Winter wind chills the riverside

OUR AIM IS TO PROTECT OUR NATURAL ENVIRONMENT AND THE HABITAT IT PROVIDES FOR WILDLIFE ALONG THE RIVERSIDE

To find nature notes and records for wildlife - click on:

HILLS FARM WILDLIFE CONSERVATION

Our January Meet was held on 27th - in a cold wind but spared the forecast rain. It remained damp from overnight rain, the river fast-flowing but not high. It was good to see chaffinches amongst the Guelder Rose and Dogwood as they have become quite scarce in recent years.

Hazel Catkins have been visible on all the young Hazels for some

time. This young tree is one of several planted in a sheltered place on the meandering river bank where erosion could have caused bank collapse. New roots quickly bind the earth and stabilise it, allowing natural vegetation to grow up around the new trees.

Nuthatches Observe Us

OUR AIM IS TO PROTECT OUR NATURAL ENVIRONMENT AND THE HABITAT IT PROVIDES FOR WILDLIFE ALONG THE RIVERSIDE

To find Nature Notes and Records for Wildlife - click on

Hills Farm Wildlife Conservation

Our Meet for December took place on Sunday 16th, leaving rather a long gap until the next scheduled meet which is on Sunday 27th January 2019.

A list of our scheduled meets for 2019 is now on  the 'NEXT MEET' page.

Fortunately some of the group will be out and about before then. 

On 16th December, the river was higher and faster after rainfall the previous day and night which actually helped three of our group with the difficult task of hauling a large supermarket trolley up the steep banks of the Arun. It was quite cold, with shallow standing water on riverside land and ponds iced over.

Several nuthatches observed us from oaks near our meeting point and called out loudly on our approach. They are birds which establish their territories early in the winter and often commence cavity construction work on adapting chosen sites well before they are needed.

After a few more days of rain, the Arun Valley started to fill and 

water levels rose in rivers in the upper catchment - a good sign of normal

winter weather here.

This is the Arun looking upstream on 21st December 2018.

Autumn springs to life on the Riverside

OUR AIM IS TO PROTECT OUR NATURAL ENVIRONMENT AND THE HABITAT IT PROVIDES FOR WILDLIFE ALONG THE RIVERSIDE

To find Nature Notes and Records for Wildlife - click on :

HILLS FARM WILDLIFE CONSERVATION

Our November Meet was held on Sunday 25th November 2018. Since the October meet the riverside has been through some rapid changes, with the first sudden frost on 22nd. Temperatures below freezing during the morning caused shallow water to freeze but ground remained soft under thick layers of leaves and dry stalks. It remained cold and triggered frantic activity in thickets, trees and undergrowth. Migrant birds had arrived in large groups to start on the fruits and berries of Blackthorn, Hawthorn, Spindle, Dogrose and Ivy.

Autumn leaf-fall had been very slow until the last days of the month, with a marked difference in tree species. 

This was the scene on 10th November but just one windy day  

caused the brilliant yellow but fragile leaves to fall, leaving the

tough Oak leaves clinging on (in foreground).

With the leaves came the rubbish and the amount collected on our meet was quite a record. 

The haul on 25th included a bicycle which had remained submerged in the river as rainfall increased the depth but the fast-flowing water revealed a wheel, the rest of the bike being embedded in a thick layer of leaves.  Three intrepid group members hauled it out from the bridge. 

The End of British Summertime

OUR AIM IS TO PROTECT OUR NATURAL ENVIRONMENT AND THE HABITAT IT PROVIDES FOR WILDLIFE ALONG THE RIVERSIDE

To find Nature Notes and Records for Wildlife - click on :

HILLS FARM WILDLIFE CONSERVATION

Autumn has today (9th November 2018) entered its traditional blustery phase but it remains mild. The days so far have been spectacular with outstanding autumn colours along the Riverside brightening the landscape on the few cloudy days, and remaining brilliant in the lowering sunshine. Our October Meet was on 28th October - British Summertime had ended but most leaves remained on the trees, only the Ash trees were nearly bare, as the weather had been quite calm. The day was overcast with rain. This should have had everyone cheering - as much rain is needed to replenish supplies over the whole of the river catchment area after the hot, dry summer.

A look at the carpet of fallen leaves gives a good indication of the diversity of plants growing in the area. The large leaf here is from a young Hazel tree (9.11.18).

A Fresh Start to Autumn

OUR AIM IS TO PROTECT OUR NATURAL ENVIRONMENT AND THE HABITAT IT PROVIDES FOR WILDLIFE ALONG THE RIVERSIDE

To find Nature Notes and Records for Wildlife - click on

Hills Farm Wildlife Conservation

It was a cool start to the day of our our Meet on 30th September 2018 - Autumn weather at last. However it soon turned hot in the sun;  it was back to summer for a while. Fortunately the riverside plants and grasses had made a quick recovery from the long hot summer after rainfall the previous weekend. Nuthatches were calling loudly with robins singing and many other small birds actively foraging amongst the thickets surrounded by Rose hips, Spindle, Guelder Rose and Hawthorn berries. See the record for 25th September 2018 (click the above link).  

Guelder Rose berries and a blue sky

There was plenty to do on our meet as the previous meet had been more than five weeks ago but a very good turnout of people made short work of it, with a passer-by lending a helping hand.

Humid and Overcast - August on the river

OUR AIM IS TO PROTECT OUR NATURAL ENVIRONMENT AND THE HABITAT IT PROVIDES FOR WILDLIFE ALONG THE RIVER

To find Nature Notes and records of Wildlife here, click on

HILLS FARM WILDLIFE CONSERVATION

19th August - our Meet was earlier than usual due to the Late Summer Bank Holiday the following weekend but summer holidays depleted our numbers nevertheless. Fortunately the task was not overwhelming today. It was good to see that both planted and self- sown fruiting plants had survived the unusual heat and lack of rain.

Surrounded by the cool damp shade of wild riverbank plants,

these apples did well.

Windfall fruits were quickly snapped up or pecked into by small mammals and many species of birds. It was a challenge to find a fruit which had been sampled by a bird or a mammal by the teeth marks or beak marks in the fruit. The largest mammal sampling the fruits was easy - humans!  but were the tiny scrapes on the skin made by a field mouse or bank vole - or maybe a small bird? Some were easy as birds had chosen a certain sheltered tree where they remained all day, for many days, foraging on its fruits. These were blackbirds and song thrushes with blue tits joining in. Most were reluctant to fly away when spotted.

Welcome Rain

OUR AIM IS TO PROTECT OUR NATURAL ENVIRONMENT AND THE HABITAT IT PROVIDES FOR WILDLIFE ALONG THE RIVERSIDE

To find Nature Notes and records for wildlife - click on

Hills Farm Wildlife Conservation

Our scheduled Meet was on 29th July 2018 and the weather forecast was right - rain all day - rain at long last. Would this mean an end to worrying about fruit trees and riverside berries and nuts surviving into the autumn and winter to provide food for wildlife? After a few more odd days of rain - this now seems likely, grass has quickly turned green again, new shoots are rapidly appearing on riverbank vegetation and berries are ripening.

Raindrops on Guelder Rose berries just ripening.  30th July 2018

Our Meet on 29th July was partially postponed, with an increasingly large haul of items left in the river and retrieved the following Sunday, 5th August,  including a bicycle, supermarket trolley and three traffic cones. The weather was dry and hot again by then with blackcaps  and a garden warbler singing.  Meanwhile on 29th two intrepid group members braved the rain and collected two bags of rubbish along the paths.