• Up to 3 million earthworms are estimated to live in every acre of grassland.
• Earthworms act as ploughs, continually churning the soil over, mixing, sifting and aerating it.
• Charles Darwin believed that earthworms brought between 8 – 18 tons of soil annually to the surface of an acre of land in their worm casts

HABITAT & FOOD NEEDS.....

• The Common Earthworm lives in a deep, permanent burrow 1 – 1.25 m. deep.
• They move through the soil by anchoring one end, stretching the other, anchoring it and pulling the back end up to the front.
• If the soil is too compact they eat their way through, swallowing it as they go. It then passes out of the body as worm casts.

SPECIES IDENTIFICATION & RECORDING......

• The Common Earthworm can be up to 20 cm. long and has a segmented body with hooked hairs on the underside of the segments.
• Each adult worm is hermaphrodite, having both male and female reproductive organs.
• The Garden Spider is recognized by the large white cross on its brown back.
• The saddle shaped, unsegmented bulge called the clitellum appears when they are in breeding condition.

Learn more details about earthworm behaviour by reading the article by Robert Oseman in our September 2005 Newsletter (issue 5)

RED ADMIRAL (Vanessa atalanta)

INTERESTING FACTS......

• The Red Admiral is a member of the Vanessid genus of butterflies, Britains most colourful butterflies which also include The Painted Lady, Peacock and Tortoiseshells.
• They arrive in Britain from the Mediterranean in spring or early summer.Many migrate back to southern Europe in autumn. Other adults hibernate here but not many survive the winter.
• The Chrysalids have metallic markings and it is thought these types first got the name “ chrysalis” which means golden.

HABITAT & FOOD NEEDS.....

• Red Admiral caterpillars feed on nettles.
• The adults use many garden plants especially the Butterfly bush, Buddlelia davidii and thistles.

ATTRACTING THE SPECIES

• Provide an abundance of flowering plants especially Buddlia davidii, nettles and thistles.

SPECIES IDENTIFICATION & RECORDING......

• The Red Admiral has distinctive red, black and white colouration. The undersides of the wings are very dull in colour so when it is resting with wings closed it is camouflaged to look like a dead leaf.
• The caterpillars of the Vanessids are all black or brown with white or yellow marks and are covered in spiky outgrowths.

LONG TAILED TIT (Aegithalos caudatus)

INTERESTING FACTS......

• Long Tailed Tits are master builders making a domed nest from moss, lichen and cobwebs and lined with hundreds of feathers.
• The adult can only fit in the nest to keep the eggs warm if she folds her tail over her back.
• The nest stretches as the chicks grow.

HABITAT & FOOD NEEDS.....

• They frequent hedgerows, deciduous woodland edges and gardens and are usually in a group flitting from bush to bush.
• Long Tailed Tits feed mainly on insects.
• They are a fairly common bird throughout Britain and Ireland apart from the northern isles.
  

ATTRACTING THE SPECIES

• An abundance of flowering shrubs and bushes are needed as Long Tailed Tits seldom visit bird tables.

SPECIES IDENTIFICATION & RECORDING......

• They are a distinctive small tit with a very long tail.
• They have black, grey, white and pink colouration.
• A group of Long Tailed Tits can be easily recognised by their high pitched, 3 syllable “ sreech- sreech- sreech” call.