Seven members of the Field Club plus one, very welcome, visitor met in Swinbrook churchyard for an evening walk before looking for glow-worms. We had a fine evening and heard or saw several birds, including Stock Dove, Tawny Owl and Barn Owl. We stopped to peer at the River Windrush just past the Church at Widford before heading up the hill track that took us past Manor Farm and the site of the medieval village. The fields looked magnificent as they were planted with Phacelia tanacetifolia (sometimes called fiddle neck).
When we reached the quiet road leading to Fullbrook, we found, as usual, a fine selection of wildflowers growing on the verges, including Field Scabious, Rosebay Willowherb and Greater Knapweed. We left the road after a short while to walk down a track leading to Handley Plain and then the road leading back to Swinbrook. As it was getting dark, our visitor used her bat detector to help us identify a selection of bats as we walked along. Towards the end of the walk we were rewarded with the sight of a barn owl hunting across a field on the hill above us.
When we got back to the dark churchyard, we spread out to hunt for Glow-worms. Initially we thought we might not find very many as the churchyard had been tidied up more than usual and there wasn’t much long grass, which the Glow Worms like so much. Nevertheless we found 15 in total in the churchyard and the lane just outside, so we were very pleased. I think everyone agreed it had been a successful, summer evening.
The species list can be found here.
Maggie Collins 15 July 2024
WEST OXFORDSHIRE FIELD CLUB 