Meeting report
Covering two monads, Bara Loch is an artificial loch, created by the Younger family in the 1930s, with woodland on three sides and hilly grassland to the south. In the woods is an old quarry, now used only for fly-tipping. A small stream called the Sounding Burn enters the Loch from the west and continues beyond the dam at the east end. A second small burn arrives from the south.
March outings have not proved very popular in the past and choosing the Easter weekend probably clashed with family get-togethers. Only four met in Haddington from where Carolyn drove us the five miles or so to Bara. The recent rain ensured that most of the bryophytes were in good condition, and the warmth of the Spring sunshine made for a comfortable excursion. Digressing from bryophytes there were Bee-flies Bombylius major, a Peacock butterfly Algais io, and a Bumblebee Bombus lucorum agg. Vlad identified a Rove beetle as Ocypus olens.
Some stones low down on a mossy dyke were covered in Radula complanata which was also very common on trees. David found a productive rotting log with fruiting Orthodontium lineare and Cephalozia curvifolia. He then spent some time at the edge of the Loch before returning triumphant with Calliergon giganteum. We looked at liverworts on acidic soil and then sheltered from the one shower of the day. After lunch David and Carolyn explored the quarry which had a good populations of Homalia trichomanoides and Sciuro-hypnum populeum, with some Tortula subulata and Weissia controversa. The Sounding Burn was shaded and unproductive but the path along the south side of the Loch had a range of small acrocarps not seen earlier including Pleuridium acuminatum and Pohlia annotina. The second burn descending through the hilly grassland was also interesting, with small patches of Chiloscyphus polyanthos and Hygrohypnum luridum.
The provisional list records almost 90 species. Thanks to David Chamberlain for finding many of them and identifying even more. Thanks also to Carolyn for providing transport to the site.
David Adamson, March 2024
Download provisional list of species