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Rainton Meadows
Rainton Meadows is a nature reserve just to the west of East Rainton, County Durham, north-east England. The reserve, which covers 60 ha, and the adjacent Joe's Pond Site of Special Scientific Interest, are managed by Durham Wildlife Trust. Geography The reserve occupies the site of the restored Rye Hill surface coal mine and now provides a wide variety of habitats including grassland, scrub, mature woodland and several ponds. Wildlife to be seen here includes mute swan, skylark, lapwing, short-eared owl and brown hare; roe deer, water voles, dragonflies, common frogs, common toads and smooth newts are also present. At the southern end of the reserve are damp meadows with hemlock and willowherb, and a dry meadow, which contains cowslips in the spring. Rainton Meadows is the headquarters of the Durham Wildlife Trust, which also operates an educational centre, including a purpose-built classroom and a community wildlife garden. Directions Rainton Meadows can be found by f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
West Rainton
West Rainton is a village in the civil parish of West Rainton and Leamside, in County Durham, England. It is situated between Durham and Houghton-le-Spring. Leamside is about to the west, and the south-western end of the village is known by the separate name of Rainton Gate. The village straddles a ridge parallel to the A690 with extensive views to the west. At the 2001 census it had a population of 2,255, increasing to 2,316 at the 2011 Census. History The naming of the township was for one of the seven monks who followed the body of St Cuthbert from Lindisfarne to Durham. Spellings of this name Reingwald have included Reynington, Reynoton, Reynton, and Rayntona. The area belonged to the Prior and convent of Durham and was densely wooded, a park keeper being recorded as appointed in 1338. In 1657 Richard Marshall assigned a tenement and farm holding in West Rainton to Marmaduke Allenson. It then passed into the hands of West Rainton's more famous son – Sir John Duck, 1st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dragonfly
A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of true dragonfly are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threatens dragonfly populations around the world. Adult dragonflies are characterized by a pair of large, multifaceted compound eyes, two pairs of strong, transparent wings, sometimes with coloured patches, and an elongated body. Many dragonflies have brilliant iridescent or metallic colours produced by structural colouration, making them conspicuous in flight. An adult dragonfly's compound eyes have nearly 24,000 ommatidia each. Dragonflies can be mistaken for the closely related damselflies, which make up the other odonatan infraorder ( Zygoptera) and are similar in body plan though usually lighter in build; however, the wings of most dragonflies are held flat and away from the body, while damselflies hold their wings folded at rest, along or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nature Reserves Of The Durham Wildlife Trust
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are part of nature, human activity is often understood as a separate category from other natural phenomena. The word ''nature'' is borrowed from the Old French ''nature'' and is derived from the Latin word ''natura'', or "essential qualities, innate disposition", and in ancient times, literally meant "birth". In ancient philosophy, ''natura'' is mostly used as the Latin translation of the Greek word ''physis'' (φύσις), which originally related to the intrinsic characteristics of plants, animals, and other features of the world to develop of their own accord. The concept of nature as a whole, the physical universe, is one of several expansions of the original notion; it began with certain core applications of the word φύσις by pre-So ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fencehouses
Fence Houses, or ''Fencehouses'', is a small village within the parish of Houghton-le-Spring, on the edge of the City of Sunderland, England for the South with the North under the control of Durham County Council as part of County Durham. It came into existence when Napoleonic prisoners were housed on the outskirts of Houghton-le-Spring. The prisoners were used as labour to cut a path through the hill at Houghton-le-Spring in order to get the troops from Durham to the coast at Sunderland. Houghton Cut as it became known has now been expanded to carry a 4-lane road, the A690. The place the prisoners were housed was known as "The French Houses" and this later changed to "Fencehouses". This origin is highly debatable. A more likely origin was put forward by the late Houghton-le-Spring historian, C.A. Smith MA, in an article in the Official Houghton-le-Spring Urban District Handbook, 1962, as: ''Fence Houses derives its name from Biddick Fence which formed the southern boundary of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Primula Veris
''Primula veris'', the cowslip, common cowslip, or cowslip primrose ( syn. ''Primula officinalis'' ), is a herbaceous perennial flowering plant in the primrose family Primulaceae. The species is native throughout most of temperate Europe and western Asia, and although absent from more northerly areas including much of northwest Scotland, it reappears in northernmost Sutherland and Orkney and in Scandinavia. This species frequently hybridizes with other ''Primulas'' such as the common primrose ''Primula vulgaris'' to form false oxlip ( ''Primula'' × ''polyantha'') which is often confused with true oxlip (''Primula elatior''), a much rarer plant. Names The common name ''cowslip'' may derive from the old English for cow dung, probably because the plant was often found growing amongst the manure in cow pastures. An alternative derivation simply refers to slippery or boggy ground; again, a typical habitat for this plant. The name "cowslop" derived from Old English still exists in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Epilobium
