Category: Uncategorized (Page 1 of 2)

Autumn is truly here now, and leaves are turning colour and falling. This is a great time of year for walks through the woods, enjoying the colours, collecting leaves, and maybe even doing some nature art.  Whether you are inspired to enjoy the colours, collect leaves, perhaps do some land art (eg see the land artist James Blunt whose work is pictured above), or dig out the paint set or camera to capture the view, its an inspiring time.

During lockdowns, people really appreciated the fact that time in nature can be very restorative, whether its spent walking, sitting, gardening or doing more vigorous exercise. Noticing the beauty in nature is considered one of the 5 pathways to connecting to nature, so important for our health and wellbeing.

Last October, I spent more time than usual noticing fungi. The autumn is a great time to see a range of mushrooms. I saw smaller Candle Snuff fungus, which look a little bit like bits of wax that have dripped from a large candle.  Bracket fungi grow in lobes on the side of tree trunks, and have some great names such as “Chicken of the Woods” and Dryad’s Saddle. Smaller fungi which grow along sticks include Crowded Parchment, Hairy Curtain Crust, and Turkey Tail. And then, of course, there are the traditional toadstools, with names such as Ink Cap, Death Cap, Panther Cap….and in Hitchwood, the beautifully named Amethyst Deceiver. I’m no expert, but there are now quite a few apps which you can download on your phone and will identify plants, animals, fungi and insects if you can capture them on your phone’s camera. I use the Seek app, but others are also available. I found being able to identify and name them made them more memorable, and I loved the language of the names. I’m sure someone should write a murder mystery called “The Amethyst Deceiver”.

If you are interested in spending a day enjoying some nature art and craft, fresh air, and maybe a boost to your wellbeing, why not come along to Art in the Woods, which will take place in Hitch Wood, on Sunday October 3^rd. It’s a great afternoon, where you are encouraged to get creative with nature, and Emily’s tea shop is on hand selling hot drinks and great snacks.

Frances Harris

Last year, one of the things that gave me hope during lockdown was the discovery of a clutch of 8 baby coots – cootlets, I’m told they are called – being shepherded around a pond by their parents. We all love seeing ducklings, but last year the lockdown gave me more time at home and I was able to watch them regularly, and follow their progress as they grew to adulthood. On each visit I counted carefully, checking to see all were still doing well. Born with bright red heads, which seemed to me to make them more likely to fall victim to predators, I watched as it gradually faded to grey, and they took on a more teenage plumage, before finally becoming adults. I am pleased to say a new clutch has just been seen, so the whole cycle will repeat this year. I will be there with my binoculars.

Coots appear to be very careful with their young, keeping them together, feeding them when they are very small, and making loud aggressive noises to any other waterfowl that come near. There is also a clutch of tufted ducklings to observe this year. And of course, the ubiquitous Canada geese are there. They seem to share parenting, so that a large gang of young geese are overseen by a  few adults, while the other adults take a break. Unlike the ducks, they also leave more of a mess on the grass.

July is also a good time to view butterflies and moths, and some plants, particularly buddleia, tend to attract them and so are good places to watch for them. It takes patience and stillness to get a good photo!

Like the ducklings, the calves, out now grazing fields with their mothers, will grow. Our mob grazing cattle are now part of a research project, so as you are out walking, you may see some livestock grazing as a mob, moving onto longer fresh grass each day, and alongside them, others enjoying a larger area, without the area being subdivided into smaller grazing areas. The researchers aim to compare mob grazing with traditional grazing, and in particular discover what is happening to the soil (eg worm counts), the biodiversity of the grassland, as well as how the livestock fare on each type of grazing (eg weight gain).

Towards the end of July farmers will be looking carefully at the matured crops, and the weather forecast, and trying to decide when to harvest.  Oil seed rape and barley are first. Oats or winter wheat follow. Most harvesting is done in August.

Frances Harris

When is a grass not a grass, when it is a rush or a sedge? We look at ‘grasses ‘as a general species they have erect narrow green blades with sheaths and later carry a brownish flower and botanically are all collectively known as graminoids (plants with grass-like appearance). In fact, there are four types of ‘grasses’, grasses, rushes and sedges & wood sedges which all survive in various habitats. They are all evergreen. Grasses generally prefer dry, sunny conditions whereas most rushes, sedges and reeds prefer moist shady conditions. So the following applies when trying to identify the difference between them:

Take a look at the stems because each has a very different appearance.  If the stem is hollow it is likely a grass. If the stem is solid, peel the leaves back if the plant has leaves, and roll the stem between your fingers. If it rolls easily between your fingers, it’s a round stem and is most likely a rush.  If it does not roll easily, it’s an angular stem, which is characteristic of sedges.

Grasses are the usual constituent of a lawn although you may occasionally find field woodrush there which flowers early from March and has very pretty dark chocolate clustered flowers.  Our lawns provide a home for lots of different insects that are eaten by birds and other wildlife. Lawns can also provide seed for birds from its flowers.  Any area of short grass will act as a feeding area for birds. Longer grass provides shelter and egg-laying opportunities for the insects on which birds and other wildlife feed including Butterflies and Moths.  You can improve your lawn for birds and wildlife by simply avoiding the use of weed killers and artificial fertilisers.  The rushes and sedges will colonise damper areas of your garden around ponds and in hollows and can provide a good habitat for insects and amphibians.

