Nature Page
| Contents: | Green | Walks | Abbots Pool | Flora | Fungi | Fauna |
Nature Page
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IntroductionThis section is based on the following sources, essential for anyone who wishes to avail themselves of the walks outlined:-
The Upkeep and Maintenance of the Woods is the Province of the following organisations: 
Method of displayThe presentation of the walks is in the form of the original maps and with your cursor changing to a magnifier.In the case of the Abbots Leigh Walks Map only an outline map of the major Roads is shown. However when your cursor is placed on the map it changes to a "Magic Magnifier" which shows all the missing details at a scale that can be read. This should work with all recent browsers but not with Netscape 4.7 - Allow some time for the nescessary detailed information for the magnifier to be downloaded. You may increase the size of the magnifier by using the right arrow on the key board. This particular method has taken some time in development and thanks are owed to This Site (http://valid.tjp.hu/zoom2/) which provided the basis for this method. |
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Fauna |
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Nature Notes
Well before most creatures even think of responding to the call of Spring, one group is already experiencing the urge to mate. My first encounter this year with these sex-crazed creatures was well before the end of February when I was called to inspect a very small garden pond to view a spawn-fest. Twenty or more Frogs were crammed into it.
 On the edge of the pond were a few emaciated females which had already deposited their eggs, great clumps of which decorated the pond. Males woo potential mates by croaking, and the deeper the croak, the more the females like it. By the same token, rival suitors are intimidated by guttural calls because it means that the performer is likely to be a big bruiser! The males in this little swarming orgy were very active, clutching at anything they encountered until one of them found a bloated female. Clinging tightly to her, he would then need to kick away all other males until his mate spawned. After a few weeks, there is not an adult Frog to be seen - just tadpoles. This garden was small and enclosed by a high wall. So it is a mystery where these amphibians go for most of the year. However, they will be back early next year. A large spawn-ing happens at Abbots Pool where every March, Toads from the surrounding countryside gather to deposit their eggs. With an impeccable sense of direction, and trekking at perhaps 50 yards a night, these warty amphibians head for water, often where they themselves originally spent their 'tadpole summer'. Unfortunately, they have no sense of danger, and impelled by instinct, cross roads at their peril. Many meet their demise under the wheels of cars. I joined the Abbots Leigh Toad Patrol late one evening.  The objective was to count the Toads - 246 was the maximum on one night - and to ensure that as many as possible got safely across Sandy Lane. We spotted plenty of these engaging little animals trekking to their batrachian gang bang. Some males had already found willing mates on the way and were riding them like jockeys all the way to the pool (see photo). Once immersed, many will end up in mating balls with as many as ten males struggling to access a female about to spawn. Having deposited their strings of fertilized eggs, they disperse up to a mile away, leaving behind swarms of black tadpoles which spend the summer developing into tiny toadlets.
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John Sparks
John Sparks website is at www.johnsparks.org |
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A Sustainable Abbots Leigh?
Following a talk by Ian Roderick, one of the co-ordinators of the Go Zero Project in Chew Magna., it was decided to start a “Green Group” – with an open invitation to everyone to join in at any time. Its purpose would be to support those who want to take steps towards a more environmentally sustainable lifestyle in gathering information, swapping ideas and finding out things together. Following Ian’s advice, this will be run strictly on a ‘no blame’ basis - with the hope of making ‘going more green’ as straightforward and enjoyable as possible.
Green Group has met twice in the past few months (November and January) to talk about things we might do together, to help us reduce our environmental impact, as individuals and as a community. We have clarified some simple principles to help guide our thinking:
We have talked quite a bit about recycling and waste disposal: we think that there may be ways of making recycling easier, by providing better information and maybe ven getting recycling facilities in the village. But we also realise that reducing our environmental impact means not just thinking more about how we get rid of things, but also buying fewer things in the first place. That led us to wonder about ways in which we might share our resources more, lend things to each other, or see if we can find ways to link up people who want things with people who want to get rid of things. We talked about reducing energy consumption. We thought about our community buildings - the Village Hall and Skittle Alley – might be used to show what is possible. Some kind of energy audit might be a beginning. We also thought we could create a database of people in Abbots Leigh who have installed solar panels or had cavity walls insulated, and who could let others know how this was done, what effect it has had on their heating bills, and what contractors they used. We discussed transport, and the fact that many of us in the village make car journeys to get things like newspapers and milk. We wondered if there might be a way to share this more, for instance, grouping together to get Sunday papers. To help reduce our reliance on our cars, we think there could be good possibilities for encouraging those of us who have not cycled much recently to get more active: we could organise cycling ‘buddies’ for each other, and when the weather gets better, do some cycling trips in the evenings or at weekends. As a next step, we decided that each of us would explore some of these possibilities in more detail, and report back next time. The next meeting will be on Thursday, 26th February, at 7.30pm in the George. We would be very happy for anyone who is interested to join us.
Gill Coleman
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