Hannah's UEA Ecology blog

A pied wagtail in an urban area looking for food The  pied wagtail,   Motacilla  alba,  is  in  the  family  pipits  and  wagtails  and  has  the  status  Green  in  UK  conservation  meaning  it  is  under  least  concern  and  therefore  not  threatened  as  it  is  protected  by  The  Wildlife  and  Countryside  Act  1981.  They  can  be  identified  as  as  adult  but  there  black,  white  and  grey  feathers  and  short,  thin  and  black  beak.  They  are  quite  small  birds  with  a  length  of  18cm,  a  wingspan  of  25-30cm  and  weighing  just  17-25g.  There   population is ...

Winterton beach. Sunset on the dunes. One of the first field trips we went on this year was to Winterton beach in Winterton-on-sea which is a small village located on the east coast of Norfolk. There is an extensive dune system on the beach which is a National Nature Reserve of 109 ha. It is a fairly astonishing site as it has not so many ecological similarities with other Norfolk dunes and more with dune systems in the Baltic as it supports acidic plant communities. There are plenty of ranging habitats at the site including coastal sand dunes and freshwater pools. These habitats have resulted in a large amount of biodiversity being present in the area. Sand dune succession had occurred here just like in any other area with sand dunes. On the embryo dunes the pioneer species was marrow grass which is a xerophyte meaning it needs very little water. It begins to stabilise the dunes so other species such as lyme grass and sea couch grass begin to grow. the next stag...

A grey squirrel foraging for food. The Eastern Grey Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis)   originates from North America and is easily identified by its grey colouring and bushy tail that is fixed to its back. They source their food from foraging along the forest floor and by climbing trees where they mostly find fruits and nuts or fungi but occasionally they consume eggs or even insects as their diet is omnivorous. Squirrels have even been know to eat young snakes as they have extremely sharp claws which aid hunting and climbing. Their nests are football sized structures made from whatever they can forage such as twigs, leaves  and grass and have the name a drey. A mother and her young will live in the drey but apart for that squirrels don't really interact with other members of their species. They are relatively solitary animals and it is rare to find a scurry (group) of them. They grow to about 30cm and their tails can reach lengt...

A male blackbird sitting on a hedgerow Blackbirds are curious creatures that are very recognisable and abundant in the UK. There are over 5,100,000 breeding pairs in the UK and their population is doing well which is shown by their conservation status being Green. The females and males of the species both have an individually unique look. Adult males are just as their name describes them - black. They have black feathers, brown legs and a typically orange, medium length beak. However, females are not black but instead they are brown with spots and streaks on their breasts. They are medium sized birds weighing 80-100g and having a wingspan of 34-38cm. They are part of the thrush bird family and have the scientific name Turdus merula. They can be found all over the UK in woodland, grassland, farmland and also urban and suburban areas. On average blackbirds live about 3-4 years and have a fairly high mortality rate as a population especially during breeding months March to June...

Succession has occurred and created a richly biodiverse community Bure Marshes is a national nature reserve in Horning, Norwich in the East of the UK. Over time succession has occurred in the area and shaped the landscape that can be seen today. Humans have intervened in many ways and taken advantage of the area to aid themselves through cash crops. Succession is the process of change in the environment over a period of time. The end product of succession is a climax community which involves the environment reaching a secure state. In the UK this community is typically Oak ( Quercus)   but in Bure Marshes where the land is fairly waterlogged the climax community comprises of Alder ( Alnus glutinosa ) as it grows very well in wet conditions.  Alder is part of the Betulaceae family and is native to the UK. It is particularly important for the symbiotic relationship it has with  Frankia alni -   a  nitrogen-fixing bacteria that is found in root nod...