21/7/2010: Barnehurst and Crayford miscellany

To the River Cray via Barnehurst Golf Course, Perry Street roundabout and Thames Rd., back later via the pub and Thames Road Wetland (TRW).

There was a Small Copper butterfly on the grass at the golf course as I headed up the hill by Taunton Close, and near the summit a Speckled Wood.

In the Perry Street/Wyatt Rd section of rough ground were 2 Fennel plants, Gatekeeper butterflies and a Latticed Heath Moth. In the Thames Rd/Gascoyne Drive part were Wild Carrot and 3 White Melilot.

Along Footpath 106 by the Cray were 2 or 3 female Banded Demoiselle and a male, plus several Blue-tailed Damselflies.

A Comma was seen. 3 Gatekeepers were feeding on Common Ragwort flowers. A Red Admiral flitted through the Riverkeepers' yard.

Later in the garden of the Bear and Ragged Staff in Crayford town centre a Holly Blue fluttered over an ivy-clad wall and a Comma landed nearby. A male Blackbird was eating fallen cherries.


On the way home along By-way 105 I passed this clump of Galingale (Cyperus longus), a distinctive and attractive native sedge, often planted, so it may not be 'indigenous' to the area. There was also some along Footpath 106. Another Red Admiral was seen along the By-way.

For some time now there have been large numbers of Grasshoppers along the Thames Rd side of the TRW. Now they are getting to adulthood and I had my Grasshopper ID book with me. A few were carefully caught, one at a time in a clear plastic bag, and identified as Lesser Marsh Grasshoppers (Chorthippus albomarginatus), adding another species to the roster here. It is said to be increasing its range and is no longer confined to damp habitats. As the light began to fail I also found Field Grasshopper (Chorthippus brunneus) on the site.

Around 12 Swifts were over the Mayplace Av./Thames Rd junction.

Closer to home a patch of the white-flowered Soapwort was in bloom in the corner of the Perry Street Farm field by the caged ball-playing area on Gascoyne Drive. There was a Meadow Cranesbill (Geranium pratense) just about in flower in the roadside grass verge, having been 'dwarfed' by the mowing regime. In the next field along, towards Wyatt Rd, the lack of grazing had contributed to a good show of White Campion in flower, and Wild Carrot too.

22/9/09: Celery, Sea-blite and Old Father Thames

This post covers observations on Crayford Marshes on a route from Ray Lamb Way, through a path in the industrial estate out the River Darent and up past the flood gate to its confluence with the Thames.

On this occasion I was helping two members of the London Natural History Society, one of whom is a much better botanist than I am, and who had come here specifically to check on the continuing occurrence of various species that are rare within the London boundary for a new publication on the same. My talent, such as it is, is that I have seen enough in the flesh - or books - to be able to pick out from the general mass of vegetation, the odd things that might be more unusual, even if I don't know what they are.

Plants along Ray Lamb Way included this large clump of Tansy, White Melilot, Narrow-leaved Ragwort (Senecio inaequidens), what my learned companion said was Guernsey (not Canadian) Fleabane and False Fox Sedge in a ditch.

Spirit of the marshes - mud and bird footprints


Marsh plants on the river side of the sea wall included this Sea Plantain (above), Sea Aster, Sea Couch, Sea Arrow Grass, Sea Milkwort and Atriplex patula.

One of the plants we were trying to (re-)locate was Annual Sea-blite (Suaeda maritima), which we found (foreground, right) in distinctly pebbly/grainy mud right next to the Darent flood gate.

Here's a closer view - yes, it really was that red-purple in colour. Also in this rather variable area were two Ribbed Melilot, Hoary Mustard and Greater Sea Spurrey. Although largely hidden under a mat of rank grass, I noticed three plants of what we identified as Wild Celery. I also spotted a solitary Small Copper butterfly.

My companions from the London Natural History Society by the footpath bank just north of the flood gate, where there was an array of colour variants of the Sickle Medick x Lucerne hybrid (see separate posting). In the foreground is Goat's-rue. A bit further along were two patches of pink, semi-double-flowered Soapwort.

The River Darent enters the Thames, with Essex beyond. There were half a dozen Lapwings on the mud here, along with Lesser Black-backed and Black-headed Gulls.

Also seen were a male Common Blue and a Red Admiral.

Several plants were found that we could not identify, so samples were taken to run past various specialists.

26/7/09: Riverside+Fraser Rd= 3 new Bexley records

There were several large, almost 'pure' flocks of Black-headed Gulls on the Thames mud between the end of Corinthian Manorway and Erith Town Centre. Three Cormorants were seen.

Proceeding eastwards, there was a patch of Tall Melilot (Melilotus altissimus) in the sloping river wall.

Two new records for me within Bexley were found round the 'bay' at the east corner of the Chandlers Drive complex.

Marsh Woundwort (Stachys palustris) was growing on the riverbank, and although I haven't seen it in Bexley Borough before, I suspect plants I saw by the Ravensbourne in Lewisham the other week were, in fact, this species, but I wasn't botanising at the time. The pinkish-purple flowers are reasonably large for a Labiate and are attractively patterned in white.

Marsh Woundwort by a former industrial site on the Thames in Erith

There were also some clumps of Sea Aster here.

In a crack between the pathway and the substantive 'sea wall' to the inland side was a run of Skullcap (Scutellaria galericulata), another Labiate, and a species I've never seen before. The flowers are bright blue with a white centre to the lower lip.

Skullcap in paving by the Thames in Erith

Some 21-25 Swifts were wheeling over the modern riverside houses here.

A Heron was sitting on the long wooden jetty at Erith.

The triangle of land between Bexley Rd and Fraser Rd, mentioned in a previous posting, was surveyed again. From the Bexley Rd side there was a very poor, stunted, Mahonia aquifolium, suckering Lilac, a couple of Viburnum tinus and lots of Robinia pseudoacacia 'saplings', plus some Laburnum.

This is the white-flowered form of Red Valerian, with the railings doing a passable imitation of Hemlock stems.

I then doubled back and went down Fraser Rd in order to get back up to Northumberland Heath via Birch Walk.

This 'detour' yielded a lot of Feverfew and a number of Soapwort (Saponaria officinalis) - a new species for me in Bexley - above the retaining wall. The latter used to be grown commercially to produce a soapy liquid for washing wool and may be an escape from cultivation generally, and also at this particular site.

Soapwort on Fraser Road

A single plant of Fool's Parsley (my second record of it in Bexley) was spotted in disturbed ground under an advertising hoarding where the road levels out.

The bank at the western end of the large warehouse-like retail outlets just before Birch Walk was carrying a large number of strongly-growing White Melilot (Melilotus albus), the largest stands I've ever seen, along with some Coltsfoot. Fading light meant I only got some rather poor, fuzzy, pictures. On the bank behind these buildings is an area of Gorse and Buddleia, which today also had a good show of Wild Carrot.