Holding onto summer

It just seems to keep going doesn't it? Not that I'm complaining! I've been trying to make the most of it, with the odd foray into the great outdoors when time allows.

It's been ages since I posted - apologies, busy weekends! A couple of weekends ago, as an after-birthday-lunch-walk for a friend, we had a quick yomp in the delightful Cotswold surroundings where they live, including visiting a lovely meadow with the source of the Bristol Avon (not to be confused with the Hampshire Avon, that also confusingly starts in Wiltshire...). Lovely clear water, but quite a different water chemistry, coming from the clay.

Then last weekend I had a great time at the Salisbury Contemporary Craft and Heritage Festival, painting more outdoors scenes, even resulting in someone buying the painting of a tree over the Itchen whilst wet!

I've also been trying to get outside, away from the desk, during work time, which resulted in a lovely day out on the Dorset heaths this week. It was part of a large project to survey the condition of several large SSSI units, and although just past the optimal flowering period for the heather, it was still beautiful.

Three heather species were evident (bell, common, cross-leaved) but the endemic Dorset heath eluded us. We did see lots of round-leaved sundew, its sticky-droplets (used to snare passing insects) glistening in the glorious sunshine, together with spongy mats of cladonia lichen. Our route took us alongside the old experimental Magnox nuclear reactor, which is now being decommissioned. An interesting backdrop! We also saw a clouded yellow butterfly - having crossed the channel from the Continent on the unseasonably warm winds, and a suspected male sand lizard. It was definitely a lizard, and was large enough to make a very definite impression through the heather - a first for me! I started the day thinking that heathland was a bit boring, but was thinking differently at the end.

And finally, I've just got back from a longer-than-usual (and not because I got lost!) walk around Grovely Wood. Sweeping panoramas of agricultural landscapes peppered with remnants of natural habitats, such as hedgerows and chalk downland accompanied me when breaking out of the cover of the ancient woodland. I heard a chiffchaff - surely they're nearly ready to go back to sub-Saharan Africa? - and in the open areas, a great diversity of invertebrates were making the most of the warm spell, with crickets and grasshoppers chirruping from the banks. This was at great contrast to the enormous clumps of fungus surrounding one very ancient tree along a drive.

The walk mainly followed an ancient network of ox droves (used to drive livestock to market in Salisbury), parkland drives and Saxon ditchworks. Clearly the estate are doing a lot of work in some areas to open these up again, with one ancient drove having been recently cleared (the path having been forced to the top of the bank through the drove being impassable), resulting in a lovely old milestone one again seeing the light of day.

It seems that the weather forecast is indicating a more-typical temperature range for this time of year, so no doubt autumn is only just around the corner.

Ups and Downs

The Bank Holiday weekend was certainly one of contrasting weather. We ventured out for a quick pootle around Martin Down on Sunday, but the drizzly weather meant that the final flourish of butterflies were largely hunkered down. Nevertheless, I marveled at the beauty of the raindrops clinging to the seed heads of Traveller's Joy/Old Man's Beard/Wild Clematis (call it what you will - so many names!).

The Monday was stunning weather-wise, and we chose a beautiful route from the lovely village of Wherwell on the River Test, crossing the crystal-clear waters and Chibolton Common, before heading back to the pub! In the afternoon, we eventually found out way to Harewood Forest (paths not clearly marked!), which apparently nobody visits as we had the place to ourselves! It was interesting to see the many concrete tracks through it - the area was used for various things during WWII so it must have been connected to that, but exactly what function the forest played was a bit of a mystery. well worth a visit though - a mixture of ancient hazel coppice, with stands of conifers and younger-looking oaks and beeches. Remnants of the ancient land use remain though, with Saxon boundary earth banks and ancient gnarled oaks atop.

I also managed to get out briefly the following day on my way back form work. I am lucky enough to pass Stockbridge Down on my way to work, and called in on my way back. It's an area of chalk grassland, with much archaeology and absolutely stunning views all around. A lovely way to end the day.

 

Bee gardens and blackberries

What a gorgeous week it's been weather-wise. I was lucky enough to get out on Wednesday for a trip to the New Forest for work. All of the colours of the heather and the gorse together with the stunning azure sky made a feast for the eyes!

