Monthly Archives: October 2014

A walk around the Whiteknights Lake

Posted on 2014/10/29 by evanr

Whilst this walk did not encompass the entire lake as the rain came down hard part way through, I did manage to find a small selection of plants with which to update the records of whiteknights biodiversity. Mostly plain and … Continue reading →

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A 9th for Berkshire

Posted on 2014/10/28 by Chris Foster

We have a new addition to the campus bird list following the exciting discovery by David Flack from the Meteorology department of Berkshire’s ninth recorded yellow-browed warbler. He kindly sent me the following account of his find: “I got into … Continue reading →

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A new county record

Posted on 2014/10/21 by Fay Newbery

While preparing for my lichen ‘walk’ on campus I examined one of the Horse chestnut trees near the pond in the Harris Garden. I’ve used this tree for teaching lichens on the MSc Plant Diversity course for the last three … Continue reading →

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Birds On The Move

Posted on 2014/10/20 by Chris Foster

hough Whiteknights is perhaps not the best spot to observe bird migration, a few species have been on the move in the last couple of weeks. Our most abundant summer visitor, the chiffchaff, is still around (though in declining numbers), … Continue reading →

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Magpie Inkcap – Coprinopsis picacea

Posted on 2014/10/16 by Alastair Culham

Thanks to Dave Butlin I can add another toadstool to our campus list – the black with white spots is a distinctive feature of Coprinopsis picacea, the aptly called Magpie Inkcap.  These toadstools were seen today in wood chips and … Continue reading →

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A Walk through the Wilderness 15th October 2014

Posted on 2014/10/16 by evanr

As part of my time volunteering at the University Herbarium, I will be attempting to document some of the species on campus, in order to update the WB blog species list. To start me off, as I am as yet … Continue reading →

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Lichen exploration on campus

Posted on 2014/10/14 by Fay Newbery

Whiteknights is an amazing teaching resource. Recently I led a lichen ‘walk’ for the Reading District Natural History Society from the car-park in front of the Harborne Building. I’ve put ‘walk’ in inverted commas because we really didn’t walk very … Continue reading →

Posted in Bacteria, Bryophytes, Fungi, Green Algae, Lichen, Liverworts, Plants | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Whiteknights Flower Rich Campus

Posted on 2014/10/10 by Alastair Culham

This gallery contains 5 photos.

Victoria Wickens from the Centre for Agri-Environmental Research (CAER) has kindly provided a series of photos taken on campus over the summer.

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A Selection of Plants on the Whiteknights Campus – October 2014

Posted on 2014/10/08 by evanr

Building on the success of the species lists of Whiteknights Biodiverisity, the aim here is simply to get up to date information on what is on the Whiteknights Campus right now. Here follows a brief list of some of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Flowering Plants, Plants | 1 Comment

Ideal home or revolting distortion?

Posted on 2014/10/07 by Fay Newbery

If you need a safe place to live, why not get a home built to your own specifications? That’s what the larvae of Dasineura sisymbrii, a kind of gall midge do. The presence of the larvae amongst the developing flower buds … Continue reading →

Posted in Brassicaceae, Flowering Plants, Galls, Insects, Plant Pathology Research Group, Plants | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment