Meetings this year have been few and far between, but on 8th August, one of our members, Claire, hosted an excellent event in her garden. Six other members attended and explored the grounds and learned a lot from Claire and the variety of wildlife she had to show us.
We started with a (dead) brown long eared bat. These animals fly close to, or land on, the ground to catch prey, which makes them vulnerable to attack by predators, such as cats.
The oak trees had various plant galls: Knopper; artichoke; silk button and common spangle. We also saw nettle gall, and moth leaf mines on a hazel tree, spectacular bracket fungi and various ferns.
There were plenty of insects - European and German wasps; male and female scorpion flies and a giant cranefly not to mention a selection of butterflies - gatekeeper, peacock, speckled wood and small white.
We also estimated the age of an oak tree applying Mitchell’s rule. The circumference of the tree at chest height was 267cm. Assuming a growth rate of roughly 2, we calculated 267/2 = 133 years.
After all that fascinating wildlife we were then offered tea and cake.
What a great morning it was.
Many thanks again to Claire.
