Kent Wildlife Trust Volunteer
Margery Thomas describes another delightful May in Hothfield Heathland where volunteers conducted an amphibian torchlight survey on a number of Hothfield ponds. To learn what they found, read on!
The writer H E Bates moved from Northamptonshire to Little Chart Forstal in 1931. His deep knowledge of the countryside coloured all his writing. In ‘Through the Woods’ (1936), with fine wood engravings by Agnes Miller Parker, he wrote in loving detail about the plant and animal life in Coldham Wood, which lies due west of the Extension section of Hothfield Heathland.
Margery Thomas, volunteer at Hothfield Heathlands, gives us an update from the reserve, where the first signs of spring are stirring!
By August, floral glory has passed from the orchids (heath spotted, southern marsh and a few large hybrids) to the heather or ling. As ever, we hope for a protracted display of purple in the heathy areas, which is likely if the cool nights persist. Orchid seed is now ripening. Dust-like, dispersed on the wind, the seed contains no nutrients to support germination so needs a mycorrhizal fungus to supply nutrients from the soil to its roots. From seed to flowering takes three years or more.
