Buchan County Park was fabulous on our Haywards Heath u3a nature walk this day. We walked a circular route of c.3 miles, which can be seen at https://out.ac/Ic4ndv although a recording gap occurred.
Above a Beech tree probably blown over in the 1987 hurricane and growing vertically from the fallen trunk.
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| Knopper gall |
Many oak trees were full of sticky Knopper galls caused by a wasp.
Acorn or Knopper gall wasp (Andricus quercuscalicis) became established in Britain during the 1970s and is now widespread. Eggs are laid during early summer in the developing acorns of Quercus robur. Instead of the normal cup and nut, the acorn is converted into a ridged woody structure, resembling a walnut, in which the gall wasp larva develops. The gall is initially yellowish green and sticky but later comes greyish brown. The next generation forms inconspicuous galls on the male catkins of Turkey oak, Quercus cerris. Ref:https://www.rhs.org.uk/biodiversity/oak-gall-wasps
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| Knopper gall |
This appears to be a Mast Year for oaks.
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| Marsh thistle with Bumblebees and a Crab spider |
See
https://sussexrambler.blogspot.com/search?q=crab+spider for my photographs and accounts of crab spider kills of butterflies, flies and a honey bee.
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Heathers were starting to flower and this lowland heath promises to be spectacular next month. |
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| possibly Marsh Hair moss Polytrichum commune |
My thanks to Marion for spotting this Damselfly.
For info' on White-legged Damselfly
click here for British Dragonfly Society site
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| possibly Nymphoides peltata yellow floating heart |
Dozens of insects were moving rapidly in the water appearing white. I wonder if the white appearance was an air bubble on a water beetle.
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| Looks like another '87 hurricane felled tree. |
With six of us on this nature walk, many pairs of eyes find more interesting things than on one's own.
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