Exploring Worcester Woods

Nick Cripps

Summer's Lease

AUGUST

AUGUST is hot and when the heat soars the atmosphere hangs about us like a cloak. Trees and shrubs have lost their spring-green look. They appear dull and dusty. Out in the farm fields the wheat ripens - it is the month for crop circles!

TREES & SHRUBS

Virtually unnoticed the Oak has undergone a major refurbishment. Since spring the tree has been steadily defoliated by the insatiable Tortrix Moth caterpillar. As the tortrix enters its dormant pupation period, the oak tree has an opportunity to produce a second set of leaves.

The oak tree is a generous provider. From its highest branch to deepest root, the oak supplies food and shelter to dozens of animal species. Every branch, leaf and layer of bark is inhabited by bugs, beetles, birds and mammals. In wildlife terms the oak tree gets five stars in the good-food guide!

The once mighty oak tree, ‘Old Pollard’ to the rear of the Countryside Centre, is adjudged to be 500 years old - making it a mere sapling when Christopher Colum-bus discovered America in 1492. The name pollard applies to a tree which has been cut back above head height, and then left to naturally regenerate next spring.

Oak timber is a valuable product for industry, being versatile, strong and durable. It has been long used in boat-building, half-timbered houses, and furniture, as well as extensively for wine and spirit casks. Burnt it makes excellent charcoal. Traditionally oak bark was stripped, then crushed and used for tanning leather.

By late August the Sycamore and Field Maple have fruited. Their winged seeds easily break off and spin to the ground. Notice too, the Aspen or ‘trembling tree’ its fan-shaped leaves flutter even on the calmest of days. The aspen leaf has a flat, bendy stalk which flexes in the slightest breeze.

FLOWERS

Common Figwort, with its nondescript purple bead-like flowers, is one of the few herbs to flavour the summer months. Lords and Ladies having flowered in the spring is now fruiting. Its short stalk is topped with fat red berries. The Honeysuckle too, has clutches of small red-ripe berries about its vine.

Two species of fern common to the woods are the Male Fern and Buckler Fern. Ferns do not produce flowers; they reproduce by releasing spores. These spores have a rust-like appearance and develop in paired-clusters on the underside of the fronds.

BIRDS

As summer reaches its height and meanders slowly towards autumn the bird spotter is back in business. Robins will appear out from under their secretive summer veil. Numerous birds are juvenile versions of their parents, without adult plumage. So even really common birds like the Blackbird and Starling can fool the unwitting observer, when only a few weeks old.

BUTTERFLIES

The second brood of many species have appeared by late July or early August. These include the brimstone, peacock, common blue, holly Blue, comma, small copper, small tortoiseshell and all three whites.

Late summer is the time for migrant species, especially if favourable wind and weather fronts emanate from the south. Migrant butterflies like the Painted Lady are large, fast fliers and given ideal weather conditions can briskly travel here from North Africa. The painted lady butterfly is found on all five continents.

In exceptional years the Clouded Yellow, a vivid yellowish-orange butterfly, with black wing edges, will migrant here from Southern Europe. This scarce butterfly feeds on clover and trefoil plants. Always present at the park, but never seen in great numbers, the Red Admiral can be found feeding on fallen overripe fruit.

MOTHS

The best times to look for moths are just before dusk or after midnight. Moths, like butterflies, feed on flower nectar. The Pug Moth, Brown Silver Line, Common Swift and Small White Wave will all feed along the wood edge.

There are more than 800 larger moths, called macro moths, in Britain. Many visit domestic gardens as well as woodland. So moths like the Brimstone, the Silver Y, Plume Moth, and Yellow Underwing Moth may well turn up at your home.

DRAGONFLIES

August sees possibly more dragonflies on the wing than at any other time. Hawker dragonflies are strong fliers and three species are out on patrol. The Southern Hawker favours the dappled light of the Nunnery pond, whilst the Brown Hawker and Migrant Hawker fly the meadows, woodland edge, and pools. The brown Hawker is easily identified by its golden-coloured wings.

The Common Darter emerges in mid-August and is Nunnery's most numerous dragonfly. The darter dragonfly is not a continuous flier, instead it prefers to perch on stones and the hard-baked edges of the pools. The rarer Ruddy Darter is occasionally seen at County Hall, so its worth studying the dragonflies carefully.

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