Dunorlan Park

Grey Heron, Ardea cinerea.  Dunorlan Park, Tunbridge Wells, 17 March 2014.

I walked round Dunorlan Park in Tunbridge Wells today (17th March) and thought it looked rather tame compared with the country parks I usually go to.  Short grass, a small lake, not much botanical  going on.  But it wasn't all like that, and I was pleased to find a couple of things I had wanted to get a good photo of.

One was this Coltsfoot.

Coltsfoot, Tussilago farfara.  Dunorlan Park, Tunbridge Wells, 17 March 2014.

It's not at all rare, but I don't know of any good patches near my home.  It's one of those plants that puts out flowers before you see any leaves.  There were a few very healthy clumps among rocks right next to the water.  People - like my companion that day - tend to glance at it and think it's a Dandelion, but the lack of leaves and those thick, scaly flower stems say very clearly that it's not.

Greylag Goose, Anser anser.  Dunorlan Park, Tunbridge Wells, 17 March 2014.

The other thing I had been looking for was an Alder.  There are lots of the larger Italian Alder planted near me as a street tree, but the one below is the less robust Alnus glutinosa.  The purplish, slightly flattened leaf buds are unlike the rounded greener buds on the Italian variety.

Alders have small, loosely knit cones later in the year, and the old ones hang around all year long.  Here are the small red female flowers in structures that develop into cones later.

Alder, Alnus glutinosa, leaf bud and female flowers.  Dunorlan Park, Tunbridge Wells, 17 March 2014.

Of course, there were also a few birds around, and I photographed some on principle.  I had my EOS 6D with 100mm macro lens and ring flash, and I don't hump that around and then not take photos with it.

Small Spring Flowers

Dove's-foot Crane's-bill, Geranium molle, on Ridgeway, Hayes.  14 March 2014.

Spring is here, and flowers are appearing all around.   Here are a range of colours on humble plants that grow in corners.  The Dove's-foot Crane's-bill lives on lawns and grassy verges, and produces little flowers for most of the year.  It will put up with some trampling, is low-growing enough to survive mowing, and is a welcome sight.

Scarlet Pimpernel, Anagallis arvensis.  Hayes station car park, 16 March 2014.

The Scarlet Pimpernel is really a plant of grasslands, but there is a thriving colony at the edge of a nearby station car park.  It only grows right by the fence.  All sorts of seeds are spread by the railways.  I have seen unexpected plants that grow for a year and then disappear, but these seem to have taken well.

Ivy-leaved Speedwell, Veronica hederifolia subsp. lucorum.  Saville Row, Hayes, 16 March 2014.

This is a very small and inconspicuous flower.  You really have to bend down and look for it.  There are two subspecies of Ivy-leaved Speedwell, and this, with white stamens, is subspecies lucorum.  I have posted this species instead of the showier blue-and-white-flowered Common Field Speedwell because it is more interesting!

Toothwort, Lathraea squamaria.  High Elms Country Park, 13 March 2014.

The Toothwort is a larger flower, but you still have to keep your eyes open for it.  It comes from a plant with no chlorophyll, parasitic on tree roots, usually Hazel, and all you see are these light pink flowers rising four or five inches above the ground in Spring.   I walked a route near Leaves Green a few days ago and saw just one of these (we saw more a week later); on the other hand, near the roadside at Cuckoo Wood car park at High Elms there are dozens.

Sparrow's Den

Flooded rugby pitches at Sparrow's Den, at the bottom of Corkscrew Hill, West Wickham.  24 February 2014.

Towards the end of the recent wet spell, this field filled up with water.  It's still there a month later, though the rain stopped a couple of weeks ago.

These rugby pitches were flooded a few years ago, apparently because an underground watercourse became clogged or blocked.  So perhaps the same thing has happened again; or maybe it's just a very high water table.

Some houses and gardens were also affected, and for a week or more a relay of fire engines were pumping water down the road.

Relay of fire engines emptying from behind Courtfield Rise to a stream in Summer Grove.  23 February 2014.

 There were three fire engines in the relay.  The firemen seemed to have done their work and were now busy supervising the pumping.  The outlet was in a small stream a little further down.

Water being pumped into a stream in Summer Grove.  23 February 2014.

A few days later, they found a closer outlet that just needed a single fire engine; then, later still, there was just a mobile pump with hoses leading to a drain close by.  But the field is still flooded.  By now the grass will be dying and it will be some job to get it back into shape when - or if - it is drained again.

Sparrow's Den, West Wickham.  17 February 2013.

This is what Sparrow's Den was like a year ago.  And below, a view from the hillside opposite earlier in March.  Incidentally, the wood on the hillside beyond it and the so-far-unflooded field below is Spring Park, which I have shown here before and will do again.

