February started with some fine weather, clear skies and some really fine sunsets. (1) shows a sunset over Catherington Down on 1st February. By mid Feb. the nights were becoming extremely cold and we recorded minus 3 degrees C. inside the greenhouse. This is the ideal time of year to study mosses and lichens which give quite a splash of colour to tree trunks. Some of these will soon be featured on the Biodiversity/ Lichens and Moss pages - Pictures (2) and (3). The winter light coming into the woodland has set of growth amongst the bluebells as can be seen at the base of this beech tree in the bluebell woods north of Clanfield on 16th Feb. (4)

(5) On a visit to Wick Hanger on 17th Feb. we discovered that Spurge laurel Daphne laureola was in flower and had been spreading in the south-west part of the woods. Strangely named asit is not a spurge or a laurel but is a native Daphne. The shrubby plants are very straggly and have evergreen laurel-like leaves. They provide an early source of nectar for some insects. (6)By the 20th Feb. many ponds had started filling with frog spawn - a large mass is seen here in the pond in Yoell's Copse.(7) The pond recieves its maximum ammount of light at this time the year, but only a few days ago was frozen solid. Usually this pond contains toad spawn but it is difficult to detect at the moment. (8) This beautifully coloured strand of ivy was seen climbing up a young beech tree in the Holt where there is very little ivy on the beech trees. Many species of plants in the Holt have a deep red coloration especially dogwood, brambles and field maple, could the soil be low in phosphate ?

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Last edit: 11th Apr 2008 at 1:56pm (36 days ago)