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Hainault Forest Website Nature Diary for 2008 |
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March - April 2008 |
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10am Sunday 6th April 2008 Hog Hill. |
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The weather for March was mixed with a few warm days. April was more typical and seasonal with showers and thunderstorms, fulfilling the old rhyme -March winds and April showers bring forth May flowers. We awoke on Sunday 6th April with heavy snowfall. By ten o'clock families were beginning to arrive at Hainault Forest with sledges and were soon tobogganing down the slopes of Hog Hill. Others were having snowball fights and others building snowmen and others rolling giant snowballs. The excitement didn't last long as by the evening most of the snow had gone. I was out taking photographs which can be seen here. In early March a Frog and Toad weekend was held in the Visitor Centre. Ray Cranfield of the Essex Field Club, and the Essex Amphibian & Reptile group brought along some aquaria containing examples of amphibia. We set up two tanks containing frog and toad spawn to watch it's development. Frog masks were available to colour and cut out. The school Easter holidays spanned about a month as different authorities set different dates. Many children visited the Visitors Centre to see the fluffy chicks, stroke the rabbits and guinea pigs. They were also provided with materials to make Easter bonnets, masks, and there was an Easter egg hunt with chocolate eggs and rabbits as prizes. One of the most popular animals in the centre were four lambs. These were from Writtle College and had been abandoned by their mothers. Several times a day, children and their parents were given the opportunity to bottle feed the lambs with a special formulated milk. Many children handled and petted the lambs, some returning several times, and for many it was an experience that they will remember for years to come. The farm has been undergoing a make over. New paths, replacing the old muddy ones have been ongoing which has meant closure and partial closure of the farm during the period, for safety reasons. The farm should be fully operational in time for the Half term holiday events on the 27th and 29th May. See What's on page. A large area opposite the pig enclosure has been cleared of bramble over a period of a few months and will gradually be transformed into a Garden for Wildlife. Already a small vegetable plot has been prepared and a raised herb bed. Some wild flowers have been planted. The area will be managed by volunteers, staff in their spare time under the supervision of the Country Park Staff and the Redbridge Conservation Rangers. Look out for a garden pond, a willow arbour, garden flowers, orchard trees, a hedgehog enclosure, an insect tower block, nest boxes. Recycled materials will be used and the project will gradually evolve in the coming months. The project will support Redbridge's Biodiversity Action Plan for Gardens. A web page will appear here soon to explain what is happening and the reasoning behind it. The ducks and Canada geese on the lake are suffering again this year. The Carrion crows have learnt to swoop over the lake and take the ducklings and goslings. This habit appears to be a newly acquired one as it was only observed here last year. The pair of swans have yet to produce their family. Swallows were seen over the lake on the 17th April, and the Cuckoo was calling on the 23rd April. Peacock butterflies have been seen throughout the period whenever the weather was fine. Brimstone males and females were seen on several occasions in April and Orange tip butterflies were first seen on the 26th April just as the food plant Garlic mustard or Jack by the Hedge Alliaria petiolata was flowering. The Orange tip female deposits the tiny orange coloured egg on the flower stems of the Garlic mustard. Five brave souls attended the Lower Plants walk in almost continuous rain and cold. there was a good attendance on Daphne Gilbert's Spring Equinox walk - 25 attended and the Coltsfoot was in flower around the lake and along the Havering link path. I led the Bluebell and Blossom walk on the 27th April. The weather was kind to us and we walked through the Bluebell area where the bluebells were looking fresh. We stopped and looked at the alien garden species, the Spanish bluebell with its broad leaves and thick tall upright flower spikes of light blue flowers and compared them with the English bluebell with its dark blue flowers hanging down on one side of the stem, and the narrower leaves. The Spanish bluebell hybridises with the English bluebell and although there is still a good number in the UK., internationally it is an endangered species. Large slime moulds were seen throughout the walk. They often appear at this time of year following a period of rain. Lycogala terrestre and Enteridium lycoperdon were particularly noticeable. 43 people attended the walk. Ivy-leaved speedwell Veronica hederifolia and Common field speedwell V.persica were in flower on the 22nd March. Greater stitchwort Stellaria holostea, Chickweed S. media, Bog stitchwort S. alsine, Three-nerved sandwort Moehringia trinerva and Common Mouse-ear Cerastium fontanum were flowering on the 12th April. Their close relative the Red Campion Silene dioica has started flowering in the last few days of April. Along the kerb edges of the roadway entrance to the Country Park two bright pink flowers were found at the end of the month - Field madder Sherardia arvensis and Common Stork's-bill Erodium cicutarium.
