Granta Park bird bixes

A working group including both Granta Park employees and Naturewatch members met on Saturday morning to make up new bird boxes for Granta Park. As a result of their labours, the landscapers will be putting up 10 boxes in each of the three woodland walks there.

Spring is stirring at Granta Park

Andy M saw his first open Snowdrop and Winter Aconite flowers yesterday, 10th January, along with some Hazel catkins looking lovely in the sun:

Granta Park Fungi Foray - 8 November

Peter Walker, a volunteer at The Wildlife Trust identified the fungi found and prepared this list:

SCIENTIFIC NAME	ENGLISH NAME	COMMENTS
Auricularia auricula-judae	Wood Jelly Ear	on dead branches
Auricularia mesenterica	Tripe fungus	on stumps & logs
Agrocybe molesta = dura	Bearded field cap	In soil among grass in wood
Collybia cirrhata	Piggyback Shanklet	Tiny on old Inonotus hispidus
Coniophora puteana	Wet Rot	Resupinate on dead branch
Coprinus atramentarius	Common Ink Cap	On grassy bank
Coprinus disseminatus	Crumble Cap /Fairy InkCcap	Masses on stumps & buried roots
Coprinus flocculosus??		On rotten log (not Sure)
Coprinus micaceus	Glistening Ink Cap	In litter in woodland
Crepidotus cesatii	? Oysterling	On twig
Daldinia concentrica	King Alfred's Cake	On fallen Ash branch
Entoloma serceum var cinereopacum	Silky Pink Gill	Dark brown in grass
Galerina laevis ??		Small grooved & orange in grass
Galerina marginata = autumnalis	Funeral Bell	On dead wood
Hebeloma crustuliniforme	Poison Pie	In grass
Lepiota castanea	Chestnut Dapperling	Small with brown scales & ring on stem
Lipista nuda	Wood Blewit	Violet blue very small specimen
Meripilus giganteus	Giant Polypore	Base of dead stump tufted brackets
Mycena acicula	Orange Bonnet	Tiny  orange bonnet in mosses on stump
Mycena flavo-alba	Ivory Bonnet	Small white on logs in moss
Mycena galericulata	Common Bonnet	Trooping on logs
Mycena hiemalis		Tiny tan colour in moss on trees & logs
Mycena olida	Rancid bonnet	Tiny white in moss on tree trunks
Mycena vitilis	Snapping Bonnet	Greyish in litter
Nectria cinnabarina	Coral Spot	Pink blobs on twig
Pluteus leoninus	Lion Shield	Yellow cap pink spores on wood
Pluteus umbrosus	Velvet Shield	Dark crinkled velvety cap on wood
Polyporus squamosus	Dryads Saddle	Tan bracket on stump
Psathyrella conopilus	Conical Brittle-stem	In grass in wood
Rhytisma acerinum	Sycamore Tar Spot	On leaves
Trametes vesicolor	Turkey Tail	On dead wood
Clitocybe truncicola		decaying log

Some photos of fungi from Granta Park are included at: http://www.jeremysmithphotography.co.uk/p478175739 (number 16-107) and we hope to put a few of them here.

Male Shoveler at Granta Park

Andy M reports that a single male Shoveler is still around on Granta Park Lake. It seems to spend most of the time hidden in the reeds at one end of the lake but appears in open water occasionally:

Andy has also seen a Goldcrest in Granta Park a couple of times this month.

Chiffchaffs in Great Abington

These pictures were taken by Andy Merryweather in his garden on 13th October.
The dark legs differentiate the Chiffchaff from the Willow Warbler.

World Rivers Day

World Rivers Day (http://worldriversday.com/) is celebrated each year all round the world. This year it was officially on 29th September but we celebrated it on Saturday 28th September, while the Abington Institute was open for Jeremiah's Café.

We had a steady stream of young visitors between 10:00 and 12;00, some of whom went off with nets to add to our collection of specimens to examine. We had fish, shrimp and signal crayfish as well as a few insects.

Examining and sorting the specimens

These crayfish were cooked - very tasty!

Lots of crayfish found!

Pine Hawk-Moth caterpillar

This photo of a Pine Hawk-Moth caterpillar was taken by Ali Nobes. The caterpillar, measuring 5 cm in length, was found dead in their garden pond and was identified by looking at http://butterfly-conservation.org/2401-1682/pine-hawk-moth.html.

Its food plant is the native Scots pine, and they have a large tree growing close to the pond. The adult moth is grey in colour, so the caterpillar is its more glamorous stage!