Galanthus elwesii - photographed at Hodsock Priory © Marion Bryce

In recent years I have become somewhat of a Galanthophile. I have fallen in love with the timid, nodding heads of the milk white flowers that are one of the first harbingers of Spring. The first snowdrops to flower in my garden this year were hybrids of Galanthus elwesii, originally from Turkey. They actually flowered before the new year. The leaves of snowdrops are the most reliable for identification, G elwesii has wide grey green leaves cupped around each other at the base. The flower often has green patches on the top and the bottom of the corolla tube whereas most snowdrop flowers have only a single mark. Some giant varieties have been bred from this species.

Galanthus woronowii, another early flowering species with wide, green, shiny leaves and also from Turkey, and although known in this country for more than a century it has only recently started to be widely planted in parks and gardens. CITES support sustainable harvesting and monitor the snowdrop trade to ensure wild populations are not endangered. There are nineteen wild species of snowdrop.

The Crimean or pleated snowdrop Galanthus plicatus is late flowering and has wide, grey green leaves with in-rolled margins held flat together at the base and often a silver central stripe. It is sometimes found in old gardens.

Galanthus nivalis which is starting to flower now, has narrow strap like dark green leaves held flat against each other at the base. This is found in many churchyards, grass verges and woodlands. Elvaston Castle churchyard has good displays, Gonalston Church is a bit further afield but has a lovely display of aconites and snowdrops. These ‘native’ snowdrops were probably introduced by monks from Europe in the 16th century. The flowers have a single green V mark on the corolla tube and many double varieties have been bred. There are now over 700 named varieties of snowdrop.

To see breathtakingly wonderful displays of snowdrops I go to Dimminsdale SK 376219. This is a 6.5ha nature reserve owned by Severn Trent Water and managed by the Leicestershire & Rutland Wildlife Trust. The reserve lies at the head of Staunton Harold Reservoir near Calke Abbey. It is best approached via the B587, north from the A42 Ashby junction. Follow the road for 2 km past Staunton Harold Hall, take the first left turn towards Calke and park in the Picnic Area car park, which is on the left before reaching the reservoir. Access to the reserve itself is on the roadside about 50 m beyond the bridge over the reservoir. Please keep to the paths – it is dangerous to stray from them, as there are several old mine shafts on the reserve. The path around the reserve is almost all through mixed woodland. The Laundry Pool, acts as a settling pond for the Calke Brook which marks the border of Derbyshire and Leicestershire. In January and February, a large number of snowdrops bloom at the south-western end of the reserve.

Hopton Hall is open everyday from Wednesday 1st February to Sunday 4th March 2012. An entry fee is charged. The Hall can trace its roots back to the 1400′s. Since 1996, the woodland and its walks have been restored and this has produced wonderful displays of snowdrops and aconites. The Beech, Badger and Spring walks have been created also a small Arboretum and Pinetum, two small ponds and a wildlife lake. There are 2 km of meandering paths through a 1 acre walled garden, along the croquet lawn & rosewalk, around 2 ornamental ponds leading to a wildlife lake.

Snowdrops at Elvaston © Marion Bryce

Felley Priory Gardens are situated just half a mile from Junction 27 of the M1. Felley Priory, Jacksdale, Nottinghamshire, NG16 5FJ. Take the A608 to Heanor for half a mile and the entrance to Felley Priory is on the left. This tranquil garden is said to be one of Nottinghamshire’s best kept secrets – the house and its 2.5 acre garden are nestled in beautiful rolling countryside. Throughout the month of February, a collection of over 60 different varieties of snowdrops grow in the garden.  Snowdrop February starts on the 1st, February and ends February 29, 2012. The garden has been carefully planted so that there are plants of interest all year round and has a fully stocked nursery, from which visitors can purchase plants which they have seen in the garden.

For snowdrop madness go to Hodsock Priory, Blyth, Nottinghamshire Open 4 February to 4 March. An entry fee is charged. The Snowdrop winter garden is nestled in the 800 acre Hodsock estate. Along with more than 100 acres of woodland, the snowdrops cover around 5 acres of the estate with large plantings of named varieties plus woodland walks with naturalised snowdrops. There’s a well signed, cordoned walk around the gardens with short cuts for those who are less mobile and walk extensions for those wanting to roam the woodland. Enjoy a bacon butty and cuppa by the bonfire each weekend at Mr Ford’s Potting Shed. The Café Bar serves up hot and cold home-made food. Snowdrop souvenirs and high quality merchandise can be found in the gift shop. This is a real snowdrop experience.

