by Rosemary Winnall | Mar 11, 2019 | Uncategorized
Wyre Forest Study Group 11 March, 2019 Juvenile Kestrel This juvenile Kestrel was recently spotted by Mick Farmer sitting on a wire near Wharton’s Park, Bewdley. It is seen regularly near here and the wire makes a great vantage point for the bird to search below for...
by Steve | Feb 14, 2019 | Uncategorized
Wyre Forest Study Group 14 February, 2019 Buzzard in ash tree Buzzards are regular visitors to this ash tree from where they can survey much of their territory. They are often seen flying before dawn – presumably hunting for unsuspecting rabbits in neighbouring...
by Rosemary Winnall | Jan 31, 2019 | Uncategorized
Wyre Forest Study Group 31 January, 2019 Spider’s Web We woke up to freezing fog this morning and everything was covered in rime. It was very pretty, and many spiders webs were conspicuous amongst the vegetation. But soon the sun broke through, warmth bathed the...
by Rosemary Winnall | Jan 8, 2019 | Uncategorized
Wyre Forest Study Group 8 January, 2019 Deer prints In muddy parts of the Forest it is possible to discover which animals have walked that way by identifying their tracks. Here there is the print from a Fallow Deer, a small Reeves Muntjac Deer and a human being! ...
by Rosemary Winnall | Jan 1, 2019 | Uncategorized
Wyre Forest Study Group 1 January, 2019 Douglas-fir cones (Pseudotsuga menziesii) The cones of Douglas-fir trees have distinctive three-pointed bracts which can easily be seen protruding above the scales. The tree was named after David Douglas the Scottish botanist...
by Rosemary Winnall | Dec 29, 2018 | Uncategorized
Wyre Forest Study Group 29 December, 2018 Winter Heliotrope (Petasites fragrans) This plant was introduced from North Africa in 1806 and is now found commonly, often along roadsides. Only male flowers are found in Britain so no seeds are produced, and they spread...
by Rosemary Winnall | Nov 17, 2018 | Uncategorized
Wyre Forest Study Group 17 November, 2018 Rosy Bonnet (Mycena rosea) This attractive fungus is found in leaf litter in woodlands and hedgerows. It may be found to be a variety of Lilac Bonnet Mycena pura. It smells of radish and should not be eaten as it contains the...
by Rosemary Winnall | Nov 17, 2018 | Uncategorized
Wyre Forest Study Group 17 November, 2018 Ergot in Purple Moor Grass Ergot is a fungus that invades grasses. It used to be a serious infection of cereals, producing alkaloids which, when consumed by humans and other mammals, produced Ergotism first documented as far...
by Rosemary Winnall | Nov 9, 2018 | Uncategorized
Wyre Forest Study Group 9 November, 2018 Autumn woodland The areas of beech woodland in Wyre are ablaze with colour in the autumn sunshine. This is also a good time to spot all the beech seedlings coming up on the forest floor. Blackgraves Copse, Wyre, November 2018...
by Steve | Oct 5, 2018 | Uncategorized
Wyre Forest Study Group 3 October, 2018 The perfect guest? With just a hint of the autumn colours to come, members of the Study Group met to survey an area of the forest that has very few biological records to date. With no real species ‘hit list’ in...
