To celebrate Earth Day, Roddy took a small group for a walk along the Castlefairn river to look at the woods there, and the fascinating community of plants that can be found. Some of the plants, such as the Moschatel, or Town-hall Clock (Adoxa moschatellina) are quite uncommon! We also saw cuckoo flower, a food plant for the Orange Tip butterfly caterpillar, meadow saxifrage and wood anemone, as well as some wonderful wych elms, the most mature specimens of which we lost due to Dutch elm disease.
Great chats were had about land use and the role of riparian woodlands in flood mitigation, all along accompanied by the songs of thrushes, tits, wrens and nuthatches. A lovely day was had!
glencairnlandandwoodstrust.co.uk 