Walks
This is an RSS feed showing our 10 latest walks. To see them all go to our walks blog
Had a trip out Baston Fen in the afternoon. Amazing that a relatively small reserve could keep us occupied for a couple of hours. Had to negotiate some cows that were very interested in us. Graham spent most of the time sweep netting (no ground beetles) and Jane made a collection of willows. A fox was surprised to see us. From here it was onto the local garden centre for a cuppa before going home.
On the Friday night we headed to Old Sulehay to set a load of pitfall traps over the reserve for the Wildlife Trust. In the morning we returned to investigate what ground beetles we had caught over the evening. Spent most of the day logging what species were caught. Then in the afternoon spent time in the lab identifying more of the beetles; which turned out to be really enjoyable. In the evening we made a special trip to locate Ulmus plotii which was our 1000th native species seen in the UK. We then came back in the next day to continue the beetle survey.
After meeting up in Wakerley, we headed for Colly Weston quarries. What a difference in the weather - freezing compared to yesterday. Didn't see anything which we hadn't seen before. From here it was to a roadside near Castor Hanglands to see Falcaria vulgaris. It was then all the way back to Wakerley Great Wood. We were amazed that we were so close to the Yellow Star of Bethlehem site earlier in the year.
Met the WFS in the centre of Wakerley. From here we walked to a disused airfield to look for Rough Poppy and French Bartisia. Had our dinner in the shade of a large straw bale stack as it was a very warm day. From here the convoy went on to Kings Cliffe where we saw Large Dodder. Then on the way home we stopped beside the A47 to look at Lepidium latifolium which was growing at the very edge of the road. Tired, we headed home for fish'n'chips.
Visited the Kings Dyke Nature Reserve in Wittlesey. This was once a big brick pit that has been converted to a nature reserve. It was a lovely spot. Had a look for fossils, mainly ammonites, in a special area where they dump fossil rich spoil. Spent some time in the bird hide, Graham was eager to try his key, and made a good plant list for the site.
Arrived on Saturday afternoon to spend the Bank Holiday weekend with PCV on their annual camping and work trip at Stibbington Nature Reserve. Graham was soon set to task helping to repair a pair of bridges, while Jane enjoyed the sunshine. In the evening Graham went on a bat walk and then on Sunday evening everyone had a BBQ - which was dodged between the showers. Very basic camping, but very enjoyable even though Jane's bump made sleeping a little difficult.
In the afternoon had a trip out to Woodwalton Fen. The aim had been for a quick trip to see some new plants that Jane had seen earlier in the week. Turned out to be a three hour walk although we did get to see some new plants and plenty of dragonflies as it was a very sunny and hot afternoon. Our main finds being marsh and golden dock. We would have stayed longer but Jane's itch(!) couldn't continue, so we went home - with an ice-cream on the way.
Drove further afield than normal to south of Bedford to visit some reserves. Stopped in Ampthill to get some food which we ate in the local country park. Had a stroll round Coopers Hill an area of heathland. Graham was in full weevil mode. We then drove a few miles south to Flitwick Moor, which turned out to be a very nice spot with a mixture of habitats: from fen to meadow. Saw Scirpus sylvatica, which we hadn't seen for 5 years. It was then a cross country dash to Saffron Walden for our tea.
After spending the previous evening at the windmill with Quentin we decided to have a walk somewhere on the north Norfolk coast. Although the morning started off wet it soon became very warm. Our destination was the NWT reserve of Holme Dunes. Did a plant list and it was soon quite large even though we didn't actually travel very far. Had our dinner looking out to sea, before checking out the bird hides. Not much about. It was then an ice cream in Hunstanton before heading home.
Met up at the Field Station at the Old Sulehay reserve to do some specific recording. We were assigned one of the newly restored plots to carry out our quadrat/transect monitoring. It was a lovely day and we managed to complete 5 in the morning and 4 in the afternoon. All very rewarding work but a good job Jane remembered to take a seat with her. By mid afternoon it had become too hot to continue so we said our good-byes. Took a long detour home as a road was closed and ended up in Helpston garden centre for another icecream!
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