Tuesday 15 May 2018

Denge Wood, Canterbury

Whitebeam, Sorbus aria flowers
Denge Wood is a large complex of broadleaf and conifer plantations and the remnants of  native broadleaf woodland situated on dip slope of the North Downs. The underlying geology is Clay with Flints, over chalk bedrock rising to a maximum altitude of 140m.

A couple of dry valleys hold the remnants of native woodland, mainly comprising of Beech, Ash and Oak with an understory of Hazel and scarce trees such as Whitebeam Sorbus aria, whilst most of the plateau has been converted to Sweet Chestnut coppice and areas of conifer plantation.


One of the cleared areas within Denge Woods, perfect for the rare orchids,
such as these Lady Orchids, Orchis purpurea and butterflies

 Lady Orchid, Orchis purpurea flowers

The reason for the visit was for both its floral and lepidoptera interest, it is particularly notable for the range of orchid species which can be found at the site. It was little early in the year for some of the present species and late for Early Purple Orchids although one was still in fine flower. In total four species were seen in flower and one species was found in bud.



Of the orchids on show the most impressive was the Lady Orchid Orchis purpurea; a real speciality of Kent with the majority of the UK's population found on the chalky slopes of the North Downs.


Although slightly obvious it gets it common name due to the distinctive shaped flowers which look like ladies in petticoats and bonnets. It can grow to quite an impressive size with some plants growing to 70cm in height and can in preferential conditions reach a meter in height.



Common Twayblade, Neottia ovata






The other species of orchid which was putting on a show was the Common Twayblade Neottia ovata, a very different and much plainer looking species. It is one of Britain's commonest orchids  and can be found in a diverse range of habitats. Its common name is derived from Old English and means 'Two-Leaves', referring to its pair of basal leaves.











Crosswort, Cruciata laevipes







It wasn't just orchids which were in flower, Crosswort Cruciata laevipes is a plant of calcareous waysides and could be found alongside the tracks.














The real reason we visited the site though was to see the Duke Of Burgundy Hamearis lucina, the only member of the 'metalmark' family to be found in Britain. These delicate butterflies only live for around five days and the adults are rarely seen feeding.

A fresh Duke Of Burgundy, Hamearis lucina


A mating pair of Dingy Skipper, Erynnis tages.
Traditionally it was a species of coppiced woodlands, which provide the best conditions for its foodplant, Primrose needs to thrive. Due to the decline in woodland management it has undergone a 52% decline and can no only be found in 20 sites throughout the UK. If suitable conditions occur, such as recently cut rides and newly coppiced areas the Duke has good dispersal capabilities with females flying up to five kilometres to lay eggs.

A few other species were also on the wing, good numbers of Brimstones were seen flitting along the rides. A single pair of Dingy Skippers Erynnis tages were also seen mating within an area specially cleared for the Dukes. 




Saturday 28 April 2018

Samphire Hoe, Dover

With early spring flowers starting to pop up all over the place an afternoon trip to Samphire Hoe was in order to see the hundreds of Early Spider Orchids Ophrys sphegodes which have appeared on this man-made site. Samphire Hoe was created in 1997 using the 4.9 million cubic meters of chalk marl excavated by the building of the Channel Tunnel, creating a 30ha of new chalk down land in front of the cliffs.

The Beach at the end of Samphire Hoe, Dover
It didn't take long to find the Early-Spider Orchid with at least five plants in the overflow car park and then hundreds of plants along the paths towards the beach. It is thought that the disturbance caused by the creation of the site allowed windblown seed from nearby to take a flourish into what is currently Britain's most impressive site for this species.

Early Spider Orchid, Ophrys sphegodes

It was just the orchids which we saw, although early in the season there were still a few other species in flower. Common Milkwort Polygala vulgaris, is a small perennial plant with interesting blue or pink flowers. I was rather hoping to find a related species, Chalk Milkwort Polygala calcarea but had no luck this time.

Common Milkwort, Polygala vulgaris

Areas of scrubby vegetation, most of which was alongside the railway line contained the large flowering heads of Wayfaring Tree Viburnum lantana, a common species on calcareous soils. It white flowers will eventually give way to spays of red berries.

Wayfaring Tree, Viburnum lantana

Wild Cabbage, Brassica oleracea oleracea





All along the cliffs, sometimes clinging out of tiny crevices were plants of Wild Cabbage Brassica oleracea oleracea, a spindly declining species in Kent. It is currently thought that the species has been domesticated for thousands of years giving us the cultivars for cabbage, broccoli, brussels sprouts, kale and cauliflower. Flowering alongside were the first of the years Bird's Foot Trefoil Lotus corniculata which will soon be carpeting the cliffs.










Apart from the floral interest, a Fox scaling the cliffs by the visitors centre, which then disturbed nesting Kestrels and a pair of Ravens with their recently fleged brood it was rather quiet fauna wise.



