Aldermaston Wharf. Before the walk started, he talked about the different species of bat which are 

 native to Britain. A Red Admiral butterfly flew across the car park and settled on the roof of a parked 

 van. The 14-strong group set out downstream along the towpath of the Kennet and Avon Canal. 

 Ploughman's-spikenard Inula conyzae, Great Mullein Verbascum thapsus and Dark Mullein V. nigrum 

 were noted on the hedge side, while Orange Balsam was in flower next to the water and a Mother of 

 Pearl Pleuroptya ruralis moth was disturbed from the vegetation. The sky was crossed by a web of 

 aircraft condensation trails. At the first lane crossing the canal, the route turned south for a few hundred 

 yards. Tall spikes of Purple-loosestrife were In flower on the banks of a stream which passed under 

 the road. The group then followed a footpath which ran back between the River Kennet and a gravel 

 pit. Great Crested Grebes Podiceps cristatus were seen on the pit and several Grey Herons Ardea 

 cinerea flew briefly, silhouetted dark against the sunset sky. A family of Mallards Anas platyrhynchos, 

 with five well-grown youngsters, swam down the river. With clear skies, the temperature dropped 

 rapidly and the first stars began to appear. Graham's bat detector, set to a frequency of 55 kHz, picked 

 up the echo-location calls of a Soprano Pipistrelle Pipistrellus pygmaeus, but nobody was able to spot 

 it. Then, in a sheltered stretch of river where it was overhung by trees, the Daubenton's Bats Myotis 

 daubentoni were seen. About half a dozen Individuals were flying up and down, low over the river. 

 Graham shone a powerful torch beam across the surface of the water and the bats could be seen 

 clearly as they flew through the light. Daubenton's Bats have pale undersides and relatively large feet. 

 The bat detector, set to 40 kHz, had a steady pattering note, with scattered 'burp' sounds as a bat 

 homed In on its prey. No more bats were seen as the group walked back along a tree-lined track to 

 the canal at Aldermaston Wharf. Graham scanned the surface of the pool below the lock with the torch 

 beam, but there were still no signs of any bats. He reported that, when he had done the walk in the 

 opposite direction a few nights before, he had failed to see any bats above the canal. The walk finished 

 with some astronomy - as well as Identifying the Plough and Cassiopeia, Graham pointed out the 

 constellation of Cygnus the Swan. 



Saturday 15 September 



Renee Grayer led a walk at the National Trust's Watllngton Hill on a pleasant sunny afternoon on 

 Saturday 15 September. A number of butterflies were flying round the car park, including a Holly Blue, 

 a Red Admiral and a Speckled Wood Pararge aegeria. 1 5 members set out through the woodland and 

 out onto the open hillside. Vervain Verbena officinalis, Yellow Rattle Rhinanthus minor in abundance, 

 Wild Basil Clinopodium vulgare, Common Centaury Centaurium erythraea and Yellow-wort 

 Blackstonia perfoliata were amongst the first flowers encountered. A small-flowered gentian was 

 identified as Autumn Gentian Gentianella amarella. Many of them had already finished flowering. A 

 much larger-flowered plant was clearly a Chiltern Gentian G germanica, with transverse wrinkles up 

 the outside of the corolla tube and a relatively short calyx at Its base. But then a number of interme- 

 diate flowers were found, showing characteristics of both plants - perhaps hybrids between the two 

 species. A single Small Heath butterfly was spotted on a sheltered slope. Then the Frog Orchids 

 Coeloglossum viride started to appear - first one, then 5 and eventually about 30. They are small and 

 yellowish-green and very easily overlooked. There were white-flowered specimens of Small Scabious 

 Scabiosa columbaria and Common Milkwort Polygala vulgaris and other finds included Blue Fleabane 

 Erigeron acer, Common Rock-rose Helianthemum nummularium and Squinancywort Asperula 

 cynanchica. The spikes of Heath Speedwell were found on top of ant-hills. On the short grassland at 

 the top of the ridge were rings of an orange fungus with a sunken cap, probably some sort of Milk-cap. 

 Also found here was a specimen of The Miller Clitopilus prunulus, which had a smooth pale cap, a 

 distinctive smell and an off-centre stalk. In the disturbed soil where a conservation group (Sonning 

 Common Green Gym) had cut down encroaching hawthorn last winter were clumps of Wild Candytuft 

 Iberis amara and a single plant of Deadly Nightshade. A male Brimstone butterfly flew past as the 

 group walked back into woods. 



Sunday 30 September 



Michael Keith-Lucas led a field trip on Sunday 30 September which visited two very different habitats. 

 The morning walk, attended by 8 members, was on the dry, sandy heath land around Frensham Pond, 

 near Farnham, while the afternoon walk was on the wet bog at Thursley National Nature Reserve, a 

 few miles to the east. Both sites are on the acid, infertile soils of the Lower Greensand. Some of the 

 plants at Frensham are more typically found in coastal areas or in the Brecklands of East Anglia. Sand 

 Sedge Carex arenaria has long rhizomes and these were sending up long lines of evenly-spaced 

 plantlets. Small plants in the open area near the Visitor Centre included Common Stork's-bill Erodium 



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