After lunch, I wanted to visit a site that I had read about near the small fishing village called Margaree. The directions were provided to me from my friend Stan Bentley through another friend, Neil Jacobs. It was just a few kilometers away from our hotel (the Hotel Port aux Basques — a great place to stay), so I packed up and headed on the TCH-west. The road signs in this part of Newfoundland caused me no end of trouble, since I was actually heading East. The TCH wraps around itself in southwestern Newfoundland so that it changes direction about 180 degrees, but it keeps the same direction designation. Sigh… Anyway, I head east on the TCH-west and arrive at the site in just a few minutes.
I had specific directions with landmarks to where I would hope to find Cypripedium acaule or Pink Lady’s-Slipper orchid. I found the landmark and began treading through the tuckamore (stunted spruce trees that are commonly found in Newfoundland). I looked for about 30 minutes but did not find the Pink Lady’s-Slipper orchids. However, what I did find was some of the deepest magenta colored Dragon’s Mouth orchids I had seen to date:
After photographing these beauties, I decided to cross the gravel road to see what I could find on the other side. There was a small bog with several large groups of Dragon’s Mouth orchids. One group, in particular, looked very photogenic:
By the way, those white flowers in the foreground belong to a plant called Labrador Tea. The dried leaves are used as a delicious substitute for the teas that come from China, India, and Japan. Much later on our trip, we were given complimentary cups of Labrador Tea, and it makes a very nice substitute. But I digress…
I looked around a bit more, then headed back to the hotel where I picked up Walter, and we headed west (via the TCH-east, you guessed it!). I had sent directions to Edna’s Road to our flickr friend, Chris Davidson, and when we arrived, I saw his car parked in the little grassy pulloff. We unloaded our gear and headed off in the direction of a tripod and backpack out in the bog — but no Chris… As we approached, he rose out of the grasses. His method of taking photographs of tiny, short flowers requires him to be prone on the ground. It seems to work, because his images are exceptional. For myself, it is easy to get down, but getting up is the problem, so I just sit or squat and try to focus using the live-view on the swivel-LCD in the back of my camera.
Chris prefers to get to a location early in the morning, so he had been there since about sunrise. Graciously, he pointed out many of the unusual color forms and groups of the Dragon’s Mouth orchid he had already located, and Walter and I set about recording their images:
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After about an hour of serious searching, I found one of the rare forms, Arethusa bulbosa forma subcaerulea, or the lavendar form of Dragon’s Mouth orchid:
After discussing the find with Chris, I may have photographed this particular flower or one like it the day before. In any case, I was very pleased to be able to mark it off my list.
I left Chris and Walter on the east side of Edna’s Road Bog, and wanderd off to see what I could find on the west side. The bog on the west side is rather different in that it is terraced and consists of four or five levels, all leading up from the old railroad track/greenway to the edge of the TCH. At one of the intermediate terraces, I finally found my first white/alba form of Dragon’s Mouth orchid called Arethusa bulbosa forma albiflora. It is a true alba form and has absolutely no hint of pink in the petals or lip:
I took many shots of this one, not knowing if I’d see another one along the way.
Nearby, I found a pair of the elusive Cypripedium acaule or Pink Lady’s-Slipper orchid in perfect bloom:
After rounding up Walter and discussing the next day’s locations with Chris, we headed back to the hotel to download our images and to prepare for the trip to the cliffs of Parc Boutte du Cap near Cape St. George…
— Jim
0 Responses
Such a rainbow of colors and then to find the white one must have been very exciting. All so beautifully photographed. The Cypripedium acaule is exquisite. Glad you found what you had gone to see.