Lots of News
Wednesday, April 27th 2016
Where to start? People have been taking photographs at Foxglove and beyond and each tells a story. So are you sitting comfortably, then I will begin.
Last night was the second night of checking bird boxes. Two Tawny Owls that had been caught before were retrapped whilst two who had not, were caught and ringed. None of the chicks were big enough to receive their rings so the boxes will be revisited. As many of the boxes are on the top of the moors, unfortunately you can see what is coming, in this case another snow storm, which curtailed ringing!
A Moorhen with six chicks was recorded on the lake.
Walking through the Scrapes we were really disappointed that the nest of (Mrs) Greylag Goose was empty. We feared the worst. Looking carefully at the nest area we could see down around the nest and into the water. This gave us a little reassurance that the chicks might just have left the nest. Down at the lake a quiet shout, there they were, Mam, Dad and between them three young.
Our moth trapping last night yielded one moth. The wall of the Field Centre also had one moth, a Red Sword-grass. This is alive and it is a moth, not a piece of wood.
The monthly flower walk has very strict rules, the flower must be open. A Bird Cherry along Risedale Beck was very carefully examined and yes an open flower was found, add it to the list!
Good Friday Grass or Sweep's Brush, correctly named Field Woodrush is in flower across the moor. It is a rush and not a grass.
Along the Sycamore Avenue many of the trees have flowers, not Sycamore flowers but Norway Maple Flowers. A debate was held as to whether we should change the name of the avenue!
Primroses are in bloom across the reserve growing just where you would expect them to be. This one is growing on or in a cement step.
Thank you to everyone who helped to spot flowers and check their status for our records. Thank you to John, Robin and Roger for the photographs used in the blog.
Finally, the sunny morning whilst we were indoors working, turned cloudy and dull and cold by this afternoon, and just as we got back from the flower walk for a cup of tea and scone it turned white with snow.
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