As we move towards winter the weather has been unseasonably mild and changeable. The reserve is a mass of autumn colours. The shrubs, in particular, are full of colour either from their autumn leaves or berries. Once again, the berries have been spectacular. The dogwood, holly and spindle berries remained abundant into November. Those apples that were not eaten by wildlife (or visitors!) before they fell from the trees are now on the ground to provide a continuous food source into the winter. Most of the hundred or so apple trees that were planted now produce apples – not the crab apples we expected but delicious eaters of several different types. It was crab apples that were originally ordered!
Jobs over the last couple of months have included managing bramble and blackthorn. We stopped mowing the grass paths in September, yet the mild weather has meant the grass is still growing. We have found it better to leave the grass longer in winter as it helps prevent the paths from becoming muddy.
On the morning of the 26th October we had a rare walk around the reserve – not working but just appreciating everything that we have here. It was very mild with sunshine and showers. There were three showers and each time there was a colourful rainbow. The
one seen from the car park behind the birch trees, all now devoid of leaves, was a double. The lower one was bright and multi-coloured, the top one rather faded. Whilst the sun shone, the droplets of rain sparkled from the many branches of the birch – such a lovely sight. There were over fifty redwings enjoying the berries, flitting overhead from one tree to another, frequently calling as they flew. The bullfinches we see regularly were enjoying the seeds. The flash of white and black makes this species easy to identify in flight. Today we saw eight, mainly on the birch, eating the seeds. There were several young among them, not yet showing their adult colouration. Ravens (with their wedge-shaped tails) ‘croaked’ overhead. There were some crows too, identified in flight by their fan shaped tails. Noisy jays screamed as they took chunks out of the apples still on the trees. A small flock of around fifteen linnets visited the shrubs and trees. On leaving the reserve a red admiral was perched on some fallen leaves enjoying the sunshine.
At the end of October the starlings arrived. Hundreds come here for the winter and form huge roosts not far from the farm. They roost in the taller trees. When the trees are bare there are sometimes so many the trees look as if they are full of strange dark leaves.
The spider (a four-spot web weaver) was seen and photographed by James whilst he was clearing blackthorn. It is said to be the heaviest spider in the UK. Two species of lacaria fungi (common and purple) were found by Sally whilst she was clearing bramble
from under some young oak trees. This species is now abundant under many of the trees. The photo shows the common form. A lesser yellow underwing lava was found by Keith. We often see the adult moths.
Alt-y-garreg is a 20-acre nature reserve created in 2010 from four fields that had been improved pasture. There are areas of new woodland (over eighteen thousand trees of eighteen native species), wildflower meadows, scrub and ancient hedgerows. Two of the fields are now a natural burial site. The area is teeming with wildlife. A list of species we have seen on the site can be found here.
May and June were one of the driest on record, but July was apparently the third wettest in over 100 years. August though was very changeable. The rain certainly encouraged growth. The rowan, hawthorn, blackberries, guelder rose, spindle and apple trees are all dripping with berries and fruit.
ragwort flowers and we saw the comma laying eggs on nettles. Other butterflies seen included tortoiseshell, holly blue, small skipper, speckled wood, small heath, peacock, ringlet and, green veined white.
species for wildlife but we control it by removing most of the flowers when they are seeding, so it does not spread on to neighbouring farmland as it can be poisonous to livestock.
fungus eventually kills its host. It is inedible and thought to be toxic. We think the mould on this bolete is Hypomyces chrysospermus, which manifests itself initially as a white mould-like flush that soon turns a lurid yellow in its second phase.
laying their eggs either on the outside of the host or inside it. On hatching, the parasitic larva start to absorb nutrients from fluids of the host. Later they feed on non-vital organs, such as fat reserves. The host animal stays alive and keeps feeding until the parasitic larva have reached the stage where they are fully fed. If the host is a caterpillar, this often coincides with the host caterpillar also completing its feeding cycle. The parasitic larva then finish their feeding by devouring the host’s internal organs before pupating within the carcass of their dead host – or they can emerge and pupate in silk cocoons nearby.
The butterfly orchid was back, and we also found a solitary southern marsh orchid along one of the paths. 
Birds seen or heard, in addition to the more common species, included garden warbler, goldcrest, siskin, blackcap, song thrush and bullfinch. The highlight though was going past the burial ground in the car just after midnight on the 31 June following a barn owl. We were able to get a very good view of the bird before it flew up high and over the hedge into the nature reserve fields.
This was the most abundant butterfly here, followed by speckled woods, small white, green-veined white, large skipper, ringlet, peacock, comma, silver washed fritillary and small copper. Cocksfoot micros included a solitary Cauchas fibulella flitting amongst the Germander speedwell. We had extensive patches of this flower species again this year. Cauchas fibulella is a tiny micro – just 5mm long. It is rarely seen. The pale roundish blotches on its wings are just about visible to the naked eye. It is a long horn species and has very long antennae but not as long as some of the other moths in this group. Other day flying moths seen included the silver Y, the silver-ground carpet, five spot burnets, yellow shell and hundreds of tiny garden grass veneers.
way: She attaches it to her spinnerets at the bottom rear of her abdomen. When the eggs hatch, she carries her babies until they are able to fend for themselves.
to create wildlife habitat piles in the centre of the new woodland areas. Dead wood is a very valuable habitat for mosses, lichens, and fungi, as well as many insects and rodents. If put in piles these can also be used by some bird species, such as blackcap and willow warbler which we see and hear regularly here in the spring and summer months.
meadow in the middle of April. Keith managed to get this lovely picture of a male orange tip butterfly resting on a dandelion seed head. We are also seeing green-veined white and peacock butterflies.
Keith managed to get some wonderful photos of this dark edged bee fly on the 15th April.. The shutter speed of the camera matched the speed of the wings, showing off the yawing motion of its flight. This is a cute bee mimic! It is one of the earliest bee flies to emerge in spring, having pupated during the winter. The adult may look cute but at its larval stage it is a predator of the eggs and larvae of other insects. The adult females usually deposit eggs in the vicinity of possible hosts (beetles, wasps or solitary bees). When the larvae hatch they eat the larvae of bees and wasps in their nests.
learn bird song of our common residents, before the spring migration brings in other species from abroad. The migratory birds started to appear here in April and our resident birds were joined by willow warbler, blackcap, chiffchaff and swallow. The migrant starlings were still here in abundance until the third week in March and then they left to return to Eastern Europe.
We do have a couple of pairs that are here all the year round and they nest on land around our farm, mainly using holes (probably made by woodpeckers) in electricity poles. Other birds seen included a pair of greater spotted woodpeckers, wrens, long tailed tits, great tits, blue tits, robins, blackbirds, bullfinches, a kite and two marsh/willow tits. The latter are hard to identify from sight and we need to hear them to be sure of which species they are. A pair of mallards are regular visitors to the new pond. Freshly laid frogspawn appeared on the 11 February. This pair of hibernating frogs were a very colourful and interesting find under a rock one afternoon.
cloud of powdery yellow pollen will be released. The female flowers are on the same branches as the males and look like tiny buds with red styles protruding from the tops. If you look at the picture carefully you will see one to the right of the top three catkins.. If pollinated, these buds become the hazel nuts in autumn.