Orchid update 30th April

The number of Orchid rosettes found by the end of April is an increase over last year which itself was a record year for Orchids here. However beneath the headline figures - 183 in 2023 and 142 in 2022 there are substantial differences field by field. This year 86% of the rosettes were almost equally divided between the East and West Fields, the two with the largest Orchid populations but last year the equivalent percentage was 49%. One big effect was the reduction in Orchids found in the South Field from 48 to 4 whilst the Orchids found in the two biggest fields almost doubled. I can see that the overall increse from last year may have no significance as weather effects could easily make such changes but the disparity between fields year to year I find more puzzling. Of course the big news is that amongst the total we appear to have two Greater Butterfly Orchids which would be a 100% increase on last year - a chance for some breeding!

First Pinkgill of 2023 - Star Pinkgill

Probably the most common grassland Pinkgill, the Star Pinkgill can be confidently identified if you can look at the spores through a microscope. This example in the North Field has all the right macro characteristics and the right star-shaped spores for Entoloma conferendum.

New Species - Bramble Stem Rust

Rusts are often overlooked but this one occurs very widely here on the extensive Bramble areas. There is a separate rust on Blackberry leaves which I'll report on separately. Bramble Stem Rust (Kuehneola uredines) is another one for the fungi list.

Green Woodpeckers

Always great to see a Green Woodpecker but today was a first - a pair together eating ants from one of our anthills. I have seen youngsters before so here's hoping for some more successful breeding.

Orchid protection - deer and rabbit cage under construction

I am testing out a new, hopefully more efficient way of protecting orchids from deer and rabbit predation. Essentially it is a 10m x 5m cage with deer proof and rabbit proof fencing. The photo shows the cage in construction with the deer fencing. I will add in a couple more stakes and attach the rabbit proof fencing as soon as some help arrives - hopefully next week. The idea is to enclose an orchid 'hot spot' and thereby protect 50 to 100 orchids at one go as well as protecting any flowers such as cowslips that rabbits love to eat. If it works I'll build five more such cages next year.

Orchids - the count has started

I found my first Common Spotted Orchid rosette on 16th April - in fact I found four but by yesterday (18th April) we are up to 39 rosettes. It is running ahead of last year at the moment but there is no significance to that given the vagaries of weather. I have constructed a 10m by 5m deer-fenced area as a test to see if that is a viable method of deer protection for the Orchids. No Orchids in that area yet.

Tadpoles!

My attempt to increase the chances of frogspawn in the pond becoming frogs by spreading the spawn seems to be working. I move a small amount of spawn into three places, two old sinks used as water sources for wildlife and the small spring fed pond near the garage. In one of the sinks there have appeared hordes of tadpoles all furiously attacking the thin algae? on the ceramic sides of the sink or on the rock I placed in there. I tried adding a small piece of broccoli and some pond weed but they seem uninterested so I am not sure there is enough food for them. I'll have to get some lettuce and boil it up!

Raptors at The Beeches

Yesterday I had the best sighting yet of a Red Kite here as it appeared at low height in the East Field where I was working. It circled slowly upwards and gradually disappeared on the thermals. The day before I got up to find a Buzzard sitting aptiently on the nearest fence post giving me long enough to get my camera out.

White Rabbits

Lots of sightings this year so the genes live on in our on-site population of rabbits. Talking to someone locally they said they hadn't seen their local White Rabbits for a few years so it maybe we now have the only local population now.