A wildlife diary
Mary Smith 33 Gaynes Park Road, Upminster, Essex, RM14 2HJ Tel: 01708 228921
Over Easter we found Moschatel (also known as Town Hall Clock, for obvious reasons
when you see it!) out in Thorndon Park South. A little later the Bluebells were out
everywhere, and in Hadleigh Castle Country Park were Yellow Archangel and the non-
native, but very pretty, Spring Beauty. Butterflies of various kinds were much in evidence,
and we heard the first Cuckoo. Most of April was warm and dry, so much so that we
wondered if we were going to have a spring drought, as we had for so many years in the
90's. It was far too dry to find any St George's Mushroom or other fungus species typical
of late April. However, at the end of April the drought broke, and then we wondered if
the rain was ever going to stop! At One Tree Hill, near Basildon, we admired hundreds,
if not thousands, of beautiful Green-veined Orchids, in all shades from deepest purple to
palest pink. The special meadow, which is an SSSI, also has Adder's-tongue fern, Yellow
Rattle, and other interesting plants. Then a friend found a spring fungus, Polyporus
lentus, in White Post Wood, a new record for the Belhus Woods Country Park. The first
Dog-rose was in bloom on 3rd May. What is this rubbish I am told about June roses?
So spring is early this year, and late last year because of all that water lying around. I was
taught at school that some plants, such as Bluebell and Lily-of-the-Valley, worked on
daylight hours and many others on temperature, so some flowers were seen opening at
the same time every year while others varied with the weather. I can see little evidence of
any that work on daylight hours only. It seems that everything is early this year, including
the two above. Indeed, it would make no sense if woodland flowers on the ground below
the trees worked by the daylight, while the trees overhead leafed according to the
temperature; clearly, they have to synchronise with the same external influence if the
successful sequence is to be maintained. Can anyone out there shed any light (sorry!) on
this?
At the end of April 16 people gathered at Curtismill Green, near Stapleford Abbots, for
a botanical expedition led by Ken Adams. The weather was a bit grey, with spots of rain
at intervals, but our spirits were not dampened. Some people were very knowledgeable
about the history of this place. Down the west side is an old road with several farms along
it, indicating that the Green had been a Common for many centuries; farmers used the
Common for grazing and wood-cutting, and their own land behind for crops. Some of
the Common is still used for grazing, mainly by horses, but most of it is woodland. Even
this is in two main parts, one on slightly acid soils, as evinced by Tormentil and Sheep's
Sorrel in open spaces next to the wood. There were muddy ponds in the woodland and
on nearby open ground. The other was more alkaline, with a lot of Beech trees, and a
small stream. The main rarity to re-find was the Lemon-scented Fern, known before from
the banks of the stream.
2 Essex Field Club Newsletter No. 39, November 2002