Meeting report

6 of us met in St Briavels at 10.15, then took 2 cars to our destination – down tiny, bendy lanes right to the end of a track. Fortunately we didn’t meet anyone coming the other way!

The nature reserve covers 2 monads and we decided to record each monad separately, although Natural England (who had requested the survey) only want records for the whole site. We walked along the main footpath into the reserve, then started recording some of the common things. Most of the woodland was very dry with a fairly dense tree canopy. Isothecium myosuroides was dominant on both the trees and boulders scattered around the woodland, with a few other common species (Kindbergia praelonga, Brachythecium rutabulum, Hypnum andoi, H. cupressiforme). There were a few scattered epiphytes – Cryphaea heteromalla, Zygodon conoideus, Lewinskya affinis, Orthotrichum pulchellum, a selection of Metzgerias, Frullania dilatata… After a while, we left the path and climbed up in the hope of finding some more interesting habitat, but it was all pretty much the same until we stumbled across a small stream. This yielded Fissidens rivularis and Brachythecium rivulare. We weren’t adding much to the list and were nowhere near the 50 required before stopping for lunch – but we stopped anyway!

After lunch, and slightly disappointed with our findings so far, we decided to trek along the slope to try and find the other stream (the stream where Jubula hutchinsiae has previously been recorded, though only at the bottom of the steam near the footpath). Fortunately we did manage to connect with it – and this is when the day started to improve! It only took a minute for Claire and Sharon to spot some more Fissidens rivularis, and within another couple of minutes Sharon had found Jubula. To cut a long story short, we then followed the stream downhill, finding both the Fissidens and Jubula along its length – at least until we reached the footpath. A few specimens of interest were collected along the way, resulting in 2 (or maybe 3) good records for Glos: Plagiochila britannica, Chionoloma tenuirostre var. holtii (a new VCR) and possibly Chionoloma tenuirostre var. tenuirostre.

We reconvened on the footpath and debated whether to go down to the river bank (which would be outside the NNR). Claire decided to have a sit down and idly scraped a little liverwort off a rock at the edge of the path. It was a bit of a puzzle, so she handed to Sharon who immediately identified it as Lophocolea fragrans – another good find with only one previous record for VC34, just up the Wye at Mailscot Wood. After this, we decided we were justified in calling it a day and heading back to the cars. But Wendy wasn’t finished yet! On the way back, she collected a little Rhynchostegiella which was covering a small stone on the  ascent back to the cars, which looks a good candidate for R. litorea. Fingers crossed; this would be another new VCR.

We only managed to record in one monad, but intend to return for another visit to the second. Who knows what else we might find!

Claire Halpin, November 2024

Meeting details

Hudnalls is a National Nature Reserve on a steep slope going down to the River Wye. It is woodland with boulders and a couple of small streams. Richard Lansdown found Jubula hutchinsiae by one of the streams in 2014 and Claire and Pete refound in 2019 (still there in October 2024). Claire and Pete recorded 50-60 species in 2019 but no doubt more remains to be found.

Parking has always been a problem, which is why we haven’t visited the reserve as a group before. However we have been contacted by the reserve manager who would like a bryophyte survey of the site and will help with parking. We have room for potentially 3 or 4 cars, so it is important to let us know if you are coming to the meeting (email Wendy, Claire or Pete). Depending on numbers we might have to meet up in St Briavels and go on to the site together in fewer cars.

See https://www.uksouthwest.net/gloucestershire/the-hudnalls-national-nature-reserve/ for more information about the reserve.