A Walk in the Warwickshire Countryside

We went on a lovely walk yesterday afternoon along the banks of the Stratford upon Avon Canal, through woodlands and across fields and up onto Yarningale Common. My parents used to take me to this spot many years ago when I was a child and it hasn't changed a lot apart from the construction of quite a few up market houses along the lane and there are nowhere near as many butterflies and wildflowers in the fields. The walk is close to the village of Claverdon just a few miles from Henley in Arden and its a really beautiful part of Warwickshire.

Berries are appearing on Cuckoo Pint in the hedgerows. This plant has quite a few country names - Parson and Clerk, Parson in the Pulpit, Lords and Ladies, Jack in the Green and Priest's Pintle. Starch from the root was used to stiffen Elizabethan lace ruffs.

We walked along Yarningale Lane towards the canal.

Blackberries are beginning to ripen - soon be time to go foraging :)

There are several sixteenth century buildings along the lane.

At the end of the lane you follow a footpath alongside "The Cottage" a short distance to the canal. The Stratford upon Avon Canal was constructed between 1793 and 1812.

The Yarningale Aquaduct

Bucket Lodge Cottage - the barrel roof design is unique to this particular canal.

We walked along the canal to the next Aquaduct watching mallard and moorhen on the water as we walked.

The split in the bridge, shown in this photo, was to allow ropes of horsedrawn narrow boats to pass through.

Banded Demoiselle

As I was faffing around trying to get photos of the damselfly B and D had continued walking and a young grass snake emerged from the canal and slithered across the path right in front of them. Of course I missed it :( By sheer coincidence it was along this canal that I saw my first grass snake when I was young.

Opposite an old barn and by a derelict aquaduct we left the canal and followed a path through woodland

and then across fields. Quite a few Common Blues were dancing among grasses in the fields.

Hawthorn berries are beginning to ripen.

We left the fields to walk through woodland and climb to the top of the common.

I just love this cottage - could quite happily live here. The garden was just full of flowers.

Finally, we reached the summit. Yarningale Common consists of woodland, grassland and scrub and a few areas of heath.

D used to cover this area as a journalist and he told me a moving story about the Paratrooper (who is commemorated on the bench in the photo above) who was tragically shot and killed when patrolling in Helmand Province. He and his regiment had adopted a stray dog which they named Peg (or Pegasus) after the flying horse emblem of the paratroopers. The soldier and Peg became inseparable and the dog followed him everywhere. He used to write home to his family about Peg and told them when he left Afghanistan he would like to bring the dog home with him. After Conrad Lewis had been so tragically killed Peg was rescued by an animal charity and smuggled out of the country and, after a period of quarantine, he now lives with the soldier's family. The family also raise funds for the charity that rescued Peg and have set up a charity to help soldiers.



Beautiful views towards Clent, Bredon and the Malverns - not the best of photos it was taken directly into the sun.

We saw a muntjac deer as we walked back to the car. It would have been nice to have stopped off on the way home in Henley in Arden and enjoyed one of their delicious icecreams but not one of us had thought to bring any money :(


For those who remember my Edith Holden - "Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady" posts, Edith visited Yarningale Common on 6th June 1906. She writes of how the common was covered with short grasses and furze bushes and smelt of thyme. There were a number of flowers she recorded - Milkwort, Tormentil, Meadow Lousewort, Heath Bedstraw and 2 species of Vetch and Speedwell. She saw Linnets, Warblers, Whinchats and found 8 birds' nests in the gorse and bramble. She spotted several butterflies - Meadow Browns, Garden Whites and Small Heath and an Orange Tip.

Quick Visit to Marsh Lane NR

Time does fly - I realised recently how few visits I have made to Marsh Lane NR in recent months. So I popped along to the Reserve for an hour on Wednesday afternoon - it was rather hot there!! Bird-wise, as is often the case at this time of year, it was very quiet but there were loads of insects around.

I saw several male Black-tailed Skimmer Dragonflies (Orthetrum cancellatum). Its hard to get photos of dragonflies as they never seem to keep still. This one kept darting ahead of me on the path and I eventually got close enough to get a photo - the dragonfly is quite well camouflaged against the path.

There were dozens of Common Blue Damselflies (Enallagma cyathigerum) wherever I walked.

Common Blue can be recognised from other blue damselflies by their broad antehumeral stripes and the absence of a Coenagrion spur on the side of the thorax. Segment 2 of the abdomen has a black mark which resembles a golfball perched on a tee.

I thought this hoverfly was probably a Long Hoverfly (Sphaerophoria scripta)which is a species where the abdomen is longer than the wings but when I put a photo on i-spot for confirmation I was told it wasn't possible to be certain as you can't tell definitely from the photo that the wings are shorter than the abdomen. At the moment I am using a little Pocket Guide to Hoverflies which was given away years ago in BBC Wildlife Magazine - it is very useful and quite detailed but I am feeling very tempted at the moment to buy a larger Hoverfly ID book - there seem to be so many species of hoverfly everywhere this year.

Butterflies were fluttering around everywhere I looked although most of the ones I could get photos of were rather worn and tatty!

Gatekeeper

Comma

Peacock

Meadow Brown

Surprisingly, I didn't see any Skipper butterflies although from reading the Marsh Lane Annual Report and newsletters it looks as though the area near what is known as the "old Concrete Road" is best for Skippers. I did think of wandering along in that direction but its in the part of the reserve that is not behind locked gates and someone appeared to be flying a remote-controlled aeroplane (not the best of ideas on a nature reserve!!) there so I decided to stay away.

Plants in flower along the path included Meadowsweet, Purple Loosestrife, Thistles, Knapweed, various members of the Umbellifer family, Vetches and Trefoils and lots of

Self Heal

Common Carder Bee (Bombus pascuorum)

Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)

I did spend a few minutes in Oak Hide - and as I opened the hatch there in front of me (close enough for once to fill the camera viewfinder!!) was a Grey Heron. Of course by the time I'd got the autofocus to lock onto the bird - it was already flying away!

Tapered Drone Fly (Eristalis pertinax) - I thought I'd got the id of this one nailed thanks to Twitter until - i-spot suggested it was best to get a view of the face and front pair of legs to get it to species level!!! :( To be honest its hard enough to get a photo sometimes of a hoverfly let alone getting pictures of all its anatomy!

Dead Head Fly (Myathropa florea)

Lots of male Common Blue Butterflies were dancing around amongst grasses - strangely enough not a female in sight. I spent ages chasing them around trying to get a photo and eventually managed a record shot

As I was taking the above photo a large Grasshopper suddenly leaped onto a nearby grass stalk - I don't think the photo is clear enough to manage an id and the best I can find is possibly a Field Grasshopper

Many thanks to Matthew, Gary, Duncan and Kingfisher for hoverfly id help (apologies if I've missed anyone out) and i-spot.