So when you are not quite sure if it is a grass, rush or sedge take a look at this mantra as a general identification guide sedges have edges, rushes are round and grasses have knees.

Many of the crops we rely on for food are grasses: Wheat, Oats, Barley, Triticale and Rye. Locally, you will likely see Wheat, Oats and Barley, but it is hard to distinguish between them until the seed heads appear in the fields. June brings the longest days of the year, so plants are growing quickly. For farmers, this is the period where crops are growing rapidly and developing seed heads. Wheat is a darker green colour until it ripens to gold, and generally has stiff upright seed head which is tightly packed with seeds. Barley is a paler green, and its seed heads have longer awns (whiskers) which can turn down or bend as the ears ripen to gold. Fields of barley appear softer, and in a breeze the whole crop waves. Recently some farmers grow bearded wheat, which is a wheat which has longer awns, so can easily be confused with Barley. Oats are generally taller and the seed head quite different. The stems bear lots of separate seeds which dangle more freely.

June is also the month when there is a national campaign to encourage farmers to open their doors to visitors for Open Farm Sunday. This was originally due to take place on June 13th, but has now been deferred to June 27^th, to avoid the lockdown restrictions. East Hall Farm will be offering walking farm tours on both Sundays. On the 13^th, you might team it up with a visit to the Gardens at the Bury and tea and cake. On the 27^th, you can return to East Hall Farm, or have the choice of visiting farms cross the country. See https://farmsunday.org/

Julie Wise and Frances Harris

You know the good weather has arrived when the cattle are let out of the barns and back into the fields. After calving, the mothers will be out grazing with their young calves. Initially, they will be in the fields near the old dairy, but gradually the herd will begin to move from one small area to the next following the practice of mob grazing. Once they have worked their way around the fields near East Hall, they will cross over to the fields around St. Paul’s Walden Bury and Stagenhoe. Each day they will be moved on to new grass, and after they have finished in a field, it will be allowed to rest and grow for a few weeks until they return. This practice is good for the cattle, and the grassland. We are now part of a research project lead by ADAS seeking to quantify the benefits of mob grazing. Some of our fields will be divided into two, mob grazed on one side, and set stocked (ie a smaller number of animals, who remain in that field for a longer period) on the other, to compare the impact of the different grazing practices on soil biodiversity (earthworms and other soil biota). You will also see smaller groups of cows in other fields: the bulls are kept apart until needed, and the young heifers (teenage girls) are kept separate until they are old enough to mix with the bulls. Please remember to keep to footpaths and public rights of way, and to keep dogs on leads near stock.

If you are walking around the local footpaths, you may also notice that we are resowing a number of field margins and corners with specific plans and wild flowers which have been chosen to support bees, butterflies, farmland birds and small mammals.

When the first lockdown started last year, many people started noticing nature more, especially bird calls. May is the height of the bird mating season and birds sing to defend their territories and attract a mate. Many birds can be heard in gardens or on your walks around Whitwell.

The earliest birds to sing for a mate are Robin, Song Thrush, Dunnock and Great Tit who often start singing as early as late February/March.  The louder and stronger the song the more interested the female bird is.  She wants a partner who is in their prime to help raise her brood.  Those lonely songsters late in the season are probably the remaining bachelors.

Tawny Owls can call even earlier establishing territories and attracting mates. The male’s huhuhooo.. is responded to by the female’s kewik and this is happening in late autumn/winter as they are early breeders. Barn Owls on the other hand are more subtle with a long drawn out grainy, hissing screech when attracting a female.

Some birds sing their name like Chiff Chaff and Cuckoo. The Yellowhammer sings a lilting ‘little bit of bread and no cheese’ emphasising the no cheese at the end. One of our smallest birds the Wren has one of the shrillest calls for such a tiny bird with long trills and peeps delivered at high speed.

It is sometimes difficult to tell the difference between two birds that appear to be singing the same song like the Blackcap and the Garden Warbler.  The Blackcap arrives first so you will hear his song in late March/ early April but when the Garden Warbler arrives in mid to late April it is very tricky to tell the difference from then on.

Why not get up early for World Dawn Chorus day which this year is Sunday May 3^rd, the peak of the chorus is half an hour before and half an hour after sunrise? If you can’t get up early enough for the dawn chorus the singing at dusk can be equally impressive.

Julie Wise and Frances Harris

At the time of writing we have had our first warm day after about a week of sub-zero temperatures. After weeks, if not months, of wet or cold weather, the footpaths are squelchy and even grassy areas look damaged and slippery as people have slipped over them time and again. Its tempting to ask whether more can be done to create all weather footpaths, but on the other hand, adding some sort of paving / gravel / rubble now would make them less natural in the remaining months of the year. Hopefully with dryer and warmer weather in March the footpaths will return to better conditions, and new growth will rejuvenate the landscape. Hopefully crops will begin to grow, and pastures green up. Daffodils will be out and bring some cheer.

You may be lucky while out walking and see March hares, apparently boxing, or chasing each other, in fields. This is in fact females, fighting off the advances of the males who are seeing to mate.

