18 May 2023

I had a walk around the Red course this morning and played 9 holes on the Blue in the evening.  One of the most spectacular sites is actually the area just above the car park where a fantastic display of Sheep's Sorrel makes creates some lovely rusty patches.

Sheep's Sorrell Rumex acetosella [Car Park]

There are plenty of other plants in the same area.  Bird's Foot is tiny and grows over much of the waste ground at Frilford but is too small to see without a magnifier.  Bugloss is larger and is another plant that grows on many of the waste areas on the estate.

Bird's-foot Ornithopus perpusillus [Car park]

Bugloss  Anchusa arvensis [Car park]

At the other end of the car park a Chaffinch had a mouthful of caterpillars:

Chaffinch [18th Green]

On the 13th Red, it was nice to see a Garden Warbler - maybe the same bird in the same tree as last year, singing the same song.

Garden Warbler [13th Red]

The highlight of the front nine of the Blue was a Mallard and her six ducklings wandering across the 4th tee.

31 May 2021

The golf competition season is well underway.  I was in Wales last week taking Luke to the Welsh Youth Open and am up at Woodhall Spa this week taking him to another competition.  

In between I managed a quick walk round the course.  Conditions were rather murky first thing and there weren't many birds to photograph, but new flowers continue to appear.

Starting in the car park there are a few more flowers on the wall, in addition to the Fairy Foxgloves:

Biting Stonecrop Sedum acre [Car park]

Rue-leaved Saxifrage Saxifraga tridactylites [Car park]

Common Poppy Papava rhoeas [Car park]

In the trees to the left of the 13th fairway Red I came across Sanicle - not a plant that I have encountered before.   

Sanicle Sanicula europaea [13th Red]

Common in shady spots, particularly around the reservoir is Bur Chervil.

Bur Chervil Anthriscus caucalis [3rd Red]

On waste areas on various spots around the course is White Bryony.  This plant is actually a member of the cucumber family, although this particular species is quite toxic.  This one was growing on the right of 15 Red.

White Bryony Bryonia dioica [15th Red]

If you've walked near the fairway anywhere on the Green course, you have almost certainly trodden on Bird's-foot, a tiny pea-like plant that is prolific on the short turf.

Bird's-foot Ornithopus perpusillus [15th Green]

Another tiny plant growing on the Green is Parsley Piert with distinctive lobed leaves but flowers that are green and too small to see.

Parsley Piert Aphanes arvensis [14th Green]

On the thirteenth Red I found a Mayfly by the stream.  This is actually a different species than the ones on that I saw earlier in the month on the 3rd Blue.

Mayfly Ephemera danica [13th Red]

There are a surprisingly large number of shieldbug species in the UK.  Fortunately there are various internet sites devoted to them.  I found this one on the 18th Blue - I think that it's a Red-legged Shieldbug.  It was actually one of three - the other two fell off the leaf when I moved it with the camera - I'm not sure if this was a deliberate escape ploy or poor balance.

Red-legged Shieldbug Pentatoma rufipes [18th Blue]

12 May 2021

 Had a quick walk around the Doghouse range at lunch time to see some of the areas specialities which are now starting to flower.  Coincidentally, all of today's plants seem to be named after animal parts.

Smooth Cat's Ear is quite unusual, particularly in Oxfordshire and is like a taller, but smaller-flowered Dandelion.  There quite a lot of these around the car park.

Smooth Cat's ear Hypochaeris glabra [Doghouse Range]

If you look very closely anywhere on the range you are likely to find a tiny vetch called Bird's Foot.  A few are now in flower including this one, with a golf tee behind for scale.

Bird's Foot Ornithopus perpusillus [Doghouse Range]

Stag's Horn Plantain is more usually found by the sea, but is found by the car park on the short turf.  It is so named because of the shape of its leaves.

Stag's Horn Plantain Plantago coronopus [Doghouse Range]

Another of the rare plants is Little Mouse-ear.  This one is growing in a patch of Subterranean Clover - it is the tiny white flower that the tee is pointing to.

Little Mouse-Ear Cerastium semidecandum [Doghouse range]

Very similar, but slightly larger, with longer leaves and more styles is Common Mouse-ear.

Common Mouse-ear Cerastium fontanum [Doghouse range]