Spring Flowers at Monk's Wood

Now is the perfect time to be out looking for spring flowers!

This will be our (slightly belated) April social stroll. We should be just at the end of the Bluebell season, so I'm hoping to still have a carpet of blue under the trees, with the hawthorn heavy with blossom above, and stitchwort and early purple orchids in the grass below.

Monk's Wood has both UK species of Hawthorn: Common Hawthorn, and the much rarer Midland Hawthorn. We'll have a go at telling them apart. The air is also rich with birdsong at the moment, so feel free to bring along your Merlin app (https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/) and we'll see what we can put a name to. There should be plenty of butterflies about to identify as well.

We'll be out for 2-3 hours. The paths are rough, and can be quite muddy - with the dry weather we've had, they should be clear, but Monk's Wood can still have very wet patches in the driest weather so please come in appropriate footwear. Unusually for Cambridgeshire there's even some slopes!

This event is appropriate for children with an interest in nature, but probably not suitable for younger children, as the walk may be too demanding for them. Dogs are welcome, but must be kept on lead, as per the rules for the site. (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cambridgeshires-national-nature-reserves/cambridgeshires-national-nature-reserves#monks-wood)

Parking at the reserve is very limited. I'll be travelling in from Fen Drayton (with Nas), with a couple of spots free in my car if anyone wants a lift: can pick up from St Ives as well. Send me a message if interested. Let's use the event chat to sort out car sharing and lifts.

At the event, I'll be taking a voluntary donation (£5 suggested, cash only) towards the running costs of the group. I don't make any profit from running the group: the fees go towards the Meetup subscription, but if there's any excess (and there never has been yet), I'll save it to pay an expert for a deeper dive into some aspect of nature.