Marion

Nigel’s depth of  knowledge on the subject and raw enthusiasm made the event thoroughly enjoyable for all who attended, and even our keen bird watchers came away with a whole new perspective on the topic of bird migration and the latest discoveries being made.

If anyone gets the chance to attend one of Nigel Slater’s talks, I can highly recommend him. Nigel will also be giving a talk on Garden Birds and their Songs, for the Derbyshire Ornithological Society, on Saturday 10th March 2012 at the Methodist Church Rooms, Buxton.

Mistletoe - Borrowash, Derbys.

For hundreds of years mistletoe Viscum album has been planted on local trees.  There is a thriving mistletoe colony in Chilwell on apple and lime trees, apple trees on Cleveland Avenue and Grange Road Long Eaton.  Recently mistletoe has been seen to spread to wilder habitats.  It is now found on hawthorn by the Erewash Canal in Long Eaton, on lime trees by the railway line in Sandiacre and there is a massive spreading population on hawthorn by the River Derwent at Borrowash.

Below is a précis of an article about mistletoe distribution by Jonathan Briggs which appeared in British Wildlife Volume 23 No 1

Apple trees were and are the mistletoe’s commonest host in Britain. A lot of distribution data was collected in 1990 and the latest data has shown an increase in mistletoe distribution. The new information has weakened the popular belief that mistletoe distribution coincides with apple orchards. The mistletoe needs space around its host, so its normal habitat is probably riversides, open scrub on steep slopes or woodland clearings.  Nowadays it is found on well spaced trees in gardens, orchards and parks.

The commoner hosts are man-made, domesticated apples, poplars and limes although hawthorn is also a common host.  Maple, willow, crab apple and false acacia are occasional hosts but mistletoe can grow on 450 host species. The host and habitat ranges vary across the country with most of the records in wild habitats in the core area Hereford, Worcester, Gloucester, Somerset.

Climatic influences (winter and summer temperature maxima and minima) are the accepted explanation for the mistletoe’s UK distribution. Natural populations are limited to areas below 1000 m in Europe but with other factors the altitudinal limit in the UK is closer to 200 m.

There seems to be a real natural increase in mistletoe colonies in many areas, particular studies in Essex and around the London area have found colonies on young limes and poplars in increasing numbers.

In orchards mistletoe needs to be kept in check each season so that excessive mistletoe growths don’t spread to every branch of the tree. UK mistletoe is not usually a killer but large amounts will eventually overwhelm the host and create water and wind stress.  Not yet subject to thorough data collection and analysis, it seems the current neglect of old orchards has resulted in more mistletoe in biomass terms but the quantity is unsustainable and may accelerate the loss of these old orchards.  This would affect the Christmas crop of mistletoe and there is renewed interest in the management of mistletoe through the Orchard Network.  A new survey looking at how vulnerability varies according to apple varieties is due to start.

The reasons that mistletoe is spreading and becoming more plentiful in some areas seems to be due to several factors; changes in climate; bird vectors spreading the berries and direct planting by man. Climate change studies have confirmed altitudinal and northward trends in Scandinavia but not naturally in Scotland.  In England an eastward trend is possible but the population may ultimately reduce due to warm winter temperatures as the climate potentially became more oceanic.

Few bird species take mistletoe berries, the usual species are thrushes mostly the mistle thrush Turdus viscivorus.  These excrete the seeds as a half digested berry pulp.  The top few seeds can germinate and grow on the host branch but the seeds dangling below will die.  The blackcap Sylvia atricapilla also regularly consumes mistletoe berries.  This warbler separates the seed from the pulp before swallowing, in a distinctive head waggling procedure.  Each seed is then wiped off the bill directly onto the branch making them very efficient mistletoe planters.

Since the 1980s our overwintering blackcap population has increased to many thousands of birds and observational data suggests they may have become significant bird vectors.

Ring necked parakeets Psitticula kameri also take mistletoe berries and their potential role is intriguing.

Man made planting could be a possible factor in distributional change.  Some biodiversity schemes have included limited planting and there has been significant interest in ‘grow your own’ mistletoe kits in recent years – you heard it first on The Archers. There is a long tradition of mistletoe planting in gardens, even in areas way beyond the mistletoe’s natural range.

