Sunday Morning walk
by Ian Bushell
Not a bad Sunday morning, bright and dry, with no wind but a little chill.
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Blue Tits Delay Nesting
We have been watching pairs of blue tits house hunting in our oak trees since February and we predicted an early nesting season for the species. But this period of cold weather with frosty nights may have slowed things up.
Read on to find out why. . .We need volunteers
The park has been so important to so many during this last locked-down year. People have come here for permitted exercise, to run their children and their dogs, to walk off their worries or just to stay sane in an increasingly insane world. Now that we are promised an end to the craziness, it is the park that needs a little help.
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Double flowers
If you are planting your flower beds and hanging baskets this weekend, keep our dwindling population of pollinators in mind and please don’t plant double flowers.
Continue readingNo drones please
In the last week or so somebody been seen flying a drone in the nature reserve. Please don’t do this.
Continue reading “No drones please”Disease Resistant Elms
by Ian Bushell
In 2017 a White-letter Hairstreak butterfly was recorded in the park. These beautiful butterflies are the emblem of Wiltshire Butterfly Conservation group. They feed on English or Wych Elms, which unfortunately over the past few years have been ravaged by Dutch Elm disease, leaving dead gaunt trees within some hedge lines.
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The Cycle of Life Continues!
by Simon Knight
After my amazing weasel encounter, which showed the daily fight for survival that happens within the park, and to which many people are oblivious; I was fortunate to witness the opposite of the weasel encounter – this time life being created.
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Snake’s head fritillaries photographed in the park last week.
Invasion of the Spanish squill
On Friday we posted a gallery of grey squirrels, an invasive alien species that has almost completely replaced our native squirrel population. Unfortunately, our native bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) is also being threatened by the spread of an invasive alien: Spanish squill (Hyacinthoides hispanica), a similar bluebell species imported into our gardens from southern Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries.
The extraordinary flowers of wood spurge (Euphorbia amygdaloides) growing in the Arboretum.
Conservation status: common
Pictures by Suzanne Humphries
Butterfly sightings
Already, there are butterfly sightings from the park.
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A gallery of squirrels
We know they are an invasive alien species that inflicts terrible damage on our trees every year – but they are also much loved, long term park residents.
Header picture by Simon Knight
The Cycle of Life
by Simon Knight
I am starting my diary series with one of my most memorable mornings spent in the park.
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COULD FOOD FORESTS BE THE FUTURE FOR ORCHARDS?
You will know that the Park has an orchard that was planted a few years ago. Some of you might have helped to plant it. It was created as a Community Garden and to maintain expertise we keep in contact with the Orchard Project, a national organisation for such orchard managers. This article is from their latest newsletter, which I feel will interest many park users.
Continue readingPark nightlife
Wildlife photographer Simon Knight has been sneaking up on our badgers. Click the green button for a little peek into the park’s nightlife.
Header picture: badgers at a bird feeder in Lambrok Close: by Jude Summers
The first fritillaries
Julie Newblé and Ian Bushell have sent us pictures of the first of the year’s beautiful snake’s head fritillaries (fritillaria meleagris), which are classified as vulnerable on the Vascular Plant Red Data List for Great Britain.
Dog control
There have been several incidents of dogs worrying livestock in and around Southwick over the past month.
Continue readingMicro-volunteering
by David Feather
A walking organisation in Scotland, called “Paths for All”, has introduced the term micro-volunteering. So, what is micro-volunteering?
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Wild About Gardens
The Wildlife Trusts and the Royal Horticultural Society have set up a website called Wild About Gardens. Its focus is wildlife gardening and it encourages people to use their gardens to help support nature. This year they are all about beetles.
Continue reading “Wild About Gardens”Another astonishing fact
Here’s another astonishing fact from the world beyond the park’s boundaries: in a Japanese laboratory, researchers trained wood pigeons to discriminate between paintings by Picasso and by Monet.
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Nettle soup
The stinging nettles (Urtica dioica) are coming up: wonderful habitat for invertebrates, itchy feet for our dogs and free food for us. Try nettle soup, easy to make, nutritious and very tasty.
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Happy Birthday Pat
This is Pat, our champion litter picker; yesterday was her 91st birthday.
Continue reading “Happy Birthday Pat”Chiffchaff or willow warbler
Every spring our readers report the arrival in the park of a small grey green bird with a pale eyestripe and cream underparts. This is either a chiffchaff or a willow warbler and it’s very hard to tell the difference.
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Southwick Country Park Nature Reserve 