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Martin Down © R. Smith |
After an unusually cold April and some dismal weather in May it was
wonderful to have a warm, sunny day with barely a light breeze for the first
full Lym Nats’ walk since February 2020!
Twelve, including several new faces, plus a leader met up at Martin Down
for a general interest walk, although inevitably at this time of year the
emphasis was going to be on butterflies and flowers. In spite of the late Spring, we were not
disappointed. Even the Skylarks were rejoicing on such a beautiful day, for
their songs from above were in the background throughout our walk.
Martin Down is a National Nature Reserve that has on its western side the
Bokerley
Ditch, a long meandering Iron Age earthwork that nowadays marks the Hampshire/Dorset border. It was
along the eastern bank we walked initially, passing scrub where patches of
Germander Speedwell matched the blue of the sky and Thyme-leaved Sandwort grew
on the ant-hills that dotted the landscape in that part of the down. Salad Burnet and Cowslips grew everywhere,
although the latter were now past their best. Dropwort, the downland Meadow Sweet, was still
quite short and in bud so perhaps easily overlooked for it bore a passing
resemblance to Salad Burnet at this stage.
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| Small Copper © R Coomber |
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| Marsh Fritillary © R Coomber |
Our first
butterflies were Brimstone, Orange-tip, Marsh Fritillary, Brown Argus, Dingy
Skipper and Small Copper. We encountered the blue form of female Common Blue
before leaving the ditch area to walk across to the flat ‘fields’ of the World
War II rifle butts area, where we enjoyed marvellous views of a Green
Hairstreak resting on the new growth of Dogwood. Nearby another Marsh Fritillary also provided
perfect opportunities for the photographers in the party.
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| Female Common Blue © R Smith |
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| Green Hairstreak © R Coomber |
Patches of Chalk Milkwort grew, with some
being pink or white plants in addition to the more usual blue. Here and there the first flowers of the yellow
Common Rock-rose reflected the morning’s sunshine, or perhaps the male
Yellowhammers we were seeing during the walk. It will be a while before Marjoram flowers,
but one could smell the herb wherever leaves had been crushed along the path.
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| Corn Bunting © C Robinson |
One of the hoped-for
birds was Corn Bunting and we were not disappointed, although we might have
wished for better views. This is one of a number for farmland species, that
along with the migratory Turtle Dove, is in decline as a victim of intensive
agriculture. Martin Down supports both
species, although today’s walk didn’t visit the area favoured by the doves.
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| Field Fleabane © C Robinson |
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| Burnt Orchard © R Coomber |
Returning to
the ditch we came across our first flowering Common Spotted Orchids and further
on a couple of the area’s specialities – Field Fleawort and Burnt Orchid - both
calcareous-loving plants with a limited distribution nationally. The orchids were easy to find as someone had
marked them with rings of small stones to prevent walkers inadvertently
stepping on them.
Time was
running away from us, so we decided to abandon the clock and continued to walk
the side of the ditch before looping round to a track that led us by two
tumuli, where another unusual plant grew – Pasqueflower (Pasque = paschal = Easter). This year the flowers had still been showing
well just a week ago, but unfortunately were now going over. This is probably the most south-westerly site
for Pasqueflower for its main strongholds are in the Cotswolds and the
Chilterns. Although known to favour
ancient earthworks in areas where it occurs, it was only discovered here in 1983
and it is possible that it might have been introduced.
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| Grizzled Skipper © C Robinson |
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| Dingy Skipper © R Coomber |
With homage
paid to another rarity we headed back towards the car park, finding a number of
large puffballs identified by Richard Smith as Mosaic Puffball, several flighty
Grizzled Skippers and some 30+ stunted Green-winged Orchids. The final butterfly, seen by Brian and others,
was a Speckled Wood amongst the bushes lining the path near the car park.
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| Mosaic Puffball © R Smith |
As we all had brought
picnics we migrated to a sunny slope for lunch, before heading for home or returning
to the field. It was a great start to
our season of scheduled walks and thanks everyone for coming. RC
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©Crown copyright 2021 Ordnance Survey. Media 008/21 |
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