Wildlife in Gawsworth By Rosemary Brown
PAINTED LADIES The painted lady butterfly is tawny orange in colour, the markings are black with some white spots on the top of the fore wings. They are on the wing long after other butterflies have retired. The caterpillar has a dark greyish head covered in bristles, the body varies from greyish-green to blackish. There is a black line along the back and the lines on the sides are yellowish. The caterpillars are generally found feeding on thistles, but they also occur on nettles, and burdock plants. The painted lady isn't a resident butterfly, it migrates from North Africa. This year has seen exceptional numbers make the journey, the condition in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco were about as good as they get with large quantities of plants to feed the caterpillars. By May swarms of Painted Lady butterflies were arriving in the UK. By now all those butterflies will have bred and a second generation is ready to take to the skies. To take part in Butterfly Conservation’s citizen science survey log onto www.butterfly-conservation.org DRAGONFLIES AND DAMSELFLIES (Odonata) Adult odonata are recognised by their large eyes and two pairs of large wings, which have a dense network of veins.
The brown hawker is probably the commoner dragonfly of Gawsworth. This dragonfly is a large brown dragonfly with small yellow and blue markings. The flight season lasts from june to october. Males are often seen hawking up and down water bodies feeding on the wing, they can also be seen away from water bodies around shelterbelts picking up midges from the vegetation. To learn more about the dragonflies and damselflies of Cheshire log onto www.brocross.com/dfly/dfly.htm OWLS Owls are a diverse group of species, the only features they all have in common are their large forward pointing eyes and their ability to turn their head through almost 360 degrees. The three common owls are found in good numbers in Gawsworth. These are the tawny owl, little owl and barn owl. The tawny owl is a large beautifully camouflaged woodland owl that is generally strictly nocturnal. Its diet comprises of a high proportion of wood mice and moles although they also eat frogs, beetles and worms. The tawny nests much earlier than most owls, around March, perhaps reflecting their more sheltered woodland habitat, they use tree holes, buildings or old crows nest and lay around 2-5 eggs depending on the availability of their prey. The little owl was introduced to Britain in 1842. It is a small chunky owl with a flat head and short tail. They frequently perch out in the open by day feeding on earthworms and beetles and occasionally mice and voles. The little owl nests in narrow holes in trees, banks or buildings and lays around 2-5 eggs. The barn owl is perhaps our most popular species of owl, living in such close proximity to man has made it one of the most studied birds in Britain, it is also one of the most widespread species of bird in the world. It is a strikingly pale owl with a heart shaped face and black eyes. The barn owl prefers open habitat usually expanses of rough grassland, although road side verges, field margins, woodland edge and farmyards can all provide suitable foraging ground. Their diet consists of mainly of small mammals usually field voles, common shrews and wood mice. Prey is often eaten whole and the indigestible parts are regurgitated in the form of a pellet. The barn owl nests in large tree holes, buildings or hay stacks and lay between 4 and 7 eggs over an 8 to 21 day period during May. SIGHTINGS
Gatekeeper
August Edition
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The Habitats of Gawsworth by Rosemary Brown
The parish of Gawsworth lies within the transition between the lowlands of the Cheshire plain and the uplands of the Pennine range. This change in physical character in conjunction with changing geology, climate and human activity produces a rich and varied landscape.
The parish has a number of specially designated areas of interest for wildlife. These include one Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and seven Sites of Biological Importance (SBIs).
The undulating landscape supports a wide diversity of habitat types. The lowland areas are characterised by aquatic habitats both natural and man-made. The Cheshire Ring Canal cuts through the eastern portion of the parish. Several lakes occur within the centre of the parish while a number of ponds and watercourses appear throughout the parish. A number of areas of both deciduous and coniferous woodland occur in a variety of landscape settings from stream valley sides to level ground and on the foothills of the Pennine slopes. A large expanse of rough grassland and lowland peat bog occur in the centre of the parish. The other broad habitat types of the parish include agricultural land, parks, gardens, hedgerows and churchyard, all these areas provide a great number of opportunities for wildlife. Within these broad habitat types an even broader variety of features exist which provide food and resting sites for a wide variety of plants and animals. For example gardens form a very rich and varied habitat for wildlife. The flowerbeds, vegetable patches, compost heaps, hedges, trees and ponds form very different conditions for wildlife to utilise.
Springwatch 2009
The wildlife and habitats group would be interested to receive your first sightings of the year. This could include the first clump of frog spawn, bumblebee, swallow, cuckoo, bluebell etc. Send your sightings to gawsworthwildlife@yahoo.co.uk. I will post the results up on the website.
What to look out for in April - May
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Newts
The parish of Gawsworth is home to all three species of newt; great crested newt, smooth newt and palmate newt.
