Category: Members

John C. writes:

Last Sunday, inspired by Peter Creed’s talk at the 1 October meeting, we decided to visit a couple of local woods in the hope of finding some interesting fungi. The first we visited was Holly Grove, near Ramsden. Perhaps because it has been quite dry recently, we saw only a few ‘LBMs’ (Little Brown Mushrooms) until we came across an eye-catching group of small orangey mushrooms on a piece of dead wood.

Brenda B writes:

Last Monday as it was sunny and warm I took my lunch outside to eat in the garden. My attention was soon caught by a dragonfly which was flying round the pond.

John C. writes:

I have a patch of autumn-fruiting raspberries at the bottom of my garden and over the past two or three years they have become very popular with some rather ugly ‘bugs’.

David R writes:

Jean found what looked like a dead bat on the carpet near the vestry when she opened our church in Shilton at 10 a.m. yesterday, 22 September.

David R. writes:

Following on from my blog of 27 July about an Orphan Swift, Gillian, the lady who took care of it, contacted me to say that our little Swift had put on weight and grown into a nice strong bird.

Sue M writes:

I have detected far more crickets than bats with my bat detector recently. On a recent walk near Ascott under Wychwood I pointed it, set at about 20kHz, at a sunny field edge and heard a continuous buzzing, rather like the noise you can hear near an electricity pylon.

Everyone will recognise the welcome smell of rain after a hot dry spell, but where does it come from?

Sue L writes:

It’s September. I have the window open to the morning. I hear the fluttering of wings and assume it’s a Red admiral as they often come into my room at this time of year. But it isn’t a butterfly….

Sue M writes:

For about the last 10 years, I’ve been observing the speckled bush crickets* that live in my very ordinary garden in Witney.  Each year I learn something different about them…

John C writes:

Out for a late evening walk on Friday 30 July on the Roman Road near Crawley with bat detectors to look – listen – for bats and grasshoppers we heard a very loud clicking from the rough vegetation at the side of the track.