Nature Notes March 2022

Date Published: 01-04-2022

This January was recorded as one of the warmest on record, relatively dry with a number of frosty nights.

SIGHTINGS
Birds (seen or heard) : Common Gulls, Black-headed Gulls, Heron, Carrion Crows, Magpies, Jays, Buzzards, Tawny Owls, Wood Pigeons, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Nuthatches, Blackcaps, Blackbirds, Robins, Dunnocks, Goldfinches, Greenfinches, Chaffinches, Bullfinches, Siskins, Snipe, Stonechats, Wrens, Coal/Blue/Great/Long-tailed Tits, Goldcrest, Redwing.
Insects: Buff-tailed Bees, Midges Sheet-Web Spiders.
Mammals: Roe Deer, Grey Squirrels. Foxes.
Butterflies: Peacock, Brimstone
Plants (in flower/berry): Holly berries, Ivy seed heads, Cotoneaster.
Pond life: Whirlygig Beetles, Frog Spawn.

A Snipe was seen in the Northern area of the Reserve.

NATURE FACT
Grey Squirrels were introduced from America in the late 1800’s. A Squirrel’s nest, called a drey, is made from twigs, leaves and moss. Squirrels raise their young in the drey but may also use it at any time of the year as a sheltered resting place. A drey is often set against the trunk and branches of a tree, but may also be in a treehole or even in a nestbox intended for Owls or Kestrels.

Recorders: C. Wilcox, K. Wilcox
Contributor: R. Pitts