On a warm sunny morning our group set out to walk a
circular route from the Oakley car park down to Mill Lawn and to return through
Burley New Inclosue to Lucy Hill. After crossing the road we came to a lawned
area which is usually boggy but after all the hot weather it was completely dry
with just one small area of Marsh Pennywort and Marsh St John's-wort. From here
we entered a small deciduous wood which skirts the main inclosure. There were
several fallen oak and two Speckled Wood butterflies swirling together in a
boundary dispute.
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| Marsh Pennywort © Richard Coomber |
Leaving the wood the area opens out to lawn and gorse.
Gatekeeper butterflies were fluttering around and well camouflaged on the brown
grass. Continuing on we came to an area of grassy mounds. These mounds can be
found around the forest lawns where flooding occurs. It is now thought that
they have been formed where purple moor grass has been heavily grazed by the
ponies. When an area floods, and the water retreats, silt is deposited around
the tussocks of grass. Eventually over many years a mound is formed. Each mound
appeared to have its own little ecosystem of plants and insects. Here we had
good sightings of a male Redstart together with flocks of Linnets and
Goldfinches, and also found 2 Robin’s Pincushion on dog rose, these are caused
by the larvae a gall wasp called Diplolepis rosae, they were bright
green at the moment, eventually they should turn red.
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| Redstart - male © Richard Smith |
On reaching Mill Lawn Brook we turned left to follow the
meanderings of the stream. Growing on the stream’s banks were Marsh Thistle,
Water Mint, Lesser Spearwort, Marsh Ragwort and Chamomile, and also Skullcap
which was very pleasing. In the stream itself there was Fringed Water-lily but
only a couple of yellow flowers showing. On the lawn there was Silverweed,
Yarrow, Tormentil and just one solitary plant of Sneezewort. Patrolling the
water was an Emperor Dragonfly one Beautiful Demoiselle was spotted and a White-legged Damselfly was photographed.
Birds seen in this area were, a very pale Buzzard, Nuthatch, Carrion Crow, Song
Thrush, Meadow Pipit, Swallow and 3 Grey Heron flying low and calling to each
other. A flock of Starlings was present and a Green Woodpecker was heard.
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| Skullcap © Sue Skarstein |
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| Unbranched Bur-reed © Sue Skarstein |
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| White-legged Damselfly © Richard Smith |
On leaving the stream we walked towards Burley New
Inclosure, again passing through another area of grassy mounds. We took time to
look at the intricate webs of Funnel Spiders, the spiders sitting centrally in
their funnel behind large sheets of webbing. As we approached the woods all
three species of heather were seen, Ling, Cross-leaved Heath and Bell Heather.
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Lesser Skullcap © Richard Smith
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Inside the inclosure Lesser Skullcap and Common Cow-wheat
and Hard Fern were growing along a dried out ditch and a Southern Wood Ants’
nest was seen. The woodland here is a good mixture of conifers and deciduous
trees and we could hear Siskin calling high up in the conifers. Then on the way
up to Lucy Hill birds seen were Great Spotted Woodpecker, Coal Tit, Long-tailed
Tit, Robin, Chiffchaff and Spotted Flycatcher.
Finally as we reached Oakley car park, in the shade was
one small patch of Bog Pimpernel, in an area which is usually boggy but at the
moment has dried out. PP
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Our route
© Crown copyright 2022 Ordnance Survey. Media 005/22.
The licence is valid until 31 December 2022 |
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