Later in May the Rainham marshes, accessed from Wennington village, were dry enough
to walk on without getting stuck in the mire. So I went out there to botanise and found
several plants I had not seen much before, notably loads of Divided Sedge Carex
divisa, lots of Hoary Buttercup Ranunculus sardous in damper bits, and Thread-leaved
Water-Crowfoot Ranunculus trichophyllum in still water in the dykes. By one of the
dykes were two dead animals on the bank: the remains of an Adder, though it was a bit
dried out and shrivelled as it had been dead some time, and a Mole, very distinct with
its characteristic front feet still very visible and black fur, in spite of advanced decay.
Both had assorted insects, especially beetles, all over them, but were quite dried out
with no soft flesh remaining, though bones and much of the skin was there, albeit
rather mangled. It did seem that both had been dead for roughly the same time, and
also they were only about 30cm apart. I wondered what or who would have killed two
animals at the same time, so close together. I thought local youngsters were unlikely,
as both these animals are quite hard to catch unless you have those specific skills, but
maybe a Corvid bird, or possibly a fox or a dog or a cat. Houses were only some 50m
away. If anyone out there has other ideas, do please let me know.
On 26 May I spotted a Painted Lady butterfly, followed by another one, in our garden.
I have not seen these for some time, maybe 10 years. The next day it said in the paper
that there has been a huge invasion of these butterflies from North Africa, reaching as
far as the Scottish borders, thousands and thousands of them. This invasion seems to
be the largest ever recorded, although smaller invasions do occur from time to time.
The main food plants of the larvae are thistles, though what kind, or all thistles, it
does not say. But it does suggest nobody needs to weed out thistles this year as the
larvae will devour the lot!
A couple of days later I was in the Wennington area again, inspecting the fire station
lawn, and found a few plants of Knotted Clover Trifolium striatum, and quite a patch
of Clustered Clover Trifolium glomeratum, both of which were pleasing finds of relative
rarities, especially the Clustered Clover. Then, not far away, on the marsh, I was
looking at a wet ditch that had Great Water Dock Rumex hydrolapathum and Water-
plantain Alisma plantago-aquatica, and suddenly a swimming Water Vole caught my
eye. I do know that there are loads of these attractive little mammals on the marshes,
but it was nice to see one so close up, just swimming along and taking no notice of me.
Those of you who remember that I wrote last time about never having knowingly
heard a Nightingale sing, will perhaps be glad to know that this lack is now a thing of
the past. At the beginning of June we were with friends from Kent in the South of
France. They had a Nightingale close to their cottage, and we heard it! We stood
listening in the late afternoon, for at least 15 minutes, with various combinations of
different sounds filling the air, and when we walked on it was still singing. Our
friends said they often sing for half an hour or more. I feel it is a slight pity that we had
to go so far from home (about 1,200km) to be sure of the Nightingale's voice, but now
we know we shall not forget it!
Essex Field Club Newsletter No. 60, September 2009
7