While they were tidying up the edge of the big pond last week, the Friends found a drinker moth caterpillar (Euthrix potatoria), so called because it is believed to drink drops of dew on grass stems.
Continue reading “Drinker moth caterpillar”
The swallows, house martins and swifts have all returned now and are hunting for winged insects over the reserve. Here is a short video to help you tell the three species apart.
Scientific name: Euphorbia amygdaloides
Habitat: old woodland
Conservation status: common
Header image and image [1] taken in the reserve by Clive Knight.
It’s not, as many believe, an instruction to keep your coat on until June; it’s telling you to take your cardigan off as soon as the may is in blossom, which has been known to happen as early as April.
Continue reading
On Saturday, we heard from several sources that there was a tent pitched in Kestrel Field. As camping is not allowed on Council land, Clive went to take a look and reported:
It looks like there is an organised marked course around the reserve; orienteering? I’ve seen lots of people running round, many said hello as they ran past. All finished now, tent gone. I think it was a recording point.
Continue reading
A grey squirrel feasting on the flowers of one of the reserve’s oak trees, photographed by Cheryl Cronnie.
Wild garlic is another of those wildflower species that go by many different names: ramsons, cowleek or cowlick, buckrams, broad-leaved garlic, wood garlic, bear leek and bear’s garlic are just a few of them.
Continue reading “Wild Garlic”
The Eurasian magpie (Pica pica) is the only species of bird to have passed the mirror test.
Continue readingLOST
Somebody lost a pair of prescription sunglasses in the reserve today. If you found them, email me at friendsofscp@outlook.com and I will make sure they get back to their owner.
Bluebells photographed in the reserve on Monday by Cheryl Cronnie.
Continue reading “Bluebells”
Wiltshire Council is asking the public to avoid using Southwick Country Park on 5th/6th May due to the spraying of Magneto herbicide to control ragwort. The work will take place on Thursday 5 May and possibly extend into Friday 6 May, depending upon the weather. There will be notices posted in the reserve to keep you updated.
Ragwort can cause serious liver damage to livestock if ingested, so landowners/occupiers have a responsibility to prevent it from spreading to neighbouring farmland. For the last few years it has been controlled in the Park by hand pulling, but this year it is clear there will be too much to pull out by hand with the resources we have.
We ask that the public avoid the Park on 5th/6th May while the spraying is taking place, and apologise for the inconvenience that these works cause.
Access to Hope Nature Centre is unaffected by the works.
by Simon Knight
This past weekend I had an amazing afternoon in the park watching a pair of hardworking, caring and protective parents. It was one of the best wildlife moments that I have had this year. As you can see from the pictures, the parents were long-tailed tits who, in my opinion, win the award for ‘cutest bird’.
Continue reading
There are pond skaters (Gerris lacustris) on the little pond under the wooden bridge at Lambrok Meadow end of the tributary stream.
Continue reading “Pond skaters”
There are cowslips (Primula veris) flowering in the reserve, beside the path through Simpsons, at the top of Village Green and the bottom of Kestrel Field.
Sun 24/04/2022 09:39 From Suzanne to Ali and Ian
Good morning,
This is another of the pictures sent by Cheryl Cronnie, who is a photographer rather than a ornithologist. Is this a twite?
While we are on the subject…
…here is a list of ragwort’s many common names, some of them downright vulgar:
Continue reading
A long tailed tit (Aegithalos caudatus) photographed in the park a couple of weeks ago by Cheryl Cronnie.
Continue reading
The cockchafers, more familiarly known as maybugs, are out and about early this year.
Continue reading “Cockchafer”
Email from Clive Knight – Mon 25/04/2022 21:32
Continue reading “Grey Heron”
by David Feather
On Wednesday mornings in the Nature Reserve you might be hearing some new sounds. The Friends of Southwick Country Park Nature Reserve have moved fully into the 21st century by purchasing battery powered hedge cutters and a brush cutter. We have managed to do this with financial help from Wiltshire Council Central Area Board and some thoughtful and generous donations. On Wednesday of last week, we had the opportunity to meet and thank the local couple who have paid for the training of five volunteers in the use of our new power tools.
Continue reading “Buzz”
The Eurasian wren (Troglodytes troglodytes) is tiny, only the goldcrest and the firecrest are smaller among British birds, but it has an enormous voice, apparently ten times louder, weight for weight, than a cockerel.
Audio: Eurasian Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes) by Lars Edenius from xeno canto.org
Images: taken in the reserve by Cheryl Cronnie
Today is Earth Day.
Continue reading “Earth Day”
Southwick Country Park Nature Reserve 