Spring flora

Another visit to Bedford Purlieus this morning, exploring the southern part of this large fragment of Rockingham Forest. When I arrived the sun was shining brightly, but it still felt bitterly cold. I returned to the car just before the first hail shower arrived - they continued for much of the afternoon giving everything a very wintry appearance.

I'd never appreciated just how abundant many of the classic woodland species were in the southern part of the site - sheets of Wood Anemone, Lesser Celandine and Primrose - just wonderful but so hard to photograph, especially in the bright conditions. 

As well as photography I was recording the flora - my most exciting find was a small population of Hairy Lady's-mantle, potentially at a new location. This small plant is present at several places in the wood, but its existence is quite precarious and its been lost from many local sites in the last century. Another good find was a large patch of Creeping Soft-grass, which seems to have last been recorded from that part of the wood in 1981! However, I failed to refind the patch of Yellow star-of-Bethlehem that Chris and I found in 2019...

Sad news later in the day when I wast told of the sudden and premature death of one of Lizzy's relations, leaving behind a family of four teenagers. Life seems so precarious at the moment...