Nature Notes May 2023
Nature Notes May 2023
A narrow, scruffy piece of woodland alongside a very busy main road that was only planted thirty years ago appears uninteresting from the natural history point of view, until one looks closely. Large, dark brown rings, 20cm across adorned several of the towering Ash trees, with younger plants of the same liverwort being a greener colour. Liverworts are closely related to mosses but generally prefer damper habitats, so it seemed very odd that this species grows on trees. Other inhabitants of the woodland seemed to appreciate its presence: on one young plant, three slugs were busy feasting on the juicy material, while another had two Door Snails munching the tasty lobes and a Nut Weevil was resting in the centre of a further liverwort which had had its centre eaten away.
Adjacent to this small wood, on the sunny side, ran an old stretch of the original road, now a lay-by, the slopes of which were a haze of blue Forget-me-nots, interspersed with Nettle, Bramble and other wild flowers, making it a haven for insects. Hairy and Crucifer Shieldbugs were disporting themselves on their favoured vegetation, to meet and mate in the short time period appropriate to their species. Half-centimetre long, black and yellow stripped, Dark Bush Cricket nymphs were sunning themselves on Bramble leaves. These small creatures will develop over the next few months, shedding their outer skin four or five times until they are chunky, brown, two centimetre long fully grown adults, which will mate, lay eggs and live on until well into the autumn, when the male’s characteristic ‘chirps’ can be heard from the hedgerows in the dark evenings.
Where animals and birds are undisturbed, it is sometimes possible to watch some fascinating behaviour. Rabbits regularly graze my father’s lawn (no need for ‘no mow May’ here) but one morning we watched a young rabbit climbing about in a very large Cotoneaster bush, delicately plucking the flowers off the branches with its teeth! Cotoneaster flowers are very attractive to insects, so are presumably full of nectar, providing a sweet treat for Bunny. The following day there were two, but they made very little difference to the number of flowers present, as there were plenty left for the Bumblebees, Wasps and even a queen Hornet which continued to visit this nectar bar.
Do let me know if you see any interesting wildlife (rachel.42rr@btinternet.com)