An April visit to the Reserve
Written by Felicity Jackson
13 Jun 2016 at 01:59 AM
A sunny and quite warm day; Blackbirds were singing, also a Wren and a Willow warbler. Lesser Celandines were in flower everywhere. Willow Catkins were still attracting insects, and the few remaining blackthorn bushes in full flower.
I spotted two Peacocks and four small Tortoiseshell butterflies, basking in the sun or feeding on the Celandines and the Willow. An unidentifiable white butterfly was hurrying away. Bumble bees were busy; easily recogniseable were a red-tailed and a buff-tailed, both queens. Hoverflies hovered, and a small metallic blue Leaf Beetle had gone before I could try to photograph it.
Across a wide cleared area a Rabbit dashed, hare-like, away from me.
The ground was still very boggy, making wellies a necessity. The whole Reserve looks very different after the grazing and clearance during the autumn and winter. I'm hopeful that the areas not cleared will form sufficient reservoir for insects, such a vital part of the ecosystem, to spread and recolonise the cleared areas.
A rare hot day in June
Written by Felicity Jackson
8 Aug 2016 at 03:54 PM
June 7th. The reserve is dry underfoot at last! The vegetation everywhere is growing up rapidly, very different from even a month ago. There's still a little hawthorn blossom on the bushes, some turning a paleish pink as the petals age.
The big white umbels of Hogweed are all around, at their peak; also there are splashes of colour from Meadow buttercup, Red campion and the lovely sky-blue of forget-me-nots. Silvery leaves of the appropriately named Silver-weed are spread out over some of the previously bare, cleared areas, together with the bright yellow flowers. Ox-eye daisies flower at the grassland's edge; Butterbur leaves are enlarging beside the river; unfortunately the Himalayan balsam is also coming on nicely! A couple of wild rose bushes are just coming into flower.
There is a floral scent in the air, mixed with the rather piggy smell of the Hogweed. There is also a faint smell of burning - someone has had a barbecue, and there are scorched remains under an ash tree. Why do people do this? It's annoying, but not enough to spoil the day.
Blackbirds are singing; I hear the scratchy song of a Whitethroat. Song thrush notes ring out; a Chiffchaff calls. A Robin is singing too, giving its more upbeat spring song, unlike the melancholy of autumn. The inevitable rabbit runs off, a Buzzard circles overhead; there's a hoverfly on the Hogweed, and across the path an Orange-tip butterfly.
It's a busy, and beautiful, time.
