May expedition

It was overcast and damp, so there were not butterflies and hardly any bees. We examined moths caught in the moth trap. Several of them are featured in our tree guides and we marked them on our treespotting checklist. Then we walked east along the towpath.

We listened to the churring of the Reed Bunting and saw a Meadow Pipit rise from the grass. Swallows were swooping over the canal. We saw Silverweed in flower. This led to a discussion of Rosaceae. We have previously looked at its leaves stretching over the ground. Being yellow, the flower looks like Tormentil and this helps us to link the plant to other Roseceae, such as Blackthorn and Hawthorn. 

 
We learnt about Sweet Vernal Grass, one of the early grasses. It is identifiable by the lavender-type scent of its stems. We continued our examination of trees, some of which aren't found in the section of the High Bank which we walked last month. Birch, which doesn't grow in the thick scrubby woodland on the high bank but likes open, sunny places and prefers damper soil, was found on the bank of a field drain parallel to the canal. We could see, however, that it was abundant on the other side of the canal. Willow does appear on the High Bank and there are many often interbred species.

Date: 13 May 2017 Time: 12-1

Attendance: 10 (including 2 children)

What we observed and talked about —

Bee: Bombus pascuorum
Birds: Great Tit, Meadow Pipit, Reed Bunting, Swallow

Flowers: Common Nettle, Creeping Buttercup, Marsh Marigold, Silverweed, Winter-cress
Grasses: Sweet Vernal Grass
Moths:  Brimstone Moth, Clouded-bordered Brindle, Clouded Silver, Lunar Thorn, Peppered Moth, Yellow-barred Brindle
Trees: Birch, Elder, Hazel, Willow