On the 6th July 2009 a dozen members of the Herts Branch of BNA met in Oban for a long awaited week’s cruise to the Hebrides on board MV ‘Chalice’. Our expectations and spirits were high as we set off after stowing our belongings in the cabins.

On our first full day, immediately after breakfast, cooked for us by Tony, who had a rare talent for cooking perfect porridge, we spotted our first Golden Eagle. From the top deck of the boat we had an excellent all-round view for spotting wildlife, which on the first day, heading towards Canna, included Storm Petrels, Manx Shearwaters and two Minke Whales.

We were taken ashore in the Zodiac every day for an hour or two and so had a chance to look for wildlife on the islands too. For example, the Pale Butterwort, Pinguicula lusitanica, that we found growing in an interesting bog near Neist Point on the Isle of Skye and the Twite we spotted perching on overhead wires on Gometra.

We crossed the Minch and cruised through the Sound of Harris before landing on Taransay, where we were free to explore for the afternoon. I have vivid memories of the scenery with the shell-beaches, the blue sea and the Bog Bean, Menyanthes trifoiata, and Water Lobelia, Lobelia dortmanna, growing by Loch an Duin.

At the Shiants, we were in awe at the number of sea birds. The boat was surrounded by Guillemots, Razorbills and Puffins, and the crew, with their typical perfect timing, brought hot dogs up onto the deck for us. After visiting Lunga in the Treshnish Isles and cruising north-east towards Ardnamurchan, we spotted the dorsal fin of an enormous Basking Shark. It made steady progress straight towards us and our Skipper turned the engine off as we watched it feeding right next to the boat.

The grand finale on our last morning, in the Sound of Mull, was a White-tailed Eagle perching on a rock before taking off to soar across the sky on one side of the boat while two Otters were taking to the water from rocks on the other side of the boat.

Great Skua © David Shipway

We watched Great Skuas flying just a few feet from us, and wondered at the dexterity of the Fulmars dipping their wing tips into the waves to steer. The holiday gave us all a first class opportunity to study seabirds and watch their aerobatic skills.

Nearer to home, another memorable day during the summer was spent at the Commons Nature Reserve near Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, in early August, when the most exciting find for the day was a Wasp Spider. After a truly sumptuous barbeque in the evening, that was only externally dampened by a torrential rain shower, a moth trap was set up in a meadow. Despite an early-on reluctance on the part of the moths we had a respectable list of eighteen different species by the end of the evening.

At the end of August we met at Tring Reservoirs and discovered Mudwort, Limosella aquatica growing by Startops End Reservoir, which was a a good find of a rare plant, not seen in the area for some time. Next to Tringford Reservoir we had an unusually good view of a Whitethroat and then to our amazement, an Osprey, perching in a dead tree. We were very lucky to have such a good view of the bird as it passed through on its way to Africa for the winter.

Paula Shipway

In February a hardy group from Herts BNA spent a weekend in Southwold in Suffolk. We watched Marsh Harriers and listened to Cetti’s Warblers but the birds that stole the show were the starlings. Their bedtime routine was a breathtaking spectacle and brought back memories from long ago as they swirled in the sky before pouring down into the reed beds.

Members also enjoyed an afternoon and evening meeting – a break with our usual morning tradition! On the first Saturday in June we gathered in one of Hertfordshire’s prime sites to look mainly for invertebrates. Broxbourne Woods National Nature Reserve usually comes up trumps with something less common but the somewhat dull and overcast conditions did not help us much on this occasion. However, a reasonable ‘bag’ of specimens was ‘swept’ from ground vegetation or ‘beaten’ from shrubs and trees and duly examined on site by members. Many species were new to members – it is unheard of for a BNA meeting to yield nothing new, such is the incredible variety of wildlife to be found!

In the early evening, we adjourned to the ‘Baker’s Arms’ at Bayford where the landlord was happily surprised to discover a hungry hoard on the other side of the bar. A very jolly evening was had by all and it was agreed that we should do it again, especially as it gave an opportunity for any members unable to come out on field meetings to join in the evening conviviality.

Members coming out to our mid June meeting at Frogmore Meadows near Sarratt were rewarded with the sight of a beautiful orchid growing close to the River Chess, Dactylorhiza x hallii, a hybrid between Southern Marsh Orchid and Heath-spotted Orchid.

Rain was a main feature of our BNA meetings during the summer but it didn’t spoil the excitement of discovering Monotropa hypopitys (Yellow Birdsnest) on Oddy Hill, near Tring, which was a new record for the site and the first record for Hertfordshire for twenty years. We also found Epipactis purpurata (Violet Helleborine) growing close by in Bull’s Wood.

Following the very wet summer we weren’t surprised to find plenty of water in the River Gade at Water End where we were intrigued to find Scutellaria galericulata (Skullcap) growing on top of the Tussock Sedges round the edge of one of the springs.

The wet summer was followed by a warm spell and in October we were delighted to be able to watch two small copper butterflies dancing in the autumnal sunshine on the the edge of Bencroft Wood where we enjoyed a restful picnic.