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green-winged
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| Features from Wildlife magazine |
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Round the reserves
Month by month, wildlife to look out
for...
We’re planning the best way to deliver
this request to you in future articles, and it will be a key feature
of the Trust website when we relaunch it in in the spring.
Don’t
forget that you can download a PDF of the Trust’s Top Twenty
Nature Reserves from here.
January
If the above average temperature continues through the winter the
beginning of the year will again very unseasonable. With catkins
already appearing on hazel coppice these gentle flowers can be
seen in areas of Weston Big Wood and Taggart’s Wood, at
Weston Moor. Growing on warm south-facing slopes, these plants
will have an advantage over the hazel coppice found deep in the
shaded valley at Goblin Combe where cool air settles, reducing
growth periods but increasing dormancy times for the resident
dormouse population.
Along the coast a visit to Blake’s
Pools or Walborough may result in a chance view of a couple of
our rarer winter visitors. Short-eared owls have been known to
hunt silently along the salt marsh at dusk, searching for small
birds and mammals. Little egrets will bring a brightness to an
otherwise dull winter’s day
and their snowy plumage, with dangling black legs and yellow feet
are almost out of place in such a landscape.
February
A freeze in the north and east of the country will result in large
movements of waterfowl throughout the county. As such, many duck
can be seen at Chew Valley Lake as they swell the population
of resident wintering birds. Goosander, a diving duck that specialises
in eating fish can be seen at the lake in most winters, and during
cold snaps is joined by smew, its smaller cousin. The sight of
a male smew is a delight to any day’s bird watching, as
it is a striking bird with white plumage, black mask and black
back.
At Priors Wood carpets of dog’s mercury begin to turn
the woodland floor green, and in sunny glades, yellow splashes
of lesser celandine can be seen as they burst into flower. In places
across the levels brown hares can also be seen on clear mornings.
Boxing is typical courtship behaviour but also involves a lot of
running, chasing and leaping over imaginary objects. Visits to
Puxton or Weston Moors may result in views of these magnificent
mammals.
March
The mistle thrushes on Brandon Hill may well have
already had their first broods, and ravens, now a widespread bird
will have fully grown young in the nest. Other traditional signs
of spring can be seen at Folly Farm or high on the ramparts of Dolebury
Warren where blackthorn scrub begin to show
the first signs of its white blossom. Elsewhere blackcaps and chiffchaffs
will be begin to sing and at Brown’s Folly these
birds will sing from the sides of the ride as early butterflies
such as brimstone butterflies drift along in the warming sun. The
ponds and rhynes at Avonmouth Sewage Works and Stockwood
Open Space may be full of frogs and possibly even toads
as the frost free nights encourage them to breed. Common lizards
will also begin to come out of hibernation and take advantage of
the warmth of the early springtime sun.
April
At Lawrence Weston Moor water voles will be active,
seeking out mates and searching for safe areas to have their litters.
The warming temperature and longer daylight will also draw dormice
out of their dormancy and at Tickenham Ridge these
small mammals will begin the year in search of food. At Walborough and Ashton
Court the first of the green-winged orchids will be
appearing and in Priors Wood and at Folly
Farm early purple orchids
and primroses will be adding to the colour across the woodland
carpet.
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