Nature Notes

The weather took a turn for the worse during this month, delivering strong winds and heavy rainfall with cool temperatures. There was twice as much rain as usual.
SIGHTINGS
Birds: Buzzards, Magpies, Jays, Carrion Crows, Heron, Wood Pigeons, Stock Doves, Black-headed Gulls, Green/Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Mistle/Song Thrushes, Blackbirds, Robins, Wrens, Dunnocks, Nuthatches, Goldcrests, Siskins, Bullfinches, Greenfinches, Goldfinches, Chiff Chaffs, Willow Warblers, Coal/Blue/Great/Long-tailed Tits.
Mammals: Wood Mice, Grey Squirrels.
Insects: Bees, Pond Skaters.
Butterflies: Large White, Brimstone.
Plants in flower: Gorse, Bog Myrtle, Primrose.
Willow Warblers have now returned from their over-wintering in warmer climes.
Birds continue to construct nests, sit on eggs, and feed early produced young.

Nature Facts

NATURE FACT


Woodpeckers sustain a g-force of about 1,200 as it drums its bill against tree bark. A g-force measuring between 80 and 100 is strong enough to give humans a concussion. Researchers have discovered four structures of the Woodpeckers head that make it shock-absorbent :-
* A strong yet flexible bill.
* A hyoid - a structure of bone and elastic tissue that wraps around the skull.
* An area of spongy bone in the skull.
* Little space for cerebral-spinal fluid between the skull and the brain.
Each of these elements absorb mechanical shock, allowing the Woodpecker to strike a tree at a rate of up to 22 times per second with no injury to the brain.

Summer Work Parties

The Summer work parties will be held on Tuesdays rather than Thursdays, 10am - 1pm, on the following dates:-
April 17th
May 29th
June 26th
July 24th
Aug 21st

All are welcome and we will endeavour to post details of the work to be undertaken shortly before each date.

Nature Notes

A month of clear blue skies, warm sunshine and cool nights. No recorded rainfall during the month of March.

SIGHTINGS
Birds: Wood Pigeon, Stock Dove, Buzzards, Jackdaw, Magpies, Jays, Carrion Crows, Black-headed Gulls, Herring Gulls, Green/Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Mistle/Song Thrushes, Blackbirds, Robins, Wrens, Dunnocks, Mallard Ducks, Heron, Nuthatches, Chiff Chaffs, Bull Finches, Siskins, Stonechats, Coal/Blue/Great/Long-tailed Tits, Goldcrests, Greenfinches, Goldfinches, Chaffinches.
Mammals: Wood Mice, Grey Squirrels.
Insects: Bees, Wasps, Pond Skaters.
Butterflies: Brimstone, Red Admiral, Peacock.
Plants in flower: Gorse, Broom, Flowering Redcurrant, Primrose, Bog Myrtle.

A pair of Mallard Ducks have been seen at Kingfisher Creek.
Bird song has been prolific from the end of March.
Chiff Chaffs were heard in the last week of the month, having returned from wintering in Africa.
Nuthatches have been delivering their high pitch call along the Hazelwood path.