Winter cress

Winter cress (Barbarea vulgaris) is another of the wildflowers first identified and recorded in the reserve by Country Recorder Richard Aisbitt when he visited last summer. It isn’t a rare species or even particularly unusual; it’s just one of those plants that are so commonplace that nobody bothers to look at it or ask what it is.

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Broad buckler-fern

Here is another of the plants first identified in the reserve by County Recorder Richard Aisbitt when he visited us this summer: broad buckler-fern, Dryopteris dilatata.

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Meadow foxtail

In the summer, County Recorder Richard Aisbitt identified meadow foxtail (Alopecurus pratensis) in our fields, a tall grass with a furry flower head that looks like a fox’s brush: hence its name.

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Moschatel

Moschatel (Adoxa moschatellina) is a new addition to our species lists, reported in May this year by County Recorder, Richard Aisbitt.

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Anemone blanda

…found and photographed in the reserve last week. Anemone blanda isn’t a native species so this is a garden escape but it naturalises easily in the partial shade of woodland edges and our bees will love it. Let’s make it welcome.

Orchids!

Yesterday, while surveying pollinator networks in the reserve, Ian Bushell discovered a colony of bright pink pyramidal orchids (Anacamptis pyramidalis), an important new species for the reserve.

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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.

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New species

Wed 15/07/2020 18:48; mail and pictures from Clive Knight

Walking round this afternoon spotted these. The first two pics are of a plant in Sleepers Field – no idea what it is and the bottom pic I found in the pathway through the woods at the top of Village Green. Both single plants.

Sent from my iPhone

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A marmalade hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus) feeding on the nectar of a bramble flower. This is a new species for our lists, despite its ubiquity.

The marmalade fly gets its name from its colour, and its thin cut/thick cut dark stripes, just like marmalade.

Another new species

On Sunday, Julie Newblé sent us pictures of caterpillars in a tent-web she found strung between blackthorn twigs in the hedge at the top of the Arboretum.

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New species

A new species for our lists: marsh marigold (Caltha palustris).

Conservation status: Least Concern (population stable); locally threatened by drainage and agricultural improvement.


Another recent addition to our species lists:
Coot

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