchid


Slender Thistle


White Horehound


Thanks.
Henry.

Very nice Henry and a good haul.

Tom

I had a mooch around the lush surroundings of Happy Valley on the orme this afternoon and in addition to previous sightings from this site there was:

Barberry
Bush Vetch
Eyebright
Kidney Vetch
knotgrass
Lady's Mantle
Lesser Burdock
Perforate St John's-wort
Ploughman's-spikenard
Meadow Vetchling
Mind-your-own-business
Viper's-bugloss
White Stonecrop
Wild Marjoram
Winter Heliotrope
Wood Dock
Wood Speedwell

Barberry - probably introduced but seems well naturalised on the limestone cliffs and grassland.


Ploughman's-spikenard - good to see this limestone loving species clinging to the edge of a cliff face, hopefully just out of reach of the hordes of sheep, goats and rabbits!

Finally came across a few remnants of what I have to presume was Dark Red Helleborine in crevices in the limestone cliffs today. They'd been chewed so no flowers were seen and the plants were stunted from the poor growing conditions. Also seen in additions to previous visits between the limestone pavements and Haulfre Gardens were:

Annual Wall-rocket
Basil-thyme
Burnet-saxifrage
Common Dog-violet
Dewberry
Hebe
Grey Field-speedwell
Mexican Daisy
Purple-flushed Hawkweed
Red Campion
Spiked Speedwell
Small Scabious
Strawberry Tree
Welsh Hawkweed

A few additional late-season flowers seen on the Orme this morning between the Cemetery, Limestone Pavements and clambering down to the gunsites:

Autumn Gentian
Autumn Hawkbit
Black Nightshade
Common Calamint
Devil's-bit Scabious
Equal-leaved Knotgrass
Great Mullein
Red Bartsia
Silver Ragwort (naturalised)
Snowberry (naturalised)
Sticky Groundsel
Wild Clary (still in flower, on the West cliffs)