Caerphilly Woodlands Trust

Local View - December 2009

The Holly and the Ivy (and the Mistletoe)

By Marge Butcher

The holly and the ivy,
Now both are full well grown.
Of all the trees that are in the wood,
The holly bears the crown

At Christmas the holly, ivy and mistletoe are used in our homes for decorations but there is much folklore surrounding these plants.

Holly leaves are thick with a waxy surface which helps them to resist water loss when the earth is frozen in wintertime.  Conveniently this means they are able to retain their colour for a long time when cut from the tree and brought indoors.  Old traditions said that holly held special powers to repel evil spirits.  Also houses and barns were thought to be protected from bad things such as lightening if a holly tree grew nearby.  Wreaths made from holly are linked to Christ’s crown of thorns and it was once thought that the cross of His crucifixion was made from holly wood.

Ivy also has thick and leathery leaves, dark green on top with paler undersides and light green veins forming a beautiful surface pattern.  The ivy had an honourable place in ancient Greek and Roman folklore.  It was used to decorate the arms and shields of warriors on ceremonial occasions and was used by the Greeks to crown poets as an aid to inspirational thinking!  Early Christian rituals credited ivy with protective powers against witchcraft and other dangers.  In an apparent contradiction ivy has been linked with romance yet is a symbol for solitude or melancholy.

Mistletoe is commonly to be found hanging from doorways and ceilings at Christmastime to encourage a little romance but it is actually a parasite, dependent upon trees to supply water and nutrients.  Ash, maple, lime and hazel may become the host but most commonly mistletoe can be found on old apple trees.  The white berry is sticky and slimy and sticks to the beaks of birds.  The birds then use cracks in tree bark to wipe their beaks thus the seed becomes distributed.  Mistletoe was regarded as sacred and magical by druids who considered that which grew on oak trees to be the most revered.  They apparently gathered it with a sickle made from gold as cutting mistletoe with a tool made from iron was thought to destroy its powers!

Local View - 2009

The Common Dormouse

By Marge Butcher

Coed-Y Werin is very fortunate to be home to a population of the common dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius).  This species is protected due to its rarity.  In Victorian times children sometimes kept these creatures as pets, just like hamsters!

The dormouse is found wild in southern Britain.  It measures just 2½ to 2¾ inches long.  Its fur is a pale rusty brown on the back and a lighter shade on the belly.  It has a long bushy tail which makes it more like a squirrel than a mouse in appearance.  They live in scrub on open woodland and are excellent climbers; they can hang by their back legs from the thinnest of branches and can even climb upside down.  Being nocturnal the dormouse spends most of its time in the thick undergrowth amongst hazel bushes, beech, sweet chestnut and bramble.  Its diet consists mainly of nuts, berries and insects.

During the breeding season a summer nest is built wedged in the fork of a branch, approximately 1 metre above the ground.  The nest is constructed mainly of dried grass, leaves and shredded honeysuckle bark.  It is ball shaped with one entrance hole which is closed when the dormouse is inside.   The female produces 1 or 2 litters during the summer months, each with about 2 – 5 young.

Hibernation lasts from late September to March, during which time the little dormouse lives in a burrow under tree roots or a hollow tree stump where it builds a winter nest.  There it curls into a tight ball, chin resting on its belly and tail curled over its head to retain heat.  During this period the body temperature is only slightly above that of its surroundings.  The dormouse is able to survive having stored enough fat during summer and early autumn. 

The dormouse has a relatively long lifespan of around 4 years.  This may be due to the fact that it spends most of its time asleep, out of reach of predators such as owls and other birds of prey.

