As of March 2017 we will feature monthly notes in the Parish Magazine covering Freshford Limpley, Stoke and Hinton Charterhouse. Look out for the page logo below.
At the same time we will be drawing the formal record keeping to a close. At the end of February we will have achieved 100 records in this on line community wildlife diary thanks to a real team effort.
If you have been inspired by these records and want to do some you yourself you can send them direct to the Wildlife Record Centres. See all the information you need on our RECORDING AND OTHER INFORMATION link found on the left of the screen. If you have some interesting wildlife photos from our 3 parishes we are always delighted to see them and may use them on our web site.
At the same time we will be drawing the formal record keeping to a close. At the end of February we will have achieved 100 records in this on line community wildlife diary thanks to a real team effort.
If you have been inspired by these records and want to do some you yourself you can send them direct to the Wildlife Record Centres. See all the information you need on our RECORDING AND OTHER INFORMATION link found on the left of the screen. If you have some interesting wildlife photos from our 3 parishes we are always delighted to see them and may use them on our web site.
February 2017 Jenny Harper
January 2017 Steve Best
December 2016 Jez Rideout
Freshford photos 1- 5
Limpley Stoke Photos 6-10
Limpley Stoke Photos 6-10
November 2016 Joy Harrison
Churches of Limpley Stoke and Freshford.
Survey conducted 8th November
Churches of Limpley Stoke and Freshford.
Survey conducted 8th November
St Mary's Limpley Stoke - 'a Pear Tree Church'
The Anglo-Saxons marked their boundaries clearly with trees, whether pears or willows. The local tradition is that the Abbess of Shaftesbury marked the boundaries of the Manor of of Bradford with seven pear trees, on the site of which she later built a chapel. This tradition has been continued at St Mary's for many years and some people refer lovingly to the church as a 'pear tree church'.Source Freshford.com A pear tree is located in front of the church today. We do not know the species.
|
St Peter's Freshford
Plants are depicted in the windows of St Peter's Freshford:see below including Lily of the valley and grapevine both of which have Biblical meanings.
October 2016 Lucy at Freshford
September 2016 Bath Natural History Society at Friary Near Freshford
Photos by kind permission of Bathnats and submitted by member Caroline Ford.
(Press on photos to see common names of the species featured.)
See a report of the visit on the Bathnats web site http://bathnats.blogspot.co.uk
(Press on photos to see common names of the species featured.)
See a report of the visit on the Bathnats web site http://bathnats.blogspot.co.uk
August 2016 Tom Harper Limpley Stoke
Introduction:
We inherited some beautifully built garden walls using local stone, and have added further stepped landscape using (what turns out to be in hindsight) a 'retaining' wall method formally recognised as a wall type by the Dry Stone Walling Association of Great Britain We were able to build them ourselves and they have proven to be excellent habitat and wildlife corridors for wildlife. (see "DRY STONE WALLS AND WILDLIFE" info. sheet provide by the DSW association). Construction method avoids use of cement! This August diary selection has led me to lift up stones and learn! Hope you enjoy. |
Click on the photos below and you will get the species name.
ADDITIONAL NOTES AND REFERENCES
1. The Brown Garden Snail is edible. It is sold as escargot, the name used for many edible snails. The Brown Garden Snail is the second best choice for gourmet use. The number one snail for kitchen use is the Roman Snail, which has a lighter colour and is slightly bigger than the Brown Garden Snail. The Roman Snail usually lives in warmer climates than the Brown Garden Snail - http://www.gardensafari.net/english/snails.htm
2. Lace-weaver Spider - Amaurobius similes. Frequently seen around houses and gardens. These spiders produce a bluish coloured silk around the entrance to holes and crevices on just about every wall you look at.
3. Slow worm Protected in the UK under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, 1981, and classified as a Priority Species in the UK - Despite their name and appearance, slow-worms are neither worms nor snakes, but are in fact lizards - they're given away by their ability to shed their tails and blink with their eyelids. They can be found in heathland, tussocky grassland, woodland edges and rides: anywhere they can find invertebrates to eat and a sunny patch in which to sunbathe. They are often found in mature gardens and allotments, where they like hunting around the compost heap. However, if you have a cat, you are unlikely to find them in your garden as cats predate them. Like other reptiles, slow-worms hibernate, usually from October to March. (source http://www.wildlifetrusts.org/species/slow-worm)
4. Common Chrysalis Snail - Lauria cylindracea 3-4mm. This very common small, dumpy snail varies from light to dark brown in colour and can be shiny if not covered in mud. The mouth has a single tooth which is contiguous with the lip. http://www.naturespot.org.uk
5. White-legged Snake Millipede - Tachypodoiulus niger Found in gardens, woodlands and anywhere with rocks or rotting trees under which it can hide.It feeds on algae and dead plant material. It is useful in the garden as it returns decaying plant material to the soil. Has around one hundred legs
6. Heart's tongue fern A hart was an old name for a deer, so the plant was so-named as it specifically looks like a deer's tongue.
7.Rounded Snail - width 5.5-7cm The most common discus snail, and the only one native to the British Isles, is the rounded snail (Discus rotundatus). It is different from its relative, the brown discus snail (Discus ruderatus) by a flatter, more prominently keeled shell, whose surface shows clearer ribs and besides characteristic red-brownish stripes crossing the whorls in regular distances. http://www.molluscs.at/gastropoda/terrestrial.html?/gastropoda/terrestrial/patulidae.html
8. Ivy leaved toadflax Although not a native species to the UK it is now considered naturalised, having been established here for several hundred years. Its widespread distribution is now stable.
