{"id":1909,"date":"2012-09-21T04:13:11","date_gmt":"2012-09-21T09:13:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rdnhs.org.uk\/blog\/?p=1909"},"modified":"2012-09-21T04:13:11","modified_gmt":"2012-09-21T09:13:11","slug":"watlington-hill-15-september-2012","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rdnhs.org.uk\/blog\/watlington-hill-15-september-2012\/","title":{"rendered":"Watlington Hill – 15 September 2012"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ren\u00e9ee Grayer led a walk at the National Trust\u2019s Watlington Hill on a pleasant sunny afternoon on Saturday 15th<\/sup> September. A number of butterflies were flying round the car park, including a Holly Blue, a Red Admiral and a Speckled Wood. The party set out through the woodland and out onto the open hillside. Vervain, Yellow Rattle in abundance, Wild Basil, Common Centaury and Yellow-wort were amongst the first flowers encountered. A small-flowered gentian was identified as Autumn Gentian. Many of them had already finished flowering. A much larger-flowered plant was clearly a Chiltern Gentian, with transverse wrinkles up the outside of the corolla tube and a relatively short calyx at its base. But then a number of intermediate flowers were found, showing characteristics of both plants \u2013 perhaps hybrids between the 2 species. A single Small Heath butterfly was spotted on a sheltered slope. Then the Frog Orchids started to appear \u2013 first one, then 5 and eventually about 30. They are small and yellowish-green and very easily overlooked. There were white-flowered specimens of Small Scabious and Common Milkwort and other finds included Blue Fleabane, Common Rock-rose, Squinancywort and Eyebright. The spikes of Heath Speedwell were found on top of ant-hills.<\/p>\n

On the short grassland at the top of the ridge were rings of an orange fungus with a sunken cap, probably some sort of Milk-cap. Also found here was a specimen of The Miller, which had a smooth pale cap, a distinctive smell and an off-centre stalk. In the disturbed soil where the Sonning Common Green Gym had cut down encroaching hawthorn last winter were clumps of Wild Candytuft and a single plant of Deadly Nightshade. A\u00a0 male Brimstone butterfly flew past as the group walked back into woods.<\/p>\n