On 21/22 August Tom set up my moth trap and his generator and a friend of mine camped overnight in the wood to keep an eye on the set up.
Tom came back the next morning to identify the moths in the trap and release them. Conditions weren’t ideal, it was quite windy overnight, but Tom tells me he was quite pleased with the results – “not bad overall”.
He found Light Emerald, Black Arches, Pale Eggar, Rosy Footman, Straw Dot, Yellow Shell, Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing, Scorched Carpet, Vapouror, Green Carpet, Mother of Pearl, Common Rustic and Flame Shoulder.
Others where he wasn’t 100% sure on the ID included Ruby Tiger, Common Wainscot, Gypsy Moth, Common or Northern Wave and Spruce or Grey Pine Carpet. There were quite a few mirco moths he didn’t attempt to identity (they are all but impossible to ID with the naked eye) plus a few caddisflies and two forest bugs ( Red Legged Shield Bugs ) were also in the trap.
Plants in Rosemary Lane Wood
For the last year we have been systematically recording all the plants we have seen in the wood. We should have started doing this sooner, but we now hope to follow how the flora changes over the years as we open up the canopy and let more light in. So far we have recorded 147 species of trees, flowering plants, rushes, sedges and grasses which are listed in “Plants of Rosemary Lane Wood”. Three of these are new records for the immediate area.
Three plants that have not been reported before in the Rosemary Lane Wood area. Wood bindweed, identified by the large bracts at the base of the flower that completely hide the sepals. Spurge laurel sapling in January 2024, unfortunately it did not survive and wood small reed.
Ancient woodland is identified by the presence of a sets of specialist plants that can take a long time to establish and spread slowly. Wood anemone for example is said to take 50 years to spread 1m so a large patch could be hundreds of years old. The northern half of the wood is officially designated as ancient woodland and here we find some classic woodland plants:- wood anemone, bluebells, pignut, wood mellick, wood speedwell, wood false brome and three nerved sandwort.
Recent woodland In the southern sections which were pasture until the late nineteenth century the ancient woodland indicators are only found around the edges where they have spread in from the old hedgerows. Much of this area is heavy wet clay and the open areas are dominated by sedges, rushes and grasses, even the brambles struggle. The most species rich areas are along the trackways where disturbance and better drainage has allowed various annuals and biennials to establish. Common and Marsh figwort are both widespread, as are bugle, violets, strawberries, greater birds foot trefoil (food plant of the wood white) and self-heal
.