Category: Miscellany

First flowerings

Pictures from Ian Bushell of the snake’s head fritillaries in The Race and the wood anemones in the copse at the bottom of Sheepfield.

Yesterday, somebody clicked a button somewhere on the website and became our 700th follower. Welcome, whoever you are.

There has been a suggestion that the Phantom Ditch Digger of Lambrok Meadow is, in fact, a colony of water voles. There are water vole holes in the Lambrok’s banks opposite the place where the Digger’s drain empties into the stream and there are small grazed areas in the boggy patch, just like the grazed areas a grazing water vole might leave. We are taking expert advice; watch this space.

WHSAP Examination Hearings

The WHSAP public hearings will begin on April 2nd. FoSCP have submitted additional written representation and have asked permission to speak at the hearing to be held on the morning of April 4th, when the biodiversity at sites at H2.4, H2.5 and H2.6 will be discussed.

Here is our second submission to the WHSAP Examination.

Our first submission can be found on the main menu under the heading WHSAP. All our posts about Wiltshire’s Housing Site Allocation Plan are tagged WHSAP and our posts about the planning application at Church Lane are tagged Church Lane.

Robins

Photographs by DKG

There seem to be lots of robins in the park this year. In fact, there are lots of robins everywhere in Trowbridge. We know that their population in Britain has grown almost 50% since the 1970s but population growth is measured in means and averages, not in sudden seasonal spikes. There could be several reasons for this spike, not all of them necessarily good news for the park.

Read on:

The kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) that DKG photographed at the weekend is a female. The male bird has an all black beak while the female’s lower mandible is orange with a black tip.

Kingfishers are highly territorial; they pair up in the winter but keep separate territories until the following spring. It is probable, therefore, that our female has already paired up with a nearby male.

A kingfisher’s territory covers, on average, a kilometre of waterway; our female will be looking for a nesting site either very close to, or in the park. The Lambrok’s steep clay banks may well be perfect.

Come and join us on Tuesday 27th. We meet in the car park at 9:30am; you’ll need sturdy footwear, thorn-proof gloves and a mug. We provide the coffee to put in  the mug and there will be biscuits.

Apology

Our web host, in its geeky wisdom, has updated us with a new editing suite, parts of which are still under development. Please bear with us; everything is taking twice as long as usual but we have been assured that the result will be worth it.

FoSCP

Ivy flowers

The park’s ivy flowers between September and November; each plant’s flowering season is quite short but a succession of plants flowers all through the autumn. The flowers are small, green and yellow, and so insignificant-looking that many people don’t realise that that they are flowers at all.

Read on:

We are going to have to cancel the Bat and Moth Walk again; sorry.
The weather is deteriorating; the Met Office says that by 7.00pm the wind will be gusting at 40-45mph and heavy rain will be 90% certain by 9.00pm. Let’s stay home in the warm, which is probably what the bats and moths will be doing. Our apologies.

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.

Thank you for waiting….

We have made a few changes. Working our way eastward along the main menu, we have embedded a calendar, have added the beginnings of a package of printable activity sheets aimed at children (and their adults), polished up Contacts, and opened a new gallery to showcase DKG’s pictures.  Please feel free to comment, positively or negatively, below or by email.

Tomorrow we will return to normal. Thank you for your patience.

FoSCP

Create a website or blog at WordPress.com

Up ↑