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Selborne and Thursley Common

Britain's Wildlife

A few days ago, I headed down to Selborne in Hampshire for a meeting of the British Naturalists’ Association. Why Selborne? Well, of course it is the home of the father of British nature writing and phenological studies, Gilbert White, the former curate of the parish, and the BNA membership includes two of the foremost experts on Gilbert White, June Chatfield and Stephanie Holt.

The house now hosts a museum to Gilbert and also the Antarctic explorer Lawrence Oates, a descendent of whom funded the creation of the museum. Both parts are full of interest, memorabilia and books, books and more books, including the manuscript of The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne, one of the most published of books in English, continuously in print since 1789.

We started with the two moth traps, run the previous night, and the diverse contents got the day off to a flying start. Among the many highlights, in addition to perennial favourites such as Poplar Hawk, Rosy Footman and Ruby Tiger, were Peach Blossom, Yellow-barred Brindle, Four-spotted Footman, Black Arches, August Thorn, Straw Underwing, Maiden’s Blush and Spectacle….

… together with several sexton beetles, including this Nicrophorus interruptus, hosting a fine display of travelling mites.

Then it was out to the meadows and hedgerows, overlooked by the famous Selborne Hanger, a beechwood on the scarp slope above.

Hogweed was feeding hoverflies, in turn feeding White Crab Spiders …

… while Hedge Woundwort was past flowering, its seeds like clutches of tiny eggs …

… and  one of the most abundant hedgerow nectar sources was Small Teasel, its flowers very attractive to Honeybees.

 

Into the garden, Globe-thistles were equally attractive to both Honeybees and bumblebees, the latter also visiting the many Hollyhocks.

Other plants included Wild Basil, Caper Spurge (a surprising inclusion in an otherwise largely edible garden) and Motherwort, a dead-nettle relative with improbably furry flowers.

And finally, to the churchyard to pay our respects to Gilbert White’s modest final resting place, beside a dripping downpipe clump of Marchantia polymorpha liverwort. I am sure he would have approved! And then all that was left was to visit the Jubilee Tap to sample some of the beers produced across the road, some to Gilbert’s own recipes.

So far from home, I had decided to stay the night in the area, and that gave me the chance the following day to explore one of England’s finest nature reserves, Thursley Common, a place I haven’t been to for more than 30 years.

Thursley comprises a vast complex of lowland heath, both dry and wet, and merging into peaty boglands. Fortunately it has well-marked routes, including boardwalks, allowing the sensitive habitats to be viewed without damaging them.

 

The wetter bits with Sphagnum mosses also have a range of ‘grassy’ bog plants which are quite special when one comes from bog-less Essex, including White Beak-sedge, Common Cotton-grass, Deergrass and Black Bog-rush.

 

Much more showy, there was Common Sundew, Bog Asphodel, Marsh St. John’s-wort and Bogbean …

 

… with a fringe of Cross-leaved Heath.

Moving towards higher ground, Bell Heather and Dwarf Gorse took over, gradually giving way to Common Heather and Bracken on the highest ground.

Remarkably almost the whole reserve was affected by a severe wildfire only four summers ago, and now one really has to look hard for fire-charred stumps and ground.

But while the plants and communities may be recovering, the special reptiles are lagging behind. Where once it was reasonably easy to see Adders, Smooth Snakes and Sand Lizards, the only reptiles I saw were Common Lizards, mostly basking on the boardwalks.

Those same structures were also the easiest places to see dragonflies, one of the most important groups of insects on the reserve, here with Black-tailed and Keeled Skimmer, Common and Black Darter and Four-spotted Chaser, alongside many other insects including flesh-flies and sand-wasps.

It was a very hot, sunny, windless day and birds were not much in evidence, apart from Stonechat families and a few Tree Pipits and Dartford Warblers…

… and it was left to natural esoterica to provide the final highlights: an ex-Vapourer Moth caterpillar eviscerated by an ichneumon parasite, and a fly-gall Anisostephus betulinus on Birch that, assuming the NBN Atlas is up to date, is not recorded from anywhere closer than mid-Suffolk, Bodmin and Cardiff!

Two days in Norwich

Britain's Wildlife, Travel by Rail

Our August short break was very special, one on which 6 year-old Eleanor was able to come with us. An easy train journey followed by a bus brought us to the University of East Anglia by lunchtime. In the nearly 40 years since I left after my PhD, I have been back only a mere handful of times.

But it never fails to stir me. Memories of hard work, but lots of fun. And it has left me with an enduring love of Brutalist architecture…

Whilst some public sculpture was always there, there is so much more now:

And the campus, in which I honed so many of my identification skills (and probably spent too much time when I should have been in the lab), is still wonderfully wild, at least in front of the famous ziggurats and the teaching wall (behind the wall, things are very different!).

Woolly Mullein, a Norfolk speciality, is still there, and a short walk brought us tinkling parties of Goldfinches, and a selection of insects including the micromoth Agriphila tristella, a red flea-beetle Sphaeroderma and (new to us) a willow-feeding mirid bug Agnocoris reclairei.

