Plumstead and Holt Country Park, 8 August 2024

This was a guided walk with a difference, starting at the house of my late father, John Durdin, the Old Post Office in Plumstead, the walk on this occasion supporting the Honeyguide Charitable Trust. It would be fair to say that six Honeyguiders enjoyed their tour of the garden, house, cellar and small cottages in the grounds, with various historic features discussed. At one point there were four buzzards in the sky.

Pond at Plumstead Green.

We set off for a local walk, stopping first at St Michael’s church, which happened to be open as some Plumstead residents were meeting there for coffee. We took a look inside this compact and attractive church, which has two large paintings by John Durdin. At Plumstead Green we stopped at the village pond, restored a decade and a half ago. A blue emperor hunted over the pond and there were distant blue damselflies, but these were trumped by a female southern hawker that landed on a hogweed stem, allowing close views and photos in its characteristic upright perched position. 

Southern hawker, female.

We walked around the adjacent conservation meadow, now (paths apart) with high vegetation dominated by hogweed and wild carrot, plus a patch of tansy and birdsfoot trefoil here and there.

Plumstead's conservation meadow.

On the edge of a sugar beet field we looked at arable ‘weeds’, including black bindweed, which in my flower book is classified as a dock, though in more recent references it’s put in Polygonaceae (knotweeds, such as redshank). Redshank, field pansy (heartsease), fat hen and hedge mustard were among the other ‘weeds’. We turned left in the wood, and obvious marble galls on oak prompted some leaf turning, and we found silk button and spangle galls. By the sheltered edge of the words there were about 20 hunting dragonflies, mostly migrant hawkers. We returned to Plumstead up Jericho Lane, passing a nice clump of yellow toadflax. We had picnic lunches in the garden, and it was hot enough for us to seek the shade of the large cooking apple tree. A red kite passed by, over the field behind the Old Post Office.

The weather had become overcast as we arrived at Holt Country Park, and there was briefly a hint of drizzle, though not enough for a coat. The grey sky meant no butterflies on the buddleias in the car park, and we walked steadily through the woods past the big pond and onto the dry heath part of Holt Lowes. Here the tall common (European) gorse was not in flower; instead the generally shorter and unscented western gorse was flowering, as is typical in August. Despite the lack of sunshine, on the heath there seemed to be plenty of butterflies, mostly gatekeepers, meadow browns and peacocks.

Western gorse, bell heather and heather.

The wide, sandy path had various little holes on account of solitary bees and ants, and in two places we found what I was hoping we'd see: bee wolf. The first disappeared quickly down a burrow, the second we watched digging for a good while before it disappeared. It’s a species spreading further north and a recent colonist here.

Bee wolf.

The wet edge of Holt Lowes meant various difference species, starting with lots of lesser spearwort and ragged robin. The weather was against us for the star invertebrate, keeled skimmer, just two brief views of flying blue-grey males, though again there were plenty of migrant hawkers in the wing, plus a ruddy darter. There was plenty of botanical interest: bog pimpernel (though it took a while to find some last, lingering pink flowers), tormentil, marsh lousewort, clubmoss and pink crossed-leaved heath to add to the bell and common heathers in drier areas. A single heath spotted orchid was a surprise, this late in the year, and there was lots of round-leaved sundew.

Round-leaved sundew.

Tormentil - a four-petalled cinquefoil.

Ann and I were searching alder buckthorn bushes for traces of brimstone butterflies, but we found only nibbled leaves. However, Ann did find a fine female speckled bush cricket. That was not long before we’d completed our circuit of Holt Lowes, and we then returned to the car park

Speckled bush-cricket on an alder buckthorn leaf.

The walk plus additional donations for books and other items raised £400 for the Honeyguide Charitable Trust.

Chris Durdin