Audrey's Meadow

	Audrey's Meadow Audrey's Meadow is a nature reserve in Newbury, Berkshire, Newbury in Berkshire. It is owned by West Berkshire Council and managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust. Geography and site Audrey's Meadow contains a mixture of improved and semi-improved neutral grassland and wet woodland with ponds. History In 2011 the meadow was adopted as a public open space and named after one of the parish councilors, Mrs Audrey Appleby. In 2014 it was transferred from West Berkshire Council to the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust. Fauna The site has the following fauna: Amphibians Common frog Invertebrates ''Aeshna grandis'' ''Polyommatus icarus'' ''Anax imperator'' ''Ochlodes sylvanus'' ''Maniola jurtina'' ''Chorthippus parallelus'' ''Aphantopus hyperantus'' ''Metrioptera roeselii'' ''Argynnis paphia'' ''Thymelicus sylvestris'' ''Argiope bruennichi'' Birds ''Parus caeruleus'' ''Parus major'' ''Poecile palustris'' ''Tu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu]
picture info	Newbury, Berkshire Newbury is a market town in the county of Berkshire, England, and is home to the administrative headquarters of West Berkshire Council. The town centre around its large market square retains a rare medieval Cloth Hall, an adjoining half timbered granary, and the 15th-century St Nicolas Church, along with 17th- and 18th-century listed buildings. As well as being home to Newbury Racecourse, it is the headquarters of Vodafone and software company Micro Focus International. In the valley of the River Kennet, south of Oxford, north of Winchester, southeast of Swindon and west of Reading. Newbury lies on the edge of the Berkshire Downs; part of the North Wessex Downs Area of outstanding natural beauty, north of the Hampshire-Berkshire county boundary. In the suburban village of Donnington lies the part-ruined Donnington Castle and the surrounding hills are home to some of the country's most famous racehorse training grounds (centred on nearby Lambourn). To the south is a narro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu]
	Argiope Bruennichi ''Argiope bruennichi'' (wasp spider) is a species of orb-web spider distributed throughout central Europe, northern Europe, north Africa, parts of Asia, and the Azores archipelago. Like many other members of the genus '' Argiope'' (including St Andrew's Cross spiders), it has striking yellow and black markings on its abdomen. Web The spider builds a spiral orb web at dawn or dusk, commonly in long grass a little above ground level, taking approximately an hour. The prominent zigzag shape called the ''stabilimentum'', or web decoration, featured at the centre of the orb is of uncertain function, but it has been shown that webs containing stabilimenta catch fewer insects because they are less cryptic, but on the other hand these webs are less often damaged by birds flying through them. When a prey item is first caught in the web, ''Argiope bruennichi'' will quickly immobilise its prey by wrapping it in silk. The prey is then bitten and then injected with a paralysing venom and a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu]
picture info	Parks And Open Spaces In Berkshire A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are green spaces set aside for recreation inside towns and cities. National parks and country parks are green spaces used for recreation in the countryside. State parks and provincial parks are administered by sub-national government states and agencies. Parks may consist of grassy areas, rocks, soil and trees, but may also contain buildings and other artifacts such as monuments, fountains or playground structures. Many parks have fields for playing sports such as baseball and football, and paved areas for games such as basketball. Many parks have trails for walking, biking and other activities. Some parks are built adjacent to bodies of water or watercourses and may comprise a beach or boat dock area. Urban parks often have benches for sitting and may contain picnic tables and barbecue grills. The largest ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu]
picture info	Hyacinthoides Non-scripta ''Hyacinthoides non-scripta'' (formerly ''Endymion non-scriptus'' or ''Scilla non-scripta'') is a bulbous perennial plant, found in Atlantic areas from north-western Spain to the British Isles, and also frequently used as a garden plant. It is known in English as the common bluebell or simply bluebell, a name which is used in Scotland to refer to the harebell, ''Campanula rotundifolia''. In spring, ''H. non-scripta'' produces a nodding, one-sided inflorescence of 5–12 tubular, sweet-scented violet–blue flowers, with strongly recurved tepals, and 3–6 long, linear, basal leaves. ''H. non-scripta'' is particularly associated with ancient woodland where it may dominate the understorey to produce carpets of violet–blue flowers in "bluebell woods", but also occurs in more open habitats in western regions. It is protected under UK law, and in some other parts of its range. A related species, '' H. hispanica'' has also been introduced to the British Isles and hyb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu]
picture info	Vicia Sepium ''Vicia sepium'' or bush vetch is a species of flowering plant in the pea and bean family Fabaceae. A nitrogen-fixing, perennial, leguminous climbing plant that grows in hedgerows, grasslands, the edges of woodland, roadsides and rough ground. It occurs in western Europe, Russia including Siberia, Crimea, Caucasus and Central Asia. It can also be found in eastern Canada, north-eastern states of the USA and, where suitable habitat occurs, in Greenland. It is native to, and has been recorded in, almost all parts of Britain, Ireland and associated islands. Description A rhizomatous plant. Its climbing habit is enabled by branched tendrils at the end of each leaf stem, which curl around surrounding plants. The stems are not branched, are almost glabrous, sometimes with rare soft hairs, single, mostly 30 to 40 cm long but sometimes as much as 100 cm. The leaves are compound and pinnate with 4 to 8 pairs of opposite leaflets ending in branched tendrils. Leaflets are 20 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu]