Plenty of the mullein also around the city, including on the old flint city walls …

Almost under the shadow of the hulking Catholic Cathedral, the Plantation Garden (essentially a Victorian Gothic folly within an abandoned chalk pit) was as delightful as ever:

You might have to peer hard to see the Large House Spider in the final picture!

And on the other side of town, the magnificently graceful Anglican cathedral provided shade from the heat along with architectural and artistic drama:

Eleanor, not to be outdone, also seemed inspired by the Anglican Cathedral and the Plantation Garden. Here are some of her photographic efforts, given free rein to see the world as only a 6 year-old can!

Two days topped off with a drink and loaded chips outside the lovely Adam & Eve pub, and not even return rail disruption due to a lineside fire could take away the pleasure!

An evening walk on Layer Breton Heath

Britain's Wildlife, WildEssex

I last blogged about Layer Breton Heath three years ago, describing the chequered history of this locally important grass-heath. A few days ago I had the chance to return, to lead an evening walk on a very hot, summery day.

Since my previous visit the site has continued to diversify with good management of the open areas especially.  In several areas now, bare sandy ground created by trampling have been colonized by ground-nesting solitary wasps, including Sand Wasp and (below) the Bee-wolf, a predator of various bee species. we were able to watch the comings and goings of the occupants of the nests.

Insects were generally abundant, a nice surprise given the paucity of insect life in Essex so far this summer. Dragonflies and damselflies were everywhere, despite the absence of water bodies on the heath itself, no doubt feasting smaller fry to build resources before returning to breeding ponds, and three species of grasshopper provided a constant chorus from the grass.

A Yellow-and-black Longhorn beetle flew around clumsily before landing on some Bramble flowers, while Hogweed Bonking-beetles were up to their usual antics, albeit not on Hogweed…

Meadow Browns were in the longer grass and Gatekeepers very numerous along the scrubby edges, often nectaring on Ragwort flowers. Indeed it was Ragwort that was doing the heavy lifting of feeding insects generally; it is so worrying to hear the overblown media outrage at the presence of this inordinately valuable nectar source in our late summer landscape. Among many other visitors were tachinid flies and a very worn White-letter Hairstreak.

And of course, Cinnabar caterpillars, although on only a few plants, which seems to be the pattern this year, presumably reflecting poor weather during the adults’ flight period.

Black Knapweed was also blooming well and attracting a steady stream of visitors, including this Common Leaf-cutter bee, its abdomen typically tilted upwards to show the pollen gathered beneath.

Otherwise, among the butterflies there were Commas, Large and Small Whites, Peacocks and Small Skippers.

One botanical newcomer for me was Bell Heather, which may have arisen through ground disturbance releasing a seed-bank, although perhaps more likely from seed collected at the nearby Tiptree Heath and spread along the route of the new water pipeline.

In some of the bare patches on the open heath, Rosebay Willowherb was blooming well, and along the woodland edges, good stands of Wood Sage, to my eyes one of the most subtly beautiful flowers of our lowland heaths.

All was wrapped up very satisfactorily with a buffet supper at the Hare and Hounds, followed by a spot of batting as it got dark, with both Common and Soprano Pipstrelles and a Daubenton’s Bat picked up with the bat detector.

Wanderings in Wivenhoe’s Lower Lodge

Britain's Wildlife, Bug & Botany Walks, WildEssex, WildWivenhoe

Midsummer in Wivenhoe and our attentions turn to Lower Lodge, part of the Colne Local Nature Reserve, a riverside area of grassland and scrub, the wilder bits of which are managed on a three-year mowing rotation by Colchester City Council. Rich in flowers, it is one of our areas of greatest insect diversity, so in the month from late June we made four visits there, a recce and with WildEssex and BNA groups.

Actually this year, at least at first, flowering (and hence insect abundance) was poor, a consequence of a cool spring and of the vigorous growth of tall grass, no doubt reflecting the unprecedentedly wet past six months.

But towards the end of July, flowers were coming through, and butterflies were coming out, albeit not (yet?) in the number of variety we have come to expect.

Meadow Browns as always were followed sequentially by Gatekeepers and then Ringlets, with a few Small Heaths around the mown paths …

… Large (mostly early in the period), Essex and Small Skippers (later on) …

… while summer-brood Commas and Green-veined Whites came out on cue.

As far as day-flying moths are concerned, the few Burnet Companions were not at all companionable, coming a couple of weeks before the first Six-spot Burnets: the latter emerged in force on our last visit on 21 July, when we also found a Silver Y at rest.

Despite the abundance of Ragwort, Cinnabar caterpillars were distinctly patchy, perhaps reflecting poor weather during the adults’ earlier flight period. And another ‘caterpillar’ was of a sawfly, many of which have distinctive larvae, but they are generally beyond our identification skills given the lack of readily available identification guides.

