December Nature Notes

January Nature Notes
 

February Nature Notes

March Nature Notes

January Nature Notes

TREES

This is a good month to identify certain features of trees now that they are unobscured by leaves. Ash trees have a smooth, grey bark and the black leaf buds show clearly on the ends of their upswept branches. Look for the seeds - ash keys - beneath the tree and also in dark, sodden bundles on the branches. The ash tree has featured prominently in ancient beliefs. Before Christianity Scandinavian peoples revered the ash as a sacred tree. Odin, the father of the Norse gods, created man from a piece of ash wood. Yggdrasil, 'the tree of the world', was a mighty ash tree which spanned heaven and hell in Norse mythology. In later times it was thought that if a sick person was passed through a split ash he could be cured.

Oak trees have broad, spreading branches. Young oaks have smooth, shiny bark but older specimens show a distinctive silvery and deeply fissured texture. You may still find a few leaves clinging to the upper branches - oaks are some of the last trees to become completely bare. Sacred to the Druids, the oak - Quercus robor - (robor means strong, referring to the timber) has long been held the king of British trees and its durable wood was used for house and ship building. Look for acorns amongst the dead leaves which will already be rotting and providing a rich leaf mould for the many plants which thrive under its light shade. You may also find 'oak apples' - small brown growths, like large marbles - on the twigs. They are the result of infestation by the grubs of a gall wasp.

There are some beech trees on the line. They have smooth, silvery bark and sharply pointed buds. Jays, in particular, enjoy beech nuts - as do wood mice and squirrels.
One of the commonest trees along the line is the sycamore. It grows quickly and can reach a height of 35m. Young trees have a greyish bark which in older specimens turns to a pinky-brown. Beneath the tree will be many leaves, some of which may well show black blotches. This 'tarspot' is caused by a fungus which doesn't harm the tree. The spores of the fungus will not be released from these tar spots until the spring.

Hazel bushes are already beginning to show their green catkins which, towards the end of the month, will lengthen and turn yellow. Look out for coppiced hazels near Knott Wood. These are hazels which have been cut to ground level so that they can regrow as a circle of new shoots around the stump. Shoots of the new wood, which will be used in fencing and hedge laying, are often damaged by deer which nibble their fresh growth in the spring.

FLOWERS

A few wild flowers can still be seen: even brambles may have a scattering of unproductive white flowers at this time of year. Half-closed daisies and dandelions may still be found. In a mild winter the shiny, yellow flowers of lesser celandine may  emerge and turn towards the sun. The fern-like leaves of cow parsley or Queen Anne's lace persist throughout the winter. You may find some berries left on the holly bushes if the winter has been mild. On the upper face of older holly leaves you may see yellowish spots. The grub of the holly leaf miner lives in these spots, having hatched from an egg laid last year by the parent fly.

INSECTS

If you prise a piece of bark from a fallen branch you may find woodlice enjoying the moist darkness of the rotting wood. Centipedes and millipedes hide there too. Centipedes have one pair of legs on each body segment. They are carnivorous and hunt animals even smaller than themselves. Millipedes have two pairs of legs on each body segment and eat only dead plant matter.

MAMMALS

Grey squirrels begin to mate in January. You may see two or three males chasing a female through the bare tree branches making chattering noises as they go. Listen too for the soft, laughing call of the green woodpecker. If alarmed the birds will make a harsh, staccato screech. At night you may hear dog foxes barking or the hair-raising screams of a vixen ready to mate.

April Nature Notes

Wildlife Interpretation Board
Progress on our new Wildlife Interpretation Board

Fungal Foray Wednesday 22 October 2008