Naturalist Sue Parker’s fascination with orchids stems from her childhood in the Far East. The colourful wildflowers growing over her garden fence in Singapore were the kind of exotic orchids that many people in Europe now have in pots on windowsills. The search for wild orchids has taken Sue to many countries; but, as she says, there is a special satisfaction in finding and identifying beautiful orchids close to home – and for the past 25 years Sue has been studying the Algarve's wonderful wildflowers and, in particular, its wild orchids. Apart from having owned a house in the Algarve for nearly 20 years, Sue also has a home in Wales, which serves as her main writing base.
An active conservationist, Sue is the author of 12 books and several dozen articles on wildlife and countryside topics; she is well known in the Algarve for her column on Sustainable Living, published monthly over several years in the Algarve Resident newspaper. Sue’s introductory guide 'Wild Orchids in the Algarve' has been one of the Algarve’s bestsellers since it was published in 2009. This new book, covering many more species and providing a wealth of additional information on top orchid sites, walks and much more, is surely destined to become an essential handbook for Algarve residents and visitors alike. With her husband Pat O'Reilly, Sue produced and maintains this First Nature website, whose pages are visited more than two million times a year.
Sue Parker's published books include Wild Orchids of the Algarve, how, when and where to find them; Wild Orchids of Wales, how, when and where to find them; and Wild Orchids in The Burren. All are available as Kindle ebooks via amazon.co.uk and amazon.com