Whisby Nature Park, Lincolnshire, 10 September 2011.
As the Rochdale Field Naturalists crossed the Pennines eastwards we soon left the grey clouds behind. At the delightful Whisby Nature Park, near Lincoln, we found the hedgerows groaning under the weight of berries, haws and hips - a bumper harvest for all the visiting birds, animals and insects.
Our attention was first drawn to the extensive areas of water shimmering in the autumn sun. Whisby has many lakes created from old gravel pits where geese, swans, ducks, cormorants and the handsome Great Crested Grebes have now made their homes.
The dragonfly lakes were aptly named. We soon identified six different species darting in and out of cover and amazing everyone with their iridescent colours.
Despite the lateness of the season there was a profusion of flowers to delight the enthusiastic botanists, including the elusive Scarlet Pimpernel and the dainty Dove’s Foot Cranesbill.
Flowers attract butterflies and bees and, after the previous dreary wet month, it was rewarding to find again handsome Red Admirals and Commas amongst the commoner Whites and the very frequently seen Speckled Woods. However, the most elusive butterfly was the Brimstone – well camouflaged as a leaf on a comfrey plant.
Several fungi attracted interest as we meandered along the woodland paths; some for their vivid colours, like Fly Agaric, and others for their size, like the Birch Brown Bolete and The Prince.
Woods and heath are as extensive at Whisby as the water and wetlands so the range of bird species was wide. Rare Tree Sparrows and both Green and Great Spotted Woodpeckers in the woodland glades, a charm of goldfinches devouring thistle seeds, a Buzzard quartering the open heath and the incomparable electric blue of a Kingfisher were just a few of the wonderful memories of the day.
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| Brimstone | Common Darter | Comma | Fly Agaric |
All Photographs by Peter Stevens & Peter Francis
