Did someone mention going for a W.A.L.K.? We have taken to spelling certain words in our house because there is always the chance that somebody will hear!
After the doom and gloom of my earlier posts I am delighted to report that we have just spotted a water vole in the little stream which runs close by here. Everyone feared that we had seen the last of this native but now scarce creature.
The photographs show a little patch of woodland which is a mere hop, skip and a jump away from our house. Nobody ventures too far into this little patch because it is very boggy and home to the odd snake. I believe them to be grass snakes but others say they are adders. As you can see the environment provides the perfect place for Marsh Marigolds which is believed to be one of our most ancient native plants. It seems that as the glaciers retreated after the last ice age the landscape became inundated by glacial meltwaters which provided a perfect home for these moisture loving plants, sometimes referred to as Kingcups. I think they belong to the same group of plants as the buttercup and can be a mild irritant to the skin if picked, perhaps this has helped them survive so long?