	Lathyrus Pratensis ''Lathyrus pratensis'' or meadow vetchling, yellow pea, meadow pea and meadow pea-vine, is a perennial legume that grows to 1.2 m in height. The hermaphrodite flowers are pollinated by bees. As a perennial, this plant reproduces itself over many years, spreading out from the point it was introduced, especially in damp grassy areas. This plant has been propagated in the past as animal fodder. ''Lathyrus pratensis'' is also a host plant for ovipositioning of the wood white butterfly ('' Leptidea sinapis''). Description Meadow vetchling is a perennial plant with a limp, unwinged stem that grows to and is erect and hairy. The leaves are alternate with short stalks and large stipules. The leaf blades are pinnate with a single pair of broad lanceolate leaflets with blunt tips, entire margins and a terminal unbranched tendril. The inflorescence has a long stem and a cluster of five to twelve yellow flowers, each long. These have five sepals and five petals and are irregular. Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu]
picture info	Conopodium Majus ''Conopodium majus'' is a perennial herbaceous flowering plant in the celery family Apiaceae. Its underground part resembles a chestnut and is sometimes eaten as a wild or cultivated root vegetable. The plant has many English names (many of them shared with ''Bunium bulbocastanum'', a related plant with similar appearance and uses) variously including kippernut, cipernut, arnut, jarnut, hawknut, earth chestnut, groundnut, and earthnut. From its popularity with pigs come the names pignut, hognut, and more indirectly Saint Anthony's nut, for Anthony the Great or Anthony of Padua, both patron saints of swineherds. (See groundnut, earthnut, and hognut for other plants which share these names.) Description It has a smooth, slender, stem, up to high, much-divided leaves, and small, white flowers in many-rayed terminal compound umbels. The rounded "nut" (inconsistently described by authorities as a tuber, corm, or root) is similar to a chestnut in its brown colour and its size (up t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu]
picture info	Anemone Nemorosa ''Anemonoides nemorosa'' (syn. ''Anemone nemorosa''), the wood anemone, is an early-spring flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae, native to Europe. Other common names include windflower, European thimbleweed, and smell fox, an allusion to the musky smell of the leaves. It is a perennial herbaceous plant growing tall. Description ''Anemonoides nemorosa'' is a rhizomatous herbaceous perennial plant less than in height. The compound basal leaves are palmate or ternate (divided into three lobes). They grow from underground root-like stems called rhizomes and die back down by mid summer (summer dormant). The plants start blooming in spring, March to May in the British Isles soon after the foliage emerges from the ground. The flowers are solitary, held above the foliage on short stems, with a whorl of three palmate or palmately-lobed leaflike bracts beneath. The flowers are diameter, with six or seven (and on rare occasions eight to ten) tepals (petal-like segments) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu]
	Melica Uniflora ''Melica uniflora'', commonly known as wood melick, is a species of grass in the family Poaceae that is native to much of Europe, and to parts of South West Asia and North Africa. Description The species rhizomes are elongated. The culm (botany), culms are long with leaf-blades being of in length and wide. The leaf-blade bottom is pubescent, rough and scaberulous. It has an open panicle which is both effuse and elliptic and is long and wide. The main branches have 1–6 fertile spikelets which are located on lower branches which are also scaberulous. Spikelets do ascend and have pedicelled fertile spikelets. Pedicels are long and are straight. The fertile floret lemma (botany), lemma is both chartaceous and elliptic and is long. Lower Chaff, glumes are oblong and are in length. Flowers have 3 stamen, anthers which are long with the fruits being long. The fruits are also ellipsoid and have an additional pericarp with linear hilum (biology), hilum. Taxonomy Swedish natura ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu]
	Lamiastrum Galeobdolon ''Lamium galeobdolon'', commonly known as yellow archangel, artillery plant, aluminium plant, or yellow weasel-snout, is a widespread wildflower in Europe, and has been introduced elsewhere as a garden plant. It displays the zygomorphic flower morphology, opposite leaves, and square stems typical of the mint family, Lamiaceae. The flowers are soft yellow and borne in axial clusters, with a prominent 'hood' (the dorsal lobe of the corolla). It spreads easily and so has been commonly used as an ornamental ground cover. It can be invasive in places where it is not native and caution must be taken when planting in these areas. Description Yellow archangel is a large-leaved perennial plant with underground runners growing to a height of about . The paired opposite leaves are stalked, broadly ovate with a cordate base and toothed margin. The underside of the leaves is often purplish. The flowers grow in whorls in a terminal spike. The calyx is five-lobed. The corolla is yellow, lo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu]
picture info	Turdus Philomelos The song thrush (''Turdus philomelos'') is a thrush that breeds across the West Palearctic. It has brown upper-parts and black-spotted cream or buff underparts and has three recognised subspecies. Its distinctive song, which has repeated musical phrases, has frequently been referred to in poetry. The song thrush breeds in forests, gardens and parks, and is partially migratory with many birds wintering in southern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East; it has also been introduced into New Zealand and Australia. Although it is not threatened globally, there have been serious population declines in parts of Europe, possibly due to changes in farming practices. The song thrush builds a neat mud-lined cup nest in a bush or tree and lays four to five dark-spotted blue eggs. It is omnivorous and has the habit of using a favourite stone as an "anvil" on which to break open the shells of snails. Like other perching birds ( passerines), it is affected by external and internal p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu]