Tuesday 3 August 2010

When there is more better opportunity, look you

Where better to look for rare arable plants than near a field which has been seeded with Chickory? Clearly the farmer cares, and may have created conditions which the rapidly-disappearing small field plants like. It's easy to see the Chickory, tall against the skyline above the Eastry by-pass - it's less easy to find the arable plants.
But there they are, two species for which I had previously searched in vain - Round-leaved and Sharp-leaved Fluellen, growing as usual side-by-side.
There were about ten round-leaved plants, but only on sharp-leaved one. Why are they so-called - they seem to have no relevance to Shakespeare's Captain Fluellen, who is bold and bluff. He says "Look you" frequently..... I've spent much time with Welshmen of all kinds, and have never heard them say it once.

At the end of the day I travelled to Knowle Wood (or the Waterworks Wood) on a tip-off - there are Broad-Leaved Helleborines there, they said.
Yes there are..... plenty of them, feet away from the car park, and lining the roadside.
Most photos were poor in the low light - this one is included only because of an apparently unusual Ladybird, which I missed in the gloom.
Back in Kingsdown, a Small Blue was seen - presumably a late generation one, while on the beach an opportunity for another birder-sop pic presented itself -two rare Sea-Doves.

1 comment:

Greenie said...

Steve ,
Have only seen the Fluellens in the book , nice one .
BLHs up here are still not in flower yet , and unlikely to be seen sporting a 14 Spot Ladybird-
Propylea 14-punctata .
On the rare Sea-Dove front , have you ever heard of Turnstones referred to as Sea Pigeons ?