admin – Wanderings

WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 14TH 2020

SALTFLEETBY-THEDDLETHORPE + DCW

Looking East: Waning Crescent moon with Venus

With a couple of hours drive ahead and the prospect of a good selection of migrants, an earlier start was deemed appropriate.

A high pressure area over Scandinavia and easterlies over much of Europe forecast several days earlier did transpire, but an occluded front in the North Sea did not and we arrived in clear conditions and a strong north-easterly.

There were lots of birds in places and these included Redwings, Fieldfares, Linnets, Greenfinches, Goldcrests, Stonechats and Dunnocks but nothing by way of a scarce migrant.

This was new for me though.

Valeriana officinalis is a widespread plant but it hasn’t spread into Rushcliffe.

Fox Moth too is missing from Rushcliffe and indeed Notts, so although I’ve seen these caterpillars, I jumped to the conclusion that this was a Drinker which also commonly basks out in the open. Dave got me to reconsider. The Fox larvae I’ve found in Dorset have almost always been parasitised by Brachonid wasps.

There were around 3000 Pink-footed Geese favouring stubble towards the southern limit of our excursion which were regularly disturbed by passing birders and dog-walkers. The gaggle included about half-a-dozen Barnacle Geese which were presumably genuine wild birds that crossed the North Atlantic with the Pinkies, having shared breeding grounds in Greenland or Svalbard.

We walked east from the dunes for about a kilometre into the North Sea to get near some shore birds and Sanderling got my bird of the day vote as they are such amusing birds and I don’t see them often.

We also added Oystercatcher, Bar-tailed Godwit, Teal, Grey Plover and Knot and back in the dunes Dave’s bird of the day; a Short-eared Owl.

TUESDAY 29TH SEPTEMBER 2020

SHERWOOD HEATH & BUDBY SOUTH FOREST + DCW

An entirely new habitat for us today. Heathland is one of my favourite places, having spent much time in Dorset and Hampshire.Then though, I was without a botanist on hand to point out stuff other than Heather and gorse.

Rather like prefixing any familiar plant with ‘sea’ when one is on the coast, adding ‘heath’ is worth a bash where heather is abundant, thus this is Heath Groundsel… and the next is Heath Bedstraw.

I’m quite sure that doesn’t work for fungi though as they all look unfamiliar. Dave had a pretty good idea about this one though and even if it’s not The Blusher Amanita pubescens (which I think it is) it’s in that genus. If it is indeed The Blusher, I could have had it for supper (if well cooked) and only risked anaemia. If wrong, and it turned out to be (the very similar-looking) Panthercap A. pantherina, I could well have died.

For now, I’ll continue to get my mushrooms from the Co-op.

Some plants are more difficult to photograph than others; this one lends itself to a mugshot but the whole plant is a leggy, open mess as far as my photographic sense perceives.

And this one is so small that setting it into its habitat is, I would have thought, impossible but Birdsfoot is at least its an excuse for a lie down.

Water Purslane also requires a lie (or at least a kneel) down – but this time in ‘the muddy fringes of ponds, lakes and reservoirs or wet woodland rides as long as they are not too chalky or peaty’.

Cross-leaved Heath was familiar to me from my south coast days but it is rare in Notts.

A disjointed flock of Redpolls was the ornithological highlight and large numbers of Small Coppers enjoyed this late September sunshine (which followed some cold northerlies earlier in the week).

Plants not photographed or relegated to the archive were bountiful: Slender St John’s-wort Hypericum pulchrum, Pill Sedge Carex pilulifera, Wavy Hair-grass Deschampsia flexuosa, Wood Sage Teucrium scorodinium, Rum Cherry Prunus serotina (tasty fruits but not so welcome as a yankee invader) Sand Spurrey Spergularia rubra, Mat Grass Nardus stricta, Narrow Buckler-fern Dryopteris carthusiana, Heath Rush Juncus squarrosus, Prickly Sedge Carex muricata subsp. pairae, Marsh Pennywort Hydrocotyle vulgaris, Lemon-scented Fern Oreopteris limbosperma, Hard Fern Blechnum spicant and Lady Fern Athyrium filix-femina were among the heathland specialities that Dave will expect me to recognise next time we venture north.

