Sunday Morning walk

by Ian Bushell

Not a bad Sunday morning, bright and dry, with no wind but a little chill. 

An interesting thing: we got to the car park at 7am and as I pulled up there was a youngish chap with a plastic bag collecting litter along the road verges just outside the park. He came and put the bag beside the litter bin and I thanked him; he said he did it quite often and was really getting fed up with all the litter. Perhaps people have learned to look after the environment during lockdown.

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[1] Greater Spotted Woodpecker [2] Green Woodpecker

On with the walk.  It was quite quiet, just a few birds singing, but lots of grey squirrels about.  I put in a quick check on the Disease Resistant Elms we planted on Wednesday’s work party and saw a pair of Greater Spotted Woodpeckers flashing away from one of the Oaks in that hedge. There was a Green Woodpecker shouting about something over in Kestrel Field. 

There is Wild Garlic coming up at both sides of Village Green, near the bridges, and I found a Forget-Me-Not in the copse beside the Blackthorn Tunnel that I think might be Wood Forget-Me-Not.  All the way up the Blackthorn Tunnel, in the ditch to the north, and in the copse there are great clumps of blossoming Primroses and the promise of Bluebells to come.

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[3] wild garlic [4] wood forget-me-not [5] primroses [6] caddis fly

I cut down to the boggy area in Lambrok Meadow and counted six new fritillaries there. The wheel ruts and troughs are still holding water and the runnel off to the stream is beginning to fill in and grass over. Hopefully this year the marshy patch will hold water long enough for the Caddis Fly larvae to develop into adults.

Header picture: grey squirrel © Simon Knight.