Greatbluehopefuls nest box 2019 & 2020 - Kildare,Ireland
Jun 2, 2020 8:19:00 GMT
WildlifePaul, karenupnorth, and 2 more like this
Post by greatbluehopeful on Jun 2, 2020 8:19:00 GMT
Ah that a wonderful little Oak tree - I just love them!!!
Thanks for photo - its great that you successfully grew them from the acorns. I will definitely try that in September when I find some. (I have read that Oak trees only bear acorns after 70+ years!!! So I will not see any on my shop bought one in my life time, unless I live another 60 years!)
And you know what, its like when you a buy a car, and then you see the same car popping up everywhere!!
....I have since noticed seven Oak trees within the 1km radius of my house....Three which are very close and very mature - one is only 500 metres away!!! I never noticed it as the leaves were quite late coming this year. But there it was...right in front of me!
I would say those three mature ones are excess of 200 years old, judging by the size of them and the others I have seen are 20 years+ or younger, where people have planted them in their gardens.
And now mine will make number eight! Of course there is probably much more around that I haven't yet spotted, so that is really good!!
I took a few photos at the weekend of them all....the bottom left is the one quite near me on the road right up from my house....out of the three local mature trees, two are Pendunculate Oak and one is a Sessile Oak - both native to Ireland.
Both have been native to Ireland for hundreds of year, however apparently it was only in the 1900's that the "Sessile Oak" was declared Irelands national tree.
I have learned this weekend how to identify them.
The Sessile Oak (Quercus Patraea) has more neater uniform shaped leaves which grow out on stalks, and its acorns will have no stalks, they will grow in a close cluster attached on the branch. It is more suited to rocky, hilly terrains so you'll see them in mountainous regions more. The leaves are more of a dark purple-brown in Autumn.
The Pendunculate Oak (Quercus Robur) is in fact known here now as the 'English Oak' - I have bought a Pendunculate Oak (I have never actually seen the Sessile Oak for sale anywhere)....The Pendunculate Oak has 'rhomboid' leaves (i.e tapers outward, with irregularity and then back in) with no stalks as the leaves are just attached to nodules on the branch, but the acorns do grow out on long stalks. This Oak is more suited to lowlands and peaty soil - which Kildare is full of. These leaves are tan brown in the Autumn.
The acorns, out of anything else, will help you really identify what tree it is though due to the presence or absence of stalks on the acorn cluster.
Then there are Pendunculate/Sessile hybrids which are quite common too because the two species cross propagate quite easily apparently. So that could cause confusion trying to identify it, as the tree will have traits of both species, ha,ha!
All species of Oak offer the exact same benefit to wildlife, with one having no advantage over the other. A mature tree can host up to 280 different species of insects.
So now!
Wildlife and Bird news:
Fox came really close to the house last night. I've moved the camera to a patio area now and I'll place food out in the hopes I'll catch a good shot of him. The hedgehog also has been spotted in this area...so either way, i'll hopefully get a good shot of something.
Here is my three little guys this morning - this is Day 17 . They are adult sized now and really getting restless and often are out of the nest cup, looking out the window. I know its a little early, but I believe they will go in the next few days. This one in the centre of the photo has shown great bravery and I believe this one will go first.
I will miss it all being in work, but I'm still thrilled to bits about how everything has gone so far.
Thanks for photo - its great that you successfully grew them from the acorns. I will definitely try that in