The Environment Bill 2020
The Environment Bill was submitted to Parliament in January, with the intention that it be enacted before the year is out; at the moment, it is somewhere in a post-lockdown legislative logjam while Parliament works out how to do its job safely in its famously loud and crowded chamber.
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How to tell a grasshopper from a cricket
- The most visible difference between a grasshopper and a cricket is that crickets tend to have very long antennae while grasshoppers’ antennae are short.
Oak number 5526
Message from Ian Bushell.
Sad to report that Oak number 5526, dubbed Stoat Oak, in the hedge line between Corn and Sleeper Fields has suffered a two limb loss – the large upper branch taking out the lower one on its descent. The fallen branch is safe and not impinging on the hard path.
No idea why; admitted it is in full leaf and thus heavy but there has been no wind or rain in the last couple of days. This tree lost a limb about the same place about 10 years ago. Don’t think there have been any other losses in the park this summer.
More from Ian about the park’s oak trees:
Contractor Terry Shepherd mending the fence around the Lone Oak.
Continue readingHimalayan balsam
We keep constant watch in the park for the invasive alien, Impatiens glandulifera, or Himalayan balsam. It might be very beautiful to look at but it is an environmental horror story
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Field garlic
The extraordinary flowers of Allium oleraceum or field garlic, found growing at the bottom of Kestrel Field.
Pictures taken in the park by Simon Knight.
spider silk
The fields are full of spiders’ webs.
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This is common fleabane (Pulicaria dysenterica); it is a plant that grows all over the place but nobody ever seems to know its name. As the park’s summer wildflowers go to seed, the fleabane is a welcome splash of colour beside the paths.
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Five number facts about ants
There are 63 species of ant in Britain, 17 of which are introduced.
Continue readingSmall scissor bee
This is the cutest thing we have read on the internet for some time.
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and there’s more….
Another wasp spider!
Jason Pickard photographed this specimen on Wednesday in The Race, in the south facing hedge among the tall grass there. Perhaps we have the makings of a colony.
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Wasp spider
A large colourful female wasp spider found yesterday by Ian Bushell in the set-aside at the top of Kestrel Field.
Continue readingExhibition
A message from Tessa Slack, the Bookings Coordinator at Trowbridge Town Hall, to all the park’s many photographers, artists, poets and musicians.
Continue reading “Exhibition”BUZZ!
Bees buzz in two different ways.
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Rabbits
There is a well established rabbit warren in the hedge between Cornfield and Sleepers Field. But, despite their long-term place in our landscapes and myths, rabbits are not British natives; they are an introduced alien species.
Continue readingNew bins!
A dozen new rubbish bins have been installed in the park.
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Moth traps
On the evening of July 16th, Ian Bushell and lepidopterist, Hugo Brooke set up moth traps at the top of Village Green. You may have seen them and wondered what they were doing.
Continue readingBotanicals
Angelica, cannabis & scarlet pimpernel
Continue reading “Botanicals”Butterfly transect
Southwick Country Park
Recorder Ian Bushell
Date 21 July 2020
Start time 1420hrs Finish time 1615hrs
Temperature 23C; Cloud 70% Sunshine
Wind direction – westerly, light, odd gusts.
All fields now mown.
Development at H2.5
Newland Homes has published a concept plan for the building of up to 45 houses on the land at Upper Studley (WHSAP site H2.5) just diagonally across the road from the park. They have distributed a leaflet to 170 local addresses as their first step in the process of public consultation.
Continue reading “Development at H2.5”Lost!
Message from Becky Lou: Someone’s little Piglet found at the park today, he hung on but no one returned so he’s being looked after… Get in touch if he’s yours.
Southwick Country Park Nature Reserve 