Burnsall Riverside

Saturday 7^th August 2021

Leader: Bruce Brown

Despite the gloomy weather forecast, 15 members gathered in the car park at Burnsall for this meeting and we started our walk, led by Bruce Brown, along the riverside in sunshine and blue skies.

There was a lot to see just by the bridge and I was particularly pleased to see Yellow-juiced Poppy (Papaver lecoqii) as it was new to me and others. Under the bridge there was a fine clump of Creeping Yellow-cress. Progress along the river path was slow (compared to the hikers and dog-walkers) as there was much to see. On this stretch another new plant for me was Aunt-Eliza (a red form of Montbretia (Crocosmia paniculata). A good patch of Applemint, Yellow Loosestrife, Helmquist`s Cotoneaster, a form of Druce`s Cranesbill (Geranium x oxonianum f.thurstonianum), Osier, Early Goldenrod, Rough Chervil and a Downy Birch tree completely hollowed out at its trunk were some of the species seen.

The rain came down as we expected it would, but we found a place beneath the trees to sit and have lunch facing over the river. That provided us with lunchtime entertainment watching Swallows, House Martins and Sand Martins constantly swooping by feeding on the insects as the rain kept tumbling down!

We continued onwards, finding both Small Scabious and Devil`s Bit Scabious plus a hybrid polypody, on the way to the bridge at Hebden, but took a left hand footpath just before we got there and walked up a steep set of steps, seeing Hard-Shield Fern on the way up. At the top we found Welted Thistle and when we came to a road the verges were bedecked with Field Scabious. Crossing the road, we took a footpath, seeing Giant Bellflower and Bay Willow, before climbing over stiles and dropping back to Burnsall through various fields. In the last field we found Blackcurrant and saw Duke of Argyll`s Teaplant in a ginnel.

Back in the village I got another new plant – House-leek – on the walls as we wandered down the road towards Grassington. An abundance of Yellow Corydalis covered the walls on one side of the road and on the other plenty of Maidenhair Spleenwort, Wall-Rue and one Rue-leaved Saxifrage. Another good find was Argentinian Vervain.

The rain had stopped and we had enjoyed a really good walk in varied habitat and recorded over 200 taxa.

Text by Rita

Photographs by Susan