Nine intrepid members met in pouring rain with the occasional flash of lightning to stroll around the downland and admire the chalk grassland plants. Fortunately, the rain gradually gave way to watery sunshine. Most of the species anticipated were found, with rather fewer pyramidal orchids than expected but plenty of squinancywort, centaury, perfiolate yellow-wort, stemless thistles, thyme and scabious. An area disturbed by rabbit activity was investigated in the hope of rediscovering the white horehound noted in 2006 but that was absent. That area did produce several plants of common gromwell.
Moving round to Lough Down we were impressed by the different appearance of the grassland: salad burnet was very plentiful and there were many anthills. Detailed inspection of these showed that each had its own ecology, some had a mixture of plant species, some had mainly rockroses, some mainly thyme.
Some butterflies were seen, mainly meadow browns, but the weather precluded sightings of any rarer species.
(article by Chris Bucke, photos & species list by Ricki Bull)
Plants
Marjoram
Stemless thistle
Selfheal
Agrimony
Small scabious
Burnet saxifrage
Dead yellow-wort
Ladies bedstraw
Quaking grass
Kidney vetch
Carrot
Hypericum perforatum
Rest harrow
Rough chervil
Centaury
Squinancywort
Thyme (drucei?)
Carline thistle
Harebell
Gromwell
Clustered bellflower
Nodding thistle
Eyebright
Salad burnet
Dropwort
Wild basil
Speedwell
Rock rose (not in flower)
Carex flacca
Hedge bedstraw
Hop trefoil
Red bartsia
Ribwork plantain
Field bindweed
Burdock
Birds
Red-legged partridge
Chiffchaff
Harrier
Invertebrates
Moth – Heart and Club