Last Thursday we went a little “off piste” and paid a visit to Pett Level. Andy who has been studying such things kindly offered to take us on a fossil hunt at Cliff End. he introduced us to the bone bed which looks more like concrete than a place where fossils may be lurking.

San spotted this which we think is a dinosaur footprint that has been well worn by the tides.

Off topic, but I had to take a photo of this Greater Birds-foot Trefoil just growing out of the cliff.We finished off with a wander round Toot Rock, an interesting piece of second world war history.

We were blessed with excellent weather today for our Fairlight Glen walk. The route started round the top where we stopped to admire the tenacity of the beech tree literally growing out of the rock and the Ordnance Survey bench mark in the rock, a bit of “official graffiti” along with the inevitable names. We then took the ghyll stream path up to the dripping well taking in the unique vegetation on the way, then it was up the steps and down again to take the path through Longshore Wood and up Smugglers Steps. Thence on to Barn Pond and in the hedge on the way, Sam our invertebrate spotter found us this Longhorn Beetle which my book has as Strangalia maculata but it seems to have changed to Rutpela maculata, hence the title and also an immature male Broad Bodied Chaser.

At Barn Pond we were treated to Broad Bodied Chasers, Emperor Dragonflies and Linnet taking advantage of the Parrot’s Feather to have a drink in the middle of the pond. We also saw a few grass vetchling in flower where I saw many last year. Still not a great day for butterflies only Meadow Brown and Small/Essex Skipper.

Yesterday in spite of the weather three of us met up for a walk around the Helipad and North’s Seat and in fact the rain held off the whole time, just! Starting at the roundel with the view not what it can be on a good day, Phil said that he could remember the wooden viewing platform that was once there which burnt down as did the Windmill in 1869. Walking round we came to the reservoir the site of the most recent fire. North’s Seat is so called because of the seat put on the site of the windmill by Marianne North best known for her botanical paintings of which there is a gallery at Kew Gardens. The seat was to commemorate her late father Frederick North MP.

Moving toward the Helipad  (not sure when it got that name or where one would land a helicopter there now) we checked out the hedge that we planted last November and were pleased to see almost 100% survival of the whips. This hedge is pretty much on the line of the of the two fields on the 1839 tithe map, the one that the footpath across it being Down Field and the other was called Cricketing Field, however there is no evidence of cricket ever having played there. On a post at the Helipad entrance Sam spotted this Ichneumon, Rhyssa peruasoria, a parasite whose larvae feed on the larvae of the Horntail, a sawfly. It has drilled into the post in the photo and is ovipositing.

Walking round we noted there is still evidence of the RAF domestic site of WWII  and the early Cold War. Here we saw Goldfinch and plenty of Bristly Oxtongue and Spear Thistle.

We also took in the two heather patches and pondered such mysteries as why plastic doorstops have been fitted to kissing gates and the history behind the British Anzani Iron Horse.

A number of Meadow Brown were in evidence along the walk and walking home I saw two raven fly off Brakey Bank field which was freshly topped, rare to see them that close and be able appreciate what a massive wingspan they have.

Outside today you could call it flaming June but the recent rain has made some very unseasonal conditions. Our group walk yesterday was cancelled as we would have got soaked just getting to the meeting point.

It cleared up and I decided to go out in the afternoon. Saw my first Meadow Brown of the year on the verge in Fyrs Way before I got to the Country Park. I had only planned to go as far as Warren Glen but arriving at the bottom of Lovers Seat steps carried on through Fairlight Glen as it looked like the weather would hold and I had not yet seen the new bridge in Ecclesbourne Glen. When I got as far as Ecclesbourne Meadow I felt a few spots of rain and I realised that I was going to get wet anyway but it was worth it to see a small flock of Goldfinch in Ecclesbourne Meadow.

The path down into the glen afforded a little shelter and at the bottom I found what must be the longest footbridge for miles. I counted 26 paces. The old collapsed culvert has been completely removed allowing the stream to flow unimpeded again.

Standing on the bridge there is a lovely smell of freshly sawn Douglas Fir. Leaving the glen by the track up past the reservoir I came across the ESCC team who had just finished the bridge having problems extricating themselves in the very wet and slippery conditions. I spoke to them briefly and they told me that they were going to leave the other two bridges they have still to do for a few weeks to let it dry up. These are harder to access than the one in the photo being down the path where repaired the revetments last year.

It would seem that because of the very wet winter that we had it has not taken much rain to make some footpaths quite muddy again.