There are six mistletoe associated insects, four bugs, a weevil and a moth. The species are a psyllid bug Cacopsylla visci, a distinctive mirid bug, Pinalitus viscicola, Hypseloecus visci, a recently discovered mirid bug and Anthocoris visci a predatory flower bug which feeds on the mistletoe psyllid. Mistletoe marble moth Celypha woodiana is a small tortricid moth with a leaf mining larva which flies in July and August this has been known since 1876 but it is only recently that studies have shown it is a species of principal importance in England under the NERC act of 2006. It has been found on mistletoe growing on apple and hawthorn.  Another newly discovered species is the mistletoe weevil Ixapion variegatum which has only been found in Hereford. It seems to be found in mistletoe on stressed apple trees.  The life cycle involves oviposition within mistletoe stems just below the terminal bud with subsequent larval development killing off the terminal bud and leaves.

There is more work to be done to properly understand the mistletoe distribution in Britain.  It may now be vulnerable in orchard situations but seems to be thriving and increasing its range in others.  It seems the importance of orchards as a primary habitat for the species may be exaggerated apart from being the main source of the Christmas crop.  Orchards probably still hold the greatest biomass of mistletoe but this may not be sustainable.  Informed and on-going management is essential for its survival in orchards and as a crop.

Orchard mistletoe may also be critical for associated insects although there had been very little insect recording on mistletoe in other habitats.

Climate change and bird vector changes may give partial explanations for the recent expansion of the mistletoe range.  It is possible that more associated insect species may be discovered or colonise from Europe.  The Mistletoe League is a new project which aims to help orchard and garden mistletoe management by encouraging the recording of  which fruit tree varieties are most susceptible to mistletoe growths and which are less so. See www.british.mistletoe.org.uk.

Marion 21/12/11

The Malcolm Parry Observatory 52° 53′ 30″ N, 1° 16′ 53″ W

The Long Eaton School became an Academy in April 2011, and during the same year began work on a new build which will include an observatory, scheduled for completion early 2012. Named in honour of a former Chair of Govenors, the observatory will house a 16-inch reflector telescope and a Hydrogen-Alpha solarscope, together with imaging hardware and software. It will be possible to broadcast captured images electronically within the school’s local area network and externally via the internet. Funding for the Observatory dome, and astronomical equipment, has been supported by successful grant applications to the Wolfson Foundation and the Royal Society.[source]

LENS chairman Alan Heath has been a keen amateur  astronomer in Long Eaton for many years, and I am sure like many of us wishes he was back at school to experience these incredibly exciting resources as part of the curriculum.

After five months and a lot of shoe leather, Nottinghamshire-based artist and storyteller Dave Wood has completed his ‘perambulation’ around the original boundary of Sherwood Forest.

A ‘perambulation’ means ”a walk around a territory (a parish or manor or forest etc.) in order to officially assert and record its boundaries”.  Every three years in ye olde days right across the country, perambulations by keepers of the forest were about checking for deforestation, damage and poachers and the findings were reported back to the King.  A chance view of some ancient maps showing the original forest boundary for Sherwood Forest motivated Dave to re-create this event, but in his own creative style and for a 21st Century audience.

Read the full article: Walking with Trees – the end

See also Creative Perambulations: Marking the boundaries of Sherwood Forest and this press article.

On 22nd December 2011, there’ll be the third tree planting of Dave Wood’s Creative Perambulations of Sherwood Forest at 2pm at the Ilkeston Road Recreation Ground, Stapleford.  The sapling has been grown from an acorn from the Major Oak.  The Sherwood Pines Partnership Tree Nursery, which grows the trees, enables adults with learning needs gain valuable work experience, increase their confidence and self esteem and help them live a more independent and fulfilling life. These wonderful service users and staff also grow on acorns from ancient Sherwood oak trees, including the amazing Major Oak (the symbol of Nottinghamshire), plus other trees that are then helping to create more woodland habitat throughout Sherwood Forest. 

There is currently a consultation document online  in which the public is invited to respond to potential cutbacks to the Supported Employment Programme (closing of the nursery is one of the elements highlighted).  Dave would also be keen to hear your views; enabling him to include it in his final creative portfolio.

