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Monday, June 24, 2013

A wet and windy weekend

... and firm commitments made to be outdoors botanising ! (Click here for earlier in the week)

Saturday saw the Brecon Wildlife Trust Circular walk to Darren Fawr start from Merthyr Golf Course car park for a walk through very varied and interesting terrain. (The walk was in partnership with the Brecon Beacons Park Society. .) Eight of us were brave enough to start out and condition were not too bad until after lunch but very windy and wet conditions prevented us doing a good exploration of the Darren fawr reserve (being gustily blown onto the slope isn't much better than the opposite). But the woodland along the Taf Fechan was well worth the effort with abundant Water Avens and its hybrid with Wood Avens:

Geum rivale / urbanum hybrid - both parents were nearby.

I managed to record fairly comprehensively for the first 1km square - much helped by others in the group - but we fell behind the schedule for time and so I was relieved to just enjoy the walk after that as we picked up speed.

Lunch on an old trackway on the common.

Then on Sunday I went to a BSBI meeting just over our northern border into Radnorshire at Elan where we saw some lovely meadows abundant with Vicia orobus before deciding to move indoors to chat as the weather deteriorated. 
Vicia orobus, Wood Bitter-vetch

Then later Ray Woods was able to show us a meadow with many gems near Newbridge on Wye (again on the Radnor side).

More Adder's tongue than I have ever seen in one place before !
Genista anglica, Petty Whin

Postscript, seen at Hereford on the 19th June:
Picture taken at dusk on my phone: River Water-crowfoot?

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