{"id":1070,"date":"2010-10-06T14:18:42","date_gmt":"2010-10-06T19:18:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rdnhs.org.uk\/blog\/?p=1070"},"modified":"2010-10-06T14:18:42","modified_gmt":"2010-10-06T19:18:42","slug":"wildmoor-heath-19-september-2010","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rdnhs.org.uk\/blog\/wildmoor-heath-19-september-2010\/","title":{"rendered":"Wildmoor Heath – 19 September 2010"},"content":{"rendered":"

Michael Keith-Lucas led a walk at Wildmoor Heath on Sunday 19th<\/sup> September, starting at BBOWT’s Broadmoor Bottom Reserve. Pollen analysis shows that the peat deposits in the valley bottoms have been accumulating since the last ice age. After a perilous crossing of a valley mire, using large tussocks and trying to avoid the intervening deep boggy sections, plants found included Round-leaved Sundew, the orange seed heads of Bog Asphodel, White Beak-sedge and a number of different types of sphagnum moss. A large spider with 4 white dots on its back was identified as Araneus quadratus<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Walking up the side of the valley, the path crossed the Bagshot Sands and climbed up to the gravel deposits at the top of the hill. Cross-leaved Heath Erica tetralix<\/em> was restricted to wet areas in the valley bottom, Bell Heather Erica cinerea<\/em> was only found in the drier areas at the top, while Heather Calluna vulgaris <\/em>was found throughout. Bracken was restricted to the Bagshot Sands and its upper limit marked the boundary with the gravel deposits.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Michael likened himself to the Grand Old Duke of York as he led the group back down the hillside and across the wet valley bottom again, where a Raft Spider was seen on the fronds of a Hard Shield-fern. Following recent rain, a wide variety of fungi was found, including a Blusher, a Brown Birch Boletus and a spectacular display of Fly Agaric. The caterpillar of a Sycamore Moth crawled across a fallen pine trunk and then disappeared inside a hole in the wood. To the relief of those photogaphers who had failed to record it before it vanished, it re-emerged for further pictures. It had long orange and yellow hairs and white spots.<\/p>\n