9. Maidenhair spleenwort (sounds like an affliction that you would not wish for your worst enemy!) The leaf stalk is blackish-brown. The once-divided pinnate fronds have rather rectangular leaflets that are attached at their bottom corner. Green Spleenwort (Asplenium viride) is similar but has a green leafstalk, and is an upland plant, rarely found on lowland walls. www.opalexplorenature.org
10. Hedge Woundwort - Stachys sylvatica Medium to tall creeping plant to 1.2 metres with a rather unpleasant smell, stems erect, glandular hairy. Leaves heart shaped, slightly hairy, all stalked. Flowers dull dark purple red, with white markings, 13 to 18 mm long, hairy, the whorls forming an interrupted spike. likes banks and ditches and our walls. Utterly little amazing flowers!
1. The Brown Garden Snail is edible. It is sold as escargot, the name used for many edible snails. The Brown Garden Snail is the second best choice for gourmet use. The number one snail for kitchen use is the Roman Snail, which has a lighter colour and is slightly bigger than the Brown Garden Snail. The Roman Snail usually lives in warmer climates than the Brown Garden Snail - http://www.gardensafari.net/english/snails.htm
2. Lace-weaver Spider - Amaurobius similes. Frequently seen around houses and gardens. These spiders produce a bluish coloured silk around the entrance to holes and crevices on just about every wall you look at.
3. Slow worm Protected in the UK under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, 1981, and classified as a Priority Species in the UK - Despite their name and appearance, slow-worms are neither worms nor snakes, but are in fact lizards - they're given away by their ability to shed their tails and blink with their eyelids. They can be found in heathland, tussocky grassland, woodland edges and rides: anywhere they can find invertebrates to eat and a sunny patch in which to sunbathe. They are often found in mature gardens and allotments, where they like hunting around the compost heap. However, if you have a cat, you are unlikely to find them in your garden as cats predate them. Like other reptiles, slow-worms hibernate, usually from October to March. (source http://www.wildlifetrusts.org/species/slow-worm)
4. Common Chrysalis Snail - Lauria cylindracea 3-4mm. This very common small, dumpy snail varies from light to dark brown in colour and can be shiny if not covered in mud. The mouth has a single tooth which is contiguous with the lip. http://www.naturespot.org.uk
5. White-legged Snake Millipede - Tachypodoiulus niger Found in gardens, woodlands and anywhere with rocks or rotting trees under which it can hide.It feeds on algae and dead plant material. It is useful in the garden as it returns decaying plant material to the soil. Has around one hundred legs
6. Heart's tongue fern A hart was an old name for a deer, so the plant was so-named as it specifically looks like a deer's tongue.
7.Rounded Snail - width 5.5-7cm The most common discus snail, and the only one native to the British Isles, is the rounded snail (Discus rotundatus). It is different from its relative, the brown discus snail (Discus ruderatus) by a flatter, more prominently keeled shell, whose surface shows clearer ribs and besides characteristic red-brownish stripes crossing the whorls in regular distances. http://www.molluscs.at/gastropoda/terrestrial.html?/gastropoda/terrestrial/patulidae.html
8. Ivy leaved toadflax Although not a native species to the UK it is now considered naturalised, having been established here for several hundred years. Its widespread distribution is now stable.
9. Maidenhair spleenwort (sounds like an affliction that you would not wish for your worst enemy!) The leaf stalk is blackish-brown. The once-divided pinnate fronds have rather rectangular leaflets that are attached at their bottom corner. Green Spleenwort (Asplenium viride) is similar but has a green leafstalk, and is an upland plant, rarely found on lowland walls. www.opalexplorenature.org
10. Hedge Woundwort - Stachys sylvatica Medium to tall creeping plant to 1.2 metres with a rather unpleasant smell, stems erect, glandular hairy. Leaves heart shaped, slightly hairy, all stalked. Flowers dull dark purple red, with white markings, 13 to 18 mm long, hairy, the whorls forming an interrupted spike. likes banks and ditches and our walls. Utterly little amazing flowers!
July 2016 Caroline Ford Limpley Stoke
Caroline has focused on small creatures that live in Limpley Stoke. All the sitings were made in her own back garden. The only missing photo is for the Ringlet butterfly.
Hover over the pictures below and the insects will tell you their name.
Hover over the pictures below and the insects will tell you their name.
Caroline has used a standard recording sheet in Excel produced by the Wiltshire & Swindon Biological Records Centre which we have slightly adapted and simplified so that we can both send in our records and use it on our website for our diary. Anyone can download a form from there and send records directly.The form comes with very helpful instructions.
All our community diary records are copied to the record centres.
If you would like to submit your own diary to us for a specific month then we would be delighted to feature it on this web site and we can send you the Excel spreadsheet directly. Our favourite wildlife recording technique is "I don't know what the heck that is but I am sure going to find out!"😃
See more information and how different wildlife record centres are in place for either Limpley Stoke or Freshford here.
All our community diary records are copied to the record centres.
If you would like to submit your own diary to us for a specific month then we would be delighted to feature it on this web site and we can send you the Excel spreadsheet directly. Our favourite wildlife recording technique is "I don't know what the heck that is but I am sure going to find out!"😃
See more information and how different wildlife record centres are in place for either Limpley Stoke or Freshford here.
JUNE 2016 HEATHER RIDEOUT FRESHFORD
JUNE 2016 STEVE BEST LIMPLEY STOKE