Work Party 11th January

We will be continuing to thin the Holly we started to clear on the last work party.  Meet at the Redwood Drive entrance at 10am.  Tools, gloves, refreshments available.  Please wear old clothes – we will likely have a bonfire.

Nature Notes December

The weather in December delivered many windy, wet days, although on the whole temperatures were mild albeit with a few very frosty cold days and nights, and a some sleet flurries. The Reserve looked bleak on many occasions, with most of the inhabitants seen on the perimeter, where cover was provided by trees and bushes.

SIGHTINGS
Birds: Carrion Crows, Jackdaws, Magpies, Jays, Buzzards, Blackheaded Gulls, Common Gulls, Grey Herons, Tawny Owls, Sparrowhawks, Green/Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Wood Pigeons, Nuthatches, Wrens, Robins, Blackbirds, Song Thrushes, Dunnocks, Male Blackcap, Goldcrest, Stonechats, Greenfinches, Chaffinches, Goldfinches, Bullfinches, Coal/Blue/Great/Longtailed Tits.
Mammals: Grey Squirrels, Brown Rats.
Pond Life: Pond Skaters, Whirlygig Beetles.
Insects : Bees. Plants in Flower: Common Gorse.
Fungi: Polypore.
The wet and windy conditions did not encourage wild life to show. On several cold frosty mornings, Brown Rats were seen on the Hazelwood boundary.

SITE MANAGEMENT
A Tawny Owl nesting box was constructed by a Guardian volunteer and installed by two volunteer site recorders, to replace a damaged box. There was no work party – the next one will be held on 11th January at 10am. Details will be posted on this blog page.

Nature Fact

The preferred nesting box for a Tawny Owl is a chimneystyle box, made to mimic the hollow, rotten end of a broken branch. These can be surprisingly narrow and deep, open at the upper end. The box is fixed at an angle of 45 degrees to ensure rain does not enter through the open top end. Drainage holes are drilled in the bottom end and wood chips are placed inside at the base.