It also got me thinking, as we watched the bees buzzing through the heather, of the feast being created around us through their endeavours. Heather honey is a recognised 'product' in supermarkets, but is obviously not a new thing. It reminded me of a trip to another part of the Forest a couple of years ago, where someone had introduced me to the wonders of 'bee gardens'.

These were small banked enclosures - to protect against the free-ranging livestock - within which hives were set up. They're a relatively common sight across the Forest, if you know where to look. They are hundreds of years old - quite amazing to have survived and a testament to our sweet tooth!

Now is the time for the start of the blackberry harvest, and last Sunday we popped out to Blashford Lakes Nature Reserve near Ringwood to see how our favourite bramble patch was doing. We collected lots, with the peak season still not upon us. Lots to clean and put in the freezer! On the way back, I had a quick look at Dockens water, the small New Forest stream that had been restored a decade earlier from it's previously-straightened self. Now, tea-coloured waters flow over the clean gravels, creating pools and riffles, and many niches for a variety of wildlife.

To contrast, on Bank Holiday Monday we are heading to the River Test for a potter and exploration of the nearby Harewood Forest - an area I've never explored and which nearly became a SSSI several years ago.

Correcting the media

Some of you may have seen the article in the Guardian this week from Chris Packham, saying the New Forest was overgrazed and the habitats and species were suffering. Well, from my experiences this year, I would beg to differ.

Last weekend the family opted for a pub lunch as part of a birthday celebration, and then walk through Wellow Common. This is part of the Northern Commons, owned by the National Trust. Here, the turf is very short, heavily grazed by ponies, donkeys and some cattle. Despite this, it was teeming with life.

The common and bell heathers, and cross-leaved heath, were all flowering, forming a mosaic of purple as we walked. Clusters of yellow tormentil, and in wetter patches, spearwort, provided the opposite end of the colour wheel (how does nature do that?). Large heath butterflies flitted from gorse bush to gorse bush, and buzzards wheeled overhead from the adjacent, cooling woodland. It was an idyllic English summer scene.

The New Forest's value comes in part from the mosaic of close-cropped turf (the 'lawns'), taller heath,  wetlands and ancient woodland. Many rare species require these conditions - for example, small fleawort positively thrives in habitats that look like the Somme! And where some species may struggle in areas where livestock might favour, there are plenty of other areas that they can survive. On the whole, it all balances out. I haven't seen the Forest looking this good in years, which is a testament to all those involved in positive management of this unnatural landscape.

Spending more time outdoors can have a surprising impact on work productivity, as I found this week! Our management team had a business planning meeting, and a following day of team building, at Testwood Lakes near Totton. We kick-started the session with a picnic buffet outside, overlooking the lakes on a beautiful sunny day, surrounded by dragonflies and bees. We were all subsequently very relaxed going into our business meeting, and came out of it feeling positive and inspired, which rarely happens! We continued this the following day with the team building sessions - being outside the whole day seemed to energise people.

Just think what could happen to our economy if people spent more time outside? Recession, what recession?!

Lazy hazy days of summer

It's been a bit of a whirlwind of socialising, of course, always featuring the Great Outdoors!

Last Friday I introduced a good friend of mine (and her one year old in a push chair) to Martin Down - I should be getting commission on the advocacy of the place! Although a bit overcast and with ominous clouds gathering, the light seemed to pick out the mass of colour in the 'purple season' that is upon us. I'm not quite sure why this is, but it also follows the 'yellow season' - cowslips, hawkbits and yellow rattle give way to knapweed, scabious and harebell, and with them come the butterflies such as dark green fritillaries and marbled whites. The Down is looking absolutely stunning this year, so made an excellent impression on my friend - she can now understand why I keep raving on about the place! We encountered a trio of intrepid mobility-scooterers, who had negotiated their way through the rutted tracks to the very top of the reserve - admirable that they wouldn't let decreased accessibility get in the way of a good view!

I followed this up with a weekend in Kent, visiting an old school friend, who showed me some of the sights. Once again, despite the drizzle and mugginess, the White cliffs of Dover were amazing, and carpeted with wildflowers. I even heard a corn bunting up there, which was surprising given the scrubby nature of the area - they like to sing from fenceposts in wide, open fields usually.

And for once, during the week, I was able to negotiate time away from the desk, not once but twice! On Tuesday we had organised a team meeting on a farm on the upper Itchen - the river was a mass of aquatic plants, forming a green underwater carpet, amongst which trout darted and damselflies skimmed over. Quite idyllic, although on close inspection you could see the diatoms coating some of the vegetation (looking like brown slime) - an indication of phosphate levels being too high, mostly from agricultural runoff. Still much work to be done to improve things.

I also spent a day out on the Dorset Heaths, on a mini tour around the outskirts of Poole, hearing about the restoration work to sites, through hard negotiation with landowners, the complex politics and history, and how they join up on a landscape-scale. Some of the sites had good heather growth in under 5 years - quite staggering, and a testament to the resilience of the natural environment, if given the right conditions. This year seems to be particularly good for the heather, with a vibrant swathe of the different purple tones of bell heather and common heather.

Finally, I've just got back from a quick potter in the New Forest with more friends - Churchplace Enclosure near Ashurst is a mixture of ancient and conifer woodland, and on a hot day like today, the dappled sunlight cast beautiful shadows in the cool depths, with silver-washed fritillaries swooping in the glades, and tormentil flowering on the rides.

Quite a contrast but once again, I marvel at the variety of sites within close reach of Salisbury and, for the most part, the ability of them to 'soak up' people, enabling tranquility and peace, not far from the hustle and bustle of the busy school holidays.

Determined not to melt

Yes, that was me - and pretty much the whole country - this week. Waaay too hot for us Brits on the whole, but despite this, I did force myself outdoors to enjoy the weather.

Last weekend I spent a bit of time in the garden - doing the Big Butterfly Count http://www.bigbutterflycount.org/?gclid=CjwKEAjwq8y8BRCstYTm8qeT9mwSJACZGjUkhnM4SnOzUG_d3rl1H03ms8Qr5pU3kBlSrWA-jQ-vURoCtrbw_wcB, some weeding and taking a moment to appreciate the wealth of invertebrate life buzzing away.

Although my privet hedge is completely out of control and in need of a good prune, the blooms this year are amazing, and subsequently are attracting the whole neighbourhood of bees, together with several butterfly species. So far this week, I've seen red admiral, large white, meadow brown, gatekeeper and small tortoiseshell. And the various flowers I planted a couple of years ago have now really taken hold, so I'll not have to do quite so much weeding soon once they spread out.

And the produce from the garden has started too - I have 4 raspberry canes, which are supposed to flower in the autumn, but one always starts way before the others - I'm now getting one a day, which I'm freezing in the hope of having enough to do something with at some point! My strawberry - whichI planted last year having purchased from the reduced to clear section late in the season - was soon overshadowed by the buddleia, so only one fruit from that this year. The plum tree has four plums on it, but the apple has been hit hard by aphids (and probably my pruning!) so didn't even blossom this year. And the garlic has also been disappointing - just three small bulbs. The tomatoes have suffered with the wet weather of late, but I do have two (yes, two!) on their way but still very green. I'm hoping they'll turn red before the blight gets them all.

Apart form admiring the fruits of my (minimal) labours, I did manage a few quick walks. We pottered off to Langley Wood NNR on the Sunday, and I've had a couple of yomps from the flat down to the river as well. Everything is in bloom and a-buzz with life - it's a wonderful time to be alive!

 

Beauty in miniature

I've just come back from a lovely walk with a friend on Canada Common near Wellow, on the edge of the New Forest.

This time, the vast plain (closely-cropped by the many ponies and donkeys) was a carpet of colour, although you had to look closely to see it. Some might say that it's overgrazed, and it would certainly appear to be when compared to some of the other commons in the Forest, but all the species are there, just in miniature!

Three species of heather were in flower - common, bell and cross-leaved heath, together with patches of bright yellow spearwort in wetter areas, the precise four-petalled forms of tormentil, and the blue of heath milkwort.

This contrasted greatly with last Sunday's attempt to work off the baked cheesecake! With the sun shining, we headed off to Old Sarum, with the butterflies flitting around in the warmth. It seems to be a good year for marbled whites - I don't usually see them around the hillfort, but they were making the most of the sheltered spots and copious nectar sources (ragwort and hawkbits in the main).

The weather over the weekend is supposed to be vaguely summer-like, so might be a good opportunity to head off to some sunny woodland rides for a bit of butterfly spotting. Don't forget the Big Butterfly Count starts this weekend, running until the 7th of August - more info on the Butterfly Conservation website.