The Rattlin’ Bog

I had the great pleasure recently of spending a day in a bog – and because the bog had dried out completely it was indeed a rattlin’ bog, complete with the twig on the branch and the branch on the log…

It was an amazing place – there were several different habitats – waste ground, heath, meadow, woodland, marsh and finally a bog – except there had been so little rain that the whole bog had dried up and we were able to walk all over it. I had volunteered to help out our friends Robin and Sue Lewando with a small plant study of a defined area, while Robin collected samples from the lake for his own research. Afterwards, we spent a happy hour wandering through the dried-up bog, exclaiming over plants you can’t normally get close to and taking photos. Several were new to me – I had never seen Bur-reed or Yellow-cress before, or Star Sedge.

The slideshow is an amalgam of shots from the whole day. Here is the complete plant list, in the order in which you see them in the slideshow:

First three sides - waste ground with Foxglove, Sheep’s Bit, Cat’s-ear, Clover
The Lake
Slides 6 to 10 Marsh Cinquefoil (10 is Sue photgraphing the Marsh Cinquefoil
11 Compact Rush (?)
12 Soft Rush
13 to 15 Common Valerian (with Grypocoris stysi/Mirid Bug - thanks to Margaret Manning for the ID)
16 and 17 Heath Spotted-orchid
18 and 19 Marsh Bedstraw
20 - 22 Marsh Yellow-cress
23-25 Water-plantain
26 Water Forget-me-not
27 and 28 Water Forget-me-not and Spike-rush
29 and 30 Branched Bur-reed
31 and 32 Beaked Sedge
33 and 34 Marsh Speedwell
35 Bogbean
36 Robin
37 Star Sedge
38 Labyrinth Spider
39 Marsh Thistle, 7-Spot Ladybird and Bumble Bee

Thanks to Robin for letting me come along.