Bentley Station Meadow

Leader: Fiona Scully, Butterfly Conservation Reserves Office

At the reserve entrance, leader Fiona Scully (of Butterfly Conservation) introduced us to the setting of the site: adjacent to the Alice Holt forest complex, but mostly on different geology. The boundary between sand and clay gave a potential for acid to alkaline, and dry to wet, soils.

The abundance of butterflies was evident: good numbers of Meadow Browns and Large Skippers, plus beautiful Marbled Whites and occasional Commas and some very smart Ringlets. These were all fed, as caterpillars and adults, by a rich flora. Hairy St John’s-wort was conspicuous, and later, we were to find Slender St John’s-wort, which is more associated with acidic soils. Immature Roesel’s Bush-crickets were found, and the hoverfly Xylota segnis.

Woodland edge patches had some ancient woodland indicator species, including Betony and Herb Paris. The latter is a one of the strangest plants in the UK flora, with just four leaves arranged symmetrically in a horizontal plane, and a single upward-facing green flower that also has four-fold symmetry. This is an uncommon plant and is nearly always on chalk.
A few fungi were showing: a troop of unusually large fibre-caps (probably Inocybe rimosa); and some large ring-less Amanitas that were probably Grisettes (A. vaginata).

We were unlucky not to see Silver-washed Fritillaries: it was probably not quite sunny enough for these. One very tatty Painted Lady was a trail-blazer for a big influx to come! It was a very diverse and interesting visit.