A Big Thank You

Hello everyone. No post for a while but a lot has been happening. We have had many of our mushroom/fungi observations verified by a local fungi expert and I think we should all feel a little more confident with our identifications as apparently we did rather well!

I'm glad to see we are all adding the odd one or two observations despite the recent horrible weather. It doesn't exactly entice one outdoors does it. A few sightings I have made recently - I have disturbed a few woodcock resting in the grass. I thought I had been misidentifying these and possibly they were female pheasants but my last 2 sightings were very clear and my eyes were not deceiving me. Also, we have had siskins on our feeder for the first time ever in Owlthorpe!
The main reason for this journal post though is to thank everyone for contributing. You may or may not be aware but as a result of our observations within the Ochre Dyke and Hanging Lea Woodlands Natural England have assessed the submitted evidence, which includes our observations recorded here on iNaturalist, and both woodlands have been formally designated as ancient. The Ancient Woodland Inventory will be updated by Natural England in February to include both Ochre Dyke and Hanging Lea. This is a fantastic result, so a big thank you to everyone who has contributed to the observations.

I know it is very tempting not to record something that you have previously added before. I myself have observed many birds in the fields that I do not include every single time. However, we do need to keep adding them to iNaturalist or the assumption will be that they have declined in number of disappeared altogether. I know it can be difficult to find the time but keep adding as and when you can fit them in.
Once again a big thank you to everyone for contributing. More news will follow in the New Year to show what benefit your many and conscientious observations have made to Owlthorpe Fields.

Posted on 16 de dezembro de 2020, 09:53 PM by vetch10