Evening amble

A generally grey and overcast day, but by early evening I felt the need to escape so headed for a rather damp and gloomy walk round Stonepit Close. I carried out an NVC survey here last year, but the damper spring weather meant that the vegetation looks much lusher, with very large populations of many key species including Wild Thyme, Viper's-bugloss and Restharrow. 

The Crescent Plume (see extra) is associated with Restharrow and was very abundant. This is a local species that prefers dry habitats, such as downland, shingle beaches and sand-dunes. Interestingly the results of the NVC survey concluded that the grassland on this site is intermediate between that of downland and dunes - no wonder it's such a perfect habitat for them!