Bringing some much needed colour to the New Mills countryside, gorse with its acid yellow flowers and prickly green spikes is really welcome in the depths of winter. These pictures are from the bridleway leading up to Lantern Pike – but gorse is common all over the area. There are different varieties (common and western […]
Flora and fauna – Gorse Read More »
Tree creepers are not rare but you don’t see them very often. That’s partly because they’re usually silent but more due to their secretive creeping up the rough bark of trees in search of spiders and larvae of insects hidden in the fissures of the bark. A treecreepers beak is perfectly designed for this: a
Flora and fauna – the tree creeper Read More »
Holly and ivy can be found all over our New Mills hedgerows and woodlands, some woudl even say it’s teh ivy that is holding New Mills together. Both plants are evergreen which led to beliefs that they were magical; in pagan times, they were used in winter festivals as a symbol of new life to
Flora and fauna – the holly and the ivy Read More »
November is a great month to look in the woodlands of New Mills for the tiny but rather beautiful Candlesnuff (or Candlestick) fungus. Dark at the bottom and white on top, it supposedly looks like a snuffed candle. It grows on decaying tree stumps and glows in the dark – though unfortunately at levels too
Flora and Fauna – fungus Read More »
One thing leads to another. I don’t know whether you saw it, but last winter I posted an entry about the large number of field voles there were in rough pastureland around town (increases like this are called ‘explosions’ and a similar thing occurs with lemmings – close relations – in Northern Europe). Well it
Flora and fauna – Barn Owls Read More »
Flora and fauna : Jaywalking We were visited by a pair of these beauties the other day, collecting peanuts (they can hold up to a dozen in their gullet at one time) to store in hidey holes. You’re most likely to see them in the autumn when they’re busy collecting their favourite food, acorns, and
Flora and fauna : Jaywalking Read More »
Familiar to everyone the wren is still a favourite of mine…(does anyone else remember them on farthings?) We’re lucky enough to have a pair nesting in a quiet corner of the garden again this year; they’ve spruced up a nest which was built two years ago, but was left unused last year. Normally the male
Flora and fauna – four for a penny Read More »
Webs of intrigue? I was reading recently about spiders webs and in particular the silk that they’re made from.  Most of us know of its strength, stronger than the equivalent steel thread (so they say) but what I certainly didn’t know was how it actually soaked up heat. I assume this speeds up the
Anyone walking up behind Whimberry Wood lately will probably have seen the large flock of lapwings which have been wintering there. These wonderfully aerobatic birds, members of the plover family, are evocative of our area preferring to nest on damp meadows where they forage for food (worms and insects), nest, and bring up their young.
Having our Peewits about us Read More »
Spring must be on its way if the voles are starting to nest – enjoy this short interlude where life is so simple in the gardens of New Mills
Flora and fauna – the field vole Read More »
