The New Year so far at Yateley Common Country Park

It’s been a cold start to the year, with snow beautifying the countryside and causing havoc to our roads.  The birds haven’t seemed to notice much though, and can often be heard singing now throughout the day.  The Rangers haven’t seemed to notice either, and we have been busying ourselves out and about on all of our sites, scrub-clearing on Yateley Common and Zebon Copse with Community Payback Teams and The Conservation Volunteers, helping out the Blackwater Valley Partnership (http://www.blackwater-valley.org.uk/index.htm) with felling works at Gerry’s Copse and even taking school groups out to experience the winter countryside and learn about local wildlife.  This week we will be out at Zebon Copse (http://www3.hants.gov.uk/countryside/zebon-copse.htm), cutting willow to preserve ecologically important and nationally rare mire habitats.  Next week, we will be out with Frogmore Junior School for some outdoor education, and preparing for our upcoming “Willow Craft Event” (re-scheduled for 2^nd Feb due to the snow – we are still taking bookings!) and our ever-popular “Big Spring Clean Event” (coming up on 23^rd Feb!) on Yateley Common.  We are also preparing for the sale of firewood, a by-product of our heathland conservation works.  If you are interested in buying firewood, or would like to get involved with one of our volunteer days or come along to one of our events, why not get in touch at northern.sites@hants.gov.uk or call us on 01252 870425.

Photo:  The sun shining down on Stroud Pond on Yateley Common, New Years Day

Photo:  A family playing in the snow by the stream at Castle Bottom NNR at the weekend

Photo:  Firewood waiting in the snow to be processed by the Rangers and barn-seasoned ready for sale

 

What’s Out & About -Grass Snake

The Grass snake can be seen in various habitats across Yateley Common although it enjoys damp places, it will live in dryer lowland areas like the heathlands of Yateley Common where it can often be glimpsed basking in the sun in the morning light.

Grass snakes are good swimmers and often hunt actively in water so don’t be surprised to see one swimming across Wyndham’s Pool on a summers day.

 An individual snake can travel 10-300meters a day and will often have a range between 3 and 120hectares which they call home.  They will feed on frogs, newts, tadpoles and fish, nesting birds, other snakes and slugs.

 When disturbed they will often hiss and strike out in a defensive action but will rarely bite, and their bite isn’t poisonous to humans.

A grass snake will lay between 2 and 105 white eggs but usually lay around 30 which they hide in holes and crevices.  The eggs take 6-10 weeks to incubate and hatchlings emerge as 14-22cm long snakes.

A Grass snake living in the wild can live for up to 28 years, with a male becoming mature after 3 years when he reaches 40-50cm and a Female matures at 5years when she reaches 60cm.

What to look for:

 A fully grown Grass snake will measure up to 120cm including its tail and on rare occasions up to 200cm.

 The female is larger than the Male.

 The grass snake has a thick body with well defined rounded head and round pupils.

 Grass snakes vary dramatically in colour but is typically green or brown with a characteristic yellow collar behind the head.  The colour may also range from grey to black.  The underside is white with irregular black markings.

 

What’s out & About – Chiffchaff

The Chiffchaff are definatly making themselves heard out on the Common this morning.

Although the occasional Chiffchaff can be seen overwintering in Britain the majority migrate to France and the Mediterranean, returning in March or early April. 

As one of the first birds, they are often seen singing in the sparse summer branches of trees, and are considered an indicator that the spring migartion is underway.

They are often found in Mature, Broadleaved woodlands with thick undergrowth, and can regularly  be found in the woodlands around Yateley Common Country Park and Castle Bottom Nature Reserve.

What to look for:

Visually it is very difficult to distinguish the Chiffchaff from a Willow Warbler.  In flight the Chiffchaff is rather less accomplished and has a flitting action rather like a tit.

Growing to 11cm, the Chiffchaff is slightly smaller than a Willow Warbler and has a more rounded crown and shorter wings.   The tail of a Chiffchaff is fairly long and is constantly wagged, and it also has a much more prominent white eye-ring than the Willow Warbler, it’s plumage is not however as yellow  as the Warbler.

 Despite these visual differences the Chiffchaff is much easier to distinguish from the Willow Warbler by its call -its ‘Chiff’ and ‘chaff’ notes which it sings in irregular patterns.