Page 60 - br-aug-2020

August 2020 August 2020

Dorset my Dorset BERE REGIS WILDLIFE AND
Dorset, my Dorset, the county where I was born ENVIRONMENT GROUP
With green fields and watercress beds and fields of golden corn
I love your pretty villages, cottages with thatch
At the time of writing the fine, warm, sunny weather
You have a charm all of your own, no other county can match has returned. Please do your bit by topping up your
bird bath or if you haven’t got one put out a saucer of
water for birds and hedgehogs. They’ll appreciate it
The Swanage train bustling along,
past Corfe Castle on the hill and you will have the joy of seeing more wildlife in
your garden.
Countless pebbles on Chesil Beach,

the view from Portland Bill
Water sparkling with silver light, the May’s Wood
harbour that Poole can boast Last month we described some of the wildlife that can be seen in May’s Wood
Lovely walks along the paths of and the associated wild flower areas and we make no apology for describing
your beautiful heritage coast more about what wildlife is there. In the words of two well-known Dorset
ecologists, this is now an exceptional area for wildlife. Much has been said
recently about the importance of bringing back nature to create a ‘Living
The countryside reflects in Dorset Landscape’ and we now have a wonderful example of this for the benefit not
folk, kindly and full of mirth
Friendly, smiling and contented. I’m only for wildlife but also the wellbeing of people. The meadows and woodland
are buzzing with a wide range of insects and as you walk along the edge the
glad Dorset gave me my birth
meadow masses of grasshopper jump before you. At the time of writing over 10
Ferries leave, taking people away from Weymouth and Poole Quay butterflies could be seen within about 2 metres including – Marbled White,
It’s lovely to watch them from Evening Hill, sailing to sea Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper, Large and Small Skippers, Peacock, Red Admiral
and Brimstone, a sight that has been missing in much of the countryside for many

years.
Time stands still in Dorset’s quiet lanes
The wild flower areas
And at Arne where the heath meets the sea have been carefully
Here all nature seems to be at peace
m a n a g e d w i t h
Where country and people live in harmony. preliminary ploughing to
create the great show of
Eileen Richardson
annuals flowers with a
The sun be up sown mix including
c o r n f l o w e r , c o r n
The sun be up and so be oi marigold, and the white
I see en shining in the sky corn chamomile (which
replaces the oxeye daisy
But if I get up and there be rain which flowers earlier in
the season). As well as
I soon get back in bed again!
the sown plants other native plants have found a home here rather than on
Eileen Richardson intensively cultivated land.
The perennial natives notably knapweeds, wild carrot and yellow patches of
lady’s bedstraw were sown several years ago and have become well

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