The Manx Wildlife Trust is the island’s leading nature conservation charity.

We are a major force in promoting wildlife and wild places in the Isle of Man.

We keep a close eye on what’s happening in

wildlife populations to enable us to help protect and understand the impacts on species.

With such a rich biodiversity and range of both terrestrial and marine life, monitoring it all is quite a

task, so this is why we are asking you to help us by becoming our eyes and ears on the ground and around the sea to keep track of what is happening to our wildlife.

We would appreciate people sending in sightings of wildlife, and you can do this by emailing [email protected] or Facebook message us the date, location, your contact details (in case of any queries) and which species you have seen.

Photographs of your finds taken from as many different aspects as possible

is even better as it helps us to verify the species.

So far some of our challenges have been to look for butterflies, dragon and damselflies, bumblebees

and celandines.

This month is that exotic species the orchid.

They are some of the most beautiful and unique wild plants you’ll see on the island.

They are rare but well worth finding if you are up for a hunt!

Summer time tends to be the best time to see orchids in their full colours.

Dependent on the weather, you can find orchid flowers from May to September.

Grassland meadows and disused areas are great places to start your hunt for wild orchids.

Whet your appetite for these glorious flowers by

a visit to our reserve at Close Sartfield, located in the north-west corner of the Ballaugh Curragh.

On Sunday, June 9 there will be an organised orchid walk.

Please book via our website www.manxwt.org.uk

Up to six species of orchid can be seen on the reserve -namely common spotted, heath spotted, northern marsh, early marsh, twayblade and greater butterfly.

Use the walk to hone up your identification skills of the different species, then try exploring different areas of the island to discover more.

Many orchids resemble different objects, with twayblade looking like little people and the bee orchid, well looking like a bee!

Orchids are perennial plants which have tubers underground.

The flowers all have three sepals and three petals.

The bottom petal is called the lip and can look very different from species to species.

Orchid flowers attract pollinators to them by offering a

nectar reward and sometimes mimicking female insects in their shapes and colours and even releasing a scent like the female of a speciesâ?¦pretty cunning!

A reminder that all wild orchids in the Isle of Man are protected under the Wildlife Act 1990 (Schedule 7) and it is an offence to intentionally or recklessly pick, uproot or destroy any wild orchid or other Schedule 7 plant.

This helps us to protect our rich biodiversity on the island which we are so lucky to have.

So please keep an eye open for these really special and beautiful plants in your wanderings around the island and don’t forget to report where you find them.

by Dawn Dickens

Biodiversity education officer

Manx Wildlife Trust