Island Life Magazine Ltd August/September 2010 | Page 85

country life

Island Life - August/September 2010

Cream-spot ladybird

Slippery Jack
Although not un-common, Slippery Jack is
a good find and much appreciated by chefs.
Look for it amongst conifers, particularly
Scots Pine from late summer to autumn.
The cap is slightly sticky, 5-15cm across
(2-6”), with a clear visible ring at the top of
the stem. Important: We don’t recommend
eating wild mushrooms, unless expert advice
has been taken.

Although we come across the common
‘7-spot Ladybird’ all year round, the
Cream-spot Ladybird tends to only be
found during the summer, possibly
early autumn. Count the seven pale
yellow spots on each elytron (hardened
front wings). Look out also for the
’10-spot Ladybirds, that can could be
red, yellow or even black!

Leverets

Hares can breed at any time of the
year, but most leverets are born between March and September. Normally two or three are born above ground
in grass-lined nests, fully furred with
their eyes open. The mother will hide
each leveret in its own form (nest), visiting them once every night to suckle
them. While she is away the leverets
lie low and still to avoid detection by
predators.

JIGSAW woodland grants
With the tree planting season
just around the corner, now
is a good time to be planning
any woodland planting for
this season. Between 2001
and 2006, 34 owners planted
over 210 hectares (519 acres)
of native woodland on the
island through the JIGSAW

scheme. A limited scheme was
re-introduced last year, and
has now been rolled out across
the island with preference
given to certain areas. For
more information contact:
Tony Ridd; 740067 or tony@
landscapetherapy.co.uk.

Gardening – can you dig it?
The Footprint Trust’s
Adopt-A-Garden scheme,
is offering free training to
would-be gardeners. The ‘Can
You Dig It’ training scheme
will give new gardeners the
ability to grow vegetables
and compost waste. The
charity will then try to match

up the new gardeners with
a nearby garden for them to
‘Adopt.’ Places on the free
training scheme are limited to
20 people. For more details
contact Don on 82 22 82, or
email don@footprint-trust.
co.uk

Rare chance to see Dormice at
Briddlesford Woods
On Saturday 25 Sep and
Saturday 23 Oct 2010, the
PTES invite you to join them
at their woodland reserve in
Wootton, for a rare chance to
see dormice in their natural
setting. September and
October are good months
for plenty of sightings, as t