The late September sunshine also encouraged others to get back to nature.

TUESDAY 8TH SEPTEMBER 2020

RIVER TRENT, GIRTON TO HOLME. + DCW

The search for Oak-leaved Goosefoot continues. This time at low tide, based on the river below Cromwell Lock being 4-5 hours after the predictions for Hull. We started at Girton where the sailing lake, devoid of birds had two sizes of pond-skater and these are three of the bigger ones.

The one I get on my pond and that I’ve seen elsewhere, I have always taken to be Gerris lacustris but it seems that G. odontogaster is a likely companion and G. argentatus is possible too. These though are 7 to 10mm long so the one in the photo must be the ‘widespread and abundant’ Gerris najas at 13-17mm.

On the walk northwards to the C. glaucum site we found a freshly deceased juvenile Blackbird with no external injuries and the conclusion of our post-mortem was an unexplained death.

This is the gall of the gall fly Urophora cardui on Creeping Thistle. The adult fly which emerges in June-July lays eggs between the immature leaves. The second-instar larva then burrows into the stem, inducing the plant to form gall tissue which is soft on the inside and woody on the outside with one to several chambers where the larvae then hide safely away, munching on the soft gall tissue. Safe that is until Eurytoma serratulae comes along. This is an ectoparasitoid chalcid wasp which induces U. cardui to form a puparium – in which it overwinters. But it doesn’t end there. Eurytoma robusta may come along and parasitise E. serratulae. As an endoparasitoid, it lays its eggs on the third-instar larva (of serratulae) or just randomly in the gall tissue with the larva consuming both the fly and the wasp – unless that is the puparium has formed in which case E. robusta doesn’t survive.

If neither of the chalcids get the fly, it has to hope that its mother chose to lay its eggs on a thistle that is growing in just the right place for the plant to wither into wet ground so that the gall is sufficiently dampened for that woody external tissue of the gall to become soft enough for the adult to tunnel its way out.

Mudwort Limosella aquatica is, as far as I know, much simpler. It likes shallow puddles. It is very scattered and decreasing and has tiny flowers but you have to lie down next to them with a lens to see them so I didn’t bother.

Brassica rapa subspecies campestris can also be called Wild Turnip but it grows along the navigable stretches of the Trent and Bargeman’s Cabbage will be my preference.

Technically this should be Hylotelephium sp. as it has been re-christened by the latest Stace (formerly section Telephium).

It can’t be identified specifically without the open flowers, but the app, PlantNet thinks it is Orpine, Hylotelephium (Sedum) telephium which is the native plant though it is not native in this Trentside hedge-bottom. It had alternate leaves so if it’s not that it must be H. ‘Herbstfreude’, the hybrid between telephium and spectabile.

These are still Sedums and the two commonest on dry, bare ground. Up close, White Stonecrop (on the left) and Biting Stonecrop are very different but from 5’9″ away, I find the difference not so obvious. Dave has zoom vision or a lot more practice.

Smooth Catsear Hypochaeris glabra is another one that Dave shows me when we visit the sand lands north of Newark. It doesn’t much look like common Catsear to me but if needs be, the ray florets of the rare one are hardly longer than the longest bracts (which are purple-tipped). It only likes sunny mornings so goes to bed at other times.

It became quite hot later in the day as we scoured the banks of the river in our quest for the elusive goosefoot near Holme. As well as Common Sallow moth, we found more Silver Y and a Blood-vein and butterflies included Small Copper with a couple of Common Terns, 8 Curlew, about 10 Little Egret, 1 Hobby and a Common Sandpiper.

I got very mixed up on this one which I take to be Alisma plantago-aquatica but Dave seemed to be saying it was something else that I’d never heard of. I’ve now looked in the books for related species so now I must have heard of it but I still can’t see what it is!

