A walk in the park

by Ian Bushell

I went to check the boggy area in Lambrok Meadow and for butterflies when I met up with Countryside Officer Ali and Clive this afternoon to decide on the tasks for next week’s work party. The boggy area has now dried out but there is a great variety of interesting flora.

Both of the posts we put the notices on have been removed; we couldn’t see them anywhere. The notices had been pulled off and left there. The in-filled bit of The Ditch Digger’s trench is still intact though. Ali and I think we should leave as is, especially as the grass will be cut very soon and in this weather the machinery will be able to go over this whole area. Let’s wait until we get more rain and then set it up again.

Figwort
Meadow brown
Small tortoiseshell

Perhaps the farmer or his contractor pulled out the posts to prepare for cutting the grass. Hope it’s not more vandalism.

There is Water Figwort on the Lambrok just up-river from the boggy area and Beautiful Damoiselles. We wandered along the Lambrok, through Village Green and Cornfield etc. where we saw plenty of Meadow Browns and Large Skippers. I also found a Small Tortoiseshell. We checked the seedling Foxgloves in the Fiveways ditch; they are now doing nicely and should be good for flowering next year.

Finally, I took a picture of a Cereal Leaf Beetle (Oulema rufocyanea) near the main entrance. Not much to say about it except that it is a bit of a pest for farmers.