Stillingfleet Lodge Gardens

Today I’ve been to a ‘Wildlife Day’ at Stillingfleet Lodge gardens, held as part of National Insect Week. All the local wildlife organisations had stands there and events were organised throughout the day. I started with a mini-bug safari led by Dr Roger Key. It was aimed mainly at the children, but was just as interesting to us adults who missed out on that sort of thing when we were children. We were equipped with sweep nets and pooters and told to see what we could find. I came back with a Tortrix moth, froghoppers and a selection of plant bugs.

Bug safari equipment

Plant bug in the net

The next event was a demonstration of bird-ringing with the BTO. A line of wriggling bags on the tent wall was opened and a variety of small birds produced for ringing and measuring. Each bird was then carefully passed to one of the audience for them to release. Most shot away at speed, but a reluctant dunnock sat in a lady’s hand for a full minute before being persuaded to take flight.

The reluctant dunnock

Next up was a spider walk with Dr Geoff Oxford, who first demonstrated an alternative use for a sonic toothbrush. It seems that their oscillation frequency (at 20000 per minute) roughly corresponds to that of a medium sized fly, so when placed gently on a spider’s web it will bring the spider out to investigate.

A hungry spider emerges from its hiding place...

...only to find a toothbrush

We then had a walk around the gardens looking for webs. Several were found on an ivy covered wall and their owners lured out with the toothbrush. There were large house spiders (Tegenaria), money spiders, orb-web spiders, candy-stripe spiders and cucumber spiders. We often hear that children are no longer ‘connected’ with nature, but those attending today were full of enthusiasm, which was nice to see.

A magnificent Mullein moth caterpillar in the garden

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Collecting Tansy Seed

Image
Today I’ve been to Fulford Ings, to collect seed from tansy plants to sow next spring. Each plant produces dozens of flower heads and each flower contains hundreds of seeds, so the small amount I’ve collected will have no effect on the natural spread of the plants. I’ll aim to produce another 1000 tansy plants next year. Dead flower heads now contain ripe seed   The seed will be left to dry out in my kitchen   The new generation of tansy beetles that emerged from pupae in the summer have now gone underground for the winter – except for one, which was still wandering around! The last tansy beetle still active I was concerned that the tansy we planted in August was being nibbled by rabbits (see Helping Barn Owls and Tansy Beetles ). Today I saw that new growth has appeared at the base of the plants, which the rabbits haven’t touched, so I think they will be OK in the spring. The wild flower meadow is now being grazed by sheep. They eat tansy plants too, but the plant
Read more

Maldives 2016: Wildlife on the Island

Image
The two most common birds on the island of Dhigurah are the Asian koel and the Maldivian house crow. The koel, being a type of cuckoo, is a brood parasite and the crow is its host - the koel lays its eggs in the crow's nest. The koel is a protected species in the Maldives, whereas the house crow is regarded as a pest. Both are noisy birds. The koel is more often heard than seen, as they tend to perch in the densest vegetation and betray their presence only by their extremely loud calls. The house crow is a bolder bird. It will call loudly at passing humans, apparently in defence of its territory. Call of the Asian koel Call of the Maldivian house crow The Oriental garden lizard is often seen around the village. They are large lizards, up to 37cm in length, including a very long tail. They can move each of their eyes in different directions, like chameleons, and change colour to match their surroundings. During the breeding season, the male's head and shoulders turn
Read more

Fen Bog

Image
It’s difficult to pick a favourite nature reserve, as they’re all so different and vary so much with the seasons, but one of my favourites must be Fen Bog, on the North York Moors. It’s in a hidden valley surrounded by moorland, with a boggy mire in the centre. Volunteers pulling bracken I usually only visit once a year, when Yorkshire Wildlife Trust have a conservation volunteer work day there. This year we’ve had two days, cutting back the bracken on the valley sides which threatens to engulf the reserve. The denser patches are cleared with brushcutters while thinner and steeper areas can be pulled by hand, minimizing damage to the surrounding vegetation. It’s one of those reserves where the results of our work can be clearly seen from one year to the next. Areas of dense bracken we brushcut last year just needed a tidy up by hand this year. Small pearl-bordered fritillary Large skipper sipping nectar from a thistle This is a great place to find some interesting in
Read more