Tag: Wildwatch
Wildwatch spring (March – May 2019)
Highlights Summer migrant warblers put on a good show while Red Kite surprised everyone. Beetles, Hoverflies and Bees were the stars of the insect world. St Nicks’ trees sprung into leaf and flowered as beautifully as ever, whilst cowslips and fritillaries led the way in brightening up the meadows. Weather After an exceptionally warm […]
Spotlight on… Winter Buds
This months spotlight, written by Wildwatch volunteer, Kaye, is all about winter tree buds —proving we can identify trees without leaves and flowers! Many people believe deciduous trees are hard to identify in winter. Not necessarily so! Some of our native species have very distinctive twigs and buds. Get to know these, and even without […]
Wildwatch autumn 2018 (September-November)
Highlights The year’s butterfly showing continued to disappoint, but lots of bugs and hoverflies brighten up Wildwatch mornings… Unusual bird visitors included a Common Snipe and Water Rail… Two new plant gall records. Weather Wildwatch days in September were disappointingly overcast and often windy, but brightened up for October which gave us a number […]
Wildwatch summer 2018 (June-August)
Highlights An early winter visitor…20 new invertebrate species recorded…a great summer for hoverflies. Weather Except for one warm sunny day in June, indifferent and cloudy (though dry) weather greeted most Wildwatch mornings until mid-July, after which Britain’s long hot summer dominated our Wednesday walks until the last two meetings of August which were duller. […]
Spotlight on… Orchards
Written by Maria Gill, our Volunteer Co-ordinator, drawing on information from Traditional Orchards: A guide to wildlife and management Change is afoot here at St Nicks as temperatures begin to cool and autumn moves in. Nights are getting longer and sunshine is becoming soft and hazy. Plants and animals alike are beginning to make preparations […]
Spotlight on…Thistles
28 species in the Collins Flower Guide have the word “thistle” in their name. They are all members of the large and often confusing family of Asteraceae.[1] Sixteen of them are classed as true thistles, and at least ten of these are native species. For the purposes of this spotlight, we’re going to concentrate on […]
Wildwatch Spring 2018 (March-May)
Highlights Greenfinches bounce back… eight new invertebrates…tiny member of the Rose family. Weather Wildwatch weather at St Nicks from the beginning of March to the end of May reflected the national picture, with both plant life and insect emergence held back by the cold late start of Spring. In March early frosts were followed by […]
Spotlight on… Common Carder Bumblebee
The Common Carder Bumblebee, Bombus pascuorum, is the most frequently seen Bumblebee on the reserve at St Nicks, though the Tree Bumblebee, Bombus hypnorum, is rapidly catching it up. Tree Bumblebees first arrived in the south of England in 2001 from continental Europe, and have since spread northwards, reaching Yorkshire in 2010 and Scotland three […]
Volunteer Insights: Jacob
For our final volunteer insight blog, I spoke to Jacob who has been volunteering since September 2017 as part of his studies. Currently at sixth form at Archbishop Holgates, Jacob volunteers to get experience away from the classroom. As a young student still in school education, I thought it would be great to see what […]
Volunteer Insights: Kaye and Cliff
For the fourth installment of our volunteer insights, I spoke to Cliff and Kaye who, along with Ian, lead our Wildwatch sessions, to find out more about their volunteering experience. What is your role at St Nicks and what does that involve? Kaye: Currently three of them: serving as a trustee; a founder member of the […]
