Downy-rose

 

There are two varieties of downy-rose that are commonly found in woods, hedgerows and scrubland in England and Wales. These are the harsh downy-rose (Rosa tormentosa) and the soft downy-rose (Rosa mollis). The terms harsh and soft refer to the texture of the leaves, and the fine downy growth on the leaflets gives the plant its name.

The downy-rose is an open shrub having long slender stems that bear numerous pink or white flowers. It grows to between 36 and 72 inches (90-180 cms) high. The flowers appear on long stalks in June and July.

The arching stems of the harsh downy-rose have leaves that are pale green when young. The thorns are slightly curved. The soft downy-rose is straight-branched with grey-green young leaves and has straight thorns.

Like many wild roses, the downy-rose is frequently attacked by a species of wasp called the gall-wasp. The gall-wasp punctures the plant and deposits its eggs, producing on the stem a tufted growth called a gall which is caused by the larvae feeding on the stem. On downy-roses such galls are bright red and, as a result, have been called “robin’s pin-cushions”.

© John Welford

Brent goose

 

The Brent goose (Branta bernicla) is a winter visitor to the British Isles from the Arctic tundra. There are two distinct varieties of Brent goose – dark-bellied geese visit the south-east coasts from Russia while pale-bellied geese are seen in north-east England having arrived from Spitzbergen and Franz Josef Land. Pale-bellied geese from Greenland pass the winter on the coasts of Ireland.

The Brent goose is black and grey with a noticeable white stern. Adult birds have black heads, necks and breasts with a small white patch on the neck. The back is dark grey-brown. The bill is short and the head narrow. The sexes are alike.

The Brent goose is only slightly larger than the mallard duck, at 22-24 inches (55-60 cm).

Brent geese fly in long wavering lines, usually low above the water or ground. When feeding at sea, where they spend most of their time, they bob like ducks with their white sterns in the air.

In the tundra, they begin nesting before the ice and snow have melted. They lay 3 to 5 eggs which hatch in 3 ½ weeks, and within three months the young birds must be ready to fly south.

Brent geese were once a very common sight in British waters but nearly died out as visitors in the 1930s. One reason for this decline was that disease struck their main winter food plant, the eel-grass that grows on tidal flats and in estuaries around the North Sea. Numbers have recovered in more recent years, thanks to strict protection and recovery of the eel-grass. However, Brent geese will also raid winter cereals to supplement their diet.

© John Welford