of the cemetery. The flora is good with the highlight being the Lesser Calamint
draped across a gravestone. It was also excellent to see a range of sedges in the
grassland and one of the party found Spring Sedge Carex caryophyllea growing in
one area, a really excellent record. A Corn Bunting 'jangled' away from a hedge not
far from the gravestone, a bird not to be taken for granted any longer when you come
from inland Essex as I do.
At the cemetery gate there was a notable veteran Holm Oak (see 'Spotlight' item) well
over 4 metres in girth with the bracket fungus Stereum hirsutum growing on it. Tony
Boniface also recorded a good range of other fungi, especially in the grassland,
including Agrocybe praecox, die Fairy-ring Mushroom Marasmius oreades,
Panaeolus ater, Coprinus plicatilis, and Psilocybe physaloides On one of the
Hollyhocks there was the rust Puccinia malvacarum. There were 3 conspicuous
mosses at the cemetery Dicranium scoparium, Pseudoscleropodium purum and
Brachythecium velutinum.
Later we moved onto Howlands Marsh parking behind St. Osyth Priory next to two
very large veteran trees. One was dead and only the trunk remained, an old Elm
pollard that must have been a terrific sight a few decades ago. A new sight for Essex
in recent years though was a Buzzard, which provided an unexpected distraction.
Down on the Marsh it was alive with birds - with agitated Redshanks calling flutily
all around us and Swifts and martins moving through despite the poor weather. For a
"landlubber" like me, who misses the coast, it was a treat to be feeling the soft wet
turf of the grazing marshes underfoot. Amongst the turf we came across several large
Horse Mushrooms, smelling deliciously tempting, along with more Fairy-ring
Mushrooms and Agrocybe praecox.
From the seawall there were a few waders to be seen, including 3 Greenshank. It was
so peaceful walking there that I could hear Turtle Doves purring from the other side of
the creek. It was great to hear 3 males at one time - the bird being a lot scarcer on the
western side of Essex than it is near the coast. On that same theme it was also a real
pleasure, as I returned to my car, to see a pair of Grey Partridges, flushed from the ruts
of the boundary track.
Trees and shrubs, fungi and general natural history
Hatfield Forest, September 9th 2000
Tony Boniface, 40 Pentland Avenue, Chelmsford, Essex CM1 4AZ
Nine members of the Club gathered together on a beautiful late summer's day in
Hatfield Forest. Three of them were new members on their first meeting.
Essex Field Club Newsletter No. 33, September 2000
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