HAPPY NEW YEAR! With the shortest day thankfully behind us, spring isn’t far away. Spring is signalled in the form of birdsong. The usual communication calls of birds are joined by the songs of territorial birds claiming their space and advertising for mates. Apart from robins (both male and female sing over the winter), bird […]

Stover’s autumnal golds and reds, which arrived later this year due to the mild weather, are finally fading and falling now that winter has descended. The woodland birds will now have fewer daylight hours in which to feed. Most insects have now gone into hibernation and are hidden away by the beginning of December. Woods […]

November is the month when old man’s beard covers the trees and hedgerows. Late-flowering ivy, scabious and Michaelmas daisy provides nectar for many insects before they hibernate for the winter. During October the weather stayed unseasonably mild with butterflies still on the wing, especially red admirals, during the dry days. Dragonflies were also in abundance […]

October is the month when the trees are in their full autumn colours. With the shorter days and less powerful sun, the trees are no longer running efficiently and are reabsorbing the green chemical chlorophyll, leaving the brown, russet and yellow pigments as the dominant colours of the season. As the leaves drop, galls become […]

The leaves on the elder trees are just starting to turn yellow indicating that autumn has finally caught up with Stover. Horse chestnut and beech are usually the next trees to don their autumn colours. For the next month the Country Park will be laden with fruits, seeds and nuts. Blackberries are in abundance, and […]

The longest day is now behind us and summer is in full swing!  On the heath the heather will soon start to flower along with heath speedwell and eyebright. A characteristic sound of the heath in mid-summer is the crackle of the seed pods of common gorse as they split open to disperse their seeds. […]

The rhododendron is pretty spectacular at this time of year along with the yellow azaleas which flower along the lake path. The flag iris is turning the marsh from green to gold. Summer flowers are at their best this month. Heath and common spotted orchids are out in profusion along with bugle, tormentil, red campion, […]

May is the month when the rhododendron, azalea, and yellow flag start to flower; the trees come into leaf; the last of the summer migrants return and when the dawn chorus is at its peak. Nightjars usually start arriving from their winter quarters in Africa in May. The males arrive first usually during the first […]