Friday 13th.March 2009

Was it going to be an unlucky day ? Not being supersticious , I set off in very pleasant weather , not what was forcasted , to the Greensand Ridge , with the main aim of looking for a seasonal fungi that I have found there in previous years . Mind you , whilst there , I couldn't pass by tins/felts without havin a look . First site was the area across from our volunteers yard . Five pairs of refugia produced absolutely nothing , so I set off down the Ridge to another five pairs , which were more productive with two Slow Worms , both under felt , as the tins hadn't warmed up to any extent . Heading further down , I found my first Wood Anemone flower of the year . It looks as if it is going to be a bumper year for Bluebells , as the leaves are already carpeting the woodland floor , and in some areas , Wild Garlic/Ransoms leaves are well established as well . In an area managed for Dormice , an area coppiced last year to let in more light , provided another seldom found plant , Green Hellebore , a member of the Buttercup family . Not the most astonishing flower , but nice to find .Then , the Greensand Ridge caught up with Kingsdown , Pittswood and East Malling , when I found the first of only three Lesser Celandine flowers open . A little further on , I started to find the fungi that I had been looking for , Scarlet Elf Cup-Sarcocypha coccinea , and you can cettainly see where the 'coccinea' comes from , live on rotten wood , and although not rare , I only find in certain places , and only at this time of year . Some were found in groups amongst the moss on the dead wood , whilst elsewhere , larger individual specimens were found . Along the bank of a spring fed stream , Opposite -Leaved Golden Saxifrage is another early flowering plant , and once again , although not rare , needs damp , specific conditions to do well , especially with moss as in the photo .

By now , I was at the bottom of the Ridge , and my attention was drawn skyward to the mewing of Common Buzzard . Originally , I only saw one , but shortly after numbers two , three and four drifted into view , but really high . At no time could I get all four in the same frame , so had to settle for just two of them . Talking birds , I had a very respectable species count of 37 for the day , and when I got home , Carol said she had a pair of Siskins on the Sunflower hearts after lunch , and I had a Grey Heron from the back bedroom window when I came up to post this . Nothing fantastic in the list , but at another site on the Ridge , a group of Corvids were , to use the venacular of another Blogger ' showing a Sparrowhawk the boundary of the Parish ' . At this site , I lifted the tins/felts and surprisingly had a Grass Snake under one of the tins , it's forked tongue immediately collecting information on this intruder to it's world .They usually are found some weeks later than this .

Before heading home , I revisited the site we were working on this week , and where I found an Adder . On returning to the same spot , this light coloured male , which was perfectly calmouflaged in the dead Bracken , was in almost the same spot , even though today the clouds were building and the end of the sun was very close .

On the way home , I called in at Biggin Hill to see the Early Purple Orchids . I can only say that they haven't progressed at all since my last visit , and could well not flower untill late April , we shall see . The upside being that they haven't come to any harm .

To answer my own question at the beginning , no it wasn't an unlucky day , in fact it was a very good day , but a bit more sunshine would have made it even better .

Before ending , I post a shot from the top of the Greensand Ridge , across the valley , to the church at Ide Hill , which , I have been told is the highest church in Kent - in altitude .

Sad day tomorrow , last day of the Hedgelaying Season . What am I going to do on a Saturday now ?