Shide to Pan Mill Meadows walk, Newport, Isle of Wight to see the wildlife on our doorstep.
11th May was sunny and warm, with light winds. Less than 15 minutes’ walk from Newport Methodist Church, adjacent to the River Medina, lies the lovely Pan Mill Meadows Nature Reserve. Gift to Nature manage this site which includes two fields of rough pasture grazed by sheep, riverside vegetation, including alders and willow, woodland, scrub and damp meadows.
At this time of year, birds are in full song. We were treated to the rich song of the Blackcap, a migratory warbler, and the high pitched song of the smallest bird in Britain, the Goldcrest. A total of 15 species of bird were recorded. This female House sparrow (photo above) was peeping out of a hedgerow near to the start of the walk at Shide.
The sunshine brought out butterflies, including the Small white, Holly blue and the delicate Orange-tip.
We were fortunate to see a newly-emerged a damselfly. This photograph, taken when it landed at the top of a tree growing on the river bank, confirmed the identification – a Beautiful Demoiselle. At its larval stage, the species lives for up to two years in a river that has good water quality. It is increasing in number along the River Medina and its tributaries.
The most unexpected sighting of the morning was a low-growing plant called Mousetail (Myosurus minimus) which we saw close to the car park on Shide Road. It is related to the buttercups, and it has a very localised distribution on the Isle of Wight. This is the first time it has been recorded from this site. Other plants we saw included Green Alkanet, the ‘May blossom’ of Hawthorn, Red Campion, Foxglove, Cow Parsley, White Deadnettle and Teasel. In total, we made a list of 75 different plant species.