At this time of year as it begins to turn warmer our amphibians return to water for spawning. Frogs arrive first followed by the Toads.  Locally this is usually around mid-March depending on the weather conditions.  Toads like to emerge and head for their breeding ponds under cover of darkness and usually on a mild wet evening.

Frogs and Toads look very similar at first glance and there are two species of each frog and toad in the UK but you will most likely see only the Common Frog and the Common Toad. The easiest way to tell the difference is by their skin.  Frogs have yellow brown smooth slimy skin whereas Toads’ skin is dry and warty and brownish in colour.  Frogs jump and leap but Toads which have much shorter legs walk or crawl.  Frogs are much slimmer whereas Toads are more heavily built, stocky even.

The spawn of a Frog is in gooey clumps whereas that of a Toad is like a stringy necklace which attaches itself to pond vegetation.  Frogs tend to use smaller ponds but toad tadpoles are distasteful so they can use larger bodies of water where there are more predators. Only one in 50 eggs laid survive to adulthood.

If you see an amphibian ambling along through the grass or along the road it is likely to be a toad as they spend most of their life away from water.  Toads only return to their breeding pond to reproduce whereas Frogs remain close to water.

One third of our ponds are thought to have disappeared in the last 50 years or so.  Creating a wildlife pond will bring a soft explosion of life to your garden.  It doesn’t have to be big; even a buried bucket can provide a cooling off place for frogs and somewhere for birds to drink from.  Add some native pond weed and make sure that you place a log, rock or ramp in it for creatures to climb out of the bucket.

Your pond could also attract Smooth newts (our most common newt) Dragonflies, Water Boatmen and Water Beetles.  Come the summer it will be alive and ready for a little gentle pond dipping.

Visit www.froglife.org for more information on building a wildlife pond and Amphibians in general.

Julie Wise and Fran Bowes Lyon

It can seem a bit gloomy in midwinter, when there is not a lot to attract us outdoors. However, one interesting pursuit is animal tracking. While the wet weather has made the footpaths slippery and in places very water logged, the soft, muddy ground captures the footprints of animals. Careful investigation of animal tracks can help you identify what wildlife is active in our countryside. Animal tracks indicate their regular travel corridors, and you can also sometimes see deer tracks where they have slid down a slippery slope, just like we do. If you’re looking for some horse care, click here for more information.

There are several websites which provide information on animal tracks. The RSPB has some pdf pictures of animal tracks, which if printed onto A4 will also help you assess the size of the footprint, helping you decide whether it is muntjac or fallow deer, or which type of wildfowl. See rspb.org.uk and their diagrams “Wildsquare animal tracks”.

It’s also possible to identify what mammals have been around by their poo, or scat as it’s also known. If you do spot some droppings take a good look and poke them with a stick but don’t pick them up. Here are a few descriptions of mammal droppings you might come across locally.

Rabbits and Hares

Droppings are left in clusters of little, round, hard balls. They are usually yellowy-brown or green in colour, and full of grass. Hare droppings tend to be slightly bigger and flatter than rabbit droppings.

Foxes

Foxes produce dark dog-like droppings with a pointy twist at one end and full of fur, bones, seeds and berries.  They have a musky smell.

Badgers

Badgers are tidy animals that use a pit or latrine for their droppings usually situated near to their sett or on territory boundaries.  The droppings can vary from firm sausage-shaped, to softer, slimier darker shapes especially if they have eaten lots of worms.

Deer

There are two species of deer in our neighbourhood, the Muntjac and the Fallow deer.  Both produce smooth, shiny, dark pellets often stuck together in clusters.  The Fallow deer, being much larger than the Muntjac, produces larger pellets.

Hedgehog

Hedgehog droppings are small, black and shiny with the wing cases of insects.  They will only be evident once the Hedgehog emerges from hibernation.

Water voles

For those of you living adjacent to the River Mimram look out for water vole droppings.  These threatened native mammals are found in low numbers along some of our waterways in Hertfordshire, and have been seen in other stretches of the River Mimram.  They are similar looking to the brown rat but have a blunt nose, small ears and furry tail.  The Water vole’s droppings are similar to rat droppings but smaller and rounded at both ends.  Rat droppings are flattened at one end and pointed at the other.  More can be found about our Hertfordshire Water voles at www.hertswildlifetrust.org.uk

Animal tracks are best seen early in the morning after snow, so if the weather forecast looks really cold, don’t despair, just wrap up warm and see what footprints of scat can be seen in the snow. Go out early, before the footprints of people and dogs have covered over the traces of wildlife.

Julie Wise and Frances Harris

We are passed the winter solstice, and slowly the days are getting longer. January can seem an especially long and cold month. However, usually early snowdrops about midway through the month, and they act as a reminder of warmer weather and brighter colours to come. They can be found on the path from Whitwell to St. Paul’s Walden church, along the Bury drive.

This is the time bird feeders will be at their busiest and it is worthwhile filling them regularly and cleaning them too, with warm soapy water and a brush to remove any clogged food. If you haven’t already done so put up nest boxes for birds preferably facing north or east to avoid the westerly rains and southerly sun.

The RSPB‘s big garden birdwatch takes place at the end of the month, from the 29^th – 31^st of January (visit https://www.rspb.org.uk/get-involved/activities/birdwatch/ for more information).

