This is a picture of a bracket fungus on an oak tree in the park. The mycelium, which is the main part of the fungus, is growing invisibly inside the tree. This beautiful outgrowth is the fruiting body, part of the fungus’s reproductive system.
Join us for a night time walk in the park to find bats and moths. There will be a limited number of places so please book; our email address is here.
Four people and a springer spaniel called Buddy came to last Sunday’s ragwort pulling work party. This was really discouraging.
Inkcaps are a group of fungi with gills that liquefy as they mature and drip an inky black liquid that, in the past, was frequently used to make ink.
The bench by the decorated bridge has been damaged and will probably have to be replaced. One of the supports has been snapped right off. There is no sign of rot in the wood; it must have taken considerable force to achieve. A bench like this one, and its installation, costs £500.
A roe deer doe, early on Sunday morning, photographed by DKG who said:
“A lovely morning in the park this Sunday. A few photos taken of three Roe Deer spotted near the footpath leading from Studley Green; unable to get closer just in case I spooked them.”
Don’t forget our ragwort pulling party tomorrow, Sunday 9th. We are meeting in the car park at 10.00am and working until midday. Bring gloves.
An email today from a reader:
Dear FoSCP,
I came across this lovely specimen yesterday whilst out walking my dogs. Sunbathing on the bench opposite the stream (it was, not me!). Can you tell me what it is?
Thank you
Simes Handley
Unlike common wasps, honey bees (Apis mellifera) don’t die at the end of the summer. The hive stores enough food for the queen and the workers to survive through the winter.
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The latest update:
The Inspector has returned one of the documents of the WHSAP submission with the requirement that it be put forward for public consultation.
By this end of the summer, the workers in a wasp nest will probably have finished raising and feeding the new queen larvae. The larvae have spun caps over their cells and begun the process of pupation. This indicates a change for the nest.
We need your help.
Our farmer has cut down a lot of the summer’s ragwort in the park’s three big fields but there is more that will have to be pulled by hand. If we are to avoid the regular use of herbicides in the park, we have to accept that pulling ragwort by hand will become an annual chore. We need lots of volunteers.
Frank Lamerton, long-time Friend of the park and regular work party volunteer, is Southwick Country Park’s parkrunner of the year.
Twelve year old photographer, Neave Duggan, has sent us pictures taken in the park of a male red tailed bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius) feeding on creeping thistle flowers.
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We apologise for wrongly identifying this little bird. We thought it was a blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla) but our expert has identified it as a marsh tit (Poecile palustris). This is the first sighting of a marsh tit in the park: a new name for our species lists.
A dot moth (Melanchra persicariae) caterpillar on a spindle tree, seen and photographed by DKG while the FoSCP volunteers cleared the undergrowth around the young trees at the top of Sheep Field. Spindle is not recorded as one of this caterpillar’s food plants, but sallow is, and hazel, nettles, docks and several other species growing in that plantation and its understorey.
This from David Feather:
“My wife and I have learnt that Marilyn Maundrell has recently died. She was an enthusiastic Friend of Southwick Country Park for many years. She brightened up many of our events and meetings with her cheery manner and was a great ambassador for the Country Park. She was only defeated by difficulties with walking which eventually took her into Wingfield Nursing Home, where she died on August 19th. People will remember her smile. It was infectious.
Her funeral will take place at 12.15 on Monday 10 September at Semington Crematorium.”
.o0o.
There are forty one species of Cantharidae in Britain and almost all go by the common names of soldier or sailor beetle.
Let’s go back to the documents that were submitted to the Secretary of State on July 31st: in that list are Sustainability Appraisal Documents, among which is Annex 1 A9 Trowbridge.
The Wiltshire Housing Site Allocation Plan was submitted to the Secretary of State on July 31st 2018. The documents that were submitted can be accessed here.
The bin in the picnic area has been mended by FoSCP volunteers and our Countryside Officer. Unfortunately the missing part to the gate latch has not been found; whoever took it must have brought their own spanner because the bolts that attached it have been unscrewed. Somebody apparently came equipped to steal half a gate latch….
Last winter, the willows along the stream between Lambrok Meadow and the large pond were pollarded, opening the ground beneath to sunlight. Rosebay willow herb has moved in.
The waste bin in the picnic area has been pushed over and the catch on the gate broken. Hopefully, with a lot of manpower and effort, we can right the bin; a new bin in a concrete base is very expensive.
Half of the gate latch has been thrown or carried away. If anybody sees it, please pick it up and report it to FoSCP; use the contact details here on the website. If we have the other half, we can mend it.
We know that the huge majority of the park’s users are careful and considerate, that it is a small minority who damage things. Please report any vandalism that you see.
FoSCP.
A message from a park user:
” I wonder if you might be able to post an appeal on my behalf for my stepson’s lost sunglasses. Lost in the park along the path between the main entrance and the litter bin at the end of Lambrok Meadow. They’re black Oakeys with green logos and blue lenses. Lost today around 6:00pm. I’d be most grateful. Thank you”
If you have found the sunglasses, contact us and we will put you in touch with their owner.
DKG photographs the Lone Oak in all weathers, lights and seasons, and from all directions.
By DKG
A few photos from Wednesday’s work party. A walk around before meeting up was once again very quiet and eerie, hardly any sign of the park’s birds or wildlife. They must be on their hols as well. Quiet, that is, apart from an annoying, continually yapping dog in the distance.
These are the flowers of Typha latifolia, the common bulrush, growing vigorously in Lambrok Stream.
