{"id":1677,"date":"2012-03-28T04:25:35","date_gmt":"2012-03-28T09:25:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rdnhs.org.uk\/blog\/?p=1677"},"modified":"2012-04-01T12:53:08","modified_gmt":"2012-04-01T17:53:08","slug":"ufton-nervet-24-march-2012","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rdnhs.org.uk\/blog\/ufton-nervet-24-march-2012\/","title":{"rendered":"Ufton Nervet – 24 March 2012"},"content":{"rendered":"

The sun was pleasantly warm when Jan Haseler led a circular walk from Ufton Nervet on Saturday 24th<\/sup> March. Alexanders was growing luxuriantly beside the lane through the village. The walk started out westwards along a footpath through fields. First stop was the site of a medieval moated manor house. Frogs, clumps of frog-spawn and chains of toad-spawn were seen in the moat and Chiffchaffs were calling from the trees. Next stop was Ufton Court. A Treecreeper was spotted in the avenue of trees leading up to the house. An enormous old oak pollard nearby is reckoned to be more than 500 years old. One of the fishponds was full of yellow Skunk Cabbage heads. As the ancient sunken trackway leading west from Ufton Court dropped down from gravel onto clay, the ground became damp underfoot. Primroses were flowering in abundance on the banksides and in the adjoining copses. A Lords-and-Ladies plant was in flower and Opposite-leaved Golden-saxifrage and Wood-sorrel were seen. On the bankside further up were Barren Strawberry and Ground-ivy. At Old Farm, the route dropped back north-eastwards across a field of Rye Grass, then followed a track below a line of copses. The first Blackthorn blossom was appearing on the sunny sides of the hedges and pale yellow Sallow blossom was attracting the bees. A few very early Bluebells were already in flower. Tall seed heads of Small Teasel were showing above a patch of disturbed ground next to the track. The walk continued southwards up a lane, with white Sweet Violets and a very early Greater Stitchwort in flower on the banks. Another footpath crossed a field with Giant Puffballs, before dropping down into Sewards Gully, where flowering Moschatel and the leaves of Pignut were seen. The warm sunshine had brought out early butterflies and Brimstone, Comma, Peacock and Red Admiral were all seen during the walk.<\/p>\n