With a weather forecast for the entire
week being grey and gloomy, I was somewhat pleased to see clear blue skies
outside this morning so I hauled myself from my post breakfast slumpage and
headed up the road towards the woods.
The M2 foot tunnel was particularly
grim this morning and it is such a pity that the wonderful natural history
murals that adorned its walls have steadily been obliterated by the illiterate denizens
of such places. The species depicted may not be some of the more regulalrly encountered in the area (including two species of Albatross) but there used to be
a wealth of insects and plants depicted too but most have now been tagged to oblivion.
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Waved and Wandering?
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With the vegetation die back a strange
little way marker has appeared just before going into the tunnel but I have no
idea what it designates!
I have studiously avoided coming up
here at the weekends as this is when the off road bikes largely appear and they
have made a complete mess of the unavoidable main path that leads up to the Eurostar
crossing. Thankfully the squeeze bar the
other side is too small and they can’t enter Ranscombe.
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Sallow
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Anyway, enough griping, as I came out
to escape the fug of Covid related frustrations that hang over every
conversation that you have with friends, family and your own head.
The woods were quiet as I trudged up
towards the Darnley Mausoleum with the just the odd strident Robin and calling
Crest to distract my progress before I turned right and onto one of the small
tracks that leads back downhill towards Knights Place Stables. This was where I
had the fledged Tawny owl in the early summer. A large Tit flock moved through
with Blue, Great, Coal and Long-tailed as well as quite a few acrobatic
energetic Goldcrests. They were largely silent with just the odd peep and tsee and
were joined by the dry sound of random leaves being jettisoned in the slight
breeze and tapping slightly as they hit twigs and branches on their descent.
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I do love a Sweet Chestnut trunk
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Goldcrest
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Grey Squirrels rummaged in the leaf
litter and scampered around flaky Silver
Birch trunks and I followed the slotted prints of Fallow Deer down the same
path but never saw them. I entered the Cobham NT area and wended my way through
the Highland Cattle paths at a jaunty angle across the plot stopping occasionally
to listen to Nuthatches investigating the underside of one of the big Inonotus hispidus (I think) Bracket
fungus that adorn the tall Ash trees.
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Turkey Tails
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Beech
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Nuthatch
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| Inonotus hispidus |
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Slightly younger Inonotus hispidus - I hope
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I encountered Treecreepers and both
Green and Great Spotted Woodpeckers and a large feeding party of Redwings that
skittishly came up from the forest floor and lost themselves in the canopy but
could still be heard as many of them were quietly sub-singing, forming a
background burble of sound. A single Fieldfare was chacking in with them
somewhere and the mournful song of a Mistle Thrush was being delivered from the
highest point of a mature Oak.
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| Great Spotted Woodpecker |
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Mistle Thrush
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I eventually stumbled into the
Highlands who were as usual unobtrusively feeding deep in the Bracken but they
merely looked up and nodded a morning before getting back to the joy of grazing
Brambles.
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There was an amazing crop of Privet berries
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I climbed again and then dropped down
towards the southern boundary footpath and although I had not walked this way
before I had a good idea that there should be a gate out of the cattle
enclosure somewhere close by and
thankfully the inner SpazNav (TM) was spot on.
Looking out across the Lower Bush valley, I could see the weather front moving in from the west but it was slow moving
and I hoped to stay in the cool sunshine for the rest of the walk. Now that I
know what the ‘new green fields’ are across the way it has become clear just
how many fields have been turned over to Vineyards this season and the rows of
thousands of plastic vine protectors could be seen way off into the distance
towards Luddesdown. The woods along this side were quiet and the fields had
Skylarks and Carrion Crows while a Grey Heron lumbered over and was probably my
first for the site.
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The pea-green areas are all new vineyards
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Grey Heron
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More vineyards in the distance which I walked through the other week
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A single Violet flowered on the path
side and there were still a few Bramble blooms but other than the odd
Calliphora, I did not see many flying insects at all. I did however find some fresh Cow Parsley growth which I inspected for the leaf mines of a fly called Phytomyza chaerophylli. I only thought to look havign seen it on the Essex Field Club FB page a couple of days ago!
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Calliphora I think
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| Gnat and a fly which i think may be Pseudolyciella?
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More Privet
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Very early Early Dog Violet (Viola reichenbachiana)
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| Mistletoe |
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Bramble
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Phytomyza chaerophylli fly mines on Cow Parsley
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Phytomyza agromyzina fly mine on Dogwood
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My path took my back up to Brockles,
passing a wildlife adorned bench that must have previously been hidden from my
view, and then across Kitchen Field before following the main path along the
edge of the Chestnut back towards the main car park. I was even quieter here
with just a few Goldcrests so I amused myself with taking pictures of moth leaf
mines to send to Antony when I got home! I shall add names where possibly over the coming days!
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Badger, Buzzard, LIzard, Long-eared Bat and Dormouse
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The greyness encrouching
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| Chestnut Pigmy - Stigmella samiatella on Sweet Chestnut |
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| Chestnut Pigmy - Stigmella samiatella on Sweet Chestnut |
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| Garden Midget Phyllonorycter messaniella on Sweet Chestnut |
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Top one is Sallow Pigmy - Stigmella salicis on Sallow - Blotch unknown
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Lyonetia clerkella on Hornbeam |
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Nut-tree Pigmy - Stigmella microtheriella on Hornbeam
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| Nut-tree Pigmy - Stigmella microtheriella on Hazel |
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| Nut Leaf Blister Moth - Phyllonorycter coryli (blotch) on Hazel |
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| Apple Leaf Miner - Lyonetia clerkella (wiggle) and Hazel Slender - Parornix devoniella (blotch) on Hazel |
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| Nut-tree Pigmy - Stigmella microtheriella on Hazel |
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possibly Phyllonorycter
quercifoliella on English Oak
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possibly Phyllonorycter
quercifoliella on English Oak - upperside of the above
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| Apple Leaf Miner - Lyonetia clerkella on Cherry |
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| Golden Pigmy - Stigmella aurella on Bramble |
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| Golden Pigmy - Stigmella aurella on Bramble |
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| Dewberry Pigmy - Ectoedemia rubivora on Bramble |
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Short-barred Pigmy - Stigmella luteela on Birch
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I took the last path left back up into
the trees which as hoped brought me back out at the Eurostar bridge and the
mile and a bit downhill trundle home.
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Great Mullein
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