When I arrived at 3 p.m., there didn't seem to be much light this afternoon, and initially very few birds on the Ocean. However after we got a bit further along the path and I let Monty off the lead, things went OK, with more Tufted Duck on the main water, and interesting ideas coming to mind on the trees by the side of the path. There were one or two Wrens by the wooden swan, and later on, a party of mainly Long-tailed Tits, but with at least one Blue Tit, in the Willows on the other side of the path to the hedge-line Alders in front of the first houses.
Many of the Crack Willows, Salix x fragilis, look very orange on the young twigs, particularly the upswept ones on the lower branches nearer the ground, and these may be a form known as nothovar basfordiana basfordiana, colouring up well as the winter proceeds. These are most obvious on the South side of the Ocean Lake, and the East side of the Railway Lake.
The unknown shrubby willow by the last Leybourne Way entrance could in theory be a White Willow. There are no cracks exposing orange in the bark of its main stem indicating that it might be the Almond-leaved Willow, Salix triandra, that I hope for, but it still doesn't look quite right for a White Willow and there is little to no pubescence on the leaves and twigs, although it is admittedly late in the season. It has retained a thin but widespread covering of small lanceolate leaves, but no overall structural jizz of a White Willow. It also feels as though it is naturally comfortable as a shrub, not stretching up to a tree shape!
On the taller and more likely White Willows there are still a few leaves on many of the brushy twigs. On one or two trees there are numbers of willow catkin galls, caused by a virus or mycoplasma.
Along by the wet woodland area, the Grey Willow Carr, I did find one bush of a yellow-green barked cultivar of White Willow, identifiable as such from its leaves on regrowth shoots. It was also possible to identify many of the Grey Willows from a distance, picked out by their retention of their relatively small obovate leaves, obviously colouring up well and often a good butter yellow.
There was also a "Grey Willow type" shrub there, with much larger leaves, so possibly a Grey x Greater hybrid. On the Italian Alders there was quite a lot of leaf weevil type damage, together with
some possible Heliozela resplendella (Stainton, 1851) leaf miners, indicated by the oval cut-outs seen. The leaves are holding fairly well although a bit dulled and some yellowing as they age.
On the Roaden Island Lake there were several Black-headed and one Common Gull, Larus canus, two Canada Geese and one very close-up Greylag, quite a few Coots, a pair of Mallard and some Tufted Ducks.
On Railway Lake there were dozens of Tufted Duck and at least two male Gadwall.
Many of the Crack Willows, Salix x fragilis, look very orange on the young twigs, particularly the upswept ones on the lower branches nearer the ground, and these may be a form known as nothovar basfordiana basfordiana, colouring up well as the winter proceeds. These are most obvious on the South side of the Ocean Lake, and the East side of the Railway Lake.
The unknown shrubby willow by the last Leybourne Way entrance could in theory be a White Willow. There are no cracks exposing orange in the bark of its main stem indicating that it might be the Almond-leaved Willow, Salix triandra, that I hope for, but it still doesn't look quite right for a White Willow and there is little to no pubescence on the leaves and twigs, although it is admittedly late in the season. It has retained a thin but widespread covering of small lanceolate leaves, but no overall structural jizz of a White Willow. It also feels as though it is naturally comfortable as a shrub, not stretching up to a tree shape!
On the taller and more likely White Willows there are still a few leaves on many of the brushy twigs. On one or two trees there are numbers of willow catkin galls, caused by a virus or mycoplasma.
Along by the wet woodland area, the Grey Willow Carr, I did find one bush of a yellow-green barked cultivar of White Willow, identifiable as such from its leaves on regrowth shoots. It was also possible to identify many of the Grey Willows from a distance, picked out by their retention of their relatively small obovate leaves, obviously colouring up well and often a good butter yellow.
There was also a "Grey Willow type" shrub there, with much larger leaves, so possibly a Grey x Greater hybrid. On the Italian Alders there was quite a lot of leaf weevil type damage, together with
some possible Heliozela resplendella (Stainton, 1851) leaf miners, indicated by the oval cut-outs seen. The leaves are holding fairly well although a bit dulled and some yellowing as they age.
On the Roaden Island Lake there were several Black-headed and one Common Gull, Larus canus, two Canada Geese and one very close-up Greylag, quite a few Coots, a pair of Mallard and some Tufted Ducks.
On Railway Lake there were dozens of Tufted Duck and at least two male Gadwall.
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