There are few insects out and about but occasionally you may see a winter moth which flies from October to January and can often be seen around porch lights or in car headlights when driving through the surrounding countryside.  The males and females look very different since the females only have short stubby wings and cannot fly.  To attract a mate, the female will crawl up a tree trunk and give off pheromones.  Great tits and blue tits feed their young on Winter Moth caterpillars and will time their breeding to coincide with the moth’s lifecycle.

When out walking along our footpaths, in churchyards (especially old gravestones), woodlands and gardens look around and see the bright greens and greys of mosses and lichens. What’s the difference between a moss and lichen?  Basically one is a plant and one is not.

Mosses will have leaves and very small stems, although they have no roots.  Having no roots makes the mosses dry out easily which is why in the wet, damp weather they look so bright and in summer they look brown and dead.

Lichens are one entity – an algae and fungi mix and can survive more harsh conditions whether drought, cold or wet.  They have historically been used in dyes and antibiotics. Lichen look amazing when magnified through an eye lens or magnifying glass and take on a kind of coral like appearance.  They can look like jam tarts or fish bones.

Lichens act as bioindicators – and their presence can help identify whether nitrogen-based air pollutants are increasing or decreasing.  If you are interested in knowing more about lichen and identifying them, a citizen science project called Opal explore nature has produced some very useful guides to identify them. Look at branches of different ages to identify whether there are nitrogen sensitive lichens, or nitrogen tolerant lichens (which are more prevalent where pollution is high). See https://www.imperial.ac.uk/opal/surveys/airsurvey/. An alternative is to use an App, such as Seek, which can help with identification.

A survey of the garden at Rustling End Cottage carried out by Andrew Harris the Herts Lichen recorder found 66 different species of lichen, 17 of them on the oak wooden front gate and 18 species on a young oak tree.

Julie Wise and Frances Harris

At the time of writing the plan is that by early December we should be coming to the end of the lockdown period due to covid. In both lockdown periods, the government has recognised the importance of exercise and fresh air, and ensured that people are allowed to spend some time outdoors, in nature, each day. Plenty of research now shows that time spent in nature is good for physical and mental health.

In England, we are very fortunate to have a historical network of public rights of way – be they footpaths, bridleways or by-ways open to all traffic (bizarrely abbreviated to BOATs, even though they are very much land based). There are many of these in the countryside around where we live. In addition, landowners can also add permissive footpaths, allowing people to walk on further areas. These have been useful in connecting different footpaths to make walking routes which are circuits, bring walkers back to where they started. All routes are marked. Sometimes, there appear to be other unmarked routes. These might be what are called “desire lines”, tracks of where several people have walked which are not on public rights of way, or they may be the routes of deer (fallow and muntjac) who often create what appear to be rough paths on routes they regularly walk.

We are lucky to have a lot of wildlife locally, as these articles have shown over recent months. As we come towards winter, we can still see red kite, fallow deer (including a beautiful stag with big antlers spotted several times locally), muntjac, owls which can be heard at dusk. We are also aware of several maternity roosts for rare barbastelle bats, as well as other bats residing locally. In order to protect wildlife, its best that people stick to footpaths and bridleways, and do not wander through woods.  For example, in Hitchwood, a popular walking destination for lots of people, there is a permissive footpath. In the last year or two, this has been expanded to add a further loop of circular walk nearer to the car park. This expands the route for walkers, and allows people to be further from Hitch Wood lane. Other “desire lines” exist, and signs have been put up to encourage people to remain on the permissive path, and desist from the desire lines. We know that deer, bats, and other wildlife rely on the woods for their habitat. By keeping to the marked footpaths, walkers can enjoy the woods while leaving other areas of the woods for biodiversity to thrive.

With Christmas coming, its worth mentioning Holly and Ivy, traditionally brought into homes at Christmas as symbols of the spring to come and to ward away evil spirits. A Mistletoe sprig is traditionally hung above the door and a berry removed with each kiss.

Our native Holly trees Ilex aquifolium can have prickly leaves at the base ot he tree (up to 2.5m) and smooth leaves higher up.  This is thought to protect the tree from browsing animals such as deer. Holly berries only appear on female plants but there must be a male nearby. An old wives tale says many berries on a Holly foretells a particularly cold winter, however it’s usually down to an absence of late frosts which allow the flowers to bloom, a warm summer with adequate rainfall and good insect activity for pollinating the flowers. Look out for Blackbirds, Thrushes, Blackcaps, Redwings and Fieldfares feeding on the fruit.

Ivy Hedera helix seems to climb over everything (trees, walls, ground), using them for support. Ivy is not parasitic. Its yellow-green flowers are a great source of nectar for autumn insects, such as hornets, wasps, hoverflies, bumblebees, small tortoiseshells, peacock butterflies and red admirals and its berries feed Blackbirds, Blackcaps and Thrushes through the winter months. Ivy provides roosting sites for bats and nesting sites for birds, and also a home for hibernating insects.

Mistletoe Viscum album is parasitic and poisonous and loves broadleaf trees. It is an important food source for Mistle thrushes, though they prefer holly and hawthorn berries. The Mistle thrush may frequent our gardens in the winter. They are much larger than song thrushes. They have pale grey-brown upperparts, and heavily round spotted white underparts, and a longer tail.  They have a rattling call, especially when alarmed or disturbed.

