Here are ten things you may not have known about Sciurus carolinensis.
Continue reading “10 facts about grey squirrels”10 facts about grey squirrels
Speckled wood
A late-season speckled wood (Pararge aegeria) photographed last week, basking in the sunshine on the edge of the copse between Sleeper Field and Sheep Field. They are creatures of such woodland edges, camouflaged by the dappled light.
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Garden tiger moth
by Ian Bushell
David Feather found the caterpillar of a Garden Tiger Moth in the heritage orchard.
Continue readingSilk button galls
There are silk button galls on the underside of oak leaves all over the park.
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A long tailed tit photographed last year in the park by DKG.
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Another tiny creature!
Simon Knight has sent us a beautiful picture of one of the park’s tiny creatures in the wet grass.
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More about oak galls
Yesterday’s post about oak apples prompted questions. Here is more information about some of the oak gall wasps that induce oak trees into producing such strange growths.
Continue readingOak gall ink
More about our oaks.
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Hibernation
The nighttime temperature is dropping and soon we will see the first frosts. The reserve’s invertebrates are preparing for hibernation.
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Mole
The picture is a cheat, taken from the internet’s public domain. We haven’t seen a mole in the park, only lots of recent molehills in The Arboretum.
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Message from Jude Summers
“I have photos of badgers eating below my bird feeding station which is on the edge of Southwick Country Park, by Lambrok stream. I thought people may like to see them. They’re not great quality but still nice. Cheers.“
Thanks Jude; brilliant picture!
Jay
A pair of jays flew over the car park as the Friends left on Wednesday after a morning’s work cutting back brambles.
Continue reading “Jay”Yarrow
Yarrow, Achillea millefolium, a late-flowering perennial, photographed by Ian Bushell, in the little triangular field between Simpson’s Field and Fiveways.
Continue reading “Yarrow”Crane Flies
It’s crane fly time!
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A red tailed bumblebee worker (Bombus lapidarius) collecting nectar and pollen from a meadow cranesbill flower.
Photographed in the park, Friday 11th September.
Willow warbler migration
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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A Walk In The Park
by Ian Bushell
I had a quick wander round the park this afternoon to see what needs doing, to assess the ragwort situation in the fields, and look at the tree damage done by the wind. There were three Roe Deer under the Owl Oak in the Church Lane field across the Lambrok, where they are planning to build houses..
Continue readingMore about acorns…
…and squirrels.
Here is a video, taken from BBC Earth’s Spy In The Wild series, about squirrels caching acorns.
The header picture was taken by DKG
Acorns
Oak trees produce thousands of acorns every year. Somebody has worked out that an oak tree can produce ten million acorns over its lifetime. In a good year, they carpet the ground under the tree.
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Common Darter
By Ian Bushell
A male Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum) resting on the wooden footbridge over the Lambrok tributary. At the pond, there were six male Common Darters protecting their own patches and I was lucky enough to get a picture of this pair mating.
A mating pair of common darters photographed near the pond by Ian Bushell.
Header picture: common darter, by Ian Bushell.
Kingfisher
Jay Pickard has sent us a picture of a kingfisher that he took from the Decorated Bridge yesterday.
Thanks Jay.
Butterfly transect
by Ian Bushell
Transect for August
Numbers and variety are a bit disappointing; a cold late-summer day.
The old filled-in pond at the end of Lambrok Meadow is where I saw the Common Blue among the Ragwort, Willow-herb, Spindle, Thistle, Rose, Bramble, Red and White clover .
Swallows, swifts and martins
All summer long, swallows, house martins and swifts have hawked and hunted for winged insects over the park. The swifts have already begun their migration, the swallows will leave next and the house martins will go last of all.
Here is a short video to help you tell the three species apart.
Q&A
Question from Tom Martin:
Found this on the pavement near my house. Do you know what it is?
Cantharidae
There are forty one species of Cantharidae in Britain and almost all go by the common names of soldier or sailor beetle.
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