by Ian Bushell
Last Sunday we were invited by Simon and Carey, the owners of Southwick Court, to carry out a moth trapping in their garden. In the evening Hugo and I set up the moth trap in the old orchard and we returned on Monday morning to see what had flown into the trap and to identify them. Carey brought us hot tea and took many photographs.
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There are two badger setts in the park, hidden away in its quiet places; here are some interesting badger facts.
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Wikipedia defines bioturbation as the reworking of soils and sediments by animals or plants. Here is a video of a system with and without soil fauna such as earthworms, mites and isopods over a 15 week period: this is what is happening to the fallen leaves all over the reserve.
An email and attachments from Clive Knight:
“Too late for yesterday’s yellow and black article, I know, but here are a few pics of the wasp spiders I have seen on the reserve this year.”
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In the world of invertebrates, black and yellow signals danger. It says to predators: I am poisonous or I will bite you.
Read on to discover more:
There are thousands of species of invertebrates that overwinter in the leaf litter below our gardens’ trees and shrubs.
Continue reading “Let the leaves lie”
The temperature is dropping and we have already seen the first frosts. The reserve’s invertebrates are preparing for hibernation.
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Tardigrades have been found everywhere in Earth’s biosphere, from the highest mountaintops to the deepest sea and from tropical rainforests to the Antarctic. There are sure to be some, somewhere, in the reserve’s ponds, going quietly about their business.
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Ecosystem engineers are organisms that modify their environment. They increase biodiversity by creating habitat for species other than themselves. The oak apple, caused by a tiny wasp called Biorhiza pallida, is just such an engineered environment.
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Simon Tesler’s video of an otter hunting in the moat at Southwick Court is powerful evidence not only of Lambrok Stream’s biodiversity, but its importance as a wildlife corridor that runs from the River Biss right up through and beyond Southwick village.
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Here are some fascinating facts about water voles:
Continue reading “Ten water vole facts”
Live Knight has sent in pictures of the reserve’s jays busy this week caching acorns.
A look back to 2019: a long tailed tit photographed in the reserve by DKG.
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Mail from Cheryl Cronnie with pictures of a kingfisher:
Hi there, I’d just like to share with you the kingfisher I spotted today at Southwick Country Park by the pond. I was over the moon as I had never seen one before.
Lovely! Thank you, Cheryl.
A common frog photographed by Liz yesterday in the woods alongside the Lambrok.
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There are silk button galls on the underside of oak leaves all over the park.
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There are hundreds of species of crane fly in this country and almost all of them go by the name of daddy long legs. The differences between species can be microscopically small but we think this specimen photographed in the reserve is either a common European crane fly (Tipula paludosa) or a marsh crane fly, (T. oleracea).
Most of our willow warblers will have left by now; they will be on their way to sub-Saharan Africa where they will spend their winter. Theirs is the longest journey undertaken by any of the park’s migratory birds. Why do such tiny birds fly so far and take such risks to do it?
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There are several families of magpies in the reserve. This year’s crop are, as yet, short-tailed, loud- mouthed and clumsy, hanging out in gangs and still learning to fly properly. But, despite their dramatic black and white beauty, their reputation is poor.
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One of the delights of September is a pristine, newly hatched, late brood small copper butterfly. This one was was photographed last week in the reserve by Clive Knight.
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Collared doves (Streptopelia decaocto) bred in Britain for the first time in 1955, in Norfolk. Within 20 years they had colonised every county in the British Isles, and had even reached Shetland and the Outer Hebrides.
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Keep a look out for hibernating amphibians as you tidy up your garden ready for winter. Frogs, toads and newts will find sheltered places to hibernate in hedge bottoms, compost heaps, under stones and in log piles and are best not disturbed. Take particular care if you are planning to clear out a pond: frogs and newts will sometimes overwinter in the mud at the bottom.
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Cryptic colouration, is another name for camouflage, a defence strategy that creatures use to disguise their appearance, or to mask their location, their identity, or movement. It both allows prey to avoid predators, and predators to sneak up on prey.
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