By Heather at Exeter
The following list was compiled between 1993 and 2009 and was a project for personal pleasure and learning which is shared with readers as a simple guide to the natural wildlife of Exwick. I hope it will be of value to others wanting to get started on this topic, whether you are studying in depth or just wondering what that blue or yellow flower was that you saw while walking the dog! It is by no means a complete study and there might be one or two errors as I am no botanist, so please keep that in mind.
Some might find the Devon Wildlife Trust useful as they have a database of other material gathered over the years and you might be pleasantly surprised to find out just how many conservation areas there are in the local vicinity.
For the ID of plants I used the following book: Collins Pocket Guide 5th Edition, Wild Flowers of Britain & Northern Europe 1996 (I found the drawings in this to be more helpful than other books). I also used the WWW to assist in verification of some plants and birds.
I have included a few notes such as colours of flowers and time of year when they are in flower, however, due to climate change I have noticed a number of plants in flower at unexpected times.
WILDLIFE SURVEY 1993 - 2009 by Heather. Updated 2012.
Part of EXWICK between Exwick Mill and Garland Close
PLANTS:
Lesser Celandine (yellow flowers that hug the ground, March to May)
Bluebell (blue flowers spring)
Primrose (yellow flowers spring)
Daffodil (yellow flowers spring)
Snowdrop (white flowers spring)
Wild Garlic, Ramsons (white flowers spring, strong pleasant smell)
Common Orchid (pink flowers spring)
Violet (violet flowers spring)
Greater Stitchwort (small white flowers, late spring/early summer)
Agrimony (tall stalks with yellow flower heads turning to bell shaped hooked seeds, end of June/Aug)
Hedge Woundwort (purple flowers with strong unpleasant odour, June/Aug)
Ivy-Leaved Toadflax (pale purple/yellow flowers)
Ribwort Plantain Grass (several kinds, summer/autumn)
Common Vetch (small pink/purple flowers June-July)
Hairy Tare (very small pale purple flowers June/July, black long seed pods)
Ivy (growing in trees and creeping on the ground in shaded areas)
Birdsfoot Trefoil (Yellow flowers, hugs ground, June/July)
Black Medick (Clover-like with small clusters of yellow flowers. June/July)
Spotted Medick (Clover-like with yellow flowers and spotted leaves. June)
Blue Eyed Mary Scarlet Pimpernel Red and Blue (tiny red and blue flowers. June/July)
Perennial Flax (on stalks with intense sky-blue flowers, June)
Ox-Eyed Daisy (on tall stalks June-Aug)
Groundsel (yellow flowers on tall stalks June/July seeding as white fluffy pods, lots of Cinnabar Moth caterpillars on heads)
Common Knapweed (Purple flowers, thistle family so prickly)
Dandelion (yellow flowers turning to wind blown seeds April-May)
Bramble ,Black Berries (entangled prickly vines with white flowers in summer and black fruit)
Meadow Buttercup (tall stems with dozens of branched yellow flower heads June/July)
Bulbous Buttercup (single yellow flower at ground level)
Cut-Leaved Cranesbill (purple flowers and distinctive split leaves, June)
Field Bindweed (knotted stems with pink trumpet shaped white flowers, climbing, June)
Hedge Bindweed (large trumpet shaped white flowers, climbing, June)
Field Penny Cress (small white flowers, clustered seed pods in June)
Common Cleaver (long trailing vines with sticky seeds that get stuck in cat fur and on clothes, June)
Thistles (several types)
Herb Robert - Little Robin (Purple/Pink flowers seeding to bird beak shaped pods, aromatic smell, June)
Dog Rose (white flowers on prickly bush later turning to orange seed pods)
Wheat Oats
Teasel (tall purple flowers on stalk later with a prickly seed pod on top, good for goldfinches, July-Aug)
Trailing Tormentil (Yellow flowers, mid to late June)
Perforate St John's Wort (Yellow flowers, tiny black spots on leaves and petals. June/July)
Butterbur (likes shade, large round green leaves)
Broad-Leaved Willowherb (small pale purple flowers. June)
Lords and Ladies (hooded leaf later with bright red berries inside)
Stinging Nettles Common
Ramping Fumitory (pink/white flowers, Late June)
Dock (broad-leaved and other types)
Common Poppy (red)
Self-Heal (ground hugging purple with tight clustered flower heads, June/July)
Sharp-Leaved Fluellen (vine-like stems, pointed leaves, tiny purple/yellow flower, Late June)
Harts Tongue Fern (glossy single leaf Fern (likes shade)
Bracken Fern
Corky Fruited Water Dropwort (other local wildlife report behind Garland Close, announced on TV Teletext)
PLANTS and OT HERS noted but to be identified:
Small plant with tiny white flowers in clusters (mustard related?)
Thick green mosses
Loose threaded mosses
Large plated-shaped fungus on rotting tree stumps
Bright orange fungus on rotting tree stumps
Large grey toadstools in shaded damp areas of rotting wood
Yellow Oilseed Rape
Hop Trefoil?
Hemlock? (Carrot family shape, 3ft tall umbrella shaped tops with white flowering heads June/July)
TREES and SHRUBS:
Oak - Traditional English
Ash Sycamore (two types both with spinning shaped seeds)
Hawthorn (White blossom late spring with red berries in winter)
Birch Horse Chestnut
Holly
Hazel
Gorse (yellow fragrant flowers winter to spring, prickles)
BIRDS:
Some of the birds were identified by several bird enthusiasts from sound recordings I took.
Tawny Owls with Young, Bullfinch, Wren, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Willow Warbler, Chaffinch, Dinnock, Chiff Chaff, Greenfinch, Long Tailed Tit, Collared Dove, Rooks and Crows, Buzzard (observed on farmland), Song Thrush, Black Bird, Wood Pigeon, Swift or House Martins? Woodpecker, Pheasant, Robin, Sparrow, Seagull (fly over), Swan (fly over), Geese (fly over)
MAMMALS:
Grey Squirrel, Hedgehog, Common Shrew, Mole, Field Mouse, Harvest Mouse, Vole, Rat, Fox, Deer (in farmland), Sheep (in farmland), Horse (in paddock), Cow (in farmland), Domestic Cat, Domestic Dog, Pipistrelle Bat, Larger bat (to be identified)
OTHER VERTEBRATES:
Slow-worm, Common Newt (garden ponds, also in wild), Toad (garden ponds, also in wild), Frog (garden ponds, also in wild)
BUTTERFLIES and MOTHS:
Cabbage White butterfly, Peacock butterfly, Tortoiseshell butterfly, Small intense blue coloured butterfly, Moths (various types), Cinnabar Moth (bright deep red) with caterpillars (yellow/black striped in clusters on Groundsel plants in July)
OTHER INVERTEBRATES:
Many types to be identified including: Wasp (various types), Bee (various types), Hornet, Emperor Dragonfly (very large about 4 inch across), Damselflies (neon blue and also orange colours early June), Flies (many types), Beetles (many types), Summer Chafer Beetle (large brown about 1 inch with chevron pattern on side May/June), Spiders (many types to be identified), Wasp Spider (black and yellow stripes like a wasp), Ants (at least 3 common types in black, orange and larger red), Cricket, Grasshoppers (many types June-Sept), Worms (many types)