''Epilobium'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Onagraceae, containing about 197 species. The genus has a worldwide distribution. It is most prevalent in the subarctic, temperate and subantarctic regions, whereas in the subtropics and tropics ''Epilobium'' species are restricted to the cool montane biomes, such as the New Guinea Highlands. The taxonomy of the genus has varied between different botanists, but the modern trend is to include the previously recognised genera ''Boisduvalia, Pyrogennema'' and ''Zauschneria'' within ''Epilobium''. ''Chamaenerion'', (previously ''Chamerion''), is considered distinct, however,Wagner & Hoch 009a,b/ref> according to Peter H. Raven, who has extensively studied the willowherbs and merges the other segregate genera into ''Epilobium''. Fringed willowherb (''Epilobium ciliatum'') is likely a cryptic species complex; apparently these plants also commonly hybridize with their congeners. Most species are known by the common name willow ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conium
''Conium'' ( or ) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Apiaceae. , Plants of the World Online accepts six species. All species of the genus are poisonous to humans. ''C. maculatum'', also known as hemlock, is infamous for being highly poisonous. Hemlock is native to temperate regions of Europe, North Africa and Western Asia. The species ''C. chaerophylloides'', ''C. fontanum'', and ''C. sphaerocarpum'' are all native to southern Africa. Description Plants of the genus ''Conium'' are eudicots, flowering plants distinguished by their two cotyledons (embryonic leaves) and tricoplate (three-pored) pollen. They are typically biennial, forming basal rosettes in the first year of growth, and sprouting a rigid, hollow flower stalk in the second. Germination occurs between spring and autumn. Occasionally, plants which germinate in early spring are annual instead of biennial. These plants grow best in wet, poorly drained areas with nutrient rich soil. They grow well in nitrogen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Meadow
A meadow ( ) is an open habitat, or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non-woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as these areas maintain an open character. Meadows may be naturally occurring or artificially created from cleared shrub or woodland. They can occur naturally under favourable conditions (see perpetual meadows), but they are often maintained by humans for the production of hay, fodder, or livestock. Meadow habitats, as a group, are characterized as "semi-natural grasslands", meaning that they are largely composed of species native to the region, with only limited human intervention. Meadows attract a multitude of wildlife, and support flora and fauna that could not thrive in other habitats. They are ecologically important as they provide areas for animal courtship displays, nesting, food gathering, pollinating insects, and sometimes sheltering, if the vegetation is high enough. There are multiple types of meadows, in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Common Toad
The common toad, European toad, or in Anglophone parts of Europe, simply the toad (''Bufo bufo'', from Latin ''bufo'' "toad"), is a frog found throughout most of Europe (with the exception of Ireland, Iceland, and some Mediterranean islands), in the western part of North Asia, and in a small portion of Northwest Africa. It is one of a group of closely related animals that are descended from a common ancestral line of toads and which form a species complex. The toad is an inconspicuous animal as it usually lies hidden during the day. It becomes active at dusk and spends the night hunting for the invertebrates on which it feeds. It moves with a slow, ungainly walk or short jumps, and has greyish-brown skin covered with wart-like lumps. Although toads are usually solitary animals, in the breeding season, large numbers of toads converge on certain breeding ponds, where the males compete to mate with the females. Eggs are laid in gelatinous strings in the water and later hatch out into ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Common Frog
The common frog or grass frog (''Rana temporaria''), also known as the European common frog, European common brown frog, European grass frog, European Holarctic true frog, European pond frog or European brown frog, is a semi-aquatic amphibian of the family Ranidae, found throughout much of Europe as far north as Scandinavia and as far east as the Urals, except for most of Iberia, Southern Italy, and the southern Balkans. The farthest west it can be found is Ireland. It is also found in Asia, and eastward to Japan. The nominative, and most common, subspecies ''Rana temporaria temporaria'' is a largely terrestrial frog native to Europe. It is distributed throughout northern Europe and can be found in Ireland, the Isle of Lewis and as far east as Japan. Common frogs metamorphose through three distinct developmental life stages — aquatic larva, terrestrial juvenile, and adult. They have corpulent bodies with a rounded snout, webbed feet and long hind legs adapted for swimmin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
European Water Vole
The European water vole or northern water vole (''Arvicola amphibius''), is a semi-aquatic rodent. It is often informally called the water rat, though it only superficially resembles a true rat. Water voles have rounder noses than rats, deep brown fur, chubby faces and short fuzzy ears; unlike rats their tails, paws and ears are covered with hair. In the wild, on average, water voles only live about five months. Maximum longevity in captivity is two and a half years. Appearance Water voles reach in length, plus a tail which is about half the length of the body. Weights reported for adults are variable. It is possible for large, optimal adults to weigh as much as However, these are peak weights. Elsewhere, the mean body mass has been reported as , although this figure includes immature water voles. The minimum weight to successfully breed as well as to survive winter is reportedly in females and in males.Yavuz, Güliz, Ercüment Çolak, and Teoman Kankılıç. ''Investig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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