Calendar of Wild Trespassers

Once again Saxon Road Green Space and its surrounding have invaders trying to flourish, using the site without permission. It began four weeks later than usual on a cold February evening next to the site.

Arriving together in force hopped the frogs, despite battling their biggest threat to date, the Rano-Virus. This is a virus that substantially affects their immune system. As the frogspawn filled the shallows a trickle of Palmate and Smooth Newts emerged from their deep hibernation. They quickly swelled in numbers, like lunchtime office workers getting their coffee fix at the farmers market.

Then wakening from deep hiding came the male big boys of the Newt world. Brushing past the emerging crocus on the 24th Feb, possibly from up to 500 metres away the Great Crested Newts wearing their impressive outfits of flashing silver tails, yellow finger nails and sawlike crests. They positioned themselves on the most prominent vantage points ready to waft pheromones at the females with their tails to get the pond party started. In the air above Goldfinches were checking out nest sites, waiting for the catkins of the Goatwillow to bloom to use as nest lining. Frost protected by design these early blooms were a hive of activity and a bee magnet.

Royalty took to the air on the 4th March. The only family members of this species to survive the winter, one of the star pin-ups of the calendar, the White Tailed Bumblebee Queen. Searching out potential early blooms whilst looking for potential nest holes. Her offspring must have been impressed by the Rose Bay Willowherb flower show on site this year, it carpeted the frontage of the site.

The developing grassland gave many insects a boost this year, to the benefit of indicator species such as the Pipistrelle Bats that skirt the site silently along the treelined fringes.

Red Ants have been busy excavating hills in the shorter grassland, maybe next year Blue Butterflies will be added to the diary as they live hand in hand with them in the larva stages.

Sparrows took advantage of the insect and seeds on the open ground and were chattering away in the bushes.

As we approach the end of the calendar year Great Crested Newts are fattening themselves up for torpor. Some Emphs (newt tadpoles) still in the ponds will have to overwinter in them to complete their development when the cycle starts again in the Spring.

All being well the rich and varied list will be longer, without the use of the words Industrial Units and tarmac.

Jerry

Wild Pockets

Just to get our saddle in the door to keep the Green Space green has been a long time consuming effort by so many different people.

So what the point? We’ve got parks, most of us have gardens, we seem to be surrounded by nice countryside, why is it so important in inner-city St Werburghs? It’s obvious. It would be lovely living near a pocket nature reserve linked to a comprehensive network of others in the city, where people can enjoy spiritual sustenance and recreation amongst the wild flowers.

Well, we all carry on, reading about the world in the grip of mass plant and animal extinction. If we light a small green candle instead of cursing the darkness and change our thinking and attitude towards city nature, the benefits to us are high and mighty.
It would be nice not to add NDD (Nature Deficit Disorder) to a growing list of ailments. In a society where more is better and consumption is rewarded, on this occasion it would be true to say that ‘every little helps’.

I’m no eco-warrior angel, but recent research shows that bees can distinguish individual human faces. I’m hoping to be looked at by them in a good light. Even though they have been around for 130 million years, it is vital to create as many quality wild pockets in the city as possible.

Jerry