Monday 23 April 2018

Postling Wood, Postling & Folkestone Warren, Folkestone

Having spent most of the last couple of months on the shingle at Dungeness, it was time to get away for an afternoon exploring some ancient woodland up on the North Downs. With David and Gill as guides for the day and Matt visiting we made our way to the first stop, Postling Wood which had a few botanical treasures.

Postling Wood, A woodland full of Ancient Woodland Indicators (AWIs)
Due to being up on the chalk, the canopy comprised mainly of Ash Fraxinus excelsior with an under story of Hazel Corylus avellana providing the perfect for common spring ephemeral species such as Bluebells Hyacinthoides non-scripta, Wood Anemone Anemone nemorosa and Primrose Primula vulgaris although beautiful plants to see it wasn't why we'd made the pilgrimage.

Although we were a little late in the year, there was still evidence of the Green Hellebore Helleborus viridis which grow along the road verge. Although all of them had gone to seed it was still nice to see their delicate green nodding heads and large palmate leaves.

Green Hellebore, Helleborus viridis
Second on the list to find was Toothwort Lathraea squamaria, a species I have seen before in Wales but never before in England. It's unusual colour comes from the fact it is a saprophyte and has no chlorophyll, instead it gets its nutrients parasitically from its host plant, often Hazel.

Toothwort, Lathraea squamaria
A few other plants of note were also seen, the deep purple flowers of Early Dog-Violet Viola reichenbachiana which is often found in chalky dry woods. It is distinguishable from the Common Dog-Violet Viola riviniana due to its flowers having dark centres, dark spur and rounded leaves.

Early Dog-Violet, Viola reichenbachiana
The odd looking flowers of Goldilocks Buttercup Ranunculus auricomus were quite common along the bank by the road. Another basic soil lover it's distinctive misshapen and often missing petals give it a shabby look.

Goldilocks Buttercup, Ranunculus auricomus
Also present were several large patches of Moschatel Adoxa moschatellina, also known as Town-Hall clock due to its for faced flowers.

Moschatel Adoxa moschatellina
Once we'd finished looking at the flora we took a quick trip into Folkestone to try our luck seeing the Common Wall Lizards Podarcis muralis which inhabit the cliffs there. Although non-native to Britain, it only got as far a the Channel Islands before the channel flooded after the last inter-glacial period, there are several populations around the UK.

The view from the top of the Warren, Folkestone
At least six individuals were seen at the top of the warren, close to a nearby cafe, where they frequenting several of the buildings. The males are beautifully marked with emerald green mottling along its back, often scuttling off quickly when anyone approached. How this population became established has been lost to history but the local story is that they were released by a local pet shop owner who failed to sell them. Now they're thriving and they're here to stay.

Common Wall Lizard, Podarcis muralis

Tuesday 13 February 2018

Conyer Creek, Kent

With the weather being so pleasant a trip to Conyer was on the cards with the hope of seeing two lovely wintering species.

Conyer  located on the north Kent coast is a small hamlet at the head of the Conyer creek which flows into the Swale. It's the site of one of the CES sites I ringed at last summer with rich variety of warbler species and a few breeding Turtle Doves in the scrubby vegetation, comprising of Salix spp. and Buddleja which has formed on site of the old brickworks.

Conyer Creek, looking towards the old brickworks.

On the other side of the creek behind the sea wall contains expanses of low lying grazing marsh, intersected with vegetated ditches. With the recent wet weather many of these fields had small pools, and it was around these that a group of 10 Shore Larks Eremophila alpestris were feeding, although I could get good views through the scope, it was way to distant for photographs.

Having arrived at high tide, many of the waders and waterfowl were roosting out on the mud as it was exposed. Large numbers of Dunlin Calidris alpina, Redshank Tringa totanus, Black-Tailed Godwit Limosa limosa, Oystercatcher Haematopus ostralegus, Teal Anas crecca and Wigeon Mareca penelope were present in the creek itself and occasionally flushed by a female Sparrowhawk Accipiter nisus. Out at the creek mouth a large flocks of Avocets Recurvirostra avosetta were roosting on a small island whilst the large numbers of Brent Geese Branta bernicla were flying up and down the Swale.

Saltmarsh alongside the sea wall

Halfway along the Saxon shore way, close to where the shore larks were feeding strand line detritus and halophytic grasses were two Snow Buntings Plectrophenax nivalisThese dumpy little confiding birds, often appear on the eastern coast of the UK to feed in sand dunes and saltmarshes on the seeds of weeds and grasses which grow there.


Snow Bunting, Plectrophenax nivalis
Snow Bunting busy feeding on seeds.

Having sat down to watch these two feed, it didn't take them long to get within a few meters of me, making it pretty difficult to get any photographs with my 400mm lens. after half an hour in the presents of these little birds it was time to wander back along the creek to the car.