part-time Naturalist: Iron Age Hillfort

Sunday, 30 May 2010

Old Winchester Hill NNR

The earliest settlers in this hillfort were Bronze Age circa 3,800 yrs ago and responsible for the line of three burial barrows (1) (see map below) and a single pond barrow (2), as well as the seven barrows lying outside the perimeter at (3) and (4) the latter being the oldest barrow on site.

During the Iron Age circa 2,500 yrs ago, the main bank and ditch of the hillfort was constructed enclosing 4 ha. A deep V ditch (8) cut to create the high bank (6), upon which a wooden palisade (7) would have been raised. (5) is a series of earlier barrows that were incorporated into the bank. (After Natural England).

Butterflies on the very windy wing: small heath (Coenonympha pamphilus), red admiral (Vanessa atalanta), common blue (Polyommatus icarus) and large white (Pieris brassicae).

Warblers in the bush: willow warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus), common whitethroat (Sylvia communis), lesser whitethroat (Sylvia curruca) chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita) and blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla).

Sunday, 9 August 2009

Chanctonbury Ring to Cissbury Ring and environs

We returned to West Sussex for our second attempt to walk the chalkdowns between the two iron age hill-forts Chanctonbury and Cissbury Rings. This time the weather remained on our side.

The paths between Chanctonbury and Cissbury Rings have long swathes of greater willowherd Epilobium hirsutum most of which have gone over to seed, although some of the plants along the South Downs Way were seen to be still in flower.

Epilobium hirsutum in seed (inset) and in flower (below)

A flowering mint plant Mentha sp. caught our eye for the abundance of invertebrates that it attracted including bright metallic green flies, butterflies, solitary bees and other species such as the unidentified insect above.

comma butterfly Polygonum c-album

mint moth Pyrausta aurata

Flax sp. believed to be Linaceae bienne

Birds of note on the day were up to five buzzards Buteo buteo, three kestrel Falco tinnunculus, yellowhammer Emberiza cintrinella, large flocks of greenfinch Carduelis chloris, a single corn bunting Miliaria calandra, common whitethroat Sylvia communis and the biggest surprise of the day a solitary fem. marsh harrier Circus aeruginosis hawking over the wheat fields and drawing much attention from the local flocks of corvidae.

Chanctonbury Hill also features a dewpond managed by the National Trust on a SSSI site. Built in 1870 it was restored 100 years later by the Society of Sussex Downsman.

Chanctonbury Hill Dewpond

Saturday, 1 August 2009

Cissbury Ring, West Sussex

If the weather had held out, the planned trip to Cissbury Ring, Nr. Worthing, West Sussex, would not only have involved a turn around the second largest Iron Age hill-fort in Britain, (see http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/ ) also a reasonable amount of time spent keying out and identifying chalkdown flora via Francis Rose. As it turned out the torrential rain from the West hit us shortly after mid-day when we had just keyed out the flower below to the "figwort family" - the identitity of the Eyebright Euphrasia nemorosa - only being fully realised on return to home when a quick cheat using the pictorial guide to Wildflowers of Britain and Ireland by Rae Spencer Jones and Sarah Cuttle helped to nail the plant in question (at least we hope it does).