By August the crops have been harvested along with the array of wildflowers that grew in abundance at the edges.  Birdsong has all but disappeared and the fruits of autumn have matured: sloes, blackberries, hips, haws, rowan and elderberries, and the teasels and reeds have seeds. The wood pigeons remain in great numbers, as do the black-headed gulls, and flocks of swallows feed as they fly back and forth low over the fields. On the mud beside the river we see a group of ten ringed plover, the first ‘our patch’ sighting this year of these small waders.

Our knowledge of wild flowers has improved over the months but today we found several that needed further investigation and later identified knotgrass and red bartsia (and wonder why we hadn’t come across the latter earlier in the year); we remain unsure as to what we believe to be goat’s rue.

Birds: Swallow, Sparrow (40), Collared Dove (2), Pied Wagtail (3), Wood Pigeon 19 (9), Long-tailed Tits (4), Black-headed Gull 35  (34) Cormorant, Ringed Plover (10), Crow, Magpie 4 – numbers in brackets are those sighted at one time.

Flowers: Bristly Ox-Tongue, White & Red Clover, Wild Carrot, Ragwort, Mallow, Yarrow, Common Fleabane, Red Bartsia, Dandelion, Field Poppy, Wild Pansy, Knotgrass, Bird’s Foot Trefoil, Marsh & Spear Thistle, Ribwort Plantain, Sea Lavender, Sea Beet, Woody Nightshade & Great Willowherb

Other: Large & Small White Butterfly

Next Meeting – Wednesday 30^th September 2.00pm meet in the Marina Car Park