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| Lesser Bladderwort
© Richard Coomber
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Geoff
and Sue plus 12 set off from Shatterford car park on a rather grey and
unpromising morning after the exceptionally heavy rain of the previous 2 days.
Apart from wheeling House Martins, there at first seemed little to be seen across the heathland
but a few Silver-studded Blue butterflies soon appeared and the botanists
spotted all 3 types of heather, an excellent specimen of Lesser Bladderwort, Round-leaved Sundew and
White-beaked Sedge.
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| Fallow bucks in velvet
© Richard Coomber
|
The shelter of the woodland was more rewarding and we
lingered near a glade where weak sunshine shining through the canopy onto some
lower vegetation revealed a haven for mixed birds feeding providing excellent views of Spotted
Flycatcher, Willow Warbler, Great Tit and Blackcap. Unfortunately, the sun was
not strong enough to bring out the large variety of butterflies that Sue and
Geoff had seen on their recce, but Small Copper, Speckled Wood, Gatekeeper and
Brimstone were identified.
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| Marsh Frog moments before it 'plopped'
© Richard Coomber
|
After our refreshment stop, we watched a solitary
Roe Deer browsing in the woodland, apparently unconcerned by our presence.
Shortly afterwards, in an adjoining open field, we saw about a dozen Fallow
bucks with antlers still “in velvet” and again we lingered to make the most of
the sight.
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| Digger Wasp and
Beautiful Yellow Underwing caterpillar
© Richard Coomber
|
Crossing some boggy ground just out of the woodland, a large green
frog was spotted in one of the pools. This was thought to be a non-native Marsh
Frog but unfortunately was camera shy and soon plopped beneath the water.
Further botany highlights were identified namely Jelly Fungus, Harebells and
Coral Necklace. The back-markers found a parasitic Digger Wasp excavating a burrow into which it dragged a Beautiful Yellow Underwing caterpillar
Further chocolate biscuits were issued to fortify us for the
uphill stretch past Bishop's Dyke back to the car park which we did not reach
till about 1.30, the walk having yielded a larger tally than anticipated at the
start. Congratulations to all who completed the course.
Other
highlights were:Birds:
Treecreeper, Stock Dove, Chaffinch, Siskin, Redstart. Plants:
Branched Bur-reed, Marsh Pennywort, Lesser Spearwort, Bog Bean, Alder Buckthorn, Cotton-grass sp and Bog St. John's Wort.Insects:
Broad-bodied Chaser, Keeled Skimmer, Blue-tailed and Large Red Damselflies and a Fox
Moth caterpillar.