Over the years the Friends have planted hundreds, if not thousands, of native daffodil bulbs in and around the reserve’s woodland. Some, sheltered at the bottom of Kestrel Field, flower in February but the rest wait for spring: a host of golden daffodils etc.
Continue reading “Native versus non-native”
New research shows that the three most commonly used flea and tick treatments for our dogs are all associated with high chick mortality and nest failure among blue tits and great tits.
Continue reading “Flea treatments”
As February begins, at least one of our badger clan’s sows will be either heavily pregnant or nursing up to five newborn cubs.
Continue reading “Badger Cubs”
Did you know that snowdrops are not native to the UK?
Continue reading “Snowdrop”
Time to take down the seasonal greenery!
Continue reading “Ivy”
Sometimes, New Year’s resolutions are just too hard. The media, for instance, has been busy this week suggesting dramatic eco-resolutions for 2025: give up plastic, rewild your garden, cycle to work, stuff you know you will abandon half way through January. We, the Friends of the Reserve, think you should take these things more gently.
Continue reading “Green New Year’s Resolutions”
There are water shrews in the reserve. This header picture was taken by Simon Knight in the Lambrok’s tributary stream at the bottom of Kestrel Field.
Continue reading “Water shrew”
These are a species of bracket fungus common in the reserve: turkey tail (Trametes versicolor). The main part of the fungus, the mycelium, is growing invisibly inside the tree. These beautiful outgrowths are the fruiting bodies, part of the fungus’s reproductive system.
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Here are ten numbers to go with this week’s cold snap.
Continue reading “Cold snap”
The reserve’s grey squirrels are invasive aliens, brought here during the 19th Century, when the possession of rare and exotic species of plants and animals was the height of fashion. Grey squirrels, native to eastern North America, were first released into the wild in Britain, at Henbury Park, in Cheshire, in 1876.
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The Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act (2006) makes it the duty of all local authorities to conserve biodiversity. Section 41 of the Act refers to a published list of habitats and species (called S41 species) which are considered to be of principal importance for the conservation of the country’s biodiversity.
Continue reading “S41 mammals”
We use the words overwinter, hibernation, and diapause when we are writing about the reserve’s inhabitants’ preparations for the cold weather. It’s easy to assume that they are interchangeable terms but that is not so: let’s take a closer look.
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There are thousands of species of invertebrates that overwinter in the leaf litter below the reserve’s trees and shrubs. Let’s not be too eager to sweep the autumn leaves from our gardens.
Continue reading “Let the leaves lie”
This winter we will be making changes to our website.
Continue reading “Winter plans”
There are two recent reports that show the extremes of the UK’s conservation efforts. The first, this year’s Big Butterfly Count, reflects the decline in our insect populations, while the second, from the RSPB, shows how rapidly the situation can be turned around if we create the right circumstances.
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In the UK, the populations of our more common butterflies have fallen by 46% in the last 50 years while the rarer species have declined by 77%. We have lost 60% of our flying insects in just 20 years. We have entirely lost 13 species of our native bees since the 1970s and fully expect more to follow.
Continue reading “Insect losses”
Somebody asks this every year in the school holidays, as they wave wasps away from their picnic or soothe a painful sting with a vinegar poultice.
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We are already a week into 2024’s Big Butterfly Count, Butterfly Conservation‘s annual call for citizen scientists to help them survey the UK’s butterflies.
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More than 80% of insect species undergo a metamorphosis of four stages.
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You might see all these butterflies on your buddleia this summer but they all need other, less garden-friendly, sometimes undesirable, plants if they are to complete their life cycles.
Southwick Country Park Nature Reserve 