Crackers!

Christmas crackers spill plastic trinkets onto your Christmas table every year. Nobody keeps them; who even remembers what fell out of their Christmas cracker last year?

It all ends up in landfill with the paper hats. The hats will biodegrade in a matter of weeks but nobody knows how long the cheap petrochemical-derived plastic dinosaurs and whistles will remain in the ground. The best estimates of the time it will take such plastics to biodegrade are anywhere between 5,000 years and never.

Here is Friends of the Earth’s thought provoking video about Christmas crackers.

December 11, 2019 0

Stocking fillers for dog walkers

It’s nearly Christmas and we have scoured the internet for last minute doggy ideas . . .

. . . and here are some of the best.

December 10, 2019 0

Mistletoe

What would Christmas be without mistletoe? There is only one species of mistletoe native to Britain, Viscum album, but there is none growing in the park. We would love to see it established here but we are not sure how we would go about it.

Continue reading →

December 9, 2019 0

A gallery of robins. . .

. . .photographed in the park by DKG

December 8, 2019 0

Kingfisher

A message and a picture from Jay Pickard:

Spotted a Kingfisher this morning over the pond and stream. Great to see!

Thanks Jay, we love to get pictures from park users.

December 7, 2019 0

Holly

Over the years the Friends of Southwick Country Park have planted many holly whips in the hedges around the park’s fields.

Continue reading →

December 7, 2019 0

Real or fake?

A lot of people are buying artificial Christmas trees in the belief that it benefits the environment, but environmentalists and energy analysts would beg to disagree. We need only look at a single element of the hundreds of thousands of artificial trees that will be put up and decorated this Christmas: they are all made of plastic.

Continue reading →

December 6, 2019 2

Sunset Gallery

Yesterday the sun broke through the mist just in time for sunset.

December 5, 2019 3

Bouncer and Bertie, Dogs of the Week, with Santa’s little helper, Kate. Happy Christmas!

December 4, 2019 0

Ivy

Five things you may not have known about ivy.

Continue reading →

December 3, 2019 0

Winter festivals

Many of the evergreen plants in the park have traditionally been used in the celebration of winter festivals.

Continue reading →

December 2, 2019 0

CHRISTMAS FAIR

The Friends of Southwick Country Park will be running a stall at Hope Nature Centre’s Christmas Market today from 11am to 3pm.

Come and visit us; discover more about the park and the people who look after it.

December 1, 2019 0

Rook or crow?

Yesterday’s post about jackdaws produced an email asking how to tell rooks from crows.

Continue reading →

November 30, 2019 2

Successful generalists

The park’s jackdaws are clever and successful opportunists, ready to step into almost any ecological niche.

Continue reading →

November 29, 2019 0

Another Tuesday work party

Tuesday’s work party was devoted to veteran oak tree 5549. We halo our old oaks; this means that we clear away the under-storey that competes for their light and nutrition and build barriers around them to reduce footfall over their roots. Hard work!