Though I am sure not all of these are orchids…I know we do have some wild orchids in the deciduous forests around my home in Southern New England. I am completely at a loss for what some of these are, but they are quite beautiful. Can someone out there help with the names of these four flowers…
And I’m pretty sure this one is a Lady Slipper
Thanks all. It’s amazing what can be found in ones own back yard!
I would have guessed that your Flower 2 is some kind of trillium. Not sure, though.
First one looks like Columbine to me. (Nah…I just looked it up and I retract that guess)
Second one, maybe White Trillium?
Third one…hmmm…maybe some kind of violet? Not sure.
The last one, yes…I think that’s right.
Columbine
?
Violet
Wags only.
#3 is a New Hampshire Death Violet. Very pretty, but fatal to the touch. Hope your will is up to date.
Huh. Maybe I was right on #1.
More (inconclusive) evidence for your #2 being a trillium: it looks to me quite a lot like Trillium rugelii, but the T. rugelli species is said to be native to the southeastern US, so I’m not sure what it would be doing up in southern New England.
Thats it! I dunno what it’s doing in New England, but it was certainly in a deciduous forest. Right at the base of some sweet maples in a dried up vernal pool.
And I second the guess about #3 being a violet of some sort. Check it out against images of sweet violet or the wild dog violet (the latter would be my guess).
And I also agree that #4 is a lady’s slipper. Nice work spotting that one!
Aha—my bet is that what you saw is actually the similar-looking T. cernuum, which does grow this far north.
Still mulling over your #1; some kind of honeysuckle, perhaps???
Woo-hoo! #1 is a wild red columbine. God bless the Connecticut Botanical Society, who let you search their wildflower database by color. 
Your #3 looks like a a wood sorrel. Maybe this.
I am guessing (or rather hoping) that “wild orchid hunting” in this case means looking for and photographing, and not collecting*.
*obligatory reference to the inadvisability/illegality of harvesting orchids from the wild, which will probably then die in one’s garden due to transplant shock and lack of beneficial organisms in the soil.
Jack has a good point. If you want to cultivate rare native wildflowers in your own garden, don’t kidnap them from the wild. Find a vendor who sells them (maybe your local arboretum or botanical society propagates native plants for sale).
And Cheez, IMO no way is Flower 3 a wood sorrel. The characteristic “hanging head” just screams “violet”, AFAICT.
#3 is definitely NOT wood sorrel - wrong leaves and flowers entirely. My guess is a dog violet, based on the petal shape and color and the “hairs” on the two petals. Dog violets, unlike other violets, have this fuzz inside. Compare to this dog violet picture. The leaves are just your basic violet leaves.
So, tallying up the best-guess ID’s so far:
Flower 1 is Wild Red Columbine (Rock Bells), Aquilegia canadensis;
Flower 2 is Nodding Trillium, Trillium cernuum;
Flower 3 is Dog Violet, Viola conspersa;
Flower 4 is, as the OP suggested, Pink Lady’s-slipper (Pink Moccasin-flower), Cypripedium acaule.
Interestingly, the first of those is a member of the buttercup family, the second of the lily family, and the third of the violet family. Only the fourth is actually an orchid!
< crickets >
I should have been more specific…I work for an environmental non-profit organization i.e. dirt worshipping treehuggers. I will not even touch the flowers I photograph. Let alone rip their frail roots from the ground. Most if not all of the flowers I photograph are found in vernal pool areas, low lying deciduous forests where there are a lot of mosses and ancient creek beds. I live in an environ that would not support these flowers, the best part about them is where they are from. Not a lot of people around here see these. So the only lasting impression they will give, is with a frame around their photograph hanging in my study.
I love the reaction people have when I tell them I photographed these flowers in my back wood. They never believe me. It’s humorous 
Thanks all for the identifiers. I’ll post some more after tomorrows hike.
