Island Life Magazine Ltd February / March 2016 | Page 64

COUNTRY LIFE

Countryside
news

with
Tony Ridd

What to look out for...

PTES Orchard Project
Megan Gimber, Orchard Project Officer, writes:

O

ur new orchard website is up and running with information
about orchard wildlife as well as practical guides to
management including grafting and pruning. These free
resources will contain downloadable versions. Please visit the
website for more information. Old trees with deadwood and rotholes provide amazing habitat in any orchard, but only planting
new trees secures this habitat for the next hundred years. Last
autumn we launched an initiative to help restore orchards
through ‘gapping up’ planting, by sending out free grafting kits
and funding pre-grafted trees. This has been a great success with
1,200 trees already promised. If you have a traditional orchard,
or an even a single surviving tree in a site that was historically an
orchard, then you can apply here. Call 0207 062 8625 or visit
www.ptes.org.

Alder Catkins

Green Hellebore

The Alder is monoecious,
meaning that both male and
female catkins grow on the same
tree. The male catkins are yellow
and pendulous, hanging down,
whilst the female catkins are
green, oval shaped and tend to
stick up. The catkins provide an
early source of nectar and pollen
for bees with the seeds that follow
enjoyed by birds such as siskin
and goldfinch’s.

The Green Hellebore is one of
our most exciting wild flowers
of late winter. A bushy perennial
15-40cm tall with large divided
fan shaped leaves, looking
rather exotic with its green cup
shaped flowers. Growing in damp
woodlands. Scarce on the Island,
so keep your eyes peeled and let
me know if you find any!

Great Tits
This is our largest European
tit, similar in size to a House
Sparrow. The top of the head,
back of it’s neck and throat are
black, with white cheeks. The
breast and belly are yellow with
a black stripe down the centre.
This time of year they are just
beginning to fight for their
territory, before pairing up and
finding a hole in a tree or a wall
to nest.

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Elm Blossom
English elms are hermaphrodites,
both male and female
reproductive parts contained
within the same flower. As with
hazel and alders, they also need
the wind to pollinate them. The
stronger specimens are now
mainly confined to hedgerows,
making the dark pink to red
hanging tassel flowers easier to
spot. The flowers will develop
into tiny winged fruit known as
samaras.