Disclaimer

This blog is written by employees of Nottinghamshire County Council, the views in this blog are personal and may not be shared by the County Council.

Wednesday 27 January 2016

Windblown damage

Today we were out clearing up a tree which had been damaged in the wind.

After high winds are forecast we survey the park and make a note of trees that have come down.

We prioritise the trees on pathways, near desire lines and near any buildings.

The one in the photo was over a desire line used by people who walk their dogs, so we acted swiftly and got it down with the use of a chainsaw and a winch.

We made the area safe after felling and cleared any wood off the desire line.

Some trees are left as standing deadwood if they are away from pathways as they are a good habitat for beetles and in turn will provide food for birds around the park.

Monday 25 January 2016

Tree of the Week

Blue Atlas Cedar -Cedrus atlantica





From the Atlas Mountains of Algeria and Morocco, this tree is narrow at first, becoming wider with age. Branches are ascending with fairly short blue-green or dark green needles. The bark tends to be dark grey in colour.
  • An easy way to identify the tree is to look for the short blue-green needles and upright barrel shaped cones (smaller to that of the Cedar of Lebanon) which take around two years to mature. 







Monday 18 January 2016

Tree of the Week


Cedar of Lebanon -Cedrus libani




The Cedar is both evergreen and coniferous, native to Lebanon, it was brought over to the UK in the 1740's onwards as an ornamental tree in stately homes and mansions. Known for it's unique shape, it's broadly rounded with a shelf like flat top, growing up to 35m tall. The bark is greyish-dark brown developing scaly ridges on older trees.

  • An easy way to identify the tree is to look for the long, erect, barrel shaped cones (7-10cm) and dark green needle like leaves.
  • Look out for 'Charlie' another Cedar of Lebonan (we have three on site) and discover the story behind it's name.

Wednesday 13 January 2016

Barn Owl footage

Below is a snippet of footage from our Rufford Barn Owls of last year.


Monday 11 January 2016

Tree of the Week




HOLLY -Ilex aquifolium





Holly is mostly seen in gardens and often used for hedges, but it can also form a substantial tree (up to 20m tall). The leaves tend to be spikey, glossy and dark green in colour, towards the base of the tree (to protect itself from wildlife grazing) and smother, less spikey towards the top of the tree. Holly bark tends to be smooth and grey, forming small pimples, often becoming silvery grey in older trees.

  • An easy way to identify this tree is to look for the red berries, popular with Mistle Thrush and Holly Blue butterfly.

Monday 4 January 2016

Tree Of The Week

YEW -Taxus baccata




The Yew tree is one of the world's longest lived trees, with some more than 2,000 years old. Crowns in young trees tend to be coned-shaped, becoming columnar, then domed. Yews are evergreen trees which means they keep their leaves during the winter, making them green all year round. All parts of the tree, except the aril, are poisonous to humans and livestock.


  • An easy way to identify the yew is to look out for the red aril, 1cm long with a black seed. The bark tends to be scaly and red-brown and purplish in colour.

Sunday 3 January 2016

Highlight of 2015, twit twoooooo..........

Finally we can share some amazing news from 2015.
Remember this old post??? Click here!
The Janitors built an Owl box to specification made from materials we had laying around.






And we are delighted to inform you that 3 happy healthy chicks fledged from it last year!!!!


Video to follow.


Friday 1 January 2016