Lepidoptera and other insects are at their best in warm, sunny weather and when nectar- and pollen-rich flowers are open. Therein lies the value of this site, from the earlier-season Common Cat’s-ear and Red Clover, to Wild Carrot (with insect-mimic central flowers) giving way to Hogweed and its vast plates of insect food, available to all, and then Common Knapweed and Field Scabious.

Other lovely flowers included Hedge Bedstraw, Smooth Tare and Grass Vetchling, although by the last walk the latter had retreated into anonymity as its flowers had finished.

And also of course the grasses, here Cock’s-foot  and False Oat-grass in full hayfever-inducing glory!

As for other invertebrates, a few to be mentioned by name are Hogweed Bonking-beetles (out in force and living up to their name), Thick-thighed Beetle and Black-and-Yellow Longhorn …

… ‘Common’ Earwig, one of those memories of childhood that few of us see nowadays …

… a nymph Tortoise Bug, not a common species in the county and according to the Essex Field Club map almost unknown east of Colchester, while very similar comments apply to the beautiful planthopper Allygus mixtus, although we have seen that previously around Wivenhoe, in the Old Cemetery.

And then just a selection of others, just photos, no words, although all have been identified and a full list will be given to the site managers.

 

It was also good to see plenty of oak galls – marbles, artichokes, ram’s-horns, cherries and knoppers – with only the spangles seemingly at a low ebb, being small and few and far-between.

And finally, always good to see, dispersing Toadlets, presumably having taken advantage of the spring-line pools created by this year’s weather. We may have complained but every version of our crazy weather benefits something!

The Wild Side of Beth Chatto Gardens: focus shifts to the ponds

Beth Chatto Gardens, Britain's Wildlife, WildEssex, WildWivenhoe

It was a lovely hot and sunny day for my July Wandering Naturalist event around the Beth Chatto Gardens. Perhaps to be expected, the sudden intense heat meant that although there were lots of visitors, they were mostly interested in sitting in the shade looking at the garden, rather than being shown insects and other wildlife. And who can blame them?!

Nevertheless, enough people were happy to be dragged around by me to make it worthwhile. In common with the whole of this summer so far, there were fewer insects than expected for the season; notably the two Buddleia, davidii and crispa, next to Beth’s house were pretty much devoid of butterflies and bees, in complete contrast to the equivalent time last year.

But true to form, I saw more insects around the garden than I have anywhere else in north Essex over the past month, testament to the pulling power of a well-planted, large ecological garden.

There were the first tentative signs that at long last insect populations are starting to take off. Ten butterfly species. Including freshly emerged, second brood Painted Lady, Brimstone, Comma and Holly Blue, plus Large Skipper and Speckled Wood is something of a return to form in species richness, if not abundance.

Sea-hollies Eryngium in all their wonderful variety are without exception great plants for pollinators such as bees, hoverflies and beetles. Now starting to attract as the flowers open, these are destined to be a major part of the garden menu for the next month, alongside the larger daisies which too are just starting to reveal their wares…

But it was the dragonflies that were the stars of the show this week. Still plenty of damselflies, including Blue-tailed and Common Blue…

… several Brown Hawkers were sweeping over the ponds on tawny-suffused wings…

.. and the Common Darters that have been around for three weeks or so were supplemented, and outnumbered, by a wave of Ruddy Darters, fresh out and flycatching furiously.

  

To walk around the ponds, watching the activity, the Flowering-rush and Pickerelweed in full bloom, was simply sublime.

Elsewhere in the garden, other insects included Common Scorpionfly, Harlequin Ladybird and several hawking Hornets. But surprisingly, given their abundance nearby over the previous two days, there were no flying ants,  although the Swallows twittering overhead suggested they may have been up there. Buzzards were also noisy overhead, as a Chiffchaff continued in song, a couple of Song Thrushes fed safely away from the slug-killing fields of modern agriculture, and I watched a Grey Heron fishing (successfully) in the Reservoir.

The full riches of summer may yet be to come. And there are certainly a richness of flowers to cater for their needs if they do. My next walk might hopefully see them providing for more insects.

If anyone wants to join me on a nature walk around the gardens, I will be doing just that (weather permitting!) on August 2, August 16 and September 20. Once you have paid to come in, the walk is free! Walks commence at 11AM and 12 noon each day, meeting at the Visitor Information Centre. For garden entrance tickets and more information, visit our website Beth Chatto’s Plants and Gardens, and do come expecting to want to buy some of the wildlife-attracting plants I will show you, as well as delicious tea and cakes!

