On a lovely September morning, a small group of us met in Lake, and within a few minutes we felt we were within the heart of the countryside, walking along Scotchells Brook. We didn’t see the otters that had been spotted there many years ago, but there was plenty else to interest us.
With David Biggs’ help we identified several leaf mites, including the Alger gall mite, and Sycamore gall mite which causes hairy growths on the leaves.
We walked along beside Apse Solar Farm, after which we crossed the main Newport road heading up towards Borthwood Copse.
We heard several birds, among them a jay, chiff chaff and buzzard, and saw swallows and martins over Ninham Lake. Later on we saw sandmartins, a flycatcher and a hawker dragonfly near Borthwood Copse.
Among the plants we identified were the Canadian fleabane, mugwort or midgewort and woundwort, and the delightfully fragrant water mint near the brook.
We saw a few butterflies, among them we identified the speckled wood.
Thanks to David for sharing his broad depth of knowledge with us.
