I've got my eye on you...

I took this picture when we had all the frost on 21st January but I couldn't resist choosing him as my bird of the day today. I never truly realised just how much wildlife we have on campus so I'm really going to keep my eye out in the future for more pictures.
So here's the blurb about the Blackbird or as its Latin name, Turdus merula, for you. It is part of the Turdidae family of chats and thrushes.
The male of the species are the most recognisable as they live up to the name of Blackbird, whereas the female is brown with speckles or streaks on the breast. They really stand out in the garden with their yellow/orange eye ring and beak. The eyes are just like those ones you get for stuffed teddy bears.
The blackbird can be found pretty much all over the UK and worldwide really, anywhere from gardens to countryside to coasts to hills, unless they are high peaks. This bird can be rather partial to insects, worms, and berries for their diet. So make sure you have plants such as Holly and Cotoneaster horizontalis that produce berries in your borders, well tended healthy soil and even a bug hotel to attract them to your garden.

You can quite easily buy a bug hotel at your local garden centre but should you have the materials to hand then you could make your own. All you really need is some wood, bamboo canes and straw or leaves and pile it up in your border. The insects want somewhere they can wiggle their way in to for protection and shelter. By having one of these in your garden, you are more than likely to get some inhabitants which will increase the biodiversity in your garden and will increase the likeliness of birds visiting you. If you do this then I bet you're more than likely to get some amazing wildlife right in your back yard!

Check out the RSPB website for more information www.rspb.org.uk

#biodiversity #wildlife #birds

(Pictures taken by myself on 21st January and 23rd January 2016)

Can't see the wood for the trees

This is just a little bit of the woodland at Churchwood. The path runs all down the side of the campus connecting North Lodge to South Lodge. It mainly consists of beech (Fagus sylvatica), holly (Ilex aquifolium), laurel (Laurus nobilis) and birch (Betula pubescens). It's used by dog walkers, cyclists, and students.

Ilex aquifolium

In this woodland, as with the one at the opposite end of campus, Queenswood, there are several bird and bat boxes to try and encourage more wildlife onto the campus.

It's not possible for me to say whether or not they are being utilised as we don't monitor their usage, but it would be great if we could. The last time bat boxes were affixed to trees was in 2012 by Paul, Carl and myself. Hopefully next year we will be putting some more bird boxes as well as bat boxes up.

At the opposite end of campus is the woodland known as Queenswood. This woodland is very similar  to Churchwood in that it contains the same variety of trees. This woodland is used mainly by dog walkers and a student running group. The paths are extremely muddy at the moment so take care if you walk through the wood!

One of the stand out sections of this woodland has to be the Queen Victoria monument. No one really knows its origin except that it was created in 1858. Some say it was built as a celebration of Queen Victoria's 39th birthday but no-one really knows for sure. If it was for her birthday then it was such a shame as she didn't even turn up!

The grounds team are in the process of clearing some of the trees from this wood to try and open it up a bit more and to allow stronger trees to develop. There is a lot of overcrowding in some patches so we need to thin these out so that at least some of the saplings have a chance. By doing so we are encouraging more ground cover plants to appear which is great for the local wildlife and it allows visitors and members of the public to see all the gorgeous bluebells that are starting to appear.

Fingers crossed we don't get too much frost or snow which could kill off these bulbs before they flower. The weather seems a bit crazy at the moment so a lot of plants are thinking spring is already here and are starting to get their buds or even, like these daffodils, starting to flower!

#woodland #wildlife #trees
(Photos taken by myself on Thursday 28th January, daffodils taken on Tuesday 26th, and Paul putting up the bat box in 2012)