by Joyce Woods
Our walk this week took us to one of NWT's newest sites
at Rush Meadow on the outskirts of Dereham. The site was approached via Rush
Meadow Road which had a lovely buttercup meadow on the right hand side. On one side of the path was a tributary of the River Wensum whist on the other
side was a large area of wet grassland. This was aglow with yellow flags
punctuated with reeds and the fluffy remains of bullrushes. It really looked
stunning on such a sunny day!
We saw several other flowers in the area. By the water
grew sweet rocket in shades of white/ lavender/ purple - quite often this is
seen in gardens and not in the wild. Also by the water's edge we saw water forget-me-not and in a few places
Himalayan balsam which could prove to be a thuggish problem in years to
come. On drier parts of the path we came across patches of pineapple weed with
its wonderful scent. The trees growing by the river were mostly willow and elder.
Insect interest was provided by fluttering black and
turquoise coloured banded demoiselles. They looked very handsome. We also saw
several less gaudy females. Again this week's prizewinning songster was a robin
with his backing group of chiffchaffs and skylarks.
Soon we came to a boardwalk followed by a footpath
through woodland leading back to Dereham. This was an unexpectedly lovely walk
- a sunny day, acres of yellow flags and a song in the air. What could be
better than that?
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