Holmsley area - 7th May

A grey day with some sun. Highlights were Dartford Warbler, Reed Bunting, Grey wagtail, Pale Dog Violet, Petty Whin, Marsh Lousewort and a cream tea!!

Today we were looking for flowers as well as birds. As we left the car park we passed lots of Bluebells and some Wood Anemone in the open woodland. In the open grassland before we got to the old railway track we saw Tormentil. We walked along the old railway track and past the modern wooden house. Opposite this there was a little Columbine which is more likely to be a garden escape than the wild version. We walked on hearing Song Thrush and Chaffinch singing and seeing a few Chaffinches. Common Dog Violet was flowering along the wooded edges of the railway line. We stopped at some gorse and a Dartford Warbler flew over the track into the gorse giving some of us the briefest of views. We left the old railway line and walked over some grassy damp heath towards a boggy stream. A Stonechat flew over and called on top of some twigs. We found plenty of Lousewort on the path edges and 2 plants of Pale Dog Violet, quite a scarce flower were spotted by Jane. The track crosses the boggy stream area where we saw Lesser Spearwort, Round-leaved Crowfoot, Cuckooflower and Bogbean in flower, while Bog Myrtle and Round-leaved Sundew leaves were seen.
We crossed over the heath scarring up a couple of Carrion Crows and walked back towards the stream and over it to the railway line over a different track. Back on the old railway line past the wooden house there was Petty Whin growing in the damp heathy area. Behind it, in the Willows, was a male Reed Bunting singing away. And a little further along we found Marsh Lousewort growing in the damp areas. We walked quickly through the wooded areas to Holmsley tea rooms where we all had a large cream tea.
We walked back along the old railway track to get back to our cars. We looked a bit more closely at the plants and saw Bugle, Primroses, Germander Speedwell and Barren Strawberry. We did see and hear a few more birds too, Grey Wagtail, Great Tit and then near the cars a Firecrest and Willow Warbler.
Simon Curson.