Date Published: 02-02-2025
Nature Notes January 2025
January’s weather continued the wet and windy trend, with Storm Eowyn battering the country towards the end of the month. Sightings were predominately of winter residents.
SIGHTINGS
Birds (seen or heard): Carrion Crow, Magpies, Jays, Buzzards, Black-headed Gulls, Herring Gulls, Tawny Owl, Sparrowhawk, Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Wood Pigeons, Nuthatches, Treecreeper, Siskins, Wrens, Robins, Blackbirds, Song Thrush, Dunnocks, Goldcrest, Chaffinches, Bullfinches, Goldfinches, Coal/Blue/Great/Long-tailed Tits.
Mammals: Grey Squirrels, Mole activity.
Insects: Midges, Buff-tailed Bees.
Fungi: Conifer Tuft (Hypholoma capnoides), Common Greenshield Lichen (flavoparmelia caperata), Turkey Tail (Trametes versicolor).
Plants in flower/Berry: Common Gorse, Viburnum, Ivy, Catkins.
Large quantities of Spaghnum Moss were evident.
The ground became waterlogged, due to the heavy rainfall throughout the month.
Sparrowhawks were seen predating along the Hazelwood boundary.
NATURE FACT
Both sexes of the Wren share a barred brown and grey plumage and are indistinguishable one from the other. They are welll camouflaged in the undergrowth it frequents. Only the cock bird sings, identified by his exceptionally loud churring call. He sings constantly throughout the year.
One oddity of Wren behaviour is communal roosting, which sometimes occurs in particularly severe weather. It helps the birds retain the precious body heat they have gained from hard-won insect food, foraged during the short winter daylight.
Recorders: C. Wilcox K. Wilcox
SITE MANAGEMENT
The monthly work party was cancelled due to Storm Eowyn
Wren Image by K Wilcox