Frances Harris and Julie Wise

By November we are settling in for winter – temperatures have dropped, days are shorter, and plant growth has slowed. Leaves have turned and many will have fallen. Most mammals will have entered hibernation in late October.

Hedgehogs and bats are all tucked up by this month. Hedgehog numbers seemed to be diminishing, but in the last year we have been fortunate to see a few. While in hibernation the hedgehog’s fuel supply comes from the fat stores it has built up over the summer. Each individual may move nesting sites at least once during hibernation and so can sometimes be seen out and about.

Bats rest in cool, humid places like, tree hollows, garden sheds and specially made bat boxes. Trying to keep warm, bats will crawl into small crevices, squeezing themselves into odd positions, including lying on their backs or sides, or sometimes on their heads! Occasionally Bats will emerge on warmer winter nights, as their body fat reduces, to find food and a drink of water.  They will then return to their roost sites and become torpid (cool & inactive) when the weather cools again. We are very pleased that, working with local conservation organisations, several maternity colonies of Barbastelle bats have been found in the Parish. Through the use of trackers, they have identified the corridors through which they travel. This shows the value of hedgerows and field margins in providing routes along which they can feed and travel.

Hibernating frogs and newts sleep at the bottom of ponds; they bury down into silt at the bottom and take in oxygen through their skin.  To help them during hibernation prevent water from freezing over by floating a tennis ball on the surface. During the winter, the common toad overwinters rather than hibernates, spending much of its time burrowed in mud or compost conserving energy, but emerging to forage in milder spells.

Slow Worms love a compost heap, a tree crevice and often burrow underground to hibernate from October to March. They are legless Lizards rather than worms or snakes being much smaller than a snake. They have smooth, golden-grey skin and the males are paler in colour and sometimes have blue spots, while females are larger, with dark sides and a dark stripe down the back.

If you feel like helping our sleepy natives, leave log piles and leaf litter (in part of the garden) undisturbed for hedgehogs and toads.  Take care when turning your compost bins and consider investing in a bat box. Be wary of animals, particularly hedgehogs, when lighting fires for Guy Fawkes.

Farmers will be hoping that their winter crops are sown by now, but sometimes the weather does not help this. Although growth is slow at this time of year, having the crop established now means that when the weather warms in the spring, they can get away early. Farming machinery is heavy, and so farmers try to sow crops when the soils are dryer. In the soil, the worms are still active but will move to deeper parts as the weather gets colder. On land that is not ploughed you can see the piles of straw that they are preparing to drag into the soil, improving the soil structure and playing an important role in capturing carbon.  Cows are starting their winter routine. They are brought into barns for the winter, as grass isn’t growing fast enough to supply all they need, and to avoid their hooves damaging the soil.

Julie Wise and Frances Harris

The coronavirus pandemic and lockdown have proved challenging in many different ways. However there have been some silver linings to this cloud. Like many people I have noticed so much more in nature over this past six months than I feel I would have in a normal year. I am not sure why this is the case. It may be due to the fact that I have been closer to home and had more time to walk around my local environment and notice things. This may have been helped by the fact that there are fewer planes flying past (I live under the approach to an airport). Whatever the reason I have found that this spring and summer I have been able to observe, notice, and learn about local plants, animals and wildlife. This has provided a very enjoyable and soothing activity over a season which has, of course, been fraught with stress and challenge.

I have really enjoyed being able to stop and observe butterflies. I have had the time, patience and perseverance to follow the with my eyes and observe where they land,  and was lucky to photograph them. Using the Butterfly conservation website I’ve been able to identify many of them and it’s been lovely to match up the names I have heard with the details of their markings. I became a bit obsessed with trying to photograph them. Not all of the photographs worked but I do have a few which I will cherish for many years. The most obliging butterfly went from flower to flower on some Allium plants in my garden. It was so fixated on the visiting each minute flower that I had time to go inside, find my phone, and take many pictures. The ensuing picture is one of my favourite from the summer.

In the spring, on a morning when I was feeling a little bit fed up, I was thrilled to see a pair of coots with seven young cootlets on a large pond near our house that we painted to look better with the nature using a outdoor surface painting services for this. I had never seen young cootlets before. They had bright red heads, with a bit of a yellow necklace, over their dark bodies. I cannot quite see the evolutionary advantage of having such a bright and visible head when young. Obviously it helps the parents spot and keep track of their young, but surely it also helps any prey also see the young. Over the summer I had the pleasure of watching these young grow, gradually gaining independence from their parents as first they were able to swim a bit further from their parents and later as they gained even more freedom. Their brightly coloured heads gradually turned darker. With binoculars, I was able to watch the parents dip their beaks into the water, bring up pondweed of some sort, and then feed it to their offspring. As the cootlets grew they developed what I think of as their teenage plumage which involved a white stripe down their neck and the front of the chest. As I write now at the end of August they are looking more and more like their parents. They continue to live and swim about as a family group. The parents appear very aggressive when they see other ducks (mallards) and I believe they may be the reason why we have had fewer Canada geese on the pond this year. I don’t know much about coots but I am hoping that at least some of the family will return next year.

