St Nicks

Highlights First summer bird visitor returns.. insects slow to awake in cold month but first hoverflies of the year seen, then a butterfly.. trees in flower! Weather Temperatures stayed around 7C on all four Wildwatch Wednesdays, but managed to creep up to 10C later on the 25th. Most days were sunny, or had sunny intervals, and […]

St Nicks volunteer Aiden Heeley-Hill expands on his previous blog post to explore the implications of a paperless society and whether this shift really will reduce carbon emissions. In my last blog post, I outlined the benefits of switching from paper memos to digital emails as the best way of non-verbally communicating with colleagues. This […]

Coltsfoot Tussilago farfara One of the earliest wild flowers of spring, Coltsfoot is very easy to identify. It’s a member of the Asteraceae or Composite family, and the bright yellow flowers look a bit like miniature Dandelions, to which they are related. Each flower grows on its own separate stem, but unlike Dandelions the stems […]

Highlights Snowdrops everywhere.. Water skulker and Tree “mouse” return.. a February shieldbug first, and a semaphoring fly! Weather Snow showers greeted us on the 4th, with a chilly 1C. But during the month, temperatures slowly rose and we had bright days on the 18th and 25th. Birds Last month’s statement that the December Water Rail […]

Ground level at St Nicks reserve offers a sheltered home for many creatures, particularly in the leaf litter or under stones, bricks and decaying logs. Over the past year the Wildwatch group has spent a little time exploring this hidden world, whose inhabitants include worms, slugs, snails, woodlice, centipedes, millipedes, spiders, ground beetles and various […]

Highlights A secretive dweller in the Pond – and CCTV catches a “first” for St Nicks! Weather A dull and drizzly start to the first Wildwatch of the year, but it got colder and clearer later in the month. There was a scattering of snow on the 14th. Birds We searched unsuccessfully for the Water […]

Our Park Ranger Intern Aiden Heeley-Hill shares his tips for a more sustainable office. With the beginning of every year come questions about life improvement and New Year’s Resolutions. How many of us have vowed to get fitter, stop smoking or go on that voyage of a lifetime? Perhaps it’s time to consider not just […]

The Wren – which has the intriguing scientific name of Troglodytes troglodytes – is a common bird at St Nicks, although it is heard more often than it is seen. The Wren is Britain’s third smallest breeding bird, after Goldcrest and Firecrest (sharing 1st= place). For such a small bird, just 9 – 10 cm […]

Highlights: A skulking bird was a first for the reserve.. unexpected winter insect sightings, while a world of other creatures are found hiding under logs and stones.. and 15 species of flower still out! Weather: Temperatures ranged from 1C at the beginning and end of the month up to 12C on the 17th. All the Wildwatch […]

Its distinctive lobed leaves make Ivy (Hedera helix) one of the most recognisable plants at St Nicks, but there isn’t actually very much of it on the reserve – yet. We’re starting to find young plants here and there, but to see mature specimens you need to take an often muddy little side track from […]