I have been enlightened….This is actually Alisma lanceolatum Narrow-leaved Water-plantain and I must put it down to tiredness, laziness and confusion that I couldn’t see that for myself. I think reference to Rose et. al. may have been partly to blame but a re-read clarifies it. It is not that uncommon, but was quite unfamiliar to me. When I started out on birdwatching, I had already spent years of my childhood browsing bird books so anticipated many of those obscure and exotic species. Being aware of plants that are similar to the everyday ones is an important aid in picking out the scarcities.

The garden of the Muskham Ferry looked inviting but it would be a long swim as there is no sign of the ferry itself.

The telegraph pole means that I get nil points for composition in this picture and taking a chain saw to it would probably be easier for me than ridding it by photoshop. Maybe I should have used the picture of the very big Walnut tree near where I was stood?

What? This one?

TUESDAY 1ST SEPTEMBER 2020

TIDAL TRENT – DUNHAM TO COLLINGHAM + DCW

The objective of the day was to look at the plants on the shore line of the tidal reaches of the Trent but an untimely high spring tide had backed the river up and drowned out any hope of accessing the ‘beaches’. Despite the river flowing downhill by lunchtime, the levels remained too high even by the afternoon.

This was very disappointing for Dave who had hoped to check out the current status of Oak-leaved Goosefoot Chenopodium glaucum, a very rare plant away from some southern districts and one which he considers to be under-recorded.

I enjoyed the day however, visiting new sites on a day that was much warmer and sunnier than we were expecting and we started at Dunham. This is a very watery region with two large lakes between the silted course of the ‘Old Trent’ and a sweeping meander of the new one. Creeping Yellow-cress Rorippa sylvestris has slender fruits unlike the stumpy ones on Marsh Yellow-cress that we saw last week.

The lake margins had Marsh Cudweed Gnaphalium uliginosum, Grey Club-rush Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani, and Whorled Mint Mentha x verticillata.

As well as Round-fruited Rush Juncus compressus….

…and Toad Rush Juncus bufonius.

Spiked Water-milfoil Myriophylum spicatum was in the lake itself and Sea Club-rush Bolboschoenus maritimus was in the old Trent.

The watery habitat, with a lot of willows too, explains the presence of this spectacular beetle; its size (at about 3cm long) does not come over in the photo but I knew I had never seen one of these before.

Musk Beetle Aromia moschata has a very scattered distribution in England and likes it wet; its larvae live in the healthy wood of willows. When it flew, it was even more spectacular.

Silver Y moths were abundant and we saw one Migrant Hawker before we moved on to North Clifton and South Clifton where we confirmed the continuing presence of an inland rarity.

Calling briefly at the foot of the viaduct to confirm Annual Mercury Mercurialis annua…

…which, if you like your plants alive, would be more delightful than the Slender Thistle Carduus tenuiflorus.

Though there were some rosettes of next year’s plants too.

We finished the day at Collingham where the Trent kept its shoreline plants secret but the final hour in the gravel workings was more interesting with 7 Little Egrets, one or two Curlews and a too distant godwit for a specific id.

WEDNESDAY 26TH AUGUST 2020

LANGFORD LOWFIELDS + DCW

Over the past few years when ‘square-bashing’ for the atlas was the priority, segueing into birds occurred later in the year than this. The objective of the day was the avifauna but there were lots of plants to see – and it’s just as well because birds were very unexciting, though it did begin well with several sightings of a Hobby or Hobbies.

We headed off to the Trent to begin with but the tide was in and the river had backed-up, covering the beaches that hold some interesting plants. However some were on show including Tasteless Water-pepper Persicaria mitis, Beggarticks Bidens frondosa, Marsh Yellow-cress Rorippa palustris and, I think Water-pepper Persicaria hydropiper.

Anglers, we learned, come from far and wide (well Hertfordshire at least) to try for a big Barbel at what is the premier site for such a challenge, with a recent specimen approaching the national record (of 21lb 2oz).

Does anyone know what this is?

Dave brought it to my attention as looking ‘not right’ for a Herring Gull with a mantle that is too dark, but not dark enough for a LBB. I had a go at pinning it down but gull identification has moved on since I was keen and is now a subject in itself.