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Newts are like amphibians and rely on ponds for breeding. Adults normally move from their terrestrial habitat between February and April during a succession of mild and damp nights. The peak courtship and egg laying period is normally mid-March to mid-May. Eggs are laid individually neatly folded in the leaves of submerged plants. Out of the ponds newts take refuge under logs, rocks and other debris and come out to feed on warm damp evenings on a variety of invertebrates, worms, spiders, insects and small slugs. For more information on the identification, habits, and conservation of newts visit www.newtsinyourpond.com . The newt photographs were provided by James Grundy author of Newts in your Pond and Garden. |
Bats There are sixteen species of bat in Britain and eleven have been recorded in Cheshire. The distribution and abundance of bat species is determined by the availability of roosting sites (caves, tree crevices, houses, barns) and insect diversity and density. Pipistrelles are found in most areas of Cheshire. They have adapted to live in houses and have shown a preference to modern buildings, a habitat not in short supply. Unlike the myth ‘blind as a bat' bats have good eyesight and use a complex system called echo-location to navigate and detect their prey (midges, moths, beetles, mayflies etc) in the dark. This process involves the bat giving a short, loud shout and carefully listening to all the echoes as the sound bounces back from trees, buildings and their prey. From this they can get a picture of their surroundings and distance of objects around it. Different species of bat use different frequency calls, these are inaudible to the human ear so an electronic bat detector is used to pick up these inaudible calls and convert them into sound humans can hear and use to identify the species of bat. To find out more about the identification, echo-location and gardening for bats visit the Cheshire Bat Group pages on records website www.record-lrc.co.uk . |
Sightings 2009 Within Cheshire frog spawn is normally laid between the last two weeks of February and the first two weeks of March. The cold weather at the end of February delayed the frogs abit but the majority of egg laying took place around the 4 th March. A few smaller clumps were observed around the 9 th and 10 th March. If you observed frog spawn earlier than this email gawsworthwildlife@yahoo.co.uk . |
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A wide variety of birds have been recorded in the gardens of Gawsworth, these include; Blackbird, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Coal Tit, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, House Sparrow, Dunnock, Chaffinch, Robin, Siskin, Wren, Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Starling, Collared Dove, Song Thrush, Mistle Thrush, Wood Pigeon, Sparrowhawk, Buzzard, Magpie and Carrion Crow! A number of Brown Hare sightings have been made during February and March. Two were seen boxing on the 15 th March. It is at this time of year that the females are fighting the males advances. The first pair of Oystercatchers were recorded on the 18 th March. During the last hundred years Oystercatchers have been moving inland to breed joining up with farmland birds such as lapwings and gulls. The name Oystercatcher is abit of a misnomer the birds rarely eat oysters these days. Inland they feed on worms and other invertebrates while on the coast they feed on limpets, cockles, crabs etc. Last year our pair suffered from egg predation but the year before successfully fledged three young. Skylarks and Lapwings have been heard most mornings from the middle of February. The large winter flocks of Lapwings have now gone leaving a few local pairs to defend their territories and breed. |
Danish Scurvy-grass?
This is an interesting plant to look out for along the verges of our major roadways. It flowers from late February until June forming an attractive carpet of white or pale pink flowers. This plant is traditionally found on the coast but due to the amount of salt that is spread along our roads the plant seems to find itself at home along our major roadways and has spread through much of Cheshire. I have recorded it along the A536 through Gawsworth. This year should be a good year for the plant.
Frogs and Toads
At this time of year frogs and toads gather at their preferred breeding sites. The two can be distinguished fairly easily. The common frog has a smooth skin that is usually olive-green but the colour can vary greatly. While common toads have a dry warty skin which is brown or greyish in colour and walk rather than hop.
The breeding season is short for both frogs and toads so you will have to arrive on the right week to see the peak of activity. Common Frogs usually congregate in February –March and can be observed at nightfall laying their eggs in large clumps of about 1,500-3000 eggs. Frogs are not too picky about the type of aquatic habitat they lay their eggs in and can even use flooded fields and wheel ruts. Common Toads gather a bit later in the season usually March or even April and prefer much deeper ponds usually at least 1m deep. The spawn is laid in strings usually around submerged vegetation or trailing across bare stones.
Sightings 2009
Starlings have been present in large number over the past few months. The starling is one of the most common birds of Britain, a large number migrate from Russia to over winter. Starlings are attractive birds with their iridescent plumage, which becomes speckled in the winter months. They form dense flocks in the winter which helps them identify food sources and look out for predators. They have an excellent memory so can remember where food appears regularly and in abundance. This is a great advantage in identifying locations of agricultural or household wastes which are important food sources during the winter especially when their usual diet of seeds are less accessible. |
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Large flocks of lapwings are also present on damp grassland and winter stubbles. Their food at this time includes earthworms and a variety of insect larvae that have been driven out of the ground by winter rainfall. These large flocks fragment towards the end of winter as migrants move to their breeding areas overseas and as local birds begin to take up their territories.
One bitter cold January morning a kestrel was found perched in a sunny sheltered spot on the back of the old Zetor tractor. It sat there unfazed as I trundled past with the JCB and seemed to enjoy the attention as I took just a few close up photographs!!! It kept shifting position following the sun as it moved around until finally the sun left and the kestrel flew off, just in time we needed to use that tractor.
