Big Butterfly Count
The Big Butterfly Count held on 23rd July in the Park and Arboretum was a great success. It was attended by 32 adults and 26 children and held in partnership with Butterfly Conservation. They laid on craft activities and a quiz trailfor the children, as well as being available to answer questions and supply lots of interesting information about butterflies and moths.
Those participating in the count spent 15 minutes looking for butterflies and identifying them with the aid of charts. This is a national citizen's science survey held annually and the results will be collated across the country to look for trends which indicate which species of butterfly are thriving and which are in decline.
The picture above is in fact a moth not a butterfly. The Jersey Tiger Moth is a splendid day flying moth which one group was lucky enough to spot and they provided photographic evidence to prove it!
Wildlife to look out for
The Park and Arboretum are currently teeming with insect life. Around the brook and the wildlife pond are lots of brightly coloured damselflies like the one above. Bees are making the most of our pollinator friendly border near Church Lane and there are many different species of butterfly all through the Park and Arboretum.
Himalayan Balsam
No this isn't a tropical rainforest, it's actually the brook near the Cherston Court entrance to the Park and Arboretum. Ron and some volunteers are taking on the annual task of controlling the Himalayan Balsam which grows along the edges of the brook. The only way of controlling this invasive species with its exploding seed pods is to pull it out before the pink flowers set seed. Although an attractive plant, it would take over the whole brook if left to its own devices and choke out other plants.
Tree Pruning in the Orchard
In January Steve Mason from the Gloucestershire Orchard Trust held a masterclass in apple tree pruning for some of the Arboretum's regular volunteers. Look out for a fine crop of apples in the autumn.
Bird Box Survey
On the January work morning Graham, his grandson Riley and Ron inspected all the bird boxes.
Riley cleaned out all the old nests and we recorded whether the box had been used. In the Orchard to the left of the Cherston Court entrance as you enter the Park, there are six bird boxes and five had been used. There is only one bird box in the Park and this had been occupied. In the Arboretum only three of the seven bird boxes had been used. This makes an overall occupancy rate of 64%. We look forward to the Spring and seeing more activity around the boxes.