Trifid Bur-marigold Bidens tripartita is the native version of the American Beggarticks.

White Melilot Melilotus albus, is pretty easy as the others are yellow-flowered (but beware albinos, says Dave). I only saw the one plant.

The foregoing was before we entered the RSPB reserve which as I have already said, was rather short on interesting birds, though there were many more than the 10 Little Egrets that I managed to count (and we did see one or two Greenshanks and a Great Egret late on) but the flora was diverse thtoughout though without any really notables.

On Greater Bird’s-foot Trefoil, the calyx teeth curve outwards (at least the lower ones) while in bud. These flowers are a little advanced but the character is still visible.

Greater Duckweed Spirodela polyrhiza is said (by Dave) to be spreading. Here it is with Lemna minor and Lemna trisulca (though I can’t make the latter out in the photo).

There was reported to be a Caspian Gull in the area but don’t let that influence your gull id.

MONDAY 10TH AUGUST 2020

ANCASTER, LINCS +DCW

A return to Lincolnshire after just less than one week and we parked up outside Ancaster Church where a plaque draws attention to the Roman origins of this village at the crossing of Ermine Street (which I heard of when I was at school) and King Street (which I’d never previously heard of).

I had also heard of the Ancaster Gap, indeed it probably cropped up in some 1968 geography exam as being the place where the River Trent once flowed until a glacier blocked the passage and the mighty river had to find a new course to the sea – northwards to the Humber, which it subsequently found to its liking and has followed ever since.

The Ancaster Valley is another thing altogether. It is dry and its origins seem bathed in the mystery of ancient history, though melting glaciers may have played a part.

It is now an attractive nature reserve and SSSI that hosts a good selection of calcicolous plants; many that a botanist might predict and a few that a Nottinghamshire one might not be accustomed to.

Thus Dwarf Thistle, Common Centaury, Saw-wort and Agrimony were on the scene but Squinancywort (Asperula cynanchica) almost evaded us and Horseshoe Vetch (Hippocrepis comosa) (which evaded us last week) appeared readily once we had been enlightened.

Horseshoe Vetch is a favoured food-plant of both Adonis and Chalkhill Blue and Ancaster is the last known site in Lincolnshire for the latter species of butterfly. With the good management of the grasslands around Ancaster, might this species return?

This one became quite a companion and continued to enjoy the valley from its elevated position during an interesting and prolonged discussion with an Ancaster resident and her Border Terrier (the latter contributed little to the conversation).

Some of that discussion related to bush-crickets, of which I have a working knowledge but it is rusty when it goes beyond coneheads and Roesel’s. So this one, I have only seen once or twice before and I’ve always understood it to be an inhabitant of shrubs and trees – they occur at Rushcliffe Country Park; this one was in the hot grassland.

Apparently quite common, its call is an ultrasonic, intermittent click; hard to hear and hard to locate from a bat detector.

Ancaster is rightly proud of its Tall Thrift distinction (though BSBI online maps suggest there is at least one other plant just outside Aldershot).

MOOR CLOSES
For the last few hours we wandered the nearby Moor Closes nature reserve, which is a wetland site with Ragged Robin, Fen Bedstraw and a range of sedges as well as Devil’s-bit Scabious (Succissa pratensis).

The final hour of so involved this incapacitated calf in a muddy drain. It had made a couple of attempts to get out but seemed tired and irretrievably stuck. My pulling on its neck and Dave lifting its haunches had no impact at all and following a message to the Lincs Trust we called 911 unsure as to whether we would be convicted for the abuse of public services but within moments Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue were on their way.

Emergency sirens were heard in due course and ultimately 13 personnel, two fire engines and a rescue boat were on the scene.

The calf seemed to know full well that all this commotion would see it freed from the mud and it contentedly chewed the cud like a wallowing water buffalo while beefy firefighters heaved and moved on to plan 2…… and 3…..

I was hoping to capture the moment that the grateful beast was released but tea-time tempted, and on the way back a Roe Deer played chicken on the A52, getting bowled over twice but seemingly getting to the other side with just a few bruises.

