Jan Haseler led a walk at Oven Bottom on Saturday 10th August. Oven Bottom is an area of fine chalk grassland on open access land which had not previously been visited by the Society. The walk started form the end of the lane at Woodway, above Blewbury. Members set out up the track towards the Ridgeway. Both Common and Greater Knapweed were in flower beside the track, allowing comparison between the lanceolate leaves of the former and the larger pinnate leaves of the latter. At the first junction, the route turned left along a track next to the racehorse gallops. Yellow Common Toadflax flowers were seen on the grassy verge, a Yellowhammer was singing loudly from the top of a hawthorn bush and a Clouded Yellow butterfly flew across the gallop.
At the point where the track turned into the Oven Bottom access land, there was an interesting arable field margin. Amongst the scarlet Common Poppies were a few smaller, dark crimson Rough Poppies, with round, bristly seed capsules. Small Toadflax was also noted here. A Raven called as it flew high overhead. The route then led into the Oven Bottom grassland. The top of the first slope was dominated by long grass and Wild Parsnip. Dropping down to the steeper part of the valley, the richness of the flora rapidly increased, with Small Scabious, Common Knapweed, Harebells, Clustered Bellflower, Burnet Saxifrage, Common Rock-rose, Squinancywort, Hawkweed Oxtongue, Mignonette and eyebright amongst the sightings. Amongst the many knapweed flowers, Sally Rankin spotted the slightly smaller and paler flower heads of Saw-wort, with brighter green leaves and a narrow, oblong, purplish smooth involucre below the flower, contrasting with the rough spherical involucre of the knapweed. The last time that Saw-wort was recorded on a Society field trip was on the very acid soils of Bartley Heath – it came as a surprise to some members to see Saw-wort in such a different setting – but the flower book does indeed include both heathland and calcareous grassland as habitats where it can be found.
Chalkhill Blue and Meadow Brown butterflies were abundant. Also on the wing were Common Blue, Brown Argus, Large and Small White, Small Skipper, a single Small Copper and another Clouded Yellow. There were bees on many of the flower-heads of knapweed and scabious. These were identified by Graham Saunders as the females of Bombus lucorum and B. terrestris, and the males of the Cuckoo bees B. vestalis and B. campestris. A wasps’ nest was found, which had been dug out by a Badger. There were still many wasps in the hole, with greenish heads and yellow bodies. Finally, about 20 Frog Orchid flower-spikes were found towards the eastern end of the north-facing slope of the southern valley.
Pictures by Rob Stallard and Laurie Haseler
RDNHS trip to Oven Bottom nr Blewbury, 10-08-13, SU5383
Plant species observed:
Along path:
| Centaurea nigra | Common Knapweed |
| Centaurea scabiosa | Greater Knapweed |
| Ononis repens | Common Restharrow |
| Agrimonia eupatoria | Agrimony |
| Vicia cracca | Tufted Vetch |
| Medicago lupulina | Black Medick |
| Convolvulus arvensis | Field Bindweed |
| Achillea millefolium | Yarrow |
| Anagallis arvensis | Scarlet Pimpernel |
| Lamium amlexicaule | Henbit Dead-nettle |
| Potentilla anserina | Silverweed |
| Lotus corniculatus | Common Bird’s-foot-trefoil |
| Linaria vulgaris | Common Toadflax |
| Galium verum | Lady’s Bedstraw |
| Reseda lutea | Wild Mignonette |
Weedy Patch:
| Sisymbrium officinale | Hedge Mustard |
| Carduus nutans | Musk Thistle |
| Papaver rhoeas | Common Poppy |
| Papaver hybridum | Rough Poppy |
| Chenopodium album | Fat-hen |
| Matricaria discoidea | Pineappleweed |
| Heracleum sphondyleum | Hogweed |
| Euphorbia helioscopia | Sun Spurge |
| Veronica persica | Common Field-speedwell |
| Polygonum aviculare | Knotgrass |
| Plantago major | Greater Plantain |
| Fallopia convolvulus | Black-bindweed |
| Capsella bursa-pastoris | Shepherd’s-purse |
| Aethusa cynapium | Fool’s Parsley |
| Chaenorhinum minus | Small Toadflax |
| Viola arvensis | Field Pansy |
| Galium aparine | Cleavers |
| Sonchus arvensis | Perennial Sow-thistle |
Chalk hills:
| Rhinanthus minor | Yellow-rattle |
| Silene latifolia | White Campion |
| Pastinaca sativa | Wild Parsnip (very abundant) |
| Brachypodium pinnatum | Tor-grass (very abundant) |
| Odontites vernus | Red Bartsia |
| Arrhenatherum elatius | False Oat-grass |
| Pimpinella saxifraga | Burnet-saxifrage |
| Asperula cynanchica | Squinancywort |
| Helianthemum nummularium | Common Rock-rose |
| Campanula rotundifolia | Harebell |
| Scabiosa columbaria | Small Scabious |
| Filipendula vulgaris | Dropwort |
| Daucus carota | Wild Carrot |
| Sanguisorba minor | Salad Burnet |
| Senecio jacobaea | Common Ragwort |
| Campanula glomerata | Clustered Bellflower |
| Primula veris | Cowslip (in fruit) |
| Linum catharticum | Fairy Flax |
| Briza media | Quaking-grass |
| Vicia hirsuta | Hairy Tare |
| Picris hieracioides | Hawkweed Oxtongue |
| Thymus polytrichus | Wild Thyme |
| Leucanthemum vulgare | Oxeye Daisy |
| Serratula tinctoria | Saw-wort |
| Succisa pratensis | Devil’s-bit Scabious |
| Anacamptis pyramidalis | Pyramidal Orchid (in fruit) |
| Euphrasia spec. | Eyebright |
| Plantago media | Hoary Plantain |
| Clinopodium vulgare | Wild Basil |
| Linum usitatissimum | Flax |
| Cirsium acaule | Dwarf Thistle |
| Coeloglossum viride | Frog Orchid (more than 20) |
| Gentianella amarella | Autumn Gentian (last year’s fruit stalk) |
Insects
Bombus lucorum f
Bombus terrestris f
Bombus vestalis m
Bombus campestris m
Small Skipper
Clouded Yellow
Large White
Small White
Small Copper
Brown Argus
Common Blue
Chalkhill Blue
Meadow Brown
Birds
Yellowhammer
Raven
Buzzard
List by Renée Grayer