Willingdon April 2016
Willingdon could not stay for 2pm broadcast for travel reasons but here are some of their drawings.
Waterfowl, moorhen, coots and ducks
We have been seeing some great views of waterfowl through the ditch cam and Winterbourne stream cam. There are 3 main species of water fowl that we regularly seen on the nature reserve. These are the moorhen, coot and mallard. Coots and moorhen are not ducks but belong to a group of birds known called Rails. [...]
Winterbourne camera down and a warning on school broadcasts
We are very sorry to have lost pictures from the new Winterbourne camera which is not likely to come back on stream for a few more days. There are always a few teething problems with new camera positions but we are doing our best. Also for our group of schools that have access to the [...]
Fish sightings
We are seeing some great views of fish through the underwater cams. The stripy fish are 3 spine sticklebacks and they have been coming right up closed to underwater cam in the pond and also the Heart of Reeds. We have also been seeing a fish called rudd in the Heart of Reeds. These are [...]
Frog or toad?
Frogs and toads look quite similar so here are a few tips, to help you tell the differences between a common frog and a common toad. Firstly, the skin of a frog is quite smooth while toads have bumpy ‘warty’ skin. A frog’s skin also appears wet and slimy [...]
Common frogs return to the ponds and ditches
One of the big wildlife events of the year in the ponds and ditches is the arrival of common frogs, following their winter hibernation. Frogs spend most of their life on land, but when they awaken from hibernation they feed and then head off to the pond and ditches to mate. The frogs feed using [...]
Awakening from hibernation
Many animals awaken from hibernation in March and so as we start April many of the animals are out and about. Newts, which have hibernated away from the ponds and ditches, will now be active. They will slowly make their way back to water, but its slow progress. On land newts look like lizards, but their movements are [...]
Pond bursts into life
You may have noticed through our pond cam that there are lots of tiny creatures swimming about. Most of these are tiny freshwater crustaceans called daphnia and cyclops. These tiny creatures are very important as they are food for many of the fish, newts and other animals that live in pond. As the pond water [...]
All 4 cameras up and running
Thanks to the efforts of Tim Hall and Paul Webster all four cameras are now up and running. Bird cam has now become Winterbourne cam and Pond cam is showing the bottom of the pond as opposed to the surface last year. Ditch cam is now looking south along one of the ditches and [...]