 Also see http://creativesherwoodforestperambulations.blogspot.com/

The second aim of the Derbyshire Flora Project was to collect enough data to publish a completely new book on our own wild plants, offering coloured distribution maps and accounts of each species. It would take the name of the previous work - The Flora of Derbyshire - which last appeared thirty years before (Clapham, 1969).

Since 1997 the project has been led by two people. Dr Alan Willmot is Derbyshire’s County Plant Recorder for the BSBI, and a recently retired lecturer in biology at The University of Derby. Computerisation and preparation of data has been overseen since the project’s inception by Nick Moyes, former Keeper of Natural Sciences at Derby Museum & Art Gallery. Both have undertaken much of this work in their own time, working closely over the years with around 100 volunteer recorders and data inputters.[source]

There has been speculation over the future of the Derbyshire Flora project since Nick Moyes’ departure from the Derby Museum, and the recent ‘resource cannot be found‘ message when attempting to access the Flora of Derbyshire online database prompted LENS to contact Nick to discover the current position. Fortunately our fears for the worst turned out to be unfounded, as we now understand that the Flora of Derbyshire webpages will not be lost and will reappear in due course. In fact the original pages can currently be accessed via this archive link.

Further good news is that Nick has new, updated species distribution maps for the website and he assures us that both he and Dr Willmot still want the project to be brought to a conclusion, although he admits that the final flora publication may not have quite the polished finish that they otherwise might have hoped for (I’m sure it will be excellent). We will be keeping an eye on Nick’s blog for future updates and wish him every success for the future.

For anyone interested in historical records, there is also a searchable copy of Flora of Derbyshire by W.A. Linton (pub. 1903) available for online viewing or in several download formats courtesy of Open Library. Also see A contribution to the flora of Derbyshire by W. H. Painter (pub. 1889). Wikipedia also have an interesting article on Joseph Whittaker. Joseph Whittaker (1813–1894) was a British Botanist who visited South Australia in 1839. Whittaker has 300 plants from that trip in Kew Gardens and 2,200 pressed British plants in Derby Museum and Art Gallery and in the late 1880s gave valuable assistance, and supplied a range of plant specimens, to Rev W.H. Painter who was preparing to publish a book on the Flora of Derbyshire. Many of Whittaker’s specimens and records were also used by William Richardson Linton, vicar of Shirley in a further Flora of Derbyshire in 1903.

The new reserve is the largest in Derbyshire outside the Peak District National Park, and the land was purchased by the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust for £489,000 earlier this year with funding from the 6Cs Strategic Green Infrastructure Growth Fund. Derbyshire Wildlife Trust’s Chief Executive Ed Green was also present at the official opening of the new reserve.

Further information can be found on the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust’s website.

The concept behind the project is that the organisers are raising a creative army for conservation through a series of multimedia exhibitions and events that will breathe artistic life back into extinct birds species. Ghosts Of Gone Birds celebrates their diversity thru paintings & sculpture, talks & poetry, installations & live music. Plus a series of Ghosts stories that shed light on front line conservation work being done around the world to prevent any more birds migrating to gone status.

In a BBC Radio 4 interview, Nicola Stanbridge met the cartoonist Ralph Steadman who is one of a selection of artists, musicians and poets who have been enrolled to highlight the problem in the Ghosts of Gone Birds exhibition.

I thought this may be a project which inspires creativity among school children, in turn introducing them to the very important topics of bird and other animal extinction and conservation.

Talking Naturally interview with Ceri Levy;

We would like to have the contact details of the gentleman who I spoke to at the event in relation to Risley Glebe (I believe he was from the Risley Glebe Nature Study Group or a similarly named organisation). Please email us if you are that gentleman, or you have the group’s contact details.

Hedgehog Street are asking people to become Hedgehog Champions to rally support from their neighbours and work together to create ideal hedgehog habitat throughout their street, estate or communal grounds.

Via. the Hedgehog Street website you can sign up to receive a pack which will help you get started. The pack contains hedgehog factsheets which can be handed out to neighbours, posters to help advertise the project, tips and hints on how to get neighbours involved and how to keep them interested and a pack of action cards which explain what people can do in their gardens.

LENS would also be very interested to hear of  hedgehog (or any other species) sightings in the Long Eaton/ Erewash and surrounding local areas. A recording sheet is available in our Forms section.

Further Reading

The state of Britain’s hedgehogs 2011 - a pdf document by David Wembridge

British Hedgehog Preservation Society