{"id":4411,"date":"2019-07-15T09:53:51","date_gmt":"2019-07-15T08:53:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rdnhs.org.uk\/blog\/?p=4411"},"modified":"2019-07-15T09:53:53","modified_gmt":"2019-07-15T08:53:53","slug":"swains-wood-30-june-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rdnhs.org.uk\/blog\/swains-wood-30-june-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"Swain’s Wood – 30 June 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Alan Parfitt led a walk at\nSwain\u2019s Wood near Christmas Common on Sunday 30 June. The group gathered in\nwarm sunshine around the village green at Northend, before setting off down\nHolloway Lane. The path in to the reserve led through Beech woodland, which\ngrows on the Clay-with-flints that caps the Chalk. Swain\u2019s Wood reserve, which\nis managed by BBOWT, lies on a steep south-west facing grassy hillside on the\nChalk. Large numbers of orchids were in flower. Most numerous were the Common\nSpotted-orchids, which were a little past their best. Amongst them were quite a\nnumber of Chalk Fragrant-orchids, which were mostly pink, but with a few white\nspecimens as well. Most of the Pyramidal Orchids were the characteristic deep\npink, but a few were white or pale pink. Bee Orchids were scattered across the\nreserve and there were also a few Common Twayblades. Other flowers included\nCommon Rock-rose, Wild Marjoram, Salad Burnet, Carline Thistle, Fairy Flax,\nYellow-wort, both blue and pink forms of Common Milkwort, Greater Knapweed,\nField Scabious, Common Bird\u2019s-foot-trefoil, Common Centaury, Dark Mullein, Wild\nThyme, Lady\u2019s Bedstraw and Agrimony. Scattered bushes of Wild Privet were\ncovered in creamy blossom. By contrast, the bottom part of the reserve, which\nhad been grazed by sheep in the spring, was mostly without flowers. Meadow\nBrown and Marbled White butterflies were abundant and a few early Ringlets and\na Painted Lady were seen. Small orange Skipper butterflies flitted through the\ngrass, but none stayed still long enough for positive identification. Equally\nelusive was a large orange Fritillary butterfly. A small bee carrying a blade\nof grass was identified as a Red-tailed Mining Bee Osmia<\/em> bicolor<\/em>. A Buzzard\ncircled overhead. On the walk back, the vegetation round the large village pond\nin Northend was investigated. Plants seen here included Brooklime and\nRagged-robin and a Broad-bodied Chaser dragonfly was also noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n