OLD DOWN & BEGGARWOOD WILDLIFE GROUP

Bumblebees and Cuckoos

 It may sound a sound strange combination but a recent excellent talk by one of our own members, Chris Rose, was highly illuminating and left me struggling to take in all the information she had gathered about Bumblebees during her first season studying them on Old Down. One interesting thing I learned was that there are Cuckoo Bees that have similar parasitic habits as its bird namesake. The Cuckoo Bee enters a Bumblebee nest, kills the queen and then lays its eggs inside her body. When the grubs hatch, Bumblebee workers tend the Cuckoo Bee grubs until they reach adulthood.

Another revealing insight included Chris’s observation that in Spring, Bumblebees feed on male pussy willow but not female. We have few male pussy willow trees on Old Down so Chris will look into propagating more males (not many females wanting to do that guys!) and trying to understand if and why only male trees produce nectar. 

Seats to Enjoy the Views 

For some time there have been hints that a couple of extra seats positioned on Old Down to enjoy the views would be welcome and while strictly speaking this is not our forte we do try and be helpful when we can. Sadly, Kempshott Conservation Group had some large beech trees taken down and one of Old Down’s regular walkers saw them and reported back! The upshot was that with help from KCG, the Council Street Care Team and a local volunteer who swings a mean chainsaw, we now have 2 log seats so that people can enjoy the views from Old Down.

 There’s More to Cutting Grass 2…….

Last month we talked about mechanized grass cutting but the most natural tool is grazing animals at low densities, not like today. Grazing though can be combined with scything when, for example, the aim is to make hay for Winter. Historically, grass was cut with scythes which then dried naturally, shedding seed and allowing insects, birds and small mammals to escape. Stored as hay, the animals then had food for winter. After haymaking which was commonly in mid to late July, grass would continue to grow but at a slower rate. After a short period the farmer could put animals back in to the meadow to “aftermath” graze until the grass stopped growing. Animals were then taken in for Winter until Spring when they might graze for a short period in the hay meadow or go straight out to pasture. This form of animal husbandry was still reminiscent of the days when animals roamed the land at will, grazing where they found the best herbage – no fences, no roads, no towns and not too many people!

 Contact us? Email: paul_beevers@tiscali.co.uk