Tuesday 28 February 2012 – Midweek Group
The midweek group were back out at the rhododendrons on the River Orrin yesterday. Having been quite chuffed at our amphibian finding on previous visits, we were horrified this time to see frogs and toads on the track as we were driving up!! Elspeth did her best minibus manoeuvring and to the best of our knowledge 99% of amphibians remained alive! No doubt it is a completely safe amphibian route most of the time, but unfortunately they did not factor in a BTCV minibus spoiling their day.
L-R: A safe frog; The Minibus of terror (to the frogs!)
We were back in the same boggy spot we’ve been in the last few visits, and so stuck wellies, muddy bottoms and massive rhodies were expected. Our safe routes back to our tea kit get muddier with each visit and it’s not only the road the frogs have to be careful – there were nearly a few “squished by wellies” incidents!
L-R: VO Charlotte; Davey and VO Mairi
Lunch time amusement came from VO’s Mairi and Gillian, who decided they wanted to try and “whistle” with a grass leaf. They get points for attempt, but probably more for their failure, although both did manage a squeak of sorts. Turned out volunteer Mark is an expert at such but sadly his tips were of no use to these two, but practice makes perfect right?
As always we were fascinated by all the fungi and lichen in the area, and Charlotte managed to grab some cool photos of some of the fungi, including the one below with the cobwebs underneath.
More photographs can be found on our flickr page.