We have also enjoyed having other ducks come by, though not stay through the season. I am sure we had a Mandarin duck for a week or so, and some Egyptian Geese came and went several times. There have also been moorhens, and tufted ducks, as well as Mallards.

Wildflowers also seem to be abundant this year. Friends introduced me to an App (Seek) which has helped me identify many flowers. So once again I had the pleasure of connecting names I’ve read about with the actual physical plant.

I’m still very much a beginner when it comes to identifying things, and learning about what I have seen. However I think this is the first year that I feel an affinity with those who call themselves naturalists. I would love to be able to draw or paint what I see, and keep in nature diary or nature journal in the way I see others do. However I think photos are likely to give a better likeness.

September sees the turning of the year towards autumn. Swifts should have already left flying south to spend their winter in sub-Saharan Africa, where they follow the rains to take advantage of fast changes in insect populations. Swallows will be lining up on the telegraph wires chattering to each other before their migration south- an incredible journey taking them through Europe and Morocco, before crossing the Sahara Desert and the Congo rainforest to reach South Africa and Namibia.  Swallows migrate during daylight, flying quite low and covering about 320 km (200 miles) each day.  At night they roost in huge flocks in reed-beds at traditional stopover spots. Since swallows feed entirely on flying insects, they don’t need to fatten up before leaving, but can snap up their food along the way. Nonetheless, many die of starvation. If they survive, they can live for up to sixteen years.

Wild flower-wise, purple is now the dominant colour. Thistles and teasels on waste ground attract birds such as goldfinches and linnets to feed on their seeds.  Purple loosestrife is a magnet for insects of all kinds and can be seen in damp boggy areas including ponds and by the Mimram. Harebells too are still in flower this month. They dislike competition so are often found in rabbit grazed neutral to acidic grassland.

The season of harvest always begins with blackberries, which have come early this year. You can tell when they are ripe as you will notice the purple droppings of Blackbirds! Apples and pears will be ripening, with some early varieties ready for picking.

Following their crop harvest, farmers are sowing next year’s crop. At Harvest Festivals in church, we sing “We plough the fields and scatter” but actually, things have got a bit more high tech since that hymn was written. Some farmers plough the soil, then return to break up the clods into a fine tilth, which provides a good seedbed for next year’s crop. Seed drills insert seeds into the soil at the correct depth and spacing, and then sometimes a roller passes over the soil to ensure everything is firmly in place. It’s similar to gardeners digging over the soil, then raking, sowing, and tamping everything down. However, there is now a growing movement towards no-till farming though which farmers try to minimise disturbance to the soil. Instead of ploughing and manipulating the soil, a seed drill sows seed directly into the soil, through the stubble remaining from the pervious year’s crop. These drills have a small rotary blade which opens a small slot in the soil, into which the seed is placed. It’s a bit like sliding a spade into soil, and inserting a seed in the crack which is opened, without having to lift and turn the soil. The advantages include only one pass over the soil, saving both time and fuel costs; leaving the organic matter in the stubble and roots to decompose in the soil, so keeping organic carbon in the soil (good for climate change). However, crop rotations need to be carefully managed to avoid build up of crop diseases, or weeds, in the fields. You will see both traditional and no-till farming practiced in the fields in the Parish.

Julie Wise and Fran Harris

August is the month for harvest, and you will undoubtedly notice this as you see tractors, grain carts, and combine harvesters in the fields and on the lanes. Generally, the first of the 4 cereal grain crops to be harvested is barley, followed by wheat, and then oats. Some farmers may also be harvesting peas, beans and oil seed rape in this region.

The date on which harvest begins will depend on when the crops mature, and the weather. This year has had drought periods (March / April) and very rainy periods, which has affected the speed at which crops grow. You will have noticed that the crops have changed colour from green to gold as they mature.

Once ready to harvest, there is also the weather to consider. Farmers are hoping for dry weather so the sun will do all the ripening and drying, and the grain can go straight into the barn, and be stored safely before we sell later in the year. Farmers always wait for the dew to evaporate before beginning to harvest. They then keep going until the dew settles again, which explains why farmers tend to harvest from about 11 am to midnight (sometimes later) rather than normal working hours. If there is poor weather, farmers may be forced to harvest crops when they are damp, or even very wet. This then requires that the grain is passed through a grain dryer before storage. Obviously, this is an expensive process, in terms of energy, time and labour, and so farmers would prefer to delay a few days if better weather is forecast.

In addition to the grain, the straw is also harvested and stored for use in the coming year for feeding and bedding the cattle.

Many people have been noticing nature and wildlife much more during the lockdown period. Butterflies and moths seem to be more abundant this year. If you cut back your Buddleia in late April it will be in flower during August and able to host the butterflies on the wing this month such as Painted Ladies and Red Admirals and of course the Hairstreaks.

The Purple Hairstreak flits in and out of oak trees mainly staying in the canopy but they can be seen on warm summer evenings around the lower branches.  The caterpillar feeds on the oak leaves of native and non-native trees.

Moths are also out in abundance taking advantage of the warmer nights.  Look out for the larger Hawkmoths which may enter our houses when windows are left open attracted by the lights.  Seen locally are Poplar, Small Elephant and Privet Hawkmoths.

