Waterside Natural History Society visit Chappetts Copse and
Old Winchester Hill.
The village of West Meon lies in the beautiful Meon Valley
at the heart of the South Downs about thirty miles east of the Waterside. The
contrast between this area and the New Forest could not be more striking from a
natural history point of view so provided an interesting diversion for the
Natural History Society.
Chappetts Copse is a woodland reserve to the east of West
Meon managed by Hampshire Wildlife Trust and was visited during the morning.
White flowers of Cow Parsley lined the narrow lanes but gave way to the white
of Woodruff and Sanicle on entering the wood. The Beech wood itself is
carefully managed to encourage the growth of Narrow Leaved Helleborine and
other members of the orchid family amongst the trees. These plants cannot
thrive without the Beech Trees but neither can they thrive in dense
undergrowth. Each year the small saplings of Beech are identified and marked
with a stick so that they are not cut down when the undergrowth is trimmed
later in the year. The result is a carpet of white flowers from this rare
Helleborine which fails to establish elsewhere. Helleborines are members of the
orchid family but are distinguished by the flower stalk emerging directly from
the ground and not through a rosette of leaves.
The Narrow Leaved Helleborine is almost identical to the White
Helleborine but on looking down from above has radiating leaves compared to the
opposing leaves of the White Helleborine.
There were also a few Fly Orchids in flower. These are small
black orchids with petals and sepals in the form of a fly which although of a
striking colour are very difficult to spot on the ground and even more
difficult to photograph. Fortunately their position was marked with a few
sticks which not only indicated their location but prevented them being trodden
down. Birds Nest Orchid was also seen in one area. This orchid is saprophytic
which means that it lives off dead and decaying organic matter so has no green
pigment leaving it entirely honey coloured.
Chappetts Copse as its name suggests is a small wood and did
not take long to walk round. A Beech wood in spring is quintessentially English
and it was a delight to wander through the trees with sunlight filtering through
the fresh green leaves.
Old Winchester Hill was visited during the afternoon which involved
a short drive towards Warnford. The reserve is largely open grassland but the
big difference from Chappetts Copse is the views. Old Winchester Hill is the
site of an Iron Age hill fort with Bronze Age Barrows built on a promontory
jutting out from a ridge that is now occupied by Old Winchester Hill road.
Spectacular views can be observed on all sides with a scooped valley on one
side and the plains on the other looking over to Southampton and the Isle of
Wight. Unfortunately the visit was too early in the year to see the many
orchids but the hillsides were painted yellow by a carpet of Cowslips. A meadow
of Cowslips is a rare sight these days and brought back many memories of
childhood.
Several birds were heard in Chappetts Copse but few were
seen because of the dense vegetation. The more open countryside of Old
Winchester Hill enabled birds such as Linnet, Yellow Hammer, and Chaffinch to
be seen. Warblers such as Whitethroat and Blackcap were also heard. The most
amazing sight was provided by Kestrel hunting over the edge of the escarpment
on the way back to the car park. It was first noticed hovering over the path
but repositioned itself between the branches of a low shrub growing on the edge
of the escarpment. The bird was less than fifty metres away but held a
stationary position in mid-air as if held by invisible strings. The impression
given was of time standing still until with a flick of its wing feathers it swooped
down over the skyline. Although the bird was probably helped by the up draught
its ability to stay still without apparently moving a muscle provided an
incredible sight.
The indoor meeting for May was an illustrated talk on
‘Dragonflies of the New Forest’ by Peter Allen. The subject proved to be of
great interest to the members and visitors attending and the well informed
speaker provided spot on details of how to identify these fascinating insects.
Many of the dragonflies and damselflies found in this country can be found in
the New Forest or surrounding area so there is plenty of opportunity to witness
their antics at first hand.
Peter Allen has spent many hours studying dragonflies in
both this country and abroad. Although the talk was aimed at the New Forest he
was able to speak of rare visitors to the area and also of unusual specimens in
other countries.
The audience left
with a better knowledge of how to identify dragonflies and a better
appreciation of their life styles. . The great advantage of looking for these
insects is that they appear in warm sunny weather so can be enjoyed on a
pleasant walk; that is always assuming that summer arrives this year.
