Dorset Walks

Friday July 31st 2009
Badbury Rings

list of species seen
© Bob Ford/Nature Portfolio
Badbury Rings
The hillfort at Badbury Rings

Trip Report

We started at the western edge of the hill fort and walked in a southerly direction towards the main road through some superb limestone grassland with an enormous diversity of wild flowers. Most of the flowers were familiar from Portland with Birdsfoot Trefoil, Burnet Saxifrage and Small Scabious predominating along with good numbers of Stemless Thistles and a few tiny plants of Eyebrights and Purging Flax. The Betony and Harebells were particularly welcome as these are not common on Portland.
The butterflies took a while to appear and for a while consisted of just a few tatty Meadow Browns and the odd Large White. But then a brilliant gold jewel flew past - the first Clouded Yellow of the summer! Soon we had added Small and Green-veined White to the list, followed by Brimstone (that's 5 whites!), Painted Lady, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Chalkhill Blue and Ringlet.
© Kay Mantripp/Nature Portfolio
Brimstone
Brimstone 		© Bob Ford/Nature Portfolio
Clouded Yellow
Clouded Yellow
As we were looking at the tiny limestone flowers most of the time we didn't notice many birds but a singing Yellowhammer attracted our attention and then a family of 4 or 5 Green Woodpeckers appeared at the bottom of the field. Reaching the embankments of the hill fort itself we found some more Yellowhammers along with a Whitethroat and a couple of Stonechats.
© Bob Ford/Nature Portfolio
Southern Hawker
Southern Hawker 		© Kay Mantripp/Nature Portfolio
Small Tortoiseshell
Small Tortoiseshell
Walking through the grove of Ash and Oak trees that crown the fort we came across several Southern Hawker dragonflies and added Speckled Wood to the butterfly list. The far end of the wood held a real concentration of birdlife, with Treecreeper, Nuthatch and Spotted Flycatcher all giving good views.

The day's list...

Birds

Wood Pigeon
Green Woodpecker
Rook
Jackdaw
Treecreeper
Nuthatch
Whitethroat
Spotted Flycatcher
Blue Tit
Coal Tit
Stonechat
Greenfinch
Goldfinch
Yellowhammer




Mammals

Badger sett
Rabbit
 Butterflies

Meadow Brown
Gatekeeper
Speckled Wood
Ringlet
Large White
Small White
Green-veined White
Clouded Yellow
Brimstone
Painted Lady
Small Tortoiseshell
Peacock
Chalkhill Blue




Other Insects

Southern Hawker
Soldier Beetle
Ground Beetle
 Plants

Agrimony
Arum
Autumn Hawbit
Ash
Betony
Birdsfoot Trefoil
Black Knapweed
Black Medick
Blackthorn
Bramble
Burnet Saxifrage
Bur-reed
Carline Thistle
Common Elder
Creeping Thistle
Eyebright
Great Hairy Willowherb
Harebell
Hawthorn
Hedge Bedstraw
Hoary Plantain
Lady's Bedstraw
Marjoram
Milkwort (Chalk?)
Pedunculate Oak
Purging Flax
Quaking Grass
Red Bartsia
Red Clover
Rough Hawkbit
Salad Burnet
Silverweed
Small Scabious
Stemless Thistle
St John's Wort
Stinging Nettle
White Bryony
White Clover
Wild Carrot
Wild Parsnip
Wild Thyme

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