There be dragonflies

The sound of dragonflies wings is like no other - a percussive buzz. Here's one I heard earlier.....

a Golden-ringed Dragonfly, Cordulegaster boltonii.

I've added my sighting to the dragonfly records at Bird Track. I'll also send my sighting data to West Wales Biodiversity Information Centre (both links on the right of this page). Sharing information about our native beasties helps us to understand them and so protect them better.

How old is my hedge?

My hedgerow sits among these pretty ancient Welsh fields and I really enjoy the oldness of this landscape, so thought I'd try to work out how old the path could be.
A neighbour knows her grandmother used the path to get to school in the 1870s - the derelict school building still sits in it's overgrown playground at the far end. 
On a lovely sunny evening, armed with a tape measure, I tried out a method I found on http://hedgerowmobile.com/datinghedgerows.html. I measured out four 30yd stretches and counted the number of woody plants along each. I won't bore you with the science in this post, but please do ask if you'd like to know the details.
My count averaged around 6 species per 30yds - hawthorn, Crataegus monogyna, is growing on every stretch.

Comparing the number of plants to the table on Hedgerowmobile's page my hedge could be an amazing 900 years old! But looking only at the number of species gives just a rough estimate, so it could be a great deal younger.......on to the next experiment....

Roses

I was very excited to see rosebuds climbing amongst the blackthorn

but then further up the path where there is more sun I found.....

and finally.....

These are Rosa arvensis, the field rose and they grow among the tall hedge of blackthorn and hawthorn, where the path is fiarly narrow and so very shady.

Further up, where the path is wider due to tractor traffic accessing fields on either side, Rosa canina, the dog rose can be found.....

Beginnings

Here is the beginning of the path that I walk most days.

A grassy track flanked by mature trees and hedgerow shrubs atop old dry stone walls. It is a lush habitat for all manner of creatures. Over the coming seasons I shall be exploring the fauna and flora of the hedgerows, and sharing my finds with you. I'll also be adding  my sightings to various online wildlife recording surveys. It'll be good to see how the biodiversity of my little patch contributes to the bigger picture.