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The sheep that graze the reserve - our lovely companions whilst hedge-laying

Here we are 'pleaching' the stems of a line of shrubs/small trees next to a public pathway. This is so we can lay them down flat whilst keeping them attached by the roots. The laid trees will continue to grow creating a sort of 'living hedge', forming a barrier between a fenced compartment of the reserve and the pathway.

The Brown Hairstreak is quite a rare butterfly, whose eggs are generally easier to see than the adults. The eggs are usually found in the fork of a young Blackthorn branch as seen in this photo.

This hairy growth found on the stem of Dog-rose is the old gall of a small wasp (Diplolepis roase). This structure is created when a wasp lays its eggs inside the buds/developing leaves of the Dog-rose. The larvae secrete chemicals that cause the plant to grow this abnormal structure (the gall) rather than buds or leaves. The larvae then develop within the structure over winter, emerging as adults in the Spring. You can see the exit holes in this image! Galls come in all sorts of bizarre shapes and sizes and are found on lots of different plants. They can be caused by many organisms including other insects, mites, bacteria, fungi, and viruses and are not usually detrimental the plant.

I found these strange black scales on a young Oak tree. I believe they're the eggs of the Variegated Oak aphid (Lachnus roboris). I think the adult is also present in the photo, on the right hand side of the branch. The eggs over-winter and can hatch as early as March. I found these in late January so hopefully I'll get back to the area so I can see whether they've hatched!

This was found by a volunteer during one of our work days. After asking around we were told it looked like a 'Slime Mould'. A quick google image search later and I found this looks most like Dog Sick Slime Mould (Mucilago crustacea), whose name comes from the fact that it resembles a pile of dog vomit on the ground. Lovely! The fruiting body is originally a yellowish colour which pales then blackens over time, so the one in this photo is probably quite old. Slime Moulds are in the Kingdom Protista; they're neither plants, animals or fungi. They're really interesting and complex organisms and worth having a read about.