One Tree Hill, March

Llama in a field near One Tree Hill.  17 March 2012.

This was yet another rainy day out. I miss my big camera when I see things to photograph on which I could use it well, but it would be silly to take it out in the rain. So these shots were all taken with my Ixus 100. These, and many more taken on this trip, are in an album here: One Tree Hill, Feb 2012.

One Tree Hill is south of Sevenoaks, on the Greensand Way, and is mostly woodland on soil of varying degrees of acidity, depending whether you are up on the ridge or down below it. We walked a circuit that took in both.

Bluebell in flower.  Hyacinthoides non-scripta.  One Tree Hill, 17 March 2012.

This was the first reasonable shot of a bluebell I have managed this year. It's too early for them to be out in my local commons, but here one is, on the roadside half an hour's drive to the south, just far enough to make a difference. There were other early flowers here too.

Ivy-leaved Speedwell, Veronica hederifolia. One Tree Hill, 17 March 2012.

This tiny plant was growing in crevices in a high wall, and among the grass at its base. I was tickled to see this as we had covered Speedwells in my wildflower class the day before.

There were also several mosses which our Bryological expert identified for us.

Homalothecium sericium.  Silky Wall Feather-moss.  One Tree Hill, 17 March 2012.

This one was on another wall by the roadside.

We saw quite a few Sweet Violets by the footpath, both white and purple varieties, though it's no doubt correct to call this colour violet!

Sweet Violet, Viola odorata.  One Tree Hill, 17 March 2012.

We were circling the edge of the wood below the ridge, with trees up the bank on our left and fields and houses to our right. Soon we passed two llamas in a field (one is shown above). And we encountered an unexpected hazard. There were several badger dung-pits by the path, easy to tread in while concentrating on the flora. Badgers make these shallow pits to mark the boundaries of their territory.

This walk was familiar to some of the group, who were keen to show us these highlights:

Leaf rosettes of  Early Purple Orchids, Orchis mascula.  One Tree Hill, 17 March 2012.

Leaf rosettes of the Early Purple Orchid, which will soon be flowering.

Life-sized model tiger. One Tree Hill, 17 March 2012

An unexpected sight, created by a local sculptress. This beast used to be much fresher-looking.

Green Hellebore, Helleborus viridis. One Tree Hill, 17 March 2012.

There was a whole patch of these Green Hellebores. Compare this with the cultivated Hellebore I showed a few days ago: Christmas Rose.

Near our lunch spot was an unusual sight: two blobs of a Myxomycete, or slime mould, looking just like tasty helpings of blancmange. I cut through the edge of one but there was no sign of any structure within, just more milky pudding, by its looks.

Myxomycete, perhaps Enteridium lycoperdon. One Tree Hill, 17 March 2012.

I will try to confirm the identification, and if I can I'll edit this note accordingly.  Myxomycetes are very odd creatures, neither animal, plant, nor fungus, with the ability to rove around hunting food at one point in their life cycle, a bit like The Blob from an old Steve McQueen film, but hungry for bacteria rather than people.  They put out spores like a fungus at another stage. When I first encountered slime moulds at University it was as though science fiction had overlapped with real life.

Here are some beautiful mossy rocks from near our lunch spot:

Mossy rocks. One Tree Hill, 17 March 2012.

(In the rain, of course.)  And the last pic for today is some little ponies we saw earlier. I think these are Shetlands, though I am no horse expert.

Small ponies.  Shetlands?  One Tree Hill, 17 March 2012.

There are photos of most of the things I have mentioned, and several others, in this album: One Tree Hill, Feb 2012.