Much of the territory covered - between Ashurst and Beaulieu Road railway stations - was heathland with Ling, Cross-leaved Heath and Bell Heather. I haven't decided whether the small, late-flowering Gorse (in the above picture) is Western Gorse (Ulex gallii) or Dwarf Gorse (Ulex minor). Both occur in the forest. The plants I looked at seemed to have features of both.
This is Bog Myrtle .......
and this a late Bog Asphodel .....
Other plants seen included Sneezewort, Devil's-bit Scabious, Bog Pimpernel, Bogbean and Marsh St. John's-wort (Hypericum elodes).
Early on in the visit we saw a couple of Stonechat with a Dartford Warbler flitting back and forth in the same area. Dartford is the next station east of where I live, just over the London border in Kent, and the Warbler - which I'd never seen in the flesh before - was the emblem of the erstwhile North Kent Wildlife Preservation Society, which I joined aged 10 in 1970. It was later changed - long before the Warbler started its recent dramatic range expansion - to a Heron to symbolise the North Kent marshes. Perhaps one day it will turn up on Dartford Heath. One was seen at Crossness in Belvedere fairly recently .......
Several Grayling butterflies (below) were seen, a first for me, quite pale on the wing and often gliding - in contrast to other 'Browns'. Once landed on a plant or on the ground they were remarkably amenable to being closely approached .
Another new insect for me was the Keeled Skimmer dragonfly, of which a singleton and a tandem pair were seen.
A big feature of the trip was Orthoptera. The list of species seen is as follows:
Large Marsh Grasshopper - see also http://www.flickr.com/photos/tristanba/4951449849/ which gives a better impression of how bright a yellowish green it can be.
An adult and nymph of the New Forest Shield Bug (Eysarcoris aeneus) were also found in this area - several pictures here http://www.flickr.com/photos/tristanba/4951858637/
Rounding off the trip, a mixed group of House Martins and Swallows were lined up along telephone wires by Beaulieu Road railway station.
Also this Treacle Mustard (my first identification / record of it) was near the junction of Ufford St and Boundary Row in Southwark (picture above)
The number of moths at the window of my home has been poor this year, but there was a Brimstone Moth tonight
15/8 - there was a 2" body length Common Toad on my compost heap at Grasmere allotments, and two Common Blue butterflies resting head downward in the grass stems by the pond there
16/8 - I was pleased to see that Catmint (Nepeta cataria) has hung on in an unpromising spot by the petrol station in Long Lane, Bexleyheath, with a strongly-flowering specimen (below) in evidence. I have raised a few plants from seed I collected here last year, but Thrip grazing has rather spoilt the appearance of the surface of the leaves of this and various other Labiates I'm growing.
An unusual denizen of a crack in the pavement was this Corn (Maize) plant (below) found outside a house in Chapel Road, Bexleyheath.
There was a Goats-beard in the grounds of St. Martin's church on Erith Rd, which looks like it will flower late after presumably having been mown down earlier in the season.
There was a Common Darter and a Speckled Wood along the south margin of Bursted Wood.
18/8 - several Common Frogs active in the back garden in this cooler weather. There was a Field Mouse in one of the compost bins.
20/8 - a party of Long-tailed Tits in the back garden Juniper.
I have checked some flowerheads of Prickly Lettuce - which is frequent in some places locally - for larvae of the Small Ranunculus Moth without success. Today I weeded a specimen out of a pot of Skullcap (it had grown up out of sight behind some horticultural fleece), and it was only after I'd pulled it up that I noticed a few small caterpillars around the buds, which appear to be of this species .....
The Butterfly Conservation website says this:
'Formerly a relatively common species in the south-east, it had become extinct by the early part of the 20th century. In the last few years, however, it has become re-established in a small area of Kent and Essex, around the Thames, where it is now frequently recorded, especially around allotments.The larvae feed on the flowers and seeds of various wild and cultivated lettuce (Lactuca spp.).'
In the evening I was doing some long-overdue work on my rather small and overgrown pond. 3 Robins got very friendly, two rather blotchy ones especially so, coming within a foot of my face as I leant down at one point. The third, with a proper red breast, was less bold. The blotchy birds I'd seen several times before, though I thought there was only one. In any case they seem far too trusing given the local feline presence, and one is already carrying an injury to its head.
The first thing that was unusual for me was the very large extent of Common Fleabane, especially in the area not far from the railway line.
A plant new to me was Red Bartsia.
Orthoptera found were:
I found a Cryptocephalus beetle on a Thistle flower head, which is being looked at by an expert. He says that if it's C.aureolus, there is just a single record in 1944. If it's one of the other species, it will be a new addition to the site list.
Sarah Barnes, Tristan Bantock and Mick Massie sweep Willow succesion in wet mud around the 'Isle of Wight' pond
This pond contained a large amount of Bogbean, and in the mud had the troublesome alien invader Crassula helmsii (pictured above)
Woundwort Shieldbug and a nymph of the Shieldbug Troilus luridus were shown to me by other participants. A Great Crested Newt was found under arock, and various dead wood specialist insects under the bark of felled Oak.
Wisley heathland - near to the Royal Horticultural society gardens
The target at Wisley was Wood Cricket (Nemobius sylvestris) - only found in a handful of places in the country. In a stroke of 'beginner's luck' I found the species almost as soon as we'd come out of the car park, through some trees and onto the open heath. Picture by field trip leader Sarah Barnes here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/11518091@N00/4891655570/
Besides the Heather, Erica tetralix was also in bloom.
Guelder Rose in fruit on the Thames Rd bank
A Brassica Bug (Eurydema oleracea), a new record for the site, was found on this shrub.
There was a Grey Heron in the river Wansunt. On the eastern side of the Wansunt a Roesel's Bush Cricket was heard, then seen, Creeping Thistle was found which - for the first time I've noticed - carried the stem gall caused by the fly Urophora cardui and there were a couple of Perennial Sow Thistles on a bank in the eastern pools. All three species constitute new records for the site.
This Goosefoot with strongly toothed leaves was in the 'Pallet Yard' south of the Sewer Pipe Embankment, and has yet to be identified
Also in the Pallet Yard was this (new record) patch of Common Fleabane
There was a party of Long-tailed Tits flitting about.
There were some good Blackberries up on the embankment, and the lone Fennel plant was now in flower, the Dittander was going over and 4 juvenile Goldfinches were seen.
This very worn Comma landed on the trackway at the east end of the TRW on my way back
There's a lot of Vervain on this stony part of the site.
This Buddleia by the Cray is distinctive on account of the amount of branching **within** the flower spikes
| ||||
