What a beautiful time of year to walk around the village! And much of the charm comes from the blossom and fresh green leaves of the trees and shrubs in our hedgerows and copses. Here is a closer look at a few of the trees flowering around Froyle in May. These are all native varieties, which thrive on our chalky soil, and are excellent choices if you are looking to ‘wild’ a section of your garden.

Elder grows as a shrub or small tree, with flat-topped heads of sweetly scented creamy flowerets: many pollinators are attracted to the flowers, and dormice and bank voles will snack on them too, while moth caterpillars such as the white-spotted pug, swallowtail, dot moth and buff ermine eat the new leaves.
In folklore, elders were believed to protect farm buildings from malicious spirits, witches, and lightning, provided that the resident ‘Elder Mother’ was treated with respect! Bad luck to anyone who did not ask permission to harvest the flowers and fruit, or damaged the tree. The flowers can be used to make wine, cordial or tea, or fried to make fritters.

Hawthorn in flower is sure sign that summer is on the way; the white or pale pink blossoms are almond scented, and provide nectar and pollen for bees and other pollinating insects. The dense, thorny shrubs provide excellent nesting shelter for many varieties of bird, and the leaves are food for caterpillars of the hawthorn moth, the orchard ermine, and the light emerald moth.

Hawthorn is a pagan symbol of fertility and has ancient associations with May Day. A hawthorn tree was the ancestor of the Maypole, set up on the village green and decorated with ribbons, to preside over the festival fun and dancing. The leaves and blossom were also gathered on May Eve to be used in May Day garlands, which were carried in procession through the countryside. The young leaves, flowers and flowerbuds can all be eaten in salads, and a tea brewed from hawthorn leaves is believed to be good for the circulation.

Whitebeam: There are several of these lovely graceful trees growing around the lanes and gardens of Froyle, and they are at their most beautiful in May, with the pale silvery undersides of their newly emerged leaves, and heads of creamy, sweet scented blossom, beloved by the bees. The leaves are a valuable source of food for the caterpillars of such moths as the bordered pearl and the short-cloaked moth.
The hard, fine grain of whitebeam wood made it a popular building material in Anglo Saxon times, and traces have been found in the doorpost holes at roundhouse sites. Along with elm, it appears to have been used as a ‘boundary tree’ planted at the edges of villages and estates.

Guelder Rose is a large shrub, rather than a tree. It has deeply lobed leaves and denser clusters of pink/white flowers, rather like a lacecap hydrangea, and grows in shady and damp conditions. Guelder rose is an ancient-woodland indicator species. If you spot it while you’re out exploring, it could be a sign you’re standing in a rare and special habitat. The flowers are visited by several pollinating species, especially hoverflies, and is the food plant for such moths as the privet hawkmoth and common quaker. Low and dense shrubs such as the guelder rose form prime nesting sites for many of our visiting warbler species.
A tea made of the bark is believed to relieve muscle cramp. Finally, guelder rose is one of the national symbols of Ukraine, and is mentioned in many folk songs and featured in traditional art and embroidery, which alone is an excellent reason for planting one at the back of your garden!

Sue Lelliott, Froyle Tree Warden

When the weather turns cold, you may wonder what happens to these insects. Winter poses a problem for butterflies as they cannot get warm enough to become active.  They enter a dormant phase either as an egg, larva, pupa or adult insect, dependent upon species.  This isn’t simply a random choice but is a way of ensuring that the insect’s awakening the following year corresponds with the peak availability of its main food source.  Amazingly the Painted Lady avoids winter conditions completely by migrating long distances to regions in North Africa and the Middle East.

Eggs, larvae and pupae tend to be hidden away, though you may find Large White pupae attached to the walls of your house.  Those species that overwinter as dormant adults include Brimstone, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock and Comma.  The Red Admiral, which has become a common sight in British winters of late, doesn’t enter a proper dormancy but can become active on any suitable sunny days.

The Comma has its name written on the underside in the only white marking, which resembles a comma. When resting with wings closed this butterfly has excellent camouflage, the jagged outline of the wings giving the appearance of a withered leaf, making the butterfly inconspicuous when resting on a tree trunk or when dormant in winter.

The sea urchin-shaped eggs of the Brown Hairstreak are laid singly on the bark of blackthorn, typically on one- or two-year old growth that is in a sheltered area exposed to the sun.  Within the 1mm pin-head sized egg, the larva partially develops before entering hibernation for the winter.  Overwintering eggs are particularly vulnerable to hedge-trimming since they are laid on the youngest growth of the foodplant.

The Orange Tip pupa (or chrysalis) is formed on an upright plant stem that provides a suitable overwintering site, attached by a silk thread girdle.  Green when first formed, the pupa turns light brown to more-closely match its surroundings.  Several crucifers are used as foodplants, especially Cuckooflower in damp meadows and Garlic Mustard along road verges.  It also lays its eggs on Honesty and Sweet Rocket in gardens. The chrysalis will not survive winter if the plant stems are cut down before the adult butterfly emerges in spring.  Leaving part of your garden naturally unkempt helps to benefit other wildlife aswell.

