Thirty-two members and friends (probably a record number for a Wednesday walk) met at Bridge End in Dorchester for a gentle walk beside the River Thame and the River Thames and through the nearby water meadows, now being actively conserved and improved by the local community. The walk started after an engrossing visit to Dorchester Abbey. Ken Thomas, the ever interesting but not always optimistic leader stated that “there is not much natural history in August” so many of the party set about proving him wrong, with little difficulty.
The hamlet of Overy sounds as if it ought to be very fertile and it proved to be so. The water plants beside the Thame were in excellent condition and a nearby ditch had Trifid Bur-marigold, Water Plantain as well as the ever-delightful Water Forget-me-not. A damp cornfield had a rich supply of arable weeds: members were struck by the unexpectedly pleasant aroma from Creeping Thistles, which were a good source of insect observations including a number of Small Copper butterflies. The Thames-side path was less productive but colour was provided by Purple Loosestrife and the first Michaelmas Daisies.
A few of us explored Bridge End Meadow and found the rare Greater Dodder and Flowering Rush, surely one of our most beautiful wild flowers. Lunch in the Fleur-de Lys completed a very pleasant morning.
Text by Chris Bucke
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Plants |
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| Angelica | Angelica archangelica |
| Birdsfoot Trefoil | Lotus corniculatus |
| Black Bindweed | Fallopia convolvulus |
| Trifid Bur-Marigold | Bidens tripartata |
| Bur-reed | Sparganium erectum |
| Comfrey | Symphytum officinale |
| Common fleabane | Pulicaria dysenterica |
| Common Water Plantain | Alisma plantago-aquatica |
| Corn Sow Thistle | Sonchus arvensis |
| CreepingThistle | Cirsium arvense |
| Fat Hen | Chenopodium album |
| Fool’s Parsley | Aethusa cynapium |
| Flowering Rush | Butomus umbellatus |
| Fumitory sp. | Fumaria |
| Goatsbeard | Tragopogon porrifolius |
| Greater Dodder | Cuscuta europaea |
| Great Hairy Willowherb | Epinobium hirsutum |
| Gypsywort | Lycopus europaeus |
| Hogweed | Heracleum sphondylium |
| Lady’s Bedstraw | Galium verum |
| Lucerne | Medicago sativa |
| Marsh Woundwort | Stachys palustris |
| Meadowsweet | Filipendula ulmaria |
| Purple Loosestrife | Lythrum salicaria |
| Redshank (Redleg?) | Persicaria maculosa |
| Silverweed | Potentilla anserina |
| Sun Spurge | Euphorbia helioscopia |
| Tansy | Tanacetum vulgare |
| Teasel | Dipsacis fullonium |
| Water Forget-me-not | Myosotis palustris |
| Water Mint | Mentha aquatica |
| Wild (Prickly) Lettuce | Lactuca virosa |
| Yarrow | Achillea millefolium |
| Yellow Loosestrife | Lysimachia punctata |
| Yellow Rattle | Rhinanthus minor |
| Yellow Water Lily | Nuphar lutea |
| Birds | |
| Kingfisher | |
| Great Crested Grebe with young | |