Local View - 2009

Flowerless Plants of Coed Y Werin

By Marge Butcher

When walking around Coed-Y Werin during the winter months there is much to see in the variety of non-flowering plants, other than fungi.  After the trees shed their leaves and light began to penetrate the forest floor, plants that were hidden can be seen more clearly.  Look at the branches and trunks of trees – you will notice that the bark is often covered with mosses and lichens.  They take their nourishment from the bark and the air around them.  They are called ‘Epiphytes’ and they are a good indicator that there is little pollution in the area where they are found.  The greenish grey lichens Evernia prunastri and Evernia furfuracea appear skeletonised and dead but are actually a living plant.  After high winds they can often be found beneath the trees.

Liverworts grow at the base of tree trunks on boulders and on the banks of streams, forming leafy mats.  Their leaves are sometimes pleated or curled to trap water.

Mosses are among the few plants that show a resemblance to the very earliest land plants.  They have no true leaves, stems or roots.  Moss absorbs water over its whole surface.  Look out for the aptly named feather moss, Thuidium tamariscinum, with its feathery foliage.  Most mosses grow best in damp or wet places.  For this reason they can often be found on the north facing side of a tree – oak is a good host because of its rough bark.  Mosses establish themselves under bent branches as these are the dampest areas.  On the ground, mosses provide a good medium for seeds to germinate as the dead moss beneath the surface is peat like in structure.

Another group of plants, ferns, generally die back in autumn, but where the woodland offers shade and protection from the cold a few survive.  The Hart’s tongue (Phyllitis scolopendrium) is approximately 12 – 16” tall, medium green and leathery in appearance.  It is found on woodland sites and shady banks.  The hard fern, Blechnum spicant grows in a rosette approximately 12” in height with typical segmented leaves up the stalk.  The hard shield fern, Polystichum aculeatum is so called because the shape of the frond resembles a shield.  The polypody (Polypodium vulgare) grows amongst roots and in leaf debris.  In tree branches this fern can appear withered and dead during dry weather but completely revives when damp conditions return.

Local View - 2009

The Life Cycle of a Butterfly

by Avril Owen

There are 28,000 butterfly species to be found worldwide, approximately 56 species in the UK alone and 40 in Wales.

Butterflies face danger from predators and have developed striking markings and colourful wings to warn them off.  Other dangers include habitat loss and pollution.  The weather is also a key factor.  Butterflies live short but complex lives.

The life cycle of a butterfly goes through four stages:

·      Egg

·      Caterpillar

·      Pupa

·      Butterfly

Some butterflies lay their eggs one at a time, others in clusters.  Each egg is fertilised as it is laid.  The butterfly will lay her eggs on the plant chosen to feed her young, often the common nettle.  The embryo within the egg will feed from the food inside the egg until it is ready to hatch.  Some can take days, weeks, or even longer. 

Once ready to hatch, the caterpillar will eat a hole into the egg, then eat the egg and then eat the host leaf and leaves of the plant it was born. The birth weight will increase by about 3000 times.  During this period, the caterpillar grows rapidly and will need to shed its skin.  The caterpillar will wriggle out of the old skin and new skin will grow. This may occur four or five times. 

The third stage of the caterpillar’s life, once fully grown, and with the food reserves built up, is to turn into a chrysalis. After attaching itself to a twig or stem, it will spin itself a pad and a support line of silk.  The caterpillar’s skin splits behind the head and is eventually worked down its body.  At first, the chrysalis is very soft, but soon hardens.  The chrysalis will not move and appear to be dead.  However, inside the outer shell, the body is changing rapidly, using up the food resources.  The time spent as a chrysalis can vary from days to much longer. 

When the time comes, the chrysalis will split from the top and the butterfly slowly emerges, damp, folded and fragile.  The new butterfly will find a place to hang and dry, breathing in air through its proboscis.  This encourages the blood to flow into its crumpled wings, until they expand and are dry enough for the butterfly to fly away in search of flowers for food.  Most butterflies have a short life (about a month) so it must find a mate quickly to start the life cycle all over again.  

