Treecreeper

Treecreepers (Certhia familiaris) are shy, quiet, and rarely seen. We know they visit the reserve to feed and we hope they are long term residents that will nest here in the spring.

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Common greenshield lichen (Flavoparmelia caperata) on deadwood in the thicket beside the hard path in Lambrok Meadow.

Header image: common greenshield lichen by Ian Bushell (SCPLNR 08.11.23)

Ivy flowers

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

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Native or not?

The rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) is usually classed as a non-native introduction to the UK, but it seems that in the past there may have been native rabbits here.

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King Alfred’s cakes

Daldinia concentrica: known as King Alfred’s cakes or coal fungus growing on one of the reserve’s dead ash trees.

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Last week, Chris Seymour was mushroom hunting in the reserve: fly agaric and some kind of a boletus. Thanks for the pictures Chris.

More creatures of the night

When you are out trick-or-treating this Hallowe’en and you hear a tu-whit tu-whoo noise, go carefully because it isn’t an owl.

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Dark nights

The clocks go back tonight; the nights, which have been getting longer since the autumnal equinox, will seem extra long and especially dark now just in time for Hallowe’en. We cosy up in front of the fire and scare each other with ghost stories, but out in the reserve, the ratio between daylight and dark triggers many natural processes.

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Gold crest or firecrest?

From one of the UK’s biggest birds to two of its smallest. Goldcrests are resident in the reserve but we have not identified a firecrest here yet. Their UK numbers are rising so we live in hope. Here is a video from the excellent BTO Bird ID series to help you identify these two tiny birds.

An apple a day …

by David Feather

Our orchard was planted as part of a nationwide project to create Community Orchards across the UK. There is a website called The Orchard Project which supports local efforts. It is worth looking at as it has lots of interesting information and some recipes.

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