Yet again this month I find myself heading to Raisby Hill early in the morning because of the high temperatures forecast later in the day. The site is beautiful in the early sun but there are plenty of signs that this is summer’s last fling and autumn is just around the corner – rather a melancholy time of year. There is still plenty of Meadowsweet, Knapweed and Perforate St John’s-wort in flower but many plants have set seed and the number of species in flower is only a little over half the number flowering in July. Many of those I’ve recorded as flowering are, in reality, just sporting a few late flowers and putting most of their energy into seed production.

There are one or two new arrivals, though – on the bank above the wetland area Devil’s-bit scabious fills the gap left by last month’s fragrant orchids.  There are still plenty of harebells too, some of them pure white. 

The morning’s dew highlighted spider webs hanging everywhere, amidst the vegetation. 

Autumn gentians were the other new flowers of the day, on the scree slopes; nowhere near as large as the ones we saw on the Wiltshire downs last week, they are easy to overlook.  Some are no larger than the thyme plants they grow amongst.  

Although the scree looks dry and barren, a few small Waxcap mushrooms are appearing and there are patches of bright orange Trentepohlia, the filamentous green alga (really!) important in many lichen symbioses which I last saw here in March. 

Walking back along Raisby Beck it’s astonishing how the ground laid bare in February is now covered with a dense mat of willowherbs and bracken – something the Wildlife trust are clearly going to need to manage in the process of restoring the fen. 

The good news is that there is still plenty of standing water in late August so the conditions will be good for re-establishing wetland vegetation, provided the weedy ruderals can be kept in check.

Elsewhere, the bees and butterflies which were everywhere last time I visited are fewer and further between though I do find plenty of good bugs and beetles.

Fruits are ripening everywhere, ready to act as a winter larder for birds and small animals.  I’m surprised how few of the Cuckoopint which clothed the woodland floor in spring have actually produced fruit, or maybe these were eaten before they matured to a conspicuous red colour.  The red may warn us of the fruits’ toxicity but is primarily a way of attracting birds and animals which will disperse the seeds far and wide when the fleshy fruits are digested in their gut.

August plants in flower

Wood dock	Rumex sanguineus
Common rock-rose	Helianthemum nummularium
Agrimony	Agrimonia eupatoria
Meadowsweet	Filipendula ulmaria
Tormentil	Potentilla erecta
Creeping cinquefoil	Potentilla reptans
Barren strawberry	Potentilla sterilis
Bramble	Rubus fruticosus agg.
Meadow vetchling	Lathyrus pratensis
Bird’s-foot-trefoil	Lotus corniculatus
Black medick	Medicago lupulina
Zigzag clover	Trifolium medium
Red clover	Trifolium pratense
Bush vetch	Vicia sepium
Tufted vetch	Vicia cracca
Rosebay willowherb	Chamerion angustifolium
Great willowherb	Epilobium hirsutum
Herb-Robert	Geranium robertianum
Wild angelica	Angelica Sylvestris
Hogweed	Hieracium sphondylium
Burnet-saxifrage	Pimpinella saxifrage
Yellow-wort	Blackstonia perfoliata
Autumn gentian	Gentianella amarella ssp. amarella
Viper’s bugloss	Echium vulgare
Wild basil	Clinopodium vulgare
White dead-nettle	Lamium album
Betony	Betonica officinalis
Ribwort plantain	Plantago lanceolata
Eyebright	Euphrasia agg.
Red bartsia	Odontites vernus
Yellow-rattle	Rhinanthus minor
Harebell	Campanula rotundifolia
Field scabious	Knautia arvensis
Devil’s-bit scabious	Succisa pratensis
Carline thistle	Carlina vulgaris
Common knapweed	Centaurea nigra
Greater knapweed	Centaurea scabiosa
Marsh thistle	Cirsium palustre
Hawkweed	Hieracium agg.
Common ragwort	Jacobea vulgaris
Rough hawkbit	Leontodon hispidus
Autumn hawkbit	Scorzoneroides autumnalis
Oxeye daisy	Leucanthemum vulgare
Meadow foxtail	Alopecurus pratensis