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| Gathering © Bill Johnson |
The day started overcast as we turned right out of the car
park and walked to a track signposted for Acres Down House. A veteran Pedunculate Oak was observed with a
huge girth, (6.38m) and below were clumps of Butcher’s Broom with tiny flowers
(5mm).
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| Butcher's Broom © Andy and Sue Skarstein |
With healthy looking Holly and
birch trees to our right we arrived at open heath. On the left was an old pit with a bank of
layered soils complete with large holes. Individual foot prints of deer and
badger were found but no consistent tracks.
A patch of Turkeytail fungi was seen.
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| Turkeytail © Richard Smith |
As we moved up the slope the heather was interspersed with sage green fuzzy Reindeer Lichen. Towards the top of Hart Hill we turned right down between trees and crossed the stream at Ringwood Ford. A full size fallen tree to the right was completely carpeted in bright green moss.
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| Reindeer Lichen © Glynis Payne |
Moving out of the trees a couple of unscathed Gorse bushes were in bloom in an area which had seen controlled burning. Regeneration had already begun at the base. More Holly trees at the top of the hill were in flower.
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| Holly © Richard Coomber |
Having paralleled the road before bearing left, a horse
and trap was spotted along one of the tracks, together with Fallow Deer and a
few ponies. At our coffee stop a couple of
fallen Beech trees yielded several fungi – Oysterling, Split Gill and Beech Woodwart.
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| Splitgill from above © Richard Smith |
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| and the underside © Richard Smith |
Prior to a plantation of Corsican and Scots Pine at Hart Hill, a secondary Trig Point 3650 (S2714sm) had been sited. A dedicated website is available for Trigpointers! Who knew? https://trigpointing.uk/trig/3650
As we moved down through the trees and into the open once more we stopped to look at a memorial seat for members of the Burnett family:
‘O sit still, look long and hold yourself quiet’
and we did. The sun came out and intensified the colours. Nearby was a small cairn in memory of Joan Stubbs who died in 1968 aged 42. History unknown.
On our way back to the car park we were into woodland again and quite a few birds were observed here including Nuthatch, Goldcrest, Treecreeper as well as Wrens and Robin. The sky became overcast once more signalling that it was time to go home.
Other birds observed: Song Thrush (in full song), Blue, Great and Long-tailed Tits, Bullfinch, Chaffinch, Carrion Crow, Firecrest, Green and Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers (latter only heard), Jay and Stock Dove. F&GS
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| Our route © Crown copyright 2023 Ordnance Survey. Media 006/23. The licence is valid until 31 December 2023 |