Nature Notes November

Another predominately wet month, with rain, wind and the occasional dry sunny day.   Temperatures remained fairly mild throughout, until the last week, when heavy frosts occurred and cold winds were experienced.  Changes on the Reserve were very evident with foliage changing from Autumn colours to bare branches.

SIGHTINGS
Birds:  Carrion Crows, Jackdaws, Magpies, Jays, Buzzards, Black-headed Gulls, Common Gulls, Grey Heron, Tawny Owl, Sparrowhawks, Green/Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Wood Pigeons, Stock Doves, Collared Doves, Treecreepers, Nuthatches, Wrens, Goldcrest,  Robins, Blackbirds, Song Thrushes, Mistle Thrushes, Dunnocks,, Stonechats, Redwings, Greenfinches, Chaffinches, Goldfinches, Bullfinches, Blackcap, Coal/Blue/Great/Long-tailed Tits.
Butterflies:   Red Admiral, Large White.
Pond Life:   Pond Skaters.
Insects:   Midges, Bees.
Mammals:   Roe Deer, Grey Squirrels, Fox.
Plants in flower:   Common Gorse, Holly Berries, Blackberry fruits, Rowan Tree berries, Tree acorns, Ivy plant seed heads.
Fungi:   Many-zoned Polypore, Silver leaf bracket.
A Blackcap was seen along the Hazelwood boundary, not having migrated to warmer climes for the winter. A flock of Redwings were resident on site from the last week in the month, driven southwards from Scandinavia. They were feeding on Holly berries.

SITE  MANAGEMENT
The cattle have now been removed from the site.
The monthly work party cut back  Holly within the woodland in the south west corner  of the Reserve to encourage a more varied ground flora and allow some of the saplings of other species to gain a foothold.  The date of the next work party is yet to be decided.  Details will be posted on this blog page.

Nature Fact

Redwings are the smallest of the true Thrushes. They suffer severely in cold winters and any prolonged snowfall results in large numbers of underweight birds struggling to find enough food to keep warm and stay alive. This encourages them to move south, where they live a nomadic life, searching for food.  The  ‘seep’ sound is the most common flight call and if you see the birds in flight, a glimpse of the Redwing’s rich russet-red underwing and  bold eyestripe, which is white or yellowish-white, makes its identity clear.