The OPAL guide to epiphytic mosses in orchards

The "Moss Man" gave me a copy of "The OPAL guide to epiphytic mosses in orchards in the East of England to help me to learn to identify the orchard mosses myself.

This Lottery funded guide explains what mosses are and how to conduct an orchard survey along with lots of photographs and identification information on the most common epiphytic acrocarpous mosses to be found in orchards.

You can download your own copy here or go to the OPAL website to order a hard copy for yourself.

By the way OPAL stands for The Open Air Laboratories, it was founded in 2007 and aims to inspire a new generation of nature-lovers by getting people to explore, study, enjoy and protect their local environment.

Click to see the list of mosses found by the "Moss Man" on just 10 Bramley Apple Trees

More foxy goings on in the orchard - or another fox sighting in the orchard

Another wonderful fox sighting today around 4pm this time, it was about 2pm the other day. This time the fox and I were walking toward one another. He/she stopped, waited, watching to see if I would continue, which I did. Then the fox slowly sauntered down the side of the drain, (this is the Fens), popped over the water and up the other side of the drain into the field beyond.
As is so often the case I didn't have a camera with me so the image is courtesy of  Jonnmann Wikimedia Commons

Fox in the Orchard

I know there are foxes in the orchard but I rarely see them, just the very occasional glimpse around dusk so today was a rare treat.

It was the rabbit running past me, for once oblivious to the dangers posed by us humans, that alerted me to the fox trotting through the trees. He/she was definitely on a mission known only to themselves. Not hunting just going from one place to another.

It would seem that the rabbit need not have worried, not this time anyway.

Image:Twilightvoron at en.wikipedia

Orchard Mosses

I'm extraordinarily lucky to meet some incredibly knowledgeable people during my orchard work and even luckier that they are willing to share their knowledge with me. Here the "Moss Man" shares the list of different moss species found on just 10 Bramley apple trees:

Here is the list of mosses found in a Fenland orchard. Most of the plants are fairly common; the more interesting ones are hi-lighted in blue. These are mostly Clean Air species which would have been extremely rare up until the Clean Air Acts brought in during the late 1960s. Improving air quality (plus the cessation of spraying trees with Tar Oil) has meant that fruit trees in general have been steadily acquiring more and more interesting species. However, there seems to be differences between different cultivars and their ability to host mosses. This, and the age of the trees, also seems to affect the picture though how all the different factors interact is currently not clear.

Another feature of interest is the variation which may exist between trees (and sometimes even between branches); the Best Bramley had 16 species on it, the worst had only 6 out of the 10 trees sampled.

SCIENTIFIC NAME	COMMON NAME	NOTES
Amblystegium serpens	Creeping Feather-moss
Brachythecium rutabulum	Rough-stalked Feather-moss
Bryum capillare	Capillary Thread-moss
Ceratodon purpureus	Redshank
Cryphaea heteromalla	Lateral Cryphaea	A Clean Air species
Dicranoweisia cirrata	Common Pincushion
Frullania dilatata	Dilated Scalewort
Grimmia pulvinata	Grey-cushioned Grimmia
Homalothecium sericeum	Silky Wall Feather-moss
Hypnum cupressiforme	Cypress-leaved Plait-moss
Hypnum resupinatum	Supine Plait-moss
Orthotrichum affine	Wood Bristle-moss
Orthotrichum diaphanum	White-tipped Bristle-moss
Orthotrichum lyellii	Lyell's Bristle-moss	A Clean Air species
Rhynchostegium confertum	Clustered Feather-moss
Syntrichia laevipila	Small Hairy Screw-moss
Syntrichia montana	Intermediate Screw-moss
Syntrichia papillosa	Marble Screw-moss	A Clean Air species
Ulota bruchii	Bruch's Pincushion	A Clean Air species
Ulota phyllantha	Frizzled Pincushion	A Clean Air species
Zygodon conoideus	Lesser Yoke-moss

The "nature" of learning about the natural world

"By keeping children away from complex, natural environments, from experiencing risk, from learning to play imaginatively we are not denying them the chance to develop fully –‐ to become autonomous and independent." David Bond


Spending time outdoors and experiencing the wonder of nature is essential for children to learn about the natural world, writes David Bond
Unveiling plans this week for a new National Curriculum, Education Secretary Michael Gove has been criticised for introducing endless lists of spelling, facts and rules, and sacrificing understanding for rote learning. The Wildlife Trust claims Gove is proposing to remove teaching about the natural environment from the curriculum.
Learning about the natural world helps children to connect to the huge environmental issues that face us. If you don’t know about something, it is very difficult to care about it.
But I would go a step further. Children should be encouraged to spend more time learning about the natural world, but instead of doing this in a classroom, I believe that the emphasis should be on children experiencing the natural world first–‐hand. Click to continue reading article at Outdoor Nation