These also attract the local bat communities of course whose maternity colonies begin to disperse and move on to mating roosts.  The young bats begin to catch insects for themselves and no longer need their mothers’ milk.

The birds are quiet although the song of Wrens, Yellowhammers, Blackbirds, Dunnocks, Buntings, Linnets and Song Thrushes may be heard as they continue to nest raising a late brood.

Fran Harris and Julie Wise

This blog first appeared in the St. Paul’s Walden Parish Magazine

August 2020

By July we are firmly in summer. Early spring flowers have passed, trees are no longer flowering, and bird calls diminish as the breeding season is over. Crops are growing taller, and as seed heads emerge, it is easier to distinguish between oats, wheat and barley. Rainfall in the spring was very low, and so crops may not be as tall as in previous years.

At Easthall Farm, all cattle are out in the fields, the calves alongside their mothers. The bulls go into the fields to serve the cows. We practice mob grazing with most of the cows running together as one large herd.  The fields are divided into sections with electric wires so the livestock move onto fresh grass most days. While on a section of a field, livestock eat one third of the grass, trampling one third into the soil into the soil and leaving one third to harvest more sunshine. Once moved on, the grassland has a lengthy period of recovery and regrowth before grazing is repeated. Mob grazing is believed to support the build up of organic matter in the soil, and by allowing the grass to grow tall and set seed in between periods of grazing, it provides a habitat for wildlife.

July is all about butterflies and moths.  The long-distance migrant Painted Lady butterfly arrives from North Africa and the Middle East. Its caterpillars feed on mainly thistles. The day flying Hummingbird Hawkmoth is also buzzing around flowers for nectar, resembling the tiniest of Hummingbirds hovering with their long proboscis. Their caterpillars feed on Lady’s Bedstraw and Red Valerian, both easy to grow in garden borders.

In oak woodland glades and rides you may be lucky to see a Silver-washed Fritillary butterfly fluttering and gliding along in search of nectar. Its caterpillars feed on the Common Dog-violet which is abundant on our local woodland floors.

The Purple Emperor butterfly is thought to be quite rare in Hertfordshire although they have been spotted near Hitch Wood and at Rusling End. Frequenting the tops of oak trees, they fly for about two to three weeks in July. The males flutter above the canopies of large oaks displaying to the females below. You will need binoculars to spot them but it is possible. Occasionally they are known to settle on dog poo to suck the energy giving salts! Their caterpillars feed on Goat Willow.

In the open meadows and grasslands you will see the Meadow Brown, Common Blue, Small Copper, Ringlet, and various Skippers which can be a bit tricky to tell apart, as well as the Marbled White which is actually black with white spots.

Where do butterflies go when it rains? They hide, usually going to the same places they do for the night. Some butterflies hide under large leaves, some crawl down into dense leaves or under rocks, and some just sit head down on grass stems or bushes with wings held tightly.

Julie Wise and Frances Harris

This blog first appeared in the St. Paul’s Walden Parish Magazine.

Knowing our Nature: What is happening in the countryside in May

In the March Parish Magazine, we advertised that there would be an open meeting to discuss conservation issues in the Parish. Obviously, we were not able to meet in the pub due to the lockdown measures, but a meeting was held by Zoom.  The aim was to provide an opportunity to engage with members of the community about farming and the countryside, and to discover what was important to people and why. One of the things to come out from all of this was the desire to continue engaging with people, and the need for more sharing of information, and education about our countryside. As a result, we thought it would be interesting to write something each month f, explaining what the farms are up to, and what you might see in the countryside. Initially published in the Parish Magazine, we thought these articles would also provide a useful blog and resource for years to come.  So this is the first of 12, written in April, but looking forward to May.

April has been a month where spring crops have been sown, and cows are calving. Winter sown crops have enjoyed the good weather and are now coming along well and needing fertilising.

In May, we anticipate further calving. The cows of East Hall Farm will be out and grazing the fields around Stagenhoe. We practice mob grazing, which means that we keep the animals in a tight herd and move them on to fresh grass each day. This means that the grass is grazed thoroughly, but then left for between 30 – 60 days to grow tall and set seed, before being grazed again. The cows are circulated through sections of grazing, delineated by moveable electric fencing, and so only return to the same field after all other grassland land has been grazed. So if you see the cows, they will be nearby, but not in the exact same space, the next day.

The Bluebells will be almost coming to an end, but you may still catch some in Reynolds or Hitch Wood. Bluebells do not survive either picking or trampling, so please, enjoy looking at them where they area, but stick to the footpath and leave them where you see them.

Spring and early summer is also a great time for flowers. Hitch Spring has tremendous wildflowers – cowslips, wood anemone and lesser celandine grow well. Other flowers to be seen in May are common spotted orchids, pignut, bulbous and meadow buttercups and Lady’s smock. Along roadsides cow parsley will be coming out, and elder flower will also be coming out. There are some pretty early flowering grasses to see in meadows too in May – crested dogstail, sweet vernal grass and meadow foxtail.

Common Blue butterflies are flying by the end of May and can be seen in hay meadows as their caterpillars feed on birdsfoot trefoil and clover.  Other butterflies to look out for are red admirals, peacock, brimstone, comma, large white and speckled wood which likes the edge of woodland but may come into tree filled gardens.  Holly blues are on the wing now but can also be seen next month.

