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Tag: Wild Flowers

Summer for a day

Summer for a day

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There was a brief change in the weather today – still plenty of cloud about but the sun has been more out than in so we went for a short walk up the lane.

Here is a view across the fields where the clouds look more threatening than they actually were.

The pink flowers in the foregound are Great Willowherb (Epilobium hirsutum) and a little further along we saw some Fleabane (Pulicarea dysenterica)

and then some Teasel (Dipsacus fullonum)

We are going to pay for this day of summer weather as the weather forecasters are threatening very, very heavy showers tomorrow.

I hope it doesn’t make the Blog soggy. :-)

Time and tide wait for no man

Time and tide wait for no man

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… and neither do barges. Today was the ‘Blackwater Barge Match’ and for those not in the know it’s a race between Thames Sailing Barges. These magnificent vessels are around 80 – 100 feet long and about 100 years old.

It takes place every year on the River Blackwater, near us, starting from just below Maldon and sailing out into the estuary. We were planning to go and watch them sail past and, as the race starts at 9:30 AM we didn’t have much time.

Amanda was complaining that I might compromise the whole expedition because I wanted breakfast first but we did have breakfast first and then set off for Tollesbury where we intended to walk to the river. The walk should take about 20 minutes and we should get to the river just as the barges were passing.

We set off on the walk and as the river came into view we could see the tops of many masts, with sails, coming down the river. We couldn’t see the lower parts of the vessels because they were obscured by the sea wall.

We did get to the river in time and climbed up onto the top of the sea wall to see the first barges of a total of about 14 going past.

We were observed, from a safe distance, by some interested parties who seemed to be curious about what we were doing.

Amanda wanted to take some pictures of her own.

We walked along the sea wall in the same direction that the barges were going although they were going faster than us and eventually they all went past heading out into the estuary. What a lovely sight!

We walked along the wall until we picked up another footpath which would take us back into Tollesbury. On the way we managed to disturb a Heron which flew off over the marshes and saw a number of Common Mallow plants.

A little later,nearer Tollesbury, we found a small group of Poppies.

All in all a nice little trip.

Feelin’ Blue

Feelin’ Blue

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On April the 5th last I mentioned that we had been to a number of local woods to look for Wood Anemones and one of those woods was Shut Heath Wood. Today we went back to that wood to look for Bluebells.

Need I say more?

Another day, another wood.

Another day, another wood.

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Well, if you want to be pedantic, another two days and another three woods. Yesterday we went to a village near us called Wickham Bishops to look at Sparkey Wood and Shut Heath Wood to see if there were any signs of Wood Anemonies and there were.

There was a good show in both although more in the former than the latter. In Sparkey Wood there were also Bluebell plants as far as the eye could see and I imagine that they will look fantastic in a few more weeks. There were also a lot of Bluebell plants in Shut Heath Wood although not quite as many as in Sparkey Wood. We shall endeavour to go back later when the Bluebells are out.

Today we went to our local wood and the Wood Anemonies were flowering in profusion as usual.

Here are some photographs from those trips.

Wood Anemonies

Wood Anemonies

What a marvellous show! Who is prepared to count them?

Spring has sprung

Spring has sprung

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It was sunny and mild this morning so we drove to Tiptree Heath, a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), for a walk round.

The Gorse (Ulex europaeus) is starting to flower although not yet at it’s best.

Gorse is typical of heathland as is Heather and, although heather does not flower until around July, the three types of Heather found in Great Britain all occur here. They are Bell Heather (Erica cinerea), Cross-leaved Heath (Erica tetralix) and, the most common, Ling (Calluna vulgaris) otherwise known as Common Heather.

We found a little pond hidden away in part of the woodland area which hosted a large amount of Norfolk Reed – the light straw coloured stuff on the far side of the water.

There were also a large number of green shoots sprouting from the surrounding earth which could very well be Flag Iris so we will have to go back around May to see if they are in flower.

In another part of the woodland we saw some Witches Broom, a type of gall caused by a mite, which you should be able to see in this picture as small clumps which look like birds nests.

The Witches Broom is a bit more obvious in this picture.

I’ll finish off with a view of one of the open areas of the heath.

All in all a nice little walk.

Orchids galore!

Orchids galore!

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The weather today has been gorgeous – warm, dry and sunny. I walked to a local meadow to see if the Green Winged Orchids were flowering and they certainly were.

There were three separate areas which were covered in orchids and they looked spectacular. I went only as far as the entrance gate because the ground was really waterlogged, after about three days of rain, and I was wearing sandals which are not especially waterproof. smilies

Green Winged orchids

Whilst I was leaning on the gate two Muntjac deer appeared on the left-hand side of the meadow and walked slowly across to the right-hand hedge and disappeared. If they saw me they obviously weren't worried about it.

That was a worthwhile 10 minute walk.