Nature Watch

Dry weather in the latter half of September turned to a short wet spell at the beginning of October. A period with very few sightings on recording visits

SIGHTINGS/OBSERVATIONS

Boardwalk: Common Lizards, Small Red damselflies, Southern Hawker dragonflies.

Hazelwood: Great Spotted/Green Woodpeckers, Chaffinches, Nuthatch, Greenfinches, Goldfinches, Long Tailed/Blue/Great Tits, Wrens, Jays, Buzzards, Blackcap, Willow Warblers.

Central heath: Great Spotted/Green Woodpeckers, Jays, Buzzards.

The screeching of a Tawny Owl heard in Hazelwood West.

The Summer visiting Willow Warblers and Blackcaps are now leaving and beginning their long migratory flight to warmer climates. The flock of Siskins which were resident on site during the Summer have now moved on.

Monitoring of Bats on site during the last month has continued to show readings of Pipistelle.

Fungi is now on the increase aided by the damp, warm weather conditions.

Nature Watch

Having experienced weeks of wet, windy weather, this has finally given way to warmer dry days.

SIGHTINGS/OBSERVATIONS

Hazelwood: Adder, Grass Snake, Buzzard, Sparrowhawk, Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Goldcrest, Willow Warbler, flocks of Siskin, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Long Tailed Tits, Speckled Wood/ Painted Lady/ Comma/ Large White/ Peacock butterflies.

Wet Wood: Song Thrush, Long Tailed Tits, Common Frog, Speckled Wood butterflies.

Boardwalk: Common Lizards, Large White butterflies.

Open Heathland: Kestrel, Buzzards, Green and Great Spotted Woodpeckers, flocks of House Martins and Swallows in flight, Silver Studded Blue butterflies.

A Tawny Owl has been heard calling from Hazelwood and to the west of the site.
Readings using a bat detector have continued at dusk. Pipistrelle Bats have been recorded feeding in Hazelwood, Wet Wood bridge east and across the open heath.
With the approach of Autumn, nesting boxes are now being selected for Winter roosting. A Blue Tit is already in residence in a camera nesting box situated on the fringe of Hazelwood, arriving before dark at about 7pm each evening.

Over the past month a weekly snake survey has been carried out by a Guardian volunteer who is licensed to do so. In total, 9 Adders, 19 Grass Snakes and 15 Slow Worms have been counted. The survey is undertaken at specified sites throughout the Reserve away from the main paths and tracks.

For some years now the Guardians have been monitoring butterfly numbers, particularly the Silver Studded Blue. In Great Britain SSBs are classified as nationally scarce. They are typically found on heathland that has not become too overgrown. Bell heather is a favourite nectar source. This year has been the best yet in terms of total butterfly numbers at Slop Bog including the Silver Studded Blue. It is not easy to ascribe a specific reason for this but the grazing cattle may well be a contributory factor.

Nature Watch

The weather during July to mid August has been mostly wet, only improving in the latter weeks, giving a quiet period for observing the wildlife on site. Along the Hazelwood fringe, families of Tit species have been very noticeable together with adult Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Song Thrush, Wrens, Blackbirds and Robins feeding their young. Large flocks of Greenfinches, Goldfinches and Siskin can be seen along the fence line. Goldcrests are again beginning to frequent the woodland floor. A Sparrowhawk has been observed hunting in the Hazelwood woodland. Not much activity out on the open heathland with only a few sightings of the Stonechat family, Green Woodpeckers, Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Magpies, Jays, Crows and Buzzards. Already, the song birds are in good voice claiming feeding territories in preparation for Autumn and Winter.

With the warm, wet weather, a number of fungi have developed including Puffballs.

Butterflies recorded in this period have included Peacock, Painted Lady, Large White, Comma, Brimstone, Small Heath, Gatekeeper, Speckled Wood, Small Copper, Common Blue and Silver Studied Blue.

Four-Spotted and Broad-Bodied dragonflies, Small Red, Large Red and Banded Demoiselle damselflies have been sighted.

A small number of Common Lizards have been seen on the boardwalk as has the first Raft Spider.

Nature Watch

Very mixed weather conditions during the past month. Mostly overcast but a few warm dry days, a cold snap and some torrential downpours with strong winds. The cold spell held back fungi development until recently when milder conditions encouraged growth.

SIGHTINGS

Wrens, Robins, Blackbirds, Song Thrush, Great/Blue/Coal/Longtail Tits, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Goldcrests, Nuthatch, Treecreepers, Jays, Magpies, Carrion Crows, Wood Pigeons, Buzzard, a female Roe Deer. A visiting flock of Redwing have been seen in Hazelwood. There were two separate sightings of Crossbill in the North West of the site.

There has been no recent movement from the Foxes earth in the bank skirting Hazelwood. It is a possibility they vacated their earth due to the noise and disturbance during path resurfacing and tree felling in close proximity to their home. Monitoring will continue.

Three bird fatalities were reported within the last two weeks; a Goldfinch, female Kestrel and a young male Great Spotted Woodpecker. All these birds were resident in Hazelwood regularly visiting garden feeding stations. All flew into plate glass windows of houses bordering the Reserve. This is a frequent occurrence but can be avoided by the application of nature window stickers on large areas of glass.

The last Pipistrelle Bat sighting and reading was taken on 2nd November. Although the weather has been mild for a period since, there have been no further recordings.

Two photographs taken by George Dunkling during the Summer Spider Survey 2008 are shown below