Barry C.

The Holly and the Ivy are words of this traditional Christmas carol, thought to have Pagan origins and could date back over 1000 years. Holly (Ilex aquifolium) and Ivy (Hedera helix) were taken indoors during the winter, the hope being that the occupants would endure the cold season just as these hardy plants do.  In addition, they are both brilliant for wildlife, their flowers benefit pollinators and their berries are eaten by birds.

Stroll past any ivy clad wall or tree on a sunny day in late summer and early autumn and you will see a myriad of bees, flies, wasps and butterflies attracted to the rich nectar and pollen offering. A study by Sussex University demonstrated how significant ivy’s presence is to insects. During September and October they showed that the majority of pollen pellets collected by honey bees were from ivy. Hoverflies were also observed to be particularly frequent visitors. Ivy even has its own specialists, including the Ivy Bee (Colletes hedera).

The Holly Blue butterfly (Celastrina argiolus) generally has two generations each year the first in early spring emerging well before other blue butterflies. It tends to fly high around bushes and trees, whereas other grassland blues usually stay near ground level.  It is by far the commonest blue butterfly to found in gardens with a second generation flying July to September.  The larvae feed predominantly on the flower buds, berries and terminal leaves of Holly in the spring generation, and on Ivy in the summer generation.

Although holly berries are often ripe by autumn, birds such as song thrushes, blackbirds, fieldfares and redwings don’t usually feed on them until late winter. The dry pith of ivy berries contains nearly as many calories, weight for weight as Mars bars! In most cases, while the bird digests the pith and juice, the seeds travel undamaged through the bird’s gut, and may be dropped many miles from the parent plant.

Are you fortunate to have a hedgehog in your garden? Having been several years since seeing any in our garden, we were delighted recently to see the little black ‘calling cards’ that are evidence a hedgehog has spent some time visiting ours. I’m sure many of you will be aware of the severe decline in hedgehog numbers across the UK, including in the countryside. With this in mind there are several things we can do to help them.

They start to hibernate in October. However, if they are underweight they won’t survive over the Winter. Therefore, if you see a small hedgehog at the moment, this will be a young hedgehog, also called a hoglet, please contact Hart Wildlife Rescue– www.hartwildlife.org.uk – who should be able to take the hoglet and build it up, so it can be safely released next Spring.

Also please be very careful with strimming.  Sadly hedgehogs are often seen injured post strimming and the damage inflicted is usually too severe for them to survive. If you are going to be building bonfires, please bear in mind a hedgehog will think this is a great place to rest in, and so please check them carefully before lighting, or ideally light them straight after building them.

There are other things that will help to make your garden hedgehog friendly including:

•           ensuring a pond has a ramp for them to use

•           creating a wild corner

•           stopping using chemicals

•           putting out food and water

If you are interested to find out further information about how you can help hedgehogs, the people’s trust for endangered species (ptes) has initiated Hedgehog Street, a joint campaign in conjunction with the Hedgehog Preservation Society. Further details can be found at www.ptes.org.

Jayne Fisher

Enjoying the Wildlife of Froyle

We have lived in Froyle now for nearly 12 years, relatively new residents compared to many, but every day I am appreciative of how lucky we are to live here, with the countryside and wildlife on our doorstep. This was highlighted on a recent two mile dog walk around Lower Froyle.

It was a gloriously sunny morning. We left our resident house martins behind in the nests around our house. After their long journey back from Africa we are hoping they will be successfully breeding, to help keep up, and perhaps swell, their ‘amber listed’ population. Shortly afterwards we encountered a Red Kite, another ‘amber listed’ bird, magnificently gliding low over the houses and gardens. ‘Amber list’ includes species where there is falling populations or contracting ranges.

Whilst walking close to the quarry, Skylarks were in songflight, some so high in the air that they were barely visible. This is a relatively common occurrence here, but not typical generally for the UK now as Skylarks are on the ‘red list’ of endangered or vulnerable species. In the hedgerow we heard the ‘little bit of bread and no cheese’ song of a Yellow Hammer, another species on the red list.

A Roe deer doe was standing in the shade of a tree at the edge of a field behind long grass. Luckily the wind must have been in its favour as the dogs were unaware of it. It remained there just watching us, perhaps it had a kid nearby.

As usual we stopped to admire the view from the thoughtfully placed ‘tree bench’ at the top of Hussey’s Lane. On returning down the lane, a Grass Snake slithered back into the vegetation at the edge of the track, having been disturbed from basking in the sun by our footsteps. A Blackcap sang its melodic song further down the track.

Coming across the Recreation Field, we admired the blooms of the ‘Wildflower area’. Once back in our garden, the hedgehog droppings were evidence of a visitor or two the night before, presumably consuming the food that we put out for them each evening.

Whilst I appreciate this is by no means an exhaustive list of Froyle wildlife, I feel very fortunate to be able to experience the sorts of encounters mentioned above.

Jayne Fisher