Nature Notes February 2019

Date Published: 03-03-2019

A month of very mixed weather conditions, ranging from cold frosty nights with fog through to temperatures that were the highest ever recorded for February.

SIGHTINGS
Birds: Carrion Crows, Magpies, Jays, Buzzards, Black-headed Gulls, Common Gulls, Tawny Owls, Sparrowhawk, Green/Great Spotted Wood Peckers, Wood Pigeons, Collared Doves, Nuthatches, Treecreeper, Stonechats, Siskins, Wrens, Robins, Goldcrest, Robins, Blackbirds, Song Thrushes, Dunnocks, Bullfinches, Chaffinches, Goldfinches, Coal/Blue/Great/Long-tailed Tits.
Mammals: Grey Squirrels, Hedgehogs.
Insects: Midges, Buff-tailed Bees.
Butterflies: Brimstone, Peacock.
Plants: Common Gorse, Catkins.
Fungi: Birch Polypore.
Reptiles: Slow Worms.
The warm weather produced a few surprises with species of Butterflies on the wing, Hedgehogs and several Slow Worms sunbathing
A pair of Stonechats were seen off the boardwalk, which was pleasing, as none have been seen in recent months.

Recorder: C Wilcox

NATURE FACT
The Grey Squirrel was introduced from its native North America in the late 1800s, and has spread across much of the U.K. It is not found in continental Europe, apart from a few small but rapidly growing introduced populations in Italy. Greys are noticeably larger than reds and twice as heavy. They are primarily grey, although some can appear remarkably brown. Squirrels eat seeds, buds, flowers, shoots, nuts, berries and fruit from many trees and shrubs and are recognized as forestry pests because they strip tree bark in Spring and Summer.

SITE MANAGEMENT
The work party concentrated it’s efforts on clearing brambles and invasive vegetation from the western margins of the Reserve bordering the paddock.