Beautiful orange fungi about 7 feet up on a tree (I think a willow); about 2 – 3 inches across in size. I don’t know what species this is. (Julie Dyson, December 2020)
Coltsfoot appearing
Found the Coltsfoot buds pushing up under last year’s fallen leaves in Polly’s Glade. So easy to miss these tiny brown beginnings of the bright yellow flowers. (Clare Weiner)
Coltsfoot
First coltsfoot flower about to open! Photographed today just off Frog Lane path (Julie Dyson, 10 March 2021)
Reptile survey, 2020
A meticulous weekly survey of Trap Grounds Slow Worms and Grass Snakes was conducted by two Friends of the TG from the beginning of April to the end of September 2020. The six-month recorded total was 362 Slow Worms (overall average: 10 per mat) and 2 Grass Snakes. The most productive day was in the […]
New video
A seven-minute video made by City Council staff member Sharon Woodward for the recent virtual Oxford Open Doors weekend is still available to view and to share at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kE3MUIVUPEw&feature=youtu.be
Dredging completed
At a cost of £5,000 (subsidised by a generous grant of £1,500 from county councillor John Howson), the Frog Lane ditch and the Mill Stream were dredged by Aquatic Solutions UK in September. Tons of silt, dead bicycles, and rubble were excavated. Along the ditch the sludge and silt, held back by wattle fencing constructed […]
Spotted Flycatcher says farewell
This little bird is only 14 cm long, weighs 14-19g, and is about to make its way all the way back to tropical Africa for the winter. It is on the UK Conservation List as RED, so Nicola Devine was thrilled to see this one on 12 September 2020 (the only recorded sighting on the […]
Willow Emerald Damselfly
There are 33 known species of dragonfly and damselfly in Oxfordshire – and we’ve got 22 of them on the Trap Grounds. The latest discovery, by Nicola Devine and Adam Hartley on 7 September 2020, and verified by the County Dragonfly Recorder, is the Willow Emerald damselfly (Chalcolestes viridis). On 10 September Nicola saw two […]
Fairy Doors trail
A group called Little Oxplorers has created a trail of ten ‘fairy doors’ in the woodland, designed to encourage small children to look closely at trees. The trail will be in place until the end of the schools’ summer holidays.
A wealth of wildflowers
Judith Middleton captured this vista of Wild Carrot and Tufted Vetch in evening sunlight in late July.