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January - February 2008 |
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FROG FRENZY Roe's Well, 26th February 2008 |
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The first half of January saw a series of low pressure areas passing rapidly over the area, giving rise to strong north-easterly winds with rain and sunshine. By the 22nd an anticyclone brought in colder weather with several frosts, foggy mornings generally clearing to a warmer and sunnier afternoon. This continued through February when night temperatures rapidly dropped and on the 18th the lake was frozen over. This all changed with low pressure accompanied by strong westerly winds, some showers and sunshine on the 24th. The change of weather in the last week of February signalled the start of spawning of the frogs in Roe's Well, where hundreds had gathered. There was about 70 clutches of spawn and much activity on the 26th and more laid on the following day. Frogs were assembling in Bomb crater pond but no signs in Sheepwater. Such was the frenzy in Roe's well that many males were competing for females and a knot of about a dozen developed with arms and legs grasping each other. Dates of frog spawning in the forest ponds taken from the diary pages are as follows: 19th March 2003 23rd March 2005 18th March 2006 28th February 2007 26th February 2008
A Red admiral was in flight on the 4th February and was photographed drinking the dew. It was a warm sunny day and was the earliest that I had ever seen any butterfly in flight in the forest.
Fifty people turned up for my tree identification walk on the 27th January. It was a lovely day and participants carried a chart of the twigs of many of the forest trees. Several people collected specimen twigs and learnt something about the trees - the typical bark, the colour and arrangements of buds on the stem and other facts. During the walk a track of the tiny Muntjac deer was found.
Alice Greenacre led a walk on the 2nd February entitled Imbolc (pronounced ee-molk). 30 people came along on another fine day. Imbolc is a Celtic festival of fire midway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox and celebrates the preparation for the coming of spring. Imbolc literally means "Ewe's milk" as it was when most lambs were born, and signs of spring were beginning to appear. Early flowers were noticed, houses were cleaned and any Christmas decorations removed. Candles were lit on the eve to mark the return of the sun. This folklore was inevitably tied in with the religious Candlemass and St. Bridget's (or St. Bride's) day. Alice told us several weather sayings pertaining to the festival. Several fungi were seen on dead wood during the walks in January and February. Witches' butter Exidia glandulosa is a jelly fungus commonly found this year on small dead branches which have recently blown down. King Alfred's cake Daldinia concentrica is aptly named as it is black and has a burnt texture. It is found on Ash. Hairy stereum Stereum hirsutum forms tough brackets on all deciduous wood and is very common. Green elfcup Chlorociboria aeruginascens rarely has fruiting bodies but the emerald green threads or mycelium that are in the fallen oak branches give rise to the term "Green oak". This and other coloured woods were used as veneers in Tunbridge Ware. Plants in flower during the period are European gorse which is always at its best during the winter months, Snowdrops in Hainault Lodge Reserve, Red deadnettle, Common field speedwell and Dandelion. Recently noted were Coltsfoot on the 18th February, and Lesser celandine on the 26th February. Butcher's broom Ruscus aculeatus is an oddity of the plant world and is in flower at the moment. Its stems are flattened and leaf-like and tipped with a spine. The correct term for this feature is a cladode. The flower (inset) arises from the middle of the cladode (left) from which forms berries green at first (middle) and then red (right). It is a plant of old woodland and has a southern England distribution. It was once used to scrub butchers blocks and also to make a hedge round dishes of meat in the butchers window. This was to deter vermin. Today parsley is used and is often plastic - but only for decoration! On the lake is a pair of Mute swans and Great crested grebes. Mallard pairs, Tufted ducks, Pochard, Moorhen and Coot. The Coot is an aggressive bird at this time of year and will see off any rival on its territory. Large flocks of Canada geese are feeding on the grassland areas and on the 7th January 15+ pairs of Shoveler ducks were present on the lake. They often visit the lake in the winter months. The Green woodpecker can be seen feeding in the grassland areas. In the wooded areas family groups of Blue tit and Long-tailed tit fly through seeking out insects. Great tits can be heard calling "Teacher, teacher". Magpies and Jackdaws are vocal and preparing to nest, Around the farm and buildings Goldfinch and Pied wagtails are seen. A Black-headed gull was caught on the 6th February snagged in a kite line and rescued. Fortunately it suffered no injury and was later released, but not before its photo was taken. In winter it has a black patch behind the eye. On the 29th February several gulls were showing their black heads. Francis Castro and Fiona O'Connor led a group of BTCV and other volunteers on 6th and 13th January with a demonstration and practical hedge laying exercise at Forest Farm, Hazelbrouck Gardens, Hainault. A hedge was cleared of its lower branches, and the base of the hedge cleaned. The base of the trees were PLEACHED i.e. were half cut through taking care to leave some of the living bark. Hazel stakes were knocked in at half metre intervals and the trees and bushes woven and layered into the stakes. The ARISINGS which were removed initially in cleaning the hedge had the side shoots removed, a process known as SNEDDING which created small binders which could be used to weave in the hedge. Finally the hedge was strengthened by BINDING or plaiting three lengths of hazel around the stakes. The finished hedge is virtually impenetrable and will come to life in the spring providing shelter and nesting places for birds and mammals. |
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Volunteers clear lower branches from the hedge. Photo: © Francis Castro |
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Fiona and Francis pleach the bases of the bushes. Photos: © Francis Castro |
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Laying out the stakes - two per metre. Sneddings are produced from the arisings. Photos: © Francis Castro |
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Binding the top of hedge with three lengths of hazel for strength. Photo: © Brian Ecott |
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DIARY 2001 DIARY 2002 DIARY 2003 DIARY 2004 DIARY 2005 DIARY 2006 DIARY 2007 DIARY 2008 |
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