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Five Acre Grove
Five Acre Grove () is a nature reserve in Leonard Stanley, Gloucestershire.Kelham, A, Sanderson, J, Doe, J, Edgeley-Smith, M, et al., 1979, 1990, 2002 editions, 'Nature Reserves of the Gloucestershire Trust for Nature Conservation/Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust' The site is listed in the 'Cotswold District' Local Plan 2001-2011 as a Key Wildlife Site (KWS). Location and habitat The grove is one of a diminished number of ancient woodlands in the Vale. It is between Eastington and |
Leonard Stanley
Leonard Stanley, or Stanley St.Leonard, is a village and parish in Gloucestershire, England, 95 miles (150 km) west of London and 3.5 miles (5.5 km) southwest of the town of Stroud. Situated beneath the Cotswold escarpment overlooking the Severn Vale, the surrounding land is mainly given over to agricultural use. The village is made up of some 600 houses and has an estimated population of 1,545 as of 2019. The hamlet of Stanley Downton lies less than a mile to the north and lies within the parish. In 1970, the village was twinned with the commune of Dozulé in the Calvados region of Normandy, northern France. Originally a Saxon village, a priory dedicated to St. Leonard was founded in c.1130. As the village grew, Leonard Stanley developed into a busy weaving and agricultural centre with inns, a marketplace, and two annual fairs. Whilst agricultural usage continues, in recent years the village has become a dormitory village for the nearby towns and cities. The las ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crab Apple
''Malus'' ( or ) is a genus of about 30–55 species of small deciduous trees or shrubs in the family Rosaceae, including the domesticated orchard apple, crab apples, wild apples, and rainberries. The genus is native to the temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere. Description Apple trees are typically talI at maturity, with a dense, twiggy crown. The leaves are long, alternate, simple, with a serrated margin. The flowers are borne in corymbs, and have five petals, which may be white, pink, or red, and are perfect, with usually red stamens that produce copious pollen, and a half-inferior ovary; flowering occurs in the spring after 50–80 growing degree days (varying greatly according to subspecies and cultivar). Many apples require cross-pollination between individuals by insects (typically bees, which freely visit the flowers for both nectar and pollen); these are called self-sterile, so self-pollination is impossible, making pollinating insects essential. A number o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mistle Thrush
The mistle thrush (''Turdus viscivorus'') is a bird common to much of Europe, temperate Asia and North Africa. It is a year-round resident in a large part of its range, but northern and eastern populations migrate south for the winter, often in small flocks. It is a large thrush with pale grey-brown upper parts, a greyish-white chin and throat, and black spots on its pale yellow and off-white under parts. The sexes are similar in plumage, and its three subspecies show only minimal differences. The male has a loud, far-carrying song which is delivered even in wet and windy weather, earning the bird the old name of stormcock. Found in open woods, parks, hedges and cultivated land, the mistle thrush feeds on a wide variety of invertebrates, seeds and berries. Its preferred fruits include those of the mistletoe, holly and yew. Mistletoe is favoured where it is available, and this is reflected in the thrush's English and scientific names; the plant, a parasitic species, benefits ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wren
Wrens are a family of brown passerine birds in the predominantly New World family Troglodytidae. The family includes 88 species divided into 19 genera. Only the Eurasian wren occurs in the Old World, where, in Anglophone regions, it is commonly known simply as the "wren", as it is the originator of the name. The name ''wren'' has been applied to other, unrelated birds, particularly the New Zealand wrens (Acanthisittidae) and the Australian wrens (Maluridae). Most wrens are visually inconspicuous though they have loud and often complex songs. Exceptions include the relatively large members of the genus ''Campylorhynchus'', which can be quite bold in their behaviour. Wrens have short wings that are barred in most species, and they often hold their tails upright. Wrens are primarily insectivorous, eating insects, spiders and other small invertebrates, but many species also eat vegetable matter and some eat small frogs and lizards. Etymology and usage The English name "wren" deriv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eurasian Bullfinch
The Eurasian bullfinch, common bullfinch or bullfinch (''Pyrrhula pyrrhula'') is a small passerine bird in the finch family, Fringillidae. In Anglophone Europe it is known simply as the bullfinch, as it is the original bird to bear the name bullfinch. Taxonomy and systematics The Eurasian bullfinch was formally described in 1758 by Linnaeus in the 10th edition of his ''Systema Naturae'' under the binomial name ''Loxia pyrrhula''. It is now placed in the genus ''Pyrrhula'' that was introduced in 1760 by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson. The Latin word ''pyrrhula'' comes from the Greek ''πυρρός'' (a flame-coloured bird, from πυρρός flame coloured, from ''πυρ'' fire : Pyrrha), a 'worm eating bird' that is mentioned by Aristotle. The Latin name ''pyrrhula'' for the Eurasian bullfinch had been used in 1555 by the Swiss naturalist Conrad Gesner in his '' Historiae animalium''. Subspecies Ten subspecies are recognised: * ''P. p. pileata'' MacGillivray, W, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jackdaw
