My Sidmouth Nature Diary

  Photo: Peasland Knapp (not taken on the day hence blue skies) The Knapp and the Cemetery On the morning of Wednesday, 2nd November 2022, I joined my first outing with the Sidmouth U3A (University of the Third Age) nature recorders group. We met at 10.30 in the Knowle car park under overcast skies and with a very blustery wind. Mercifully the rain help off for our walk only setting in once we were all safely back at home! We set off up Peasland Road and entered the Knapp through the gate to the reserve and then climbed the steps encountering a fine display of fleecy milkcap fungi near the top. On a brief detour on to the Peasland Knapp wild flower area we found the 'iconic' toadstool, fly agaric, under the birch trees. It was good to find a specimen in pristine condition. Moving on we walked down through the orchard stopping to admire the impressive array of lichen growing on the older fruit trees and then along the woodland path to the gate into the cemetery. The best area fo...

  The jackdaw is a familiar sight about the cliffs, and also the various green spaces, around Sidmouth. A party of six are regular visitors to the grounds here where I live to feed on grubs they find in the lawns. This is a sociable little crow, not only enjoying the company of its own kind but are often found with flocks of rooks on farmland and less frequently with carrion crows. Despite their gregarious nature they can also be encountered in pairs, especially during the breeding season of course. They have lovely blue eyes and are quite endearing. They seem to be quite pompous as they strut around as if they own everything that they can see. They are also very intelligent and are known to be 'thieves' in a similar way to magpies.  The origin of their name is a little obscure and may have come about from a couple of sources. Daw is a country name for a crow so that part is obvious but Jack may come from the distinctive harsh 'jack' call they make. On the other hand ja...

  One of the more common plants one will encounter when walking around Sidmouth is the hart's-tongue fern [Phyllitis scolopendrium]; it is common throughout the south west of England. Hart's-tongue is, in fact, a 'spleenwort' which is a sub-family of the fern group.  It can be found in woods, especially woodland on hill sides, hedgerows, among rocks, on walls, on the sides of ditches, even inside water wells. In short, it likes warm, darkish, damp places. It is an indicator plant of ancient woodland so where it occurs in woodland it is likely the woodland dates back over 600 years. Hart's-tongue can be abundant where the environment is suitable.  Unlike the 'classic' ferns that have rather complex leaf structures the hart's-tongue has a smooth, shiny, undivided leaf in its familiar 'deer's tongue' shape which is so unique and enables it to be easily identified. The Hart's-tongue is 'evergreen' and is in leaf all year round but pro...