To Explore, Enjoy and Enhance

Friends of Studham Common

Isn’t the Common looking beautiful again this year?  Despite the recent warm sunny weather, the blackthorn and cherry trees were still covered in white blossom yesterday (April 28th). In several years recently they were either over or going over by this date. The golden glow of the gorse is being picked up by the yellow of dandelions and buttercups in the hay meadows. There was a big purple patch of ground ivy on West Common and an equally large blue patch of Wood Forget-me-not by the concrete road on East Common with Cuckoo Pint (aka Lords-and-ladies) flowering alongside it.  The surprise of our monthly walk was two clumps of Thale Cress growing on anthills on the opposite side of the concrete road..  Not a very striking plant but one which we hadn’t seen on the Common before.  A few Green-winged Orchids were flowering but very dwarfed by the dry weather.  The spring migrant birds have arrived, including Cuckoo and Chiff-chaff and the usual spring butterflies are on the wing.

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Ground Ivy

Forget-me-not

Cuckoo Pint

(“Lords-and-Ladies”)

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