Somebody asks this every year in August, as they wave wasps away from their picnic or soothe a painful sting with a vinegar poultice.
Continue reading “What good are wasps…?”What good are wasps…?
Is a hibernating bat safe?
Underground bat hibernation sites, called hibernacula, can attract predators. Finding signs of predation among the bats overwintering in twelve World War II bunkers in Zuid-Holland in The Netherlands, researchers set up trail cameras to identify the culprits.
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Did you know…
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Do badgers eat hedgehogs? Yes, they do.
Continue readingPredation
Hoping for a pine marten, a top predator, to move into the reserve might seem a strange idea but predation is an important factor in ecological dynamics. The lack of predators is one of the reasons the UK’s biosphere is so unbalanced and in such danger.
Continue reading “Predation”One for sorrow, two for joy…
There are several families of magpies in the reserve. This year’s crop are, as yet, short-tailed, loud- mouthed and clumsy, hanging out in gangs and still learning to fly properly. But, despite their dramatic black and white beauty, their reputation is poor.
Read on:Red in tooth and claw
The whole of the reserve’s invertebrate population falls into one or more of four categories: predators, parasitoids, parasites or prey.
Continue reading “Red in tooth and claw”One for sorrow, two for joy…
There are several families of magpies in the reserve. This year’s crop are, as yet, short-tailed, loud- mouthed and clumsy, hanging out in gangs and still learning to fly properly. But, despite their dramatic black and white beauty, their reputation is poor.
Read on:Cats
Usually we would welcome predators into the reserve; they are a sign of a healthy ecosystem. We have resident stoats and weasels, foxes and badgers and are happy to know that our ecosystem can support them. Domestic cats, like this one photographed early in the morning in the woods in Village Green, are a very different proposition.
Continue reading “Cats”Jay
A jay has been seen on several early-morning occasions, hopping about just inside the reserve’s main entrance.
Continue reading “Jay”No bridges, please.
Planning application 18/10035/OUT
Above is the Parameter Plan submitted by RPS with planning application 18/10035/OUT. If you look carefully, there are two grey dotted lines that run from the red site boundary, over the Lambrok Stream, and into the park. Right at the bottom of the key, they are labelled potential foot/cycle links and we assume that a foot/cycle link that crosses the Lambrok will do so on a bridge.
Continue reading “No bridges, please.”Cats
Usually we would welcome predators into the park; they are a sign of a healthy ecology. We have resident stoats and weasels, foxes and badgers and are happy to know that the park can support them. Domestic cats, like this one that DKG photographed early in the morning in the woods in Village Green, are very different.
Continue reading “Cats”Cats and Country Park don’t mix
We, the Friends of Southwick Country Park, love animals. But we love animals in the right places and sadly, cats are not good for the Country Park. The picture shows a cat with a bird in its mouth but the range of creatures it can kill is wide. Cats can be really good predators. There is one report of a cat owner counting 10 prey brought home in one night.
Continue reading “Cats and Country Park don’t mix”
Southwick Country Park Nature Reserve 