June Work Party

The next work party is scheduled for Tuesday the 21st June. Meet at the Redwood Drive entrance at 10am. Tools and refreshments will be provided.

Nature Notes May

Mixed weather conditions throughout May ending with warm sunny days.  The Reserve offered sightings of several migratory birds.

SIGHTINGS
Birds:   Carrion Crow, Jackdaws, Magpies, Jays, Tawny Owls, Black-headed Gulls, Common Gulls, Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, Buzzards, Cuckoo, Wood Pigeons, Stock Doves, Collared Doves, Green/Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Tree Pipits, Stonechats, Reed Bunting, Siskins, Blackcaps, Willow Warblers, Chiffchaffs, Blackbirds, Robins, Wrens, Goldcrest, Song Thrushes, Nuthatches, Tree Creepers, Chaffinches, Bullfinches, Greenfinches, Goldfinches, Coal/Blue/Great/Long-tailed Tits, Male Mallard Duck.
Mammals:   Roe Deer, Pipistrelle Bats, Wood Mice, Fox, Mole activity.
Plants in flower:   Cranesbill, Catkins, Cotton Grass, Garlic Mustard, Herb Robert, Rhododendron, Rowan.
Fungi:   Birch Polypore.
Pond Life:   Pond Skaters, Whirlygig Beetles, Stickebacks.
Butterflies/Moths:   Large/Small Whites, Brimstone, Holly Blues, Orange Tips, Peacock, Red Admiral, Painted Lady, species of day flying Moths.
Insects:   Buff-tailed Bees, Hover Flies, Midges, Black Ants.
Dragonfly/Damselfly:   Four Spot Chaser, Small Red, Common Blue Damselfly, Beautiful Demoiselle.
Reptiles:   Common Lizards, Grass Snake.

Tawny Owls have reared two Owlets this year, using one of the Owl nesting boxes installed by S.B.G.  Another box has four eggs,but no adult Owl has been observed incubating.  This is the first time the boxes have been used.
A Cuckoo was heard calling from the north end of the site, early in the month.
Tree Pipits have returned and have been seen on the Pine trees on the central heathland.
Many young birds were observed on site late in the month, having fledged.  The Blue Tits nesting in a box, mentioned in the April report, only achieved to rear two young out of the initial five.  This could have been an indication of low insect numbers at the time of rearing.

Site Management

The walk way site access from Cedar Way has been completed. Encroaching vegetation was cleared from the boardwalk by the work party volunteers and rotten planks replaced.
It was hoped the cattle would have returned to the Reserve by now but we understand negotiations continue with the preferred grazier.

Nature Fact

Tawny Owls nest in hollows of trees but take readily to nest boxes.  The clutch varies from two to five round white eggs depending on calculation of food supply.  They do not breed if there is a shortage of food.  It takes a month from the start of incubation for the young to hatch, several days apart.  At first their eyes are bright blue and turn brown when 16 – 20 days old.  The Owlets fledge at five weeks old, then roost in low dense foliage of trees or bushes.  The Owlets stay in their parents’ territory for 10 – 12 weeks, dependent on their parents for food, before being forced out to find their own territories.

Work Party Tuesday 31st May 10am-1pm

Meet at the Redwood Drive entrance. 

We will continue to lay path gravel at the Cedar Way entrance to improve this access point.  There are also some rotten boards on the boardwalk to replace.

Tools and gloves will be provided along with half time refreshments.  Please contact Will Holland on 07827 820465 if you have any queries.

Nature Notes April

 
A month of mixed weather; wind, heavy rain, sunshine, sleet and hail.  Despite these conditions, activity and movement was apparent on site.

SIGHTINGS
Birds:   Carrion Crow, Jackdaws, Jays, Magpies, Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, Buzzards, Green/Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Wood Pigeons, Collared Doves, Common Gulls, Black-headed Gulls, Stonechats, Siskins, Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs, Willow Warblers, Blackbirds, Song Thrushes, Robins, Wrens, Goldcrest, Chaffinches, Greenfinches, Bullfinches, Goldfinches, Coal/Blue/Great Tits, Nuthatches, Treecreepers, Swallows, Sand Martins.
Mammals:   Wood Mice, Grey Squirrels, Roe Deer, Fox, Mole activity, Pipistrelle Bats.
Plants in flower:   Common Gorse, Flowering Currant, Catkins, Amelanchier, Bird Cherry.
Fungi:   Birch Polypore.
Pond Life:   Pond Skaters, Whirlygig Beetles, Stickleback fish, Frog
Butterflies:   Large White, Brimstone, Red Admiral. Small White, Orange Tip.
Insects:   Buff Tailed Bees, Hover Flies, Midges.
Reptiles:   Common Lizards.

Many bird species have pressed on with nesting, egg laying and incubation despite changeable weather and air temperatures.  Observations indicate the quantity of eggs being produced in a clutch of Blue Tit eggs were halved from the usual 10 to just 5.
A Sparrowhawk has been observed constructing a nest in a tree on the northern side of Kingfisher Creek.
Both Swallows and Sand Martins have been sighted in flight over the site on several occasions.
A Treecreeper has chosen the crete nesting box along Kingfisher Creek to rear young.
Several Common Lizards have been seen on the boardwalk on warmer days, but no reported sightings of Adders or Grass snakes.
Pipistrelle Bats airborne in warm dry evenings.

Nature Fact

Treecreepers nest in slender cavities in tree trunks or behind a flap of peeling bark on a dead or dying tree.  The cavity usually has two entrances, or rather, one of them acts as the emergency exit!  They scurry upwards on trees, searching for insects and invertebrate animals using their finely pointed down-curved beak.  Their eyes are large and protected by unusually prominent eyebrows for a small, slow-flying bird.