TUESDAY 4TH AUGUST 2020

RAUCEBY WARREN, LINCS + DCW

A drive of under one hour found us amid new scenery and a couple of fantastically rich Lincs WT nature reserves. Rich at least for the botany but the cloud stubbornly remained and a spitting drizzle accompanied an increasing breeze so the invertebrates mostly kept themselves hidden.

Ploughman’s Spikenard was the first notable plant, found near the western entrance.

Carex spicata was the most frequent sedge though Dave picked out C. muricata too.

Carex spicata on the left with Carex muricata

Sadly for the less sharp-eyed among us, the long bract on the spicata is not consistent and no help in identification. C. spicata has a ligule that is longer than wide.

Purple Milk-vetch (Astralagus danicus) is one of the specialities here being a local plant confined to old calcareous grassland, mainly in eastern Britain.

The sun briefly promised a prolonged appearance and we managed 9 species in total including a couple of Essex Skippers, this one on a head of Yarrow.

The next one was a wonderful treat for me as I hadn’t seen it before (even though it can be found at Wilwell, a few miles from my home) and because I knew what it was without help – other than having it pointed out to me in the first place. In one area, Adder’s-tongue was truly numerous with hundreds of plants across the bed of the old quarry which over the winter is flooded; last winter, to a tremendous depth as evidenced by the snow-white mats of stranded algae.

Here’s another scarce plant that I recognised though this time I have seen it before – as an arable weed in eastern Notts. This is Dwarf Spurge.

Two plants of dry calcareous soils, so not found in my neck of the woods are Basil Thyme and Knotted Pearlwort. Despite their habitat preferences their national distributions are quite different with Basil Thyme being southern with strongholds in the North and South Downs and along the Cretaceous chalk from Norfolk to the Cotswolds whilst the pearlwort is mainly northern, though both occur in the Peak District and so are well known to Dave.

The main objective of the day took some finding but Dave spotted it after about four hours of heads down. A lot of the plants mentioned today are small and low-growing but Smooth Rupturewort is diminutive in the extreme with flowers about 2mm across. Once spotted though, we readily found more at the eastern end of the reserve. Nationally rare, it is found at widely distributed locations throughout England with a minor stronghold in the Brecks.

Determination of the identity was clouded in the field by the styles being indistinguishable with a x10 lens and the stems of the plant being quite hairy (not glabrous) but that is permitted.

Favourites of mine are the two fluellens. I think this is because I found one that was then the first scarce plant of my independent botanical efforts.

DUKE’S COVERT

For the final hour of out trip east of Grantham, we switched to another Lincs Trust reserve a short drive away that was surely the most floriferous place I’ve ever visited. I took many more pictures but I think three more is enough.

Duke’s Covert is shown as scrub on the OS map and the Trust literature states that it had become overgrown and dominated by Bracken but good management has restored this site which has a lot of Perforate St. John’s-wort, Burnet-saxifrage and Common Knapweed along with Greater Knapweed, Field Scabious, Small Scabious, Harebell, Common Rock-rose, Dropwort, Dwarf Thistle and the very rare inland form of Thrift.

This subspecies of ‘Sea-pink’ is classed as Critically Endangered and only found around here and at a site near Aldershot.

WEDNESDAY 29TH JULY

GOTHAM + DCW

We must be getting well known here (though we do keep ourselves to ourselves largely) as we spent another full day in the parish starting with a search for a national rarity last recorded here by Dave 30 years ago. In looking, we (or rather, Dave) found this Hieracium – one of the notorious hawkweeds. This one had lots of leaves along its stem (mostly more than 15) and so is Hieracium section Sabauda and since H. sabaudum is said (by Stace) to be the common one in central England, it’s probably that one.

This Common Carpet put in an appearance and as it is so fresh, I thought it should grace this page.

Having failed to find to find the intended plant, we explored the Sandbanks nature reserve finding Sanicle, Hay Rattle, Great Burnet, Burnet Saxifrage and a Marbled White that flitted about too much for a decent photo.

Disappointingly we only found the remains of last season’s Carline Thistle with no 2020 plants on show and neither did we find Common Twayblade but that may be because we didn’t look hard enough.

This looks a lot like Torymus auratus in Brock’s Insect guide but I’m not putting money on it as there are 75 British and Irish species in its family (Torymidae). If I’m right about the family it is a Chalcid wasp; these are closely related to gall wasps but they do not produce galls but are rather, parasitoids of those that do. (Torymus auratus actually goes for various oak galls and since this one is hanging out on a lime leaf then I’m probably wrong about the id).

Here is another identification to be regarded with caution;

My first attempt at identifying a harvestman, and from a photograph at that is, I dare say quite risky but it looks close to other photos. If correct, Opilio canestrinii is a recent coloniser having first been found in the UK in 1999 but it is said now to be common and widespread and likely to oust the two native Opilios.

After a fill of chalky grassland and scrub, we set off for an afternoon session on the moors, passing by the location for the rarity and lo and behold, there it was. Lesser Meadow-rue (Thalictrum minus) where I had come across it a couple of years ago without realising the significance – or its true identity. This is a garden throw-out here though it is a native plant elsewhere but it is not the commonest garden Meadow-rue which turns out to be Thalictrum aquilegiifolium (French Meadow-rue).

I don’t recall seeing Banded Demoiselle so far from water but this one was in the village, some distance from the brook where I assume it originated.

The moor loop produced quite a big Wych Elm, loads of Greater Burnet-saxifrage, a Buff Footman and a pair of Yellow Wagtails. There was also lots of water-starwort in the dykes identified in the field (by Dave) as Callitriche obtusangula (Blunt-fruited Water Starwort),

Blunt-fruited Water-Starwort (with Three-spined Sticklebacks)

An update from Dave will be of interest to Callitriche-philes: Dave took home five rosettes and found that 3 were C. stagnalis and 2 were C. obtusangula (all identified on pollen size and/or fruit shape).

FRIDAY 24TH JULY 2020

DEEP DALE, DERBYS. + FAM

A very pleasant excursion to the Peak District. Just a little over 1 hour and 10 minutes drive found us parked up a little north of Ashford in the Water by 10am for a stroll into Deep Dale and within minutes, the first unfamiliar plant of the day; a tall thing with burrs on.

Slowly the inner computer processed this and came up with Small Teasel, and a check in the picture book (don’t tell Dave) found a close match. Wife and daughter would have wept if they’d had to put up with me trawling through a flora and Chico would have died of frustration on entering a wonderful new location and been told to sit.

I’m pretty sure I’ve been here before, and quite recently, but I must have just passed through on a long walk. Botanically it is a pristine version of Gotham Hills with plants that we struggled to find there on Tuesday being abundant here, with a few more besides. The Orpine (Sedum telephium) reminded me of our garden ‘Ice Plant’ that, as a child used to attract so many late summer butterflies to our garden. I think that one is Sedum spectabile (Butterfly Stonecrop). [EDIT; It’s not because it has alternate (not opposite) leaves and is more likely to be the hybrid between telephium and spectabile known as Sedum ‘Herbstfreude’]

Fern-wise there is no comparison and Zoe decided we should have a limestone rockery in the garden, clothed as here, with Maidenhair Spleenwort.

Sunshine was in short supply for much of the morning but there was enough to entice a few lepidoptera into activity including a Dark-green Fritillary or two and maybe a couple of Wall Browns but the breeze drifted them strongly and the latter’s determination must stay at uncertain – its flight period suggest this would be a late date for a spring generation and an early date for a second generation and in this century, I’ve had very little experience of the species.

This poor photo is of Pyrausta despicata, a moth I’ve not knowingly seen before but I’m reasonably certain of the id. It is described as being found in suitably chalky and limestone habitats throughout the British Isles and it would be interesting to know if that includes Gotham. Weirdly its food-plants are the ubiquitous plantains, begging the question of why it only likes plantains on chalky soils – perhaps it prefers Plantago media, which was showing well?

After a sluggish inspection of the dale, we set off for a more brisk walk up the valley to the village of Sheldon but the botanical interest remained and included this showy specimen.

Galeopsis speciosa is a new one for me but easily achieved given its obvious affiliation to the lamiaceae and its showy flowers. Nationally it probably ranks as the scarcest plant of the day though for me, it was just as new as Wall Lettuce (Mycelis muralis) which stuck me as like Nipplewort but worth a closer look. Its leaves are totally different.

Stuff not already mentioned: a year tick for Redstart, the now expected Raven, plus Crosswort, Common Rockrose, Wild Thyme, Burnet Saxifrage, Wood Sage and Wild Marjoram … and this Brittle Bladder Fern:

TUESDAY 21ST JULY 2020

GOTHAM + DCW

I thought Gotham was the ‘village of the goats’ but there are lots of interpretation panels around this attractive village surrounded by glorious hills to the north and west and fen-like moors to the east. One of these panels explains that Gotham was at a junction of routes from Nottingham to Loughborough and a branch off to Kegworth and Derby so the name comes from Danish ‘gata’ or road from which our ‘gate’ is derived.

The day started sunny and despite a forecast of cloudy later, it remained largely so and we got a good helping of insects along with the plants that were our principal objective. Shaded Broad-bar is often disturbed during the day and we saw three altogether . Other moths were Mother of Pearl, Six-spot Burnet and lots of ‘crambids’ which are generally too much trouble but Crysoteuchia culmella was among them.

Image of Brimstone nectaring at Teasel. — Brimstone and Teasel

Only one Brimstone was seen but the species was among 13 seen on the day – all of which were predictable and I suppose Essex Skipper would have to be the most notable and Common Blue only just made it, being outnumbered 3 to 1 by Brown Argus.

Dave’s 35 years or so of field botany means that he has a sound knowledge of underlying rocks which so influences the flora and I had a lesson in the geology of these hills. We had elevenses on Jurassic limestone, having just crossed an outcrop of something else where I had found a piece of gypsum. That’s all I can remember. Anyway plants like Wild Thyme like it here, though they would like it more if it wasn’t dominated by Tor Grass and we only managed one little patch of it whilst Stemless Thistle was nowhere to be seen; perhaps its time is up.

Other notables loosely associated with the calcareous soil were Common Restharrow, Common Centaury, Burnet Saxifrage, Meadow Oat-grass (Helichtotrichon pratense) and Salad Burnet.

Sherardia arvensis has really tiny flowers and was growing next to the thyme.

I can’t resist intimate admiration of one of our most spectacular local insects.

Looking north-east from Cheese Hill with Brian Clough Way and poppies in the mid distance and Eastcroft incinerator stack to the right.

Thirteen species of butterfly on the day included Large White.

Amblyteles armatorius is an ichneumon wasp and a parasitoid of the pupae of noctuid moths. The rotter.

I have said before about how the variation in colouring of our common grasshoppers causes me much confusion and my ‘Photographic Guide’ to the orthoptera contains none with this colour combination. It is an adult female because it is ovipositing in the soil there and its short wings support the identification as Chorthippus parallelus because females are normally short-winged (though there is a long-winged form!). The bulge on the costa of the short wing is another sign. The parallelus tag refers to the sutures along the top of the pronontum and these are reasonably parallel in this one but not easy to see.

When Dave stooped for a closer look at this, I thought he was going to tell me the time.

There are 248 micro species of Dandelion though no-one in Nottinghamshire at least, can identify them. A simpler solution is to follow Stace who lumps similar ones into 9 sections and those purplish-violet achenes steer this one into section Erythrosperma.

Back off the hills, Dave insisted I’ve seen this before somewhere but I don’t remember it.

Given its situation in the channel of the road, I has assumed that it liked salt but it’s just a generalist of ‘waste places, waysides and tips’. There was some shrivelled Lesser Sea-spurrey, which does like salt (or at least tolerate it) nearby.

This much showier plant, had also been relegated to my memory’s dusty shelves as I know I’ve seen it before in exactly this same place! There is a form of Common Knapweed that has those rayed outer florets but that’s no excuse since everything else about it is quite different.