Local View - 2009

Six of the Best

By Neville Davies

 
Over ninety species of birds have been recorded within Coed y Werin - mainly due to the diversity of habitats, from deciduous to coniferous trees, from pools and ditches to open glades and clearings. There are however, six species of bird, which in my view, and perhaps yours also, are worthy of special mention. 
 
Woodland Wader - the Woodcock.  The woodcock is unique as the only species of wader to nest in woodland and forestry.  They like damp areas with plenty of leaf litter with dry areas to nest in.  Worms are a major food source for the woodcock, and their plumage allows them to blend in magnificently with the vegetation of the woodland floor.  Before 1800 the woodcock was known to breed only in parts of England.  Apart from superb camouflage, their eyes are placed high up on the sides of their heads, allowing a complete 360 degree field of vision.  Do woodcocks carry their young? This has been well debated by birdwatchers for over a century. There are reports of woodcocks in flight carrying a chick between the legs - followed by a clumsy and almost uncontrolled landing.
 
Night Hunter - the Tawny Owl.  Tawny owls are highly specialised nocturnal hunters with unusually large eyes.  Being able to pinpoint movement as small as a mouse and with 360 degree vision, very little escapes their attention - and talons. They hunt silently and by stealth. The outer surface of their feathers has a velvety finish to minimise noise and the leading edge of the wing has a comb-like fringe to silence the wings as they cut through the air.  Owls swallow their prey whole (mainly rodents) and the indigestible parts are regurgitated in the form of a pellet.  The familiar 'hooting' call can be heard from dusk to dawn.
 
Woodland Drummer - the Great Spotted Woodpecker is the most numerous of the woodpecker species. They prefer stands of timber where at least some of the trees are mature. With pied plumage and scarlet patches, they are quite recognisable. The call is a far carrying 'tchack' and alerts one to its presence.  Woodpeckers cling to the sides of trees and branches by having strong claws and a stiffened tail. Unusual in birds, their toes are arranged with two pointing forward and two back (known as 'zygodactyl').  Do woodpeckers get headaches? The beak is short, stout and of course sharp. They have a thick bone structure in front of the skull (especially in front of the brain) with a layer of shock absorbing material comprising of cartilage to form a cushion. Just as well really.
 
Warbling Warblers - Coed y Werin has a good selection of warblers, such as blackcap, common whitethroat and garden warbler.  Two which are always a sure sign that summer is close are the chiffchaff and willow warbler.  Known as 'leaf warblers' due to their preferred habitat, they arrive around late March to early April.  Chiffchaff and willow warbler can take some separating when one is learning to identify them, but the best defining feature is the song. The chiffchaff gets its name from its characteristic 'chiff chaff' call, whereas the willow warbler is more musical. Warblers migrate here from Africa.  They usually weigh around 10g but prior to migrating they feed (or fuel) up and their weight doubles to around 20g or so. By the time they reach Britain their fuel reserves are nearly used up and they return to around 10g again. This is partly why they are quiet upon arrival as they are busy finding food or resting.
 
Acorn Lover - the Jay.  The jay is the most colourful of the corvids (crow family).  Jays are both shy and restless and are rarely found far from trees.  They have a far carrying rasping shriek like call.  Their preferred food is the acorn - of which up to nine can be held in the beak at any one time due to an especially large oesophagus.  Each acorn is buried amongst the leaf litter and just below the surface of the ground up to two miles of the host tree.  They have excellent memories knowing every detail of their habitat.  Of course not all the acorns are retrieved. Those which are not found by squirrels may go on to become mighty oaks.  At the start of the breeding season one can count up to thirty or so jays - known as a 'jay marriage' - as the males compete to find a mate.  Jays can also be seen engaging in the strange exercise of ‘anting’.  With over 40 species of ants in the UK jays and other birds have a fine selection of these hosts to excrete toxic chemicals onto their feathers.  This insect shampoo will help to eradicate parasitic insects within their plumage.  Birds never use ants that can sting, even though these are fairly common.