Jackdaws are two species of bird in the genus ''Coloeus'' closely related to, but generally smaller than, the crows and ravens (''Corvus''). ''Coloeus'' is sometimes treated as a subgenus of ''Corvus'', including by the IUCN.Madge & Burn (1994) vii. They have a blackish crown, wings and tail, the rest of the plumage being paler.Madge & Burn (1994) 136–138. The word ''Coloeus'' is New Latin, from the Ancient Greek for jackdaws: ' (). Taxonomy While some authors consider ''Coloeus'' a subgenus of ''Corvus'', others have classified ''Coloeus'' as a distinct genus in the family Corvidae. Following '' Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide'', the International Ornithological Congress has also reassigned the two jackdaw species from the genus ''Corvus'' to the genus ''Coloeus''. Species The species are the western jackdaw (''Coloeus monedula''), which breeds in the British Isles and western Europe, Scandinavia, northern Asia and Northern Africa, and its eastern counterpart, the Dauri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blackcap
The Eurasian blackcap (''Sylvia atricapilla''), usually known simply as the blackcap, is a common and widespread typical warbler. It has mainly olive-grey upperparts and pale grey underparts, and differences between the five subspecies are small. Both sexes have a neat coloured cap to the head, black in the male and reddish-brown in the female. The male's typical song is a rich musical warbling, often ending in a loud high-pitched crescendo, but a simpler song is given in some isolated areas, such as valleys in the Alps. The blackcap's closest relative is the garden warbler, which looks quite different but has a similar song. The blackcap breeds in much of Europe, western Asia and northwestern Africa, and its preferred habitat is mature deciduous woodland. The male holds a territory when breeding, which is defended against garden warblers as well as other blackcaps. The nest is a neat cup, built low in brambles or scrub, and the clutch is typically 4–6 mainly buff eggs, which ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Spotted Woodpecker
The great spotted woodpecker (''Dendrocopos major'') is a medium-sized woodpecker with pied black and white plumage and a red patch on the lower belly. Males and young birds also have red markings on the neck or head. This species is found across the Palearctic including parts of North Africa. Across most of its range it is resident, but in the north some will migrate if the conifer cone crop fails. Some individuals have a tendency to wander, leading to the recent recolonisation of Ireland and to vagrancy to North America. Great spotted woodpeckers chisel into trees to find food or excavate nest holes, and also drum for contact and territorial advertisement; like other woodpeckers, they have anatomical adaptations to manage the physical stresses from the hammering action. This species is similar to the Syrian woodpecker. This woodpecker occurs in all types of woodlands and eats a variety of foods, being capable of extracting seeds from pine cones, insect larvae from inside tre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Herb-paris
''Paris quadrifolia'', the herb Paris or true lover's knot, is a species of flowering plant in the family Melanthiaceae. It occurs in temperate and cool areas throughout Eurasia, from Spain to Yakutia, and from Iceland to Mongolia. It prefers calcareous soils and lives in damp and shady places, especially old established woods and stream banks. ''P. quadrifolia'' is in decline in Europe due to loss of habitat. In Iceland, for example, it is on the red list. Characteristics ''P. quadrifolia'' is a perennial herbaceous plant that is tall. It may have 3–8 leaves but typically there are four leaves arranged as opposing pairs. The flowers are wispy and inconspicuous. The plant flowers during the months of June and July. It has a solitary flower with four narrow greenish filiform (threadlike) petals, four green petaloid sepals, eight golden yellow stamens, and a round purple to red ovary. The flower is borne above a single whorl of four leaves. Each plant produces ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Viola Riviniana
''Viola riviniana'', the common dog-violet, is a species of flowering plant in the family Violaceae, native to Eurasia and Africa. It is also called wood violet and dog violet. It inhabits woodland edges, grassland and shady hedge banks. It is found in all soils except those which are acid or very wet. Growing to tall and broad, this prostrate perennial has dark green, heart-shaped leaves and produces multiple violet coloured flowers in May and June. ''Viola riviniana'' was voted the county flower of Lincolnshire in 2002, following a poll by the wild plant conservation charity Plantlife. Distribution Common in Ireland and all the British Isles.Clapham, A.R., Tutin, T.G. and Warburg, E.F. 1968. ''Excursion Flora of the British Isles''. Cambridge University Press. Wildlife value It is the food plant of the pearl bordered fritillary, small pearl-bordered fritillary, silver-washed fritillary and high brown fritillary butterflies. It is a known host of the pathogenic fungus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ramsons
''Allium ursinum'', known as wild garlic, ramsons, cowleekes, cows's leek, cowleek, buckrams, broad-leaved garlic, wood garlic, bear leek, Eurasian wild garlic or bear's garlic, is a bulbous perennial flowering plant in the amaryllis family Amaryllidaceae. It is native to Europe and Asia, where it grows in moist woodland. It is a wild relative of onion and garlic, all belonging to the same genus, ''Allium''. There are two recognized subspecies: ''A. ursinum'' subsp. ''ursinum'' and ''A. ursinum'' subsp. ''ucrainicum''. Etymology The Latin specific name ''ursinum'' translates to 'bear' and refers to the supposed fondness of the brown bear for the bulbs; folk tales describe the bears consuming them after awakening from hibernation. Another theory is that the "''ursinum''" may refer to Ursa Major, as ''A. ursinum'' was perhaps one of the most northerly distributed ''Allium'' species known to the ancient Greeks, though this hypothesis is disputed. Common names for th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
