HICKLING + DCW.
Our first ‘square bash’ of the season to fill in some squares with missed early-season plants for the forthcoming national atlas. We succeeded in that and added a few nice surprises as well in the form of Greater Stitchwort Stellaria holostea and Rue-leaved Saxifrage Saxifrags tridactylites, this time in flower. There were lots of these on a pavement in the village.
The churchyard has a massive old poplar with the biggest looking girth I think I’ve ever seen on a tree. Sadly despite some surgery to its upperparts, it looks to be nearing the end as it also had the biggest bracket fungus I’ve definitely ever seen at its base.
The sun shone and the butterflies were busy. Lots of Small Tortoiseshells and Orange-tips several Brimstones and singles of Holly Blue, Green-veined White and Speckled Wood.
These flies are Face Flies Muscari autumnalis or at least I’m fairly confident that they are. Hickling is a dairy village with next to nothing in the way of arable but several fields of rye-grass leys for sileage. Face Flies pester cattle by feeding on secretions from around the eyes though these were just enjoying the warm sunshine after a long hibernation.
These friendly and inquisitive heiffers accompanied us for a spell.
