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19 members and guests met on the green at Sinnington on a lovely sunny day (though there was a chilly breeze). We then followed a route north along the river across meadows and through the lower slopes of the woods as far as Nutholm before climbing up through the woods and returning along the top path, via Stables Wood and the church to complete the circuit.

2015 has been a strange year weather-wise: although we did not have a particularly severe winter spring has been generally cold, but dry. Most of the plants – and notably the trees – are late. The woods were still in their winter clothes with the leaves only just beginning to break, and hoped-for blossom such as cherry was not yet out.

The woods in the Seven valley here are wonderful mostly undisturbed ancient deciduous woodland, with a very mixed ground flora including orchids and the delightful town hall clock or moschatel Adoxa moschatellina (and, although we didn’t see any today, lily-of-the-valley, herb paris and columbine have also been recorded here). There is a good mix of habitats with both limy and more acid soils, steep slopes and gentle, wet and dry areas, and exposed rocky crags either natural outcrops or old quarry faces. The river banks are also rich in flora, including a few wild daffodils. Close to the village there are garden escapes such as winter aconites and green alkanet.

We enjoyed the typical woodland flora such as these windflowers Anemone nemorosa carpeting the hillside...

...and town hall clock and the much commoner but pretty ground ivy.

Even the primroses were mostly still in bud; and the early purple orchids that we’d hoped to see were hardly even showing the flower spikes at all – they were showing off their spotted leaves rather nicely though.

Primrose and Wood Anemone

Early Purple Orchid leaves (and a violet, probably early dog violet)

The river runs clear and has fish in it: we saw a boy catch a good-sized brown trout. We managed to catch a brief glimpse of a kingfisher flying away upstream, and some lucky members spotted a dipper near the cottage at Nutholm.

We noticed a lot of the very distinctive bee-fly which hovers much like a tiny humming bird (only about half an inch long); occasionally they would settle and I managed to get this shot which shows the extraordinarily long proboscis – like the humming bird’s beak – and rather less clearly the patterned wings. There were also a number of hoverflies including this Eristalis, and several butterflies including a comma but they wouldn’t sit for portraits unfortunately.

Bee-fly

Hoverfly

We finished back at Sinnington and enjoyed delicious cake (thank you Pauline/Ian and Nick/Rita). This had been a most enjoyable outing with more than 80 species of plants, 25 birds, 6 butterflies, bumblebees including an early nesting Bombus pratorum and several hoverflies and other interesting insects. Unfortunately in Jim’s absence we were unable to id any spiders.

We saw evidence of moles (molehills), badgers (a well-worn path and paw-prints), tawny owls (pellets containing among other things the jawbone of a wood mouse), a dead mouse and a dead hare with a broken leg.

Members enjoying our cake after the walk – with our youngest member in the foreground!

Plant list

81 spp.

Butterflies

Birds

Thanks to Ken Hutchinsom for the bird list:
blackcap, rook, grey wagtail, chaffinch, chiffchaff, great tit, nuthatch, blackbird, wren, house martin, kingfisher, mallard, blue tit, great spotted woodpecker, swallow, marsh tit, wood pigeon, jay, pheasant, tree sparrow, jackdaw, house sparrow, starling, collared dove, dipper.

Invertebrates

Thanks to Andrew Grayson for this list of invertebrates including six hoverflies.

* estimated numbers seen in the field