Equipped with sunhats, water bottles, binoculars and hand lenses, it really didn’t feel as if the Amber warning for heat was kicking in just yet. In the company of wildflower expert Simon Harrap, a group of us wandered through the dappled mixed woodland along the northern perimeter of the reserve – stopping every so often to learn about rough chervil, forget-me-nots and their smaller cousins, field forget-me nots and how to identify the tricky false oat grass amongst the greenery. Reaching the Wildflower Meadow, Ranger Dave Ward talked about the history and management of this lovely part of the reserve. It’s a boom year for Barn Owls, and the meadow provides optimum conditions for voles, shrews and mice scurrying about on their pathways under the plants and feeding on the abundance of seeds and insects the meadow provides.
The marsh thistles waved in the delicious cool breeze, unsettling the meadow brown butterflies perched on the top and sending them flitting away in search of more stable perches. We took the circular path around the meadow, finding ragged robin, sorrel, fen bedstraw and common valerian- which is creamy and more delicate than the red ones we find on verges. Marsh orchids produced ‘wows’, especially on closer inspection of the sepals and the one intricately designed petal. Crested dog’s-tail grass poked its one-sided flowers spikes out and meadowsweet, known to have pain-killing properties, showed us its lovely frothy pale flowers. In the damper areas of the meadow, sedges and rushes dominate; we learnt that their stems help with identifying them - “Rrrushes are Rrround and sedges are well, triangular”.
Visiting the Barn Owl box in the big barn, we came across a very odd looking and anti-social looking plant Simon told us was bristly ox tongue. What looked like festering pustules adorned the rough looking hairy leaves, with hooked bristles protruding from them. The Little Shop of Horrors crossed my mind…
A super informative walk, and a joy to be caught up in Simon’s quiet enthusiasm for his subject.
Ellen - Forest School Leader