Field Meeting

Leader: Paul Nevett (HNHS member)Marsh Tits and Redpolls were seen in the starting car park by the 12 members who met on a still, cloudy morning with the sun breaking through the clouds. Thanks to the sharp eyes and ears of leader Paul Nevett, a total of 26 species of birds was recorded in a […]

Leader: Andy Swan (HNHS member)Conditions were clearly good for fungi: the weather had been mild and damp for a while. Moving a short distance from the car park, many finds were made in an area that was usually quite unproductive: the list had 28 species before the main target area was reached. These included a […]

Leaders: Mike Lawn and Andy Swan (HNHS members)The warm sunny weather enticed 17 members to take advantage of a day when this MoD site was open to the public. A fly-over by a Hobby at the car park was an auspicious start.The Odonata were the first things to grab the attention: many bright Common Blue […]

Leader: Martyn Phillis (HNHS member)This was International Bat Night, but the weather could hardly have been less suitable for a bat walk.Despite the gusty rain, about a dozen hardly souls chose to brave the weather and see if any bats were about.With no bat activity at the south end, the group retraced its steps to […]

Leader David Bridger (Ranger for SWT) This site is one of many in the western Weald where old conifer plantations are being reduced to encourage the recovery of heathland, and the current management strategy was explained to the 13 members attending by the site ranger, David Bridger. We soon saw one of the conservation measures […]

Leaders: Margaret Tomsett and Andy Swan (HNHS members) Conditions were near-ideal for moths in the first half of the night, but there was a lot of rain in the early hours of the morning. Nevertheless, there were plenty of moths to see, despite puddles in the bottoms of some of the traps.The variety was impressive, […]

Leader: Arthur Greenwood (HNHS member & N.T. Volunteer)We began at the Witley Centre, under cloudy skies, with a hint of rain. Mr Greenwood gave a short recent history of the Common, which is now a site in the newly designated Wealden Heaths National Nature Reserve (NNR), with all six UK reptile species, and a population […]

Leader: Andy Swan (HNHS member) 12 members met with leader, Andy Swan, for a morning foray onto Noar Hill on the hottest day of the year so far. A large number of Musk Orchids were soon located, growing in several widely dispersed clusters: it was thought that it seems to be increasing here, thanks to […]

Leaders: Michael and Jane Joseph (Wildlife gardeners) On arrival, whilst enjoying refreshments, we heard an outline of the 40 years of work by Jane and Michael Joseph that had produced the current garden. The Common Spotted-orchids growing in the front lawn were immediately conspicuous and our hosts thought that seed from their orchids had spread […]

Leader: Mark Crisp (Warden)10 members traversed the south part of Tankersford Common, approaching from Pierrepont Farm. The Common is part of RSPB’s Farnham Heath reserve, and is the site of their successful re-introduction programme of the Field Cricket (Gryllus campestris). When the group arrived at the site at about 11.00am, the weather was breezy, cloudy […]