Field Trip to Jubilee Country Park on Saturday 23th February 2013

Led by Jim Doyle.

Goldfinch, Carduelis carduelis, in Jubilee Country Park on 23 February 2013. Photo by Bill Welch.

Jubilee Country Park is local Nature Reserve of 62 acres of neutral grassland meadows and woodland that support a variety of wildlife including species that are rare in London.

The Friends of Jubilee Country Park work to protect and conserve this important local amenity in a variety of ways.

Magpie, Pica pica, in Jubilee Country Park on 23 February 2013. Photo by Bill Welch.

Volunteers take part in conservation work to help amphibians, birds, butterflies, insects, mammals, reptiles and wild flowers that live on this precious piece of our local environment.

Jubilee Country Park Friends group has an ongoing project to research and record the history of the area that now forms Jubilee Country Park. Landscape history is vital to our understanding of the appearance of our park today. Previous usage of the land, whether agricultural, domestic, recreational or military, has had an enormous influence on the character and biodiversity of the site.

Habitats in Jubilee Country Park are:

Woodland
Oak, Ash, Hawthorn, Midland Hawthorn, Field Maple, Apple, Hazel, Blackthorn.
Meadows.
Neutral grassland.
Ponds and ditches.
Home of Great Crested Newt.
Hedgerows.
Mixed species hedgerows — Hawthorn, Blackthorn, Field Maple, Oak, Ash.
Scrub.
Blackthorn, Hawthorn, Bramble, Willow, Oak.

We had a small group to start the outing on a very cold damp day. Underfoot was muddy.

European Robin, Erithacus rubecula, in Jubilee Country Park on 23 February 2013. Photo by Bill Welch.

List of Birds spotted today:

Jays, Great Tits, Blue Tits, Goldfinch, Magpies, Green Woodpecker, Robins, Parakeets, Red Wing, Back-Headed Gulls, Blackbirds, Crows, & Pigeons.

We managed to get a good sighting of a Goldcrest who spent some time observing us ?

Sylvia and Beryl decide to leave the 'Birdwatchers' and go off to explore on their own. Before they left they and Bill Welch gave some info on Xanthoria parietina. I have provided some further info from the internet.

Taxonomy

The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753, as Lichen parietinus.

Description

Lichen, Xanthoria parietina, on an Elder,
Sambucus nigra, in Jubilee Country Park.
Photo by Bill Welch.

The vegetative body of the lichen, the thallus, is foliose, and typically less than 8 centimetres (3.1 in) wide. The lobes of the thallus are 1-4 mm in diameter, and flattened down. The upper surface is some shade of yellow, orange, or greenish yellow, while the lower surface is white, with a cortex, and with sparse pale rhizines or hapters. The vegetative reproductive structures soredia and isidia are absent in this species, however, apothecia are usually present.

Light snow in Jubilee Country Park on 23 February 2013. Photo by Bill Welch.

The outer "skin" of the lichen, the cortex, is composed of closely packed fungal hyphae and serves to protect the thallus from water loss due to evaporation as well as harmful effects of high levels of irradiation. In Xanthoria parietina, the thickness of the thalli is known to vary depending on the habitat is which it grows. Thalli are much thinner in shady locations than in those exposed to full sunshine; this has the effect of protecting the algae that cannot tolerate high light intensities. The lichen pigment parietin gives this species a deep yellow or orange-red color.

X. parietina prefers growing on bark and wood; it is found more rarely on rock. Nutrient enrichment by bird droppings enhances the ability of X. parietina grow on rock.

This species has found use as a biomonitor for measuring levels of toxic elements.

Butcher's Broom, Ruscus aculeatus, in Thornet Wood, Jubilee Country Park on 23 February 2013.
Photo by Bill Welch.

We also got more info on Ruscus aculeatus.

This is a low evergreen Eurasian shrub, with flat shoots known as cladodes that give the appearance of stiff, spine-tipped leaves. Small greenish flowers appear in spring, and are borne singly in the centre of the cladodes. The female flowers are followed by a red berry, and the seeds are bird-distributed, but the plant also spreads vegetatively by means of rhizomes. Ruscus aculeatus occurs in woodlands and hedgerows, where it is tolerant of deep shade, and also on coastal cliffs. It is also widely planted in gardens, and has spread as a garden escape in many areas outside its native range. It also has many Medicinal uses re treatment of many complaints. Also a sign of ancient woodland according to Bill.

Common names: Butcher's Broom, Kneeholy, Knee Holly, Kneeholm, Jew's Myrtle, Sweet Broom.

The very cold and damp conditions limited our timescale in the Park.

Bill Welch has posted a report on his blog "Naturally"

To find out about workdays, events and how to become a Friend please contact 07840 542261, or visit the Friends of Jubilee Country Park website.