Most songbirds will be nesting by May and the best time for the dawn chorus if anyone can rise early enough (4.30 to 6.30am) will be the first week of May. The familiar yellowhammer song of ‘little bread and no cheese’ can be heard from hedgerows. Swallows, house martins and swifts will have returned to their regular nesting sites and be repairing their nests with mud from local ponds and wet places.  Other migrants such as spotted flycatchers will have also returned.

In some years, we have had cuckoos in Reynolds Wood and Hounsfield wood. In previous years they have arrived in early May. Last year, I did not hear to many in Reynolds, but I hope they will be back in force this year. It is possible to hear their distinctive call from quite far away. This year, with the reduction in flights from Luton Airport, I hope it will be even easier. In fact, I have noticed much more birdsong this year already.

Towards the end of May tawny owlets may be seen as they nest early in March.

There is also likely to be lots of activity on or near water. Frog and toad spawn will have hatched so plenty of tadpoles around and look out for large dragonfly nymphs too which enjoy eating a tadpole or two.  On the Mimram, stonefly larva and caddis fly larvae were seen in March, and mayfly larvae, which will of course be more active in May.

If you spot anything interesting, or would like to contribute your knowledge to these monthly nature updates, please let me know by emailing info@outdoorlearningexperiences.org

Compiled by Frances,  with supporting material from Sarah Kohl and Julie Wise.

How to make an Easter Garden

The aim of this exercise is to make a small model representing Good Friday and Easter. Ideally it will include the hill with three crosses (Jesus was crucified with two other men, one on each side), and also the garden where he was laid to rest. You might want some distance between the two.

Find the largest tray you can. It might be from the kitchen, baking cupboard, or an old drawer, or a box with low sides.

Gather some dirt to fill it so you have some earth from which to mould your landscape.

Choose one end to be the hill and the crucifixion, and add more dirt to create a mound, representing the hill on which Jesus was crucified. Make three crosses and put them in place – these represent Jesus and the two criminals who were crucified alongside him. The story of the crucifixion can be found in the Bible in Matthew chapter 27, verses 32-56, Mark 15: 21-41, Luke 23: 33-49 or John 19: 7-37.

At the other end, try to recreate the garden where Jesus was buried, and the tomb.

We know the tomb was made of rock, so perhaps gather rocks to create a tomb. Effectively you are trying to create a cave, or space, where Jesus’ body would have been laid. Joseph of Arimathea took Jesus’s body from the cross and took it to the tomb (Matthew 27: 57-61), Luke 23: 50-56, Mark 15: 42-47 and John 19:38-42).  You could consider placing a small shrouded figure inside the tomb before you seal it. This garden area can be decorated to look nice.

Imagine the landscape of time, and decorate your garden as you like.

Don’t forget that on Easter Sunday, the day of resurrection, you can roll the stone away, as Jesus will rise and the tomb will be empty. The story of Easter morning is found in the Bible in Matthew 28: 1-10,  Mark 16: 1-11, Luke 24: 1-12 or John 20:1-18.

We’ve created a short video with instructions.

Since 2014 we have offered a week of summer camp which combines drama activities with nature art and craft and forest school. Aimed at primary school children, the camp provides a last chance to enjoy the summer sunshine and be outdoors. Children have created and then acted out their own plays, coached by drama teachers.  In some years, a group of older children, 13-18, have rehearsed and performed abridged versions of Shakespeare’s A mid-summer night’s dream, and The Railway Children. A local artist has encouraged them to become creative with clay, willow weaving, flowers and leaves. And of course, there has been den making, hide and seek, treasure hunts, and camp fires on which to toast marshmallows, lead by a forest school leader.

After taking a break last summer, we have regrouped and are now offering two opportunities for children to be involved in our camps. At Easter, we will be offering a two day taster, focusing on Roald Dahl’s stories, which will take place on April 16^th and 17^th.

From  August 24th – 28th, we will be offering a full week (Mon- Fri) of activities.  Details of the theme for the summer event will be published in late Spring.

If you are interested in experiencing more drama in the gardens, we have several events lined up. At Garden Open events, you can enjoy a stroll around the gardens, and a cream tea or cakes.

If you are interested in outdoor theatre, the Handlebards will be performing  “A comedy of Errors” in May, and Felici Opera will be performing highlights from Opera in July. See the details below.

Sunday 29^th March – Garden Open, in aid of National Garden Scheme (NGS)

Thursday 16^th – Friday 17^th April – Children’s activity camp “Forest of Frogs” in the Garden. Outdoor theatre workshop, nature art and craft and forest school.

Sunday 5^th May – Garden Open, in aid of National Garden Scheme (NGS)

Thursday 28^th May – Outdoor theatre: Shakespeare’s A comedy of Errors, performed by The Handlebards. In aid of All Saint’s Church, St. Paul’s Walden.

Sunday 7^th June – Garden Open, in aid of National Garden Scheme (NGS) and also Open Farm Sunday.

Sunday 12^th July – Concert in the garden. Puccini, by Felici Opera, in aid of Garden House Hospice

August 24th -28th – Forest of Frogs Summer Camp. Outdoor theatre, nature art and craft and Forest School.