Blogs of the previous Meet the Wandering Naturalist event this summer can be found here:

April: The Wild Side of Beth Chatto Gardens: among the April showers… | Chris Gibson Wildlife

May: The Wild Side of Beth Chatto Gardens: the height of Spring | Chris Gibson Wildlife

June: The Wild Side of Beth Chatto Gardens: is summer finally here? | Chris Gibson Wildlife

Marvellous moths morning at Beth Chatto Gardens – late July

Beth Chatto Gardens, Britain's Wildlife, WildEssex, WildWivenhoe

Our first moth event of the year a month ago was an eye-opener in this summer of few insects – a surprisingly large haul of moths caught (and released). For our second course yesterday, our hopes were even higher, being deeper into the mothy time of year, following several very hot days and the night itself forecast to be one of the warmest of the year, with increasing cloud cover, and temperatures not expected to fall below 20°C: pretty much perfect conditions.

And so it proved, a bumper haul of 60 macromoth species (plus another 10 or so micros), totalling perhaps 400 individual moths. Our small group of customers, and the handful of interested passers-by as we released the catch were treated to a wide variety of the night life of the garden.

For smaller hands at least the big game proves the most interesting, and today’s stars included three types of Hawk-moth (Poplar and Small Elephant, together with an old and faded Elephant, conceivably one of the fresh emergees we caught last month), a couple of furry Oak Eggars and the large, emerald Large Emerald.

Moving down a little in size, but keeping the intense colours going, there were lots of Rosy Footmen, a few Canary-shouldered Thorns and a single Green Silver-lines.

Black Arches are always a delight, all charcoal scrawls and remarkable antennae, the latter feature also shared by the Vapourer Moth:

Three species of Prominent graced the trap and the willing hands and clothes of the onlookers: Iron, Pebble and Swallow Prominents.

The list goes on, and even the brown and less showy species have plenty to say about the value of camouflage: Blood-vein, Latticed Heath, Scalloped Oak, Oak Hook-tip, Poplar Grey and Nut-tree Tussock.

While most of our captures were of widespread and common species, there were some less frequent ones. The Festoon is no doubt living in the ancient oaks that run alongside the trap site, but it is both nationally scarce and included in the Essex county Red Data List.

A final selection of macromoths includes three of my favourites. Buff Arches might sound plain but in reality it is like no other, almost shell-like in texture; and then you have those moths that are nothing more than animated birch twig (Buff Tip) and bird poo (Chinese Character)!

And that is just the macromoths: there was a variety of micros, although as so often, insufficient time to look at them closely – here are Elder Pearl and Eudemis profundana.

And moths are not the only things that come to moth traps. Our haul included the small Birch Shield-bug (not a common species in this part of Essex and I think the first record for the garden) and the attractive green planthopper Iassus lanio.

Another attraction for our customers on these events is that they get access before anyone else is there. First thing, the gardens are truly sublime: the only sounds are birdsong and the rustle of a dragonfly’s wings, the only feeling pure joy…

And our potter around gave us chance to look at insects going about their daily business. Common Darter dragonflies and Willow Emerald damselflies were among the pondside foliage, early butterflies included Gatekeeper, and this lovely hoverfly Chrysotoxum festivum showed itself to advantage before it had warmed up enough for its daily rounds of the flower beds.

If you are interested in such events, please keep an eye on the Beth Chatto website for similar events next spring and summer. These are run by and in support of the Beth Chatto Education Trust, established by Beth to carry forward her passion for plants and the ecological approach to all.

#WildEssexWalks: Mistley Furze Hill and Old Knobbley

Britain's Wildlife, Bug & Botany Walks, Travel by Rail, WildEssex

Wow!  A warm summer’s day – what a lovely change – and enjoyed by our group on our Wild Essex walk in Mistley.  Our journey took us through the Edme Malt works, where we admired some of the intricate decoration of these functional buildings, under the railway line and on through a cow field where the residents were curious but friendly.

A walk along a rather attractive footpath reminiscent of a holloway where the tree canopies meet was a cool place to wander out of the sun’s glare and admire some of the wild flowers, Cuckoo Pint, Herb Robert and Hogweed to name but three.

Of course Chris took the opportunity to talk about the characteristics used in his new flower identification guide such as the ‘false insect’ and branched bracts of Wild Carrot, the four-lobed stigma of Great Willowherb and the uniquely two-petalled Enchanter’s-nightshade.

A few galls were spotted including two very different ones on Dog Rose: smooth pea-gall and spiked pea-gall. A complex, confusing and confused pair, the spiked version  belongs to the gall-wasp Diplolepis nervosa though the smooth one could be caused either by D. nervosa or the closely related D. eglanteriae. In this form, the two species are indistinguishable.

At the top of the lane we continued on to the edges of the local amenity field, past the ‘Secret Bunker’ and rather interesting Passive houses. Here there were more stands of wild flowers (including Ragwort, but without stripy Cinnabar caterpillars) and a number of butterflies seen.  Sadly numbers of these insects seems to be quite low this year, at least so far, though by the end of the afternoon we had spotted seven species – Red Admiral, Holly Blue, Comma, Large White, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown and Large Skipper.

Just a few other insects attracted our attention including a 10-spot Ladybird, a flesh-fly and and a nymph Speckled Bush-cricket.

And on to the main event – through the wood that clothes the flanks of Furze Hill we admired a number of old oak trees, many of which showing signs of pollarding down the ages resulting in interesting branch formations.

At last we reached Old Knobbley Himself.  Well-named,  this 800 (at least) year-old tree is covered in nobbles and lumps – some caused by bacterial infections and galls – but despite its vast age, this charmer still looks pretty fab and very much alive with upper branches sprouting leaves with gay abandon.  It is such a tactile beast we all spent time stroking  and patting the trunk, and spent time imagining what some of the limbs might represent – two elephants, a moose, a stag?

And as we walked round his girth, is it possible the enveloping folds of root and bark were nursing the oaklet that will eventually replace its esteemed forebear?

And so it was time to turn back to ensure we reached our trains punctually.  A little walk along School Lane brought us back to the station and it was time to say our farewells.  Thank you to all who came along, and to everyone who supports our Wild Essex venture.  Hope to see you all again soon.

The Wild Side of Essex: Summer by the Stour Estuary

Britain's Wildlife, WildEssex

A select group of Naturetrekkers gathered at Wrabness for our now-traditional high summer amble around the southern shore of the Stour. The forecast was poor (no surprise, this IS 2024!) but the rain largely held off, and at times it was sunny, warm and humid, although with a brisk breeze away from the shelter of trees.

A look at the immediate weather prospects made me change my plans for the day around, so we started off at Stour Wood RSPB reserve. Long after the ‘best’ time for the woods (with spring flowers and birdsong), our primary target was summer woodland butterflies. It all started well along the first ride with half a dozen Silver-washed Fritillaries (although flitting and flirting high in the canopy) and a fleeting fly-past White Admiral. So no photos …

But after that, none. And indeed apart from a few Meadow Browns, a very few Gatekeepers and Ringlets, and single Red Admiral and Comma, that was just about it for butterflies. This summer’s abysmal dearth of butterflies continues.

In fact insects generally were sparse. Highlights included the Scare Forest Tubic micromoth and tiger-striped caterpillars of Cinnabar…

… a Forest Bug, with a plant bug Lygus pratensis on a Ragwort head.

The main tree in the wood, Sweet Chestnut, was really showing off, with cascades of catkins, each producing their characteristic mushroomy odour, and attracting at least a few passing flies.

Honeysuckle, the food plant for White Admiral, was festooning the edges of the coppices, and in full bloom:

Other trees and shrubs were indicators of the ancient origins of the woodland, probably continuously wooded since the retreat of the last Ice Age: Wild Service-tree and Butcher’s-broom.

And in the gloom of the summer wood, just a few flowers in evidence, including Rosebay Willowherb, Wood Sage, Enchanter’s-nightshade and Yellow Pimpernel. At least enough to demonstrate the approach used in our brand new WildGuide!

Few birds were in evidence, apart from ever-singing Wrens, seeping Treecreepers and several yaffling Green Woodpeckers.

A short walk around the adjacent fields took us past the remarkable House for Essex, the brainchild of Grayson Perry. Marmite to the community, but personally I love it, especially now that the lustre of its first decade has become muted and moulded it into its surrounding landscape.

Conservation field margins had plenty of Common Knapweed, Prickly Ox-tongue, Hogweed and Wild Carrot, but sadly few insects again, there was a bug Closterotomus norvegicus and rather a lot of Hogweed Bonking-beetles, doing what they say on the tin! And more Gatekeepers…

Swallows were twittering overhead, no doubt finding sustenance around the stables, while a Linnet, Goldfinch and Greenfinch sang side-by-side of a roof-ridge and just a few hundred metres the finch songscape was filled out with a Chaffinch.

Moving then to the Wrabness Nature Reserve (Essex Wildlife Trust), we entered a very natural-looking but essentially brownfield reserve. Patches of trees and scrub held at least three singing Turtle Doves. Once the sound of our summer, this is pretty much their last outpost in Essex… The trees and bushes also provided us with gall interest (Knopper Galls on acorns, and Robin’s Pincushions on Dog-rose) as well as leaf blemishes and spots, including Sycamore Tar-spot.

Being brownfield, the site showed a vast range of floral interest, including Agrimony (in flower and seed), Common Toadflax, many legumes including Meadow Vetchling and Broad-leaved Everlasting-pea, the latter in an array of colour shades …

… less frequent species locally, like Corky-fruited Water-dropwort,  Viper’s-bugloss, Dittander and Meadow Crane’s-bill…

… and everyone’s favourite, the shell-pink Common Centaury among a couple of parasitic plants, Red Bartsia and Common Eyebright.

There were a few more insects at this site, reflecting its floral diversity, with Essex and Small Skippers, single Six-spot Burnet and Shaded Broad-bar moths, nymphal Speckled Bush-crickets and several Footballer hoverflies.

As a grand finale, it was down to the mudflats of the Stour Estuary, where the tide had now receded. Midsummer is not the best time for estuary birds, off breeding elsewhere, but we saw a Curlew, a few Oystercatchers and Lesser Black-backed and Black-headed Gulls, as well as a Little Egret, all concentrated around a freshwater outflow.

The saltmarshes shone purple under mounds of Common Sea-lavender, and a good day was brought to a fitting end sitting among a Sand Martin colony. At least 150 on the wing included some juveniles, as the adults busied with starting second broods, a twittering, trilling cloud that ebbed and flowed with action, until a late afternoon squally shower sent them all indoors. The end!

The Mid-Anglian chalk in summer

Britain's Wildlife, WildEssex

Essex is a large county, and over here on the eastern seaboard, the chalklands of the west are really a step too far away … unless one has to pass through on the way elsewhere.  Earlier this year was one of those, but as a late spring it wasn’t hugely productive (except for Pasque Flowers), so I decided to drop in for more summery fare on my way to and from Birdfair, near Rutland Water.

At the juxtaposition of Essex, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire, the mid-Anglian Chilterns Chalk is best seen perhaps at Therfield Heath (Herts) and here the chalk grassland flora was just outstanding.

Taller species like Clustered Bellflower, Yellow-wort, Dropwort, Hairy Hawkbit and Hawkweed Ox-tongue…

… mingled with shorter ones like Small Scabious, Common Rock-rose and the simply delightful candy-striped Squinancywort.

Marbled Whites flew away at every footfall, and of those that did settle a good proportion had passengers in the form of hitch-hiking mites. A species called Trombidium breei, this normally attaches to the thorax or legs of the host and seems to be particularly prevalent on Marbled Whites.

A final point of interest was from the Beech trees that abut the grassland. Just a few leaves showed a line of galls running down the midrib. These belong to a gall midge Hartigiola annulipes. Although widely distibuted across the country, it doesn’t seem to have been recorded before from or near to this locality, at least according to the National Biodversity Network Atlas.

Elsewhere, the low rolling landscape, mostly clad in intensive arable and a few hedges, the realm of singing Yellowhammers and Corn Buntings, the only real clue to the underlying geology is the remnant chalk flora in some of the grass verges, with Field Scabious and Greater Knapweed being especially good indicators. The narrow, often single-track roads don’t lend themselves to easy stopping, but with my long history of working in the counties, I have come to know a few good spots with reasonable access. And so yes, I took the opportunity to drop in on a few old friends.

Near Thriplow (Cambs) in a field margin prone to winter-wet is an accessibly colony of a very rare, small but attractive plant, Grass-poly.

As an annual of often ephemeral waters, its population waxes and wanes; seeds are probably moved around on the feet of ducks, as well as remaining dormant in soil for long periods during adverse conditions.

I have seen it here maybe four times in the past two decades and my feeling is that this year will not be particularly successful for it. The surrounding vegetation is so lush from earlier rains that the flowering patches are reduced to little more than a few square centimetres in extent, a far cry from the sheets I have seen before. But it will no doubt be able to bounce back, through natural immigration on ducks and from the germination of buried seed.

Moving into Essex, the final location near Saffron Walden is somewhere I have known for even longer, perhaps 40 years. It is a road verge, and one that is protected as it holds good population of Crested Cow-wheat.

This magnificent plant has a very good claim to be the botanical icon of Essex. Pretty much restricted to the chalk and chalky boulder clays of north-west Essex, south-west Suffolk and eastern Cambridgeshire, it has a very similar national distribution to our other iconic plant, Oxlip.

Although like Grass-poly it is in annual, this population of Crested Cow-wheat seems to fluctuate less markedly. With little or no seed bank and no obvious vectors of long-distance immigration, it should therefore be regarded as vulnerable to environmental change. Gratifying therefore to see this year that plants are distributed pretty much as I have seen them before over the years.

Interestingly, there was also a flurry of butterfly activity, welcome after such a deep June chasm. Ringlets were everywhere with lots of Large Skippers and a Brimstone (my first of the summer brood), along with something that would not have been part of the scene 40 years ago, or even 20 years ago, Silver-washed Fritillaries patrolling the wood edge in abundance and seeking newly opened Bramble flowers. Times change, and sometimes for the better!

Old friends is old places, there is something both reassuring and instructive about returning again and again to see them!

#WildEssexWalks: Wrabness and Stour Wood

Britain's Wildlife, Bug & Botany Walks, WildEssex

A rather damp and dark evening was the backdrop for our annual Wrabness evening walk (leafy lanes to East Grove with its wonderful views over the estuary, then into Stour Wood itself), however we still found plenty of interest to show our group. We have assembled a selection of photos from the night, many taken with flash as the conditions were so dull while the landscapes became more like Impressionist art!.

This summer has so far been worryingly short of insects, but given the lush vegetation along the lanes, woods and wildflower margins alongside the fields where we were walking, we did find lots of what we would have expected including the ubiquitous Hogweed Bonking-beetles, a variety of shieldbugs, Speckled Bush-cricket, Acorn Weevil and a Hairy Beetle with a couple of stowaway mites.

No butterflies unfortunately, which we hope was only due to the weather conditions, but there was a scattering of moths: one lovely 6-spot Burnet moth, together with a bagworm and Cinnabar caterpillars..

The Wildlife ‘For Bees’ area near Wrabness station itself came up trumps with lots of bumblebees on the Lavender, and proves that just leaving areas to go ‘wild’ isn’t the only way to help our waning wildlife  – many ‘garden’ plants can do the trick very nicely.

As well as insects we looked at some of the many flowers including White Bryony, Oxeye daisies and Knapweed, all of which play a part in providing food for insects.

The moist air of the ancient woods was scented with the mushroomy odour of Sweet Chestnut and the sweetness of Honeysuckle, waiting for the arrival of moths, the night-shift pollinators, while ripening Wild Cherries shone like little beacons.

As we walked we were serenaded by Goldfinches, Skylarks and Wrens. Just one or two birds were spotted on the estuary itself – Black-headed Gulls and a Curlew or two, with Oystercatcher flying over: the winter influx of waterbird migrants is just about to begin. And as if to demonstrate we don’t ignore anything, how about our final offering – the aptly named Dog-sick Slime-mould!

Three days by train: Romsey & Southampton

Britain's Wildlife, Travel by Rail

Our July mini-break of our year (or more!) of mini-breaks took us to Hampshire, specifically Romsey. Where? you may ask! We certainly did when during our February break in Reading, while wandering around the ruined (albeit impressive) abbey, we saw a board showing what it would have looked like: ‘our sister abbey in Romsey’…. Before the day was done we had booked a break in a place that had never entered our consciousness before.

The abbey did not disappoint. While certainly not stately and soaring (actually rather squat), it is beautifully proportioned, and filled with impressive architecture and art from through the ages. Add to that a warm welcome from the attendants who passed on all sorts of useful hints for our days to come (who needs Tourist Information Centres?!), our break got off to a very good start.

Romsey itself is also delightful, a small market town full of historic buildings …

… including the White Horse Hotel, our excellent base for two nights. We had superb evening meals, both at the White Horse and the Old House at Home, the latter with a side order of a marching band that came from the British Legion next door and marched on through the restaurant, still playing. Almost loud enough to drown out the wonderful large screaming parties of Swifts hurtling down the narrow streets. Us watching them careering around and into nest crevices suggested to one local chap we might be from the ‘Test Valley Swift Group’ and he then launched into a very full description of the Swifts of the town, a source of evident pride!

And then there is the River Test itself, one of the premier chalk-streams in Britain, forming the west flank of the town and sending runnels right through its heart, with clear, fast-flowing water supporting lots of aquatic plant life.

However, in common with so many places this summer, precious little insect life, just one each of caddis-fly and solitary bee along a couple of hundred metres of riverbank. Makes you wonder just what the Swifts are finding to feed upon.

Just north of the town was another reason for our visit, Hiller’s Garden and Arboretum, created by Sir Harold Hillier and left in the care of the local authority.

There are trees and other plants from all over the world, reasonably well labelled, and arranged in variously themed beds:

Of particular interest was the collection of Cotoneaster species, allowing side-by-side comparison of this very large and confusing genus.

And highlights for us were a remarkable (unnamed) curly-wurly form of Miscanthus sinensis and the newly opened, fascinating flower-heads of Dwarf Elder.

Of course, in its 72 hectares there is ample space for nature. Native plants included Common Spotted-orchid, Great Horsetail, Slender St John’s-wort, Self-heal, Enchanter’s-nightshade and Corky-fruited Water-dropwort …

… although once again insects were in short supply. Butterflies were restricted to a few Meadow Browns, a handful of Gatekeepers and Ringlets, and a single Marbled White, hardly the bounty expected of early July.

There were other insects of course, across a range of groups, but the following might give a false impression of abundance: I photographed everything I could and that is all we had to show for our efforts.

Nonetheless, it was a very interesting garden, and one which has given us another short break idea for next year, a visit to Ventnor Botanic Garden on the Isle of Wight, similarly created by Hillier and apparently containing some rooms to let within its grounds. Watch this space!

On our last day, we took the opportunity to visit Southampton for a few hours, a city neither of us knew. Views of the sea are always welcome, albeit not the open sea from the angle we were looking:

And, as always, it had some buildings of interest, from the ultra-modern …

… to the Modernist delights of last century …

… and indeed earlier centuries …

… going right back to the still-impressive city walls.

A more natural flavour came from Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gulls everywhere, Sandwich Terns around the ferry port, street trees including Indian Bean Trees and Common Limes, both in flower and attracting bumblebees (more here than anywhere else in our trip).

And the grassy slopes below the walls had a good population of Hawkweed Ox-tongue (rather uncommon in Essex, so good to see) alongside Ragwort being demolished by Cinnabar caterpillars. In Hillier’s and elsewhere we were remarking how there were none of these munchers: as so often it was up to the often overlooked nature within urban greenspace to fly the flag and provide a glimmer of hope for the future. Quite appropriately too, it was the day of the General Election!

Tales of the Bonny Clyde: 3 – Glasgow & Cumbernauld

Britain's Wildlife, Travel by Rail

And so to Glasgow, midway in Clyde terms between the turbulent upper reaches at New Lanark and the stately tidal mouth around Dunoon and Gourock. Glasgow is one of our favourite cities, possibly the favourite one of all, the result of wonderful experiences there over the past decade. Some of the best times of course have been based around the pubs, especially the Scotia and the Clutha Bars. Both of which were on our walk from the station to our hotel in the Gorbals, on opposite sides of the street … well, it would have been rude not to have checked them out before checking in! The Clutha Bar was especially inviting, with a pizza and a pint offer to complement earlier gastronomic experiences, and live (loud) music  to fill the sound of silence after living with the rushing Clyde for the last couple of days.

So it was early evening before we unloaded at the hotel, and headed out for a walk through familiar streets, by bridges and along the river. Pity the wind was so strong and out of the north – absolutely not a summertime experience, even for Scotland. But a Goosander on the river, stately stands of Giant Hogweed on the riverbank and singing Willow Warblers from seemingly every patch of railway scrub gave us our daily nature fix.

The Southern Necropolis cemetery has also done this for us in the past, so after breakfast at the wonderful G5 deli (again one of our regulars and favourites, conveniently round the corner from the Premier Inn) we headed there again. Sadly much of the grass had recently been mown, and the air was simply too cold for insect activity, but it remains a tranquil green refuge.

Our long-awaited first visit to the Burrell Collection, set in the Pollok Country Park played a big part in our decision to return. The park itself contains some lovely grassland and woodland (and provided us with a rather battered Lime Hawk-moth) while the collection is housed in a simply wonderful, recently upgraded, modern architectural marvel.

Light from every angle, shadows as important as the art itself, and the luxury of space make this one of the best museum/galleries we have been to, complemented by interesting exhibits (not always the case, we have found) – and it is free!!

A final flourish for our holiday was a jaunt out to Cumbernauld. We like concrete brutalism, we like planned new towns such as Harlow, so a visit was a must. The train from Queen Street started in an interesting fashion, with hordes of glittering Swifties waiting to head out to Murrayfield, such that the concrete of Cumbernauld represented reassuring familiarity.

Planned and built from the 1950s, like Harlow the town features extensive traffic-free walking routes, some forming impressive green corridors.

   

From the station to the Centre we had to cross not a single road, until arriving at the heart, now given over firmly to the domain of the car. By now the hottest day of our holiday, after a restorative pint among the public sculpture (reminiscent again of Harlow) we strolled around and through the 1950s dream that hasn’t really been served well by history.

Bits have been knocked down, other bits added piecemeal, but its brutalist heart is just still beating – or is that the sound of raindrops dripping into the shopping mall, a leaking canyon of empty units and charity shops?

The Centre is deemed worthy of listing, but the authorities have decided not to, given that plans for comprehensive redevelopment are apparently well advanced. Necessary perhaps, but replacing utopian individualism with modern retail conformity hardly seems like a great step forward.

All that was left to do was much more uplifting: after a good trek along greenways, again largely traffic free, and over the raging motorway, we found ourselves at the Arria statue, by Andy Scott, he of the Kelpies renown.

Imposing yet invisible until almost upon her, she was remarkable, standing in a lovely meadow with Yellow-rattle, Greater Butterfly- and Northern Marsh-orchids. and with a stillness that seems to subdue even the roar of the motorway, helped by the tinkles of yet more Willow Warblers.

Why here? Well, Cumbernauld stands on the watershed of Scotland (its name may be derived from a translation of ‘meeting of the waters’). So this really complements the rest of our holiday, representing the point at which rainwater drainage runs either east into the Forth or west to the Clyde.

And watershed in a metaphorical context, an east-west political boundary, the furthest reach of the Roman Empire. marked by the nearby Antonine Wall: Arria is named after the mother of  Emperor Antonius. And to draw the watershed imagery together, the statue is inscribed with the words of the poem ‘Watershed’ by Scottish poet Jim Carruth.

It is a pity that time, and the very late sunset, didn’t allow us to see Arria in her internally illuminated glory. But back in Cumbernauld centre, the Beefeater gave us sustenance, and the warmest welcome (which naturally translated into the largest tip) of our entire holiday.

On our final morning I woke to the song of yet another Willow Warbler, this in the hotel car park, a particularly poignant sound for those of us from a part of the country from which they have been stripped as a breeding bird in only the past decade by climate change. A song of our recent past that remains in my brain. Without a memory there can be no mourning, so sing, little bird, of the things we have lost but could be ours again if only we have the will.

For other blogs from this trip, see:

Tales of the Bonny Clyde: 1 – Dunoon & Benmore | Chris Gibson Wildlife

Tales of the Bonny Clyde: 2 – New Lanark | Chris Gibson Wildlife