The flooded Sparrow's Den rugby pitches seen from the steps of St John's Church, West Wickham.  6 March 2014.

(Added later:  The earlier flooding was in 2001, apparently beginning on Wednesday 4th April.  According to a report on the web, the current flooding is caused by tree roots in a culvert silting up and causing a blockage.)

Seasonal Pond

Seasonal pond, Hayes Common.  9 February 2014.

This is what is known as a seasonal pond.  The water level is high in winter, low in summer.  It usually contains some water, but occasionally it dries up completely. 

Seasonal pond, Hayes Common.  12 May 2011.

This is the same pond in May 2011, from the same angle, but lower down; where I was standing then is under water now.  That little grassy mound is almost always above the water level.  This winter's rain is having exceptional results even where there are no major floods. 

There is a flooded spot near here.  I'll put it in the next post.

Sevenoaks Wildlife Reserve, February

The visitor centre and hide from across the lake.  Sevenoaks Wildlife Reserve, 22 February 2014.

On a rare sunny day in February I walked round the Sevenoaks Wildlife Reserve.   It's mostly for the bird lovers, and there was some talk of a Goosander having been seen recently, but I wasn't looking for that.

This centre is on the River Darent, which is very small as rivers go, but which at this point has been enlarged in the past by quarrying for gravel.  This created some small shallow lakes.

Bridge over the Darent on a walk round one of the lakes.  Sevenoaks Wildlife Reserve, 22 February 2014.

You can see how small the river is - it's big enough to drown in, though, specially in wet weather, so some care is needed.

Snowdrops, Galanthus nivalis.  Sevenoaks Wildlife Reserve, 22 February 2014.

There were a few patches of snowdrops.  This one was tucked away behind a fallen tree.  I suspect they all originate from planted specimens.

The watery John Carter hide.  Sevenoaks Wildlife Reserve, 22 February 2014.

There are a few hides scattered about for the bird watchers to use, and you can often see families as well as dedicated long-lens photographers making use of them.  By now, someone is probably thinking that it would have been a good idea to place this one a foot or so higher. Most are larger than this, with big windows.

Sarcoscypha species, Scarlet Elf Cup.  Sevenoaks Wildlife Reserve, 22 February 2014.

This is what I wanted to see!  Scatters of scarlet fungi, a couple of inches across, growing on fallen branches down on the wet ground near that flooded hide.  You can't call this rare, but they certainly don't grow everywhere, and rarely in the numbers you can find here.

I have posted pics of these before, and a search for Sarcoscypha will  show you them, including some from this same spot last March.

All these photos were taken with my iPhone.  The strong saturation of the sky colours in the top photo are typical of this camera.

Riddlesdown in Winter

The main track.  Riddlesdown, 12 January 2014.

I had been to Riddlesdown in lovely colourful summer, but it looks quite different just now. It consists of a long grassy ridge with small areas of woodland.  There is a track that leads from the top at the north end, down the side of the slope at a slant to the bottom at the south end, where there is a disused chalk quarry.  This pic is about halfway along and shows the golden, slanting winter sunlight.  As you can see, people like to stroll along here, including many dog walkers.

The railway crossing.  Riddlesdown, 12 January 2014.

Right at the bottom the track comes out to a road, but almost immediately there is a narrow path up to the left. It is marked "steep", which struck me as unusual.  But the warning was justified.  The first short stretch led to this railway crossing.  I paused here while I convinced myself that just using the crossing would not constitute a trespass.

Steps up from the railway.  Riddlesdown, 12 January 2014.

Then, some steep steps.  I found it difficult to take photos that showed the slope convincingly, but I think you can see it here.  This view is looking back down.  To the right from this viewpoint, which was to my left as I climbed on, I could see the quarry, looking very wintry.  The edge is only a few feet past the railings.

The quarry from just above the railway.  Riddlesdown, 12 January 2014.

The summer sunshine contrasts with the shadowed area, which is still frosty and looks bluish.  That's because the sky scatters blue wavelengths sideways, leaving yellower rays to strike the chalk.

The path up the side of the quarry.  Riddlesdown, 12 January 2014.

Does this look steep?  It felt it; and slippery, too.  I had to hang on to those railings all the way up.  I was surprised to find such a poorly made pathway after the steps earlier on.  I would have expected either much rougher steps, perhaps lengths of wood pegged into place, or a metalled path all the way up.  The actuality seemed inconsistent.

We are well past dog-walking country at this point.  But still close to civilisation.

Whyteleafe from the top of the quarry.  Riddlesdown, 12 January 2014.

This is the top of the quarry, looking towards the town of Whyteleafe on the far side of the valley.  I am looking over the edge that you can see on the right two photos back. 

All the photos were taken with my iPhone.