A message from Chris Seymour:
“Just wanted to share my photos of the orchids in the country park. I have been waiting for months to see them flower.”
Common spotted orchids
An evening stroll with DKG
by DKG. . .
A few photos of an evening stroll in the park on Wednesday (23rd May).
Drinker moth caterpillar
This is the caterpillar of the drinker moth (Euthrix potatoria) so called because the caterpillar is believed to drink drops of dew on grass stems.
Continue reading “Drinker moth caterpillar”
During the few snowy days at the end of the winter, Chris Seymour sent in a series of photographs he took at dawn. A local artist, Anne Lynch, has turned one of them into a painting; thank you for sharing it with us, Anne.
Small Tortoiseshell Caterpillars
From Ian B:
“I photographed this small tortoiseshell nest this morning in Simpsons Field; there is a nettle bed on the right, about half way up the hard path from the entrance.”
Subject: Thank You!
Sent: 21 May 2018 21:16:38
To: friendsofscp@outlook.com
Dear Friends of Southwick Country Park,
I was out in the park just recently taking our two dogs for their daily walk, when I was fortunate enough to encounter a group of Friends together with a nice lady from the Wiltshire Council Countryside Team.
“Shed not a clout till may be out…”
By Mary C.
It’s not an instruction to keep your coat on until June; it’s telling you to take your cardigan off when the may is in blossom, which has been known to happen as early as April.
Ichneumon wasp
This is an ichneumon wasp feeding on clog weed near Lambrok Stream.
Sarah’s Report to the Village Newsletter
By Sarah Marsh . . .
This month’s report is all about our volunteers and the work they do. Without the Friends, the Park would be in a sorry state as the Countryside Team gets ever smaller and funding is limited. We are all unpaid and give our time willingly to keep the Park looking lovely and preserve it for future generations. But working in the Park is just one part of the Friends commitments.
Blue Tits Delay Nesting
For the last two years, a pair of blue tits has nested in a hole in an oak tree in one of the copses at the southern end of the park. There, they successfully raised broods of chicks under the watchful eye of DKG’s camera.
Ring barking
Ring barking or girdling can kill a tree. It happens when the tree’s bark is removed right the way round its trunk. Accidental girdling may be the result of a carelessly used strimmer, or over-tight wires and ties; it might be mammals gnawing on the bark or, in the case of deer, rubbing their antlers against it.
DKG heard this year’s first cuckoo in the park on Sunday morning.
Vandalism fatally damages SCP trees
The vandals are back. Last night we got this message from DKG:
“Just returned from a walk around the park with Chris S. Unfortunately the vandals are back. Four trees have been ring barked in the copse in Village Green, the same area where we had trouble last year. If it was children they knew what they were doing, looking closely at the damage, they were not using small pocket knives.
I dread to think what will be damaged next. Especially with the summer holidays approaching. Once people think it’s a good idea to damage trees in this way, where/what next? “
Stinking Willie and Marefart
Ragwort has many common names; in fact some, like stinking willie and marefart, are downright vulgar. Both refer to the plant’s unpleasant smell. Another set of names, staggerwort, stammerwort and sleepy-dose, are about to its toxicity. Then there is felon weed, swine grass and our personal favourites: scrog and weeby. Continue reading “Stinking Willie and Marefart”
Reasons to scoop poop: no. 3
Most bio-degradable poo bags are not really bio-degradable; they are photo-degradable.
Invasion of the Spanish squills
Our native species of bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) is threatened by the spread of Spanish squill (Hyacinthoides hispanica), a similar species imported into our gardens from southern Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries.
Bloody nosed beetle
I found a bloody nosed beetle (Timarcha tenebricosa) in the short grass where the rabbits graze at the end of Sleepers Field.
Continue reading “Bloody nosed beetle”
Despite the announcement on Wiltshire Council’s website and in the Wiltshire Times, the Traffic Regulation Order notices that have gone up in the car park do not mean that parking charges will be introduced at Southwick Country Park. They are part of the formal consultation process that the county has to complete in order to change their car parking strategy. Such notices have gone up in several car parks across the county.
Southwick Country Park Nature Reserve 