2022 County Report for East Lothian
Marion Moir
East Lothian (vc82) Marion Moir
Total number of records: 13,062
After working out the Monads with no records and marking them on my phone Memory Map with a blue flag, and Monads with less than ten records with a yellow flag, we concentrated on these through the Spring moving eastwards through the county. Spring plants such as Petasites fragrans (Winter Heliotrope), Myosotis ramossissima (Early Forgetmenot) and Viola odorata (Sweet Violet) were particularly targeted. On a walk down the Colstoun Water, we refound quantities of Petasites albus (White Butterbur), and an unusual plant Trachystemon orientalis (Abraham, Isaac and Joseph) which has naturalised down this river.
Michael Williams, owner of Eaglescairnie farm near Gifford, asked the Botany Group to come and record around his farm, as he takes a keen interest in natural history; there is a regular group who visit to record the birds, and Michael has brought in students to practise the layering of hedges. A small group of us made two visits in the Spring and Summer. The Goodyera repens (Creeping Ladies Tresses) which grow nearby are just outside his farm but the damage caused by storm Arwin with fallen trees had not affected them. He felt that the layered hedges and the mixed planting of trees had been beneficial to the farm’s biodiversity.
At the end of July, a group visit was made to Papple Steading near Whittinghame. Sue Jury undertook to lead this visit, as an operation on my foot kept me away from recording for the rest of the Summer. The aim of the visit was to learn about the exotic trees that grow in the Whittinghame woods. George Mackintosh is developing Papple Steading into an East Lothian agricultural museum and went out of his way to welcome the group and show them around the buildings and the wildflower meadow, ending up with a welcome tea.
This is my opportunity to thank Sue Jury for all her hard work in helping the recording in VC82; she has now become Recorder for VC83, and we shall work closely together. For 2023 we are planning some shared walks between the two counties.