Twyford Down - 20th August

A fairly sunny and fairly windy afternoon. Highlights were Chalk-hill Blue, Clustered Bellflower, Devil’s-bit Scabious and Ivy Broomrape.

5 of us met by King Alfred in Winchester and set off southwards down the river. We found Ivy-leaved Toadflax and Mind-your-own-business growing on the old walls of buildings beside the river pathway. Further down we found Monkeyflower growing in a small stream beside some London Plane trees. The path and river turn away from buildings and go through meadows. There are areas of fen vegetation between some of the channels of the river. This looked great with lots of Hemp Agrimony, Purple Loosestrife, Fleabane, Water Mint, Great Willowherb and some Angelica, Meadowsweet, Orange Balsam and Comfrey. A little further on and we saw Himalayan Balsam too. A Sedge Warbler called in the rushes by the river and we managed to catch a few glimpses of it, while a Moorhen swam nearby. We heard a Little Grebe whinnying too, but didn’t see it. Further on there were areas of disturbed ground by the river and these had Coltsfoot, Mugwort, Pineappleweed and Creeping Thistle growing.
We got to a bridge over the river and watched Swallows zooming nearby, Mallards in the river and a few Moorhens. The path then becomes wooded with the river on one side and St. Catherines Hill visible through the trees on the other. We got good views of a few Jays in amongst the Sycamore and Ash trees of this recent woodland. There was also Hedge Parsley growing here.
We came to an area where the trees opened out and the path side became grassy and full of flowers. There was Vervain, Marjoram, Black Medick, Agrimony, Red Bartsia, Yarrow and Travellers Joy all growing in the tall grass by the path. From here we turned away from the river and spent a while going up and exploring the chalk grassland of St. Catherines Hill. The area was full of flowers. Mostly there were Common Knapweed, Devil’s-bit Scabious, Betony, Harebell and Hawk-bit. In amongst this there was Small Scabious, Eyebright, Common Rock-rose, Hoary Plantain, Dropwort, Wild Basil, Wild Parsnip and some Clustered Bellflower. Chalkhill Blue butterflies and Meadow Browns were flying. In an area recently cleared of scrub there was Scarlet Pimpernel, Perforate St. John-wort and Bittersweet. There were also areas with Common Toadflax and Lesser Stitchwort.
We walked back along the river pausing to watch the Swallows going under one of the bridges and to admire some Orange Balsam. We were almost back in Winchester town centre when we noticed lots of Ivy Broomrape growing amongst Ivy at the corner of a formal flower bed. A wonderful and unusual plant to end the walk on.
Simon Curson