A Wildflower walk along the River Blythe

Yesterday D and I went on one of our favourite walks along the River Blythe. I first discovered the walk several years ago when doing wild flower surveys for Plantlife and my 1 kilometre square covered Brueton Park area in Solihull and there was a public footpath that ran diagonally across the square. Brueton and Malvern Parks near Solihull Centre are lovely parks and contain a local nature reserve, a small Warwickshire Wildlife Trust Reserve as well as the walk we did.

When we arrived the car park was full and there were cars parked for miles along the side of the road - what I hadn't realised was that there was a music event in the park that day. Luckily we eventually found somewhere to park.


The River Blythe is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and is a good example of a lowland river on clay.

As soon as we got out of the car we spotted a pair of Blue Tits collecting caterpillars

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There were wild flowers everywhere

Garlic Mustard or Jack-by-the-Hedge

Daisies

Cow Parsley

White Dead Nettle

Dandelions

David and I stood for ages at this spot watching a Nuthatch and Grey Wagtail although neither of us could get a decent photo.

The park was busy and we could hear music in the distance but once you branch off away from the main park along the public footpath you see very few people.

We had smelt the Wild Garlic as soon as we left the car and there were masses of it in flower along the first part of the walk.

The path follows the River Blythe through woodland.

I love this time of year when all the tree foliage is so new and fresh.

Purple Toothwort is parasitic on the roots of various tree species such as Alder, Poplar and Willow. One of the wild flower books I have suggests it is introduced and has naturalised. When I first visited I only saw it growing on a log but this year it had spread nearby.

Yellow Archangel - one of my favourite flowers.

In this part of the wood many of the plants had variegated leaves which suggests they are an introduced variety of the plant which may have escaped from gardens. Further along the walk in another wood the leaves on plants are not variegated so I suspect they are the wild variety.

A few Bluebells started to appear.

Wild Garlic continues along the path for hundreds and hundreds of yards.

Red Campion

Speedwell - I saw a least two species on the walk but I hadn't taken a hand lens or magnifying glass so couldn't get them to species level.

Yellow Archangel

Violet

When you reach the end of the first area of woodland the path continues with the River Blythe on one side and a field stretching to the M42 in the distance on the other. In the past I have seen this field covered in Buttercups but not in recent years.

Edith Holden of "Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady" fame used to walk this stretch of the River Blythe and she mentions visiting it in May although I think she started at the other end of this section of the River i.e. Widney Lane rather than from the town centre side as we did. She writes of seeing in the meadows Marsh Marigolds and Lady's Smock and she gathered the Corn Crowfoot and Cross Wort Bedstraw.

The path then meanders through another area of woodland.

Timothy was rather enjoying himself and pleased to be out and about :)

Dandelions and

Buttercups

The second area of woodland has far more Bluebells

A graffiti tree!

Timothy again

D had a moth on his jacket - sorry rubbish photo it is very heavily cropped. I always struggled with micro moth id even when I was moth trapping more regularly than I do these days but I think this may be Cameraria ohridella ? which is common in parks and urban areas. It was first seen in Wimbledon, England in 2002 and since then has spread rapidly. Its larvae mine leaves of Chestnut trees causing brown blotches on the leaves and infestation can be so severe that trees become defoliated. Please correct me if my id is wrong.

One day I will walk as far as Widney Lane but we had dilly dallied quite a lot so we turned to retrace the route.

Hawthorn is coming into flower.

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Mallard

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Two fungi D spotted - my fungi id is appalling but I think these may be Hoof Fungus and King Alfred's cakes. Please feel free to correct me if I am wrong.

*D

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It was a very enjoyable walk and as D said we really should do it at other times of the year.

No butterflies were seen but I did see a few Bumble Bees - a Common Carder Queen on Bluebells and a White-tailed Bumble Bee on a dandelion.

Other flowers seen included Lesser Celandine and Marsh Marigold.


*D Photos taken by my son with the Canon SX50HS bridge camera

Rest of photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera

Recent reading and a garden update.

Recent Reading

I always enjoy nature writing by Paul Evans (he also writes in the Guardian's Country Diary) and this collection of essays on Britain's natural history did not disappoint - the Bestiary at the end of the book is particularly good. The title is the same as a 1940 Batsford Book but Paul Evans' book is nature writing for the 21st century.

I bought this kindle book as we are going to Anglesey for our main summer holiday and, although I visited twice as a child with my parents and also went on a residential Geography "A" level field trip there, my memories are a trifle hazy! The book is written with passion by the author who lives on the island and is entertaining and humorous. The only downside is that the book could do with some editing as the section on beaches has an awful lot of repetition in the text. Nevertheless it has given me some wonderful ideas of places to visit and I certainly feel as if I know a lot more about Anglesey than before I started to read it.

The George and Molly Palmer-Jones books improve as the series progresses and I really enjoyed this one.

The Stephens and Mephisto books in the Brighton Mysteries series just keep getting better and better. I loved this book.

I haven't read a Mary Webb novel for years - Mary Webb was a novelist from the early twentieth century and this book is set in the wild landscape of Shropshire at the beginning of the 19th century. It is a beautiful, poignant and moving tale with beautiful descriptions of the landscape. The book tells the sad tale of Gideon Sarn who is obsessed with gaining wealth as seen through the eyes of his sister Prudence Sarn who was born with a hare lip which, in those unenlightened times, was often regarded as a sign of witchcraft. It is also the story of the love developing between Prudence and the weaver Kester Woodseaves.

Thankfully I still have quite a few books in the Maisie Dobbs series to read - I really do like this series as Maisie is such an endearing character.

Garden Update



Primroses have now finished flowering but

Lungwort is still flowering profusely.

Green Alkanet which appeared out of the blue in the garden is spreading nicely :)

Bluebells are flowering - we seem to have a mix of the dreaded Spanish Bluebell (which were established when we bought the house a long time ago), the native Bluebell and hybrids between the two.

Wood anemones are slowly spreading and

Wood Sorrel (another plant which appeared mysteriously in the garden) is still thriving.

Dandelions are left in peace to flower as they are so good for pollinators.

Camellia attract many insects too - here another hoverfly.

Rosemary in flower

Foget-me-nots and

Flowering currant are also in flower.

There are lots and lots of Yellow Rattle appearing in the mini wildflower meadow although couch grass is still flourishing and

in a border B cleared of brambles to put up some new fencing red campion have seeded.

We've had five species of Butterfly in the garden so far this year - Small Tortoiseshell, Orange Tip, Holly Blue, Peacock and this

Speckled Wood - not the best of photos I couldn't get close enough.- apologies I have a feeling I posted this picture earlier in the month.

We treated ourselves to a lean too greenhouse earlier in the year which is proving useful and we are hoping to grow tomatoes and perhaps peppers in there later in the year.

We decided earlier this year to replace the nestbox with camera as the camera in the old one was no longer working. A pair of Blue Tits have taken up residence and there are now at least five eggs - it is difficult to count them as she is not yet sitting on the eggs and in the daytime she covers them with grass, moss and feathers.

EDIT

Latest photo - there are six eggs and Mrs BT now seems to have started incubating.

Recently a Sparrowhawk came shooting down the garden towards the house chasing a Blackbird which it failed to catch. The Sparrowhawk ended up perched on the mini greenhouse on the patio looking most put out.

*D


Finally, D has been on holiday and having a decluttering session in his room - he came across a kit to build a flowerpot man which he had had for years but never made. Now completed it sits in our porch. I think it is rather cute :)

*D Photo taken by D with the Canon SX50HS bridge camera
Rest of photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera