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During the afternoon, tree pipits were watched singing
and giving their display flight. A visit was made to some
ponds on the western side of the Common where a nightingale
was heard and also common and lesser Whitethroats.
By the end of the meeting, 34 birds had either been
seen or heard. (Mike Parker)
June 14th. Hatfield Forest (Botany Group) The meeting took
place in fine weather, and we were joined by a few members
of the Bishops Stortford Natural History Society. Being a
Sunday, the Forest was crowded in the vicinity of the Shell
House, but after a perambulation of the lake, followed by a
picnic lunch, we went into some of the quieter and less
frequented parts.
While searching for Isolepis setacea, (Bristle Scirpus),
we were lucky enough to refind Eleocharis quinqueflora (Few
flowered Spike-rush) believed to be extinct in Essex, and
last recorded from Hatfield Forest by Gibson over a hundred
years ago, and from Epping Forest even earlier. One plant
of the small buttercup, Ranunculus parviflora, was seen,
and several colonies of Moenchia erecta,(Upright Chickweed),
which had not been found in the Forest for several years.
The plants were, of course, dried up and long past flowering.
Bog pimpernel seemed to be more plentiful than in
previous years, or perhaps more obvious due to heavier
grazing, and hundreds of spikes of the early-flowering
marsh orchid made a magnificent display.
Hard searching in dense thicket revealed two plants of
helleborine (Epipactis species), two small, non-flowering
plants of greater butterfly orchid and some of the largest
herb Paris I have ever seen, which seemed to revel in the
shade and lack of competition. It was nice to see one small
copper butterfly, a rare insect in this part of Essex.
(John Fielding)