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| Betony |
A cool walk in the woods on a very warm day with 15
members. South Oakley is a mixed hard and soft wood inclosure with some very
well established Douglas Firs probably planted back in the 19th century.
It is normally fairly damp underfoot and we were able to distinguish two
rushes, Soft and Jointed Rushes Juncus effusus and J. articulata
and among the grasses Purple Moor Grass Molinia caerulea and Yorkshire
Fog Holcus lanatus.
From the inclosure we passed into Berry Wood, a
beautiful ancient and ornamental wood typical of the pasture woodland which the
makes the New Forest a unique habitat. We noticed the browse line on the trees
created by grazing ponies and deer and the lack undergrowth. Anthony Pasmore has written about
the poor condition of many of the Forest's holly trees in the Lymington Times
and we noticed a large number of such trees in Berry Wood. The Forestry
Commission has been experimenting with pollarding and coppicing hollies in both
enclosed and open areas in order to get them regenerate, with mixed success.
The trees often die or get browsed by grazing stock. The FC are now keeping
careful records of the results of their work so let's hope things will improve
for the holly trees.
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| Cross-leaved Heath and Bell Heather |
Skirting the edge of Berry Wood we saw all three of
the Forest heathers, Ling, Cross-leaved Heath and Bell Heather (right),
in flower. We turned into Sir Dudley's Ride, named after the former Official
Verderer and Master of Buckhounds Sir Dudley Forwood, who was once Equerry to
the Duke of Windsor and who lived at Old House.
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| Lesser Skullcap |
Not many birds in evidence though Angela had seen
Redstarts on the recee, but we found Silver-washed Fritillaries feeding on
bramble, and Speckled Wood and Gatekeeper butterflies under the trees. Lesser
Skullcap (right), Betony (top image) and Yellow Pimpernel were
among the flowers we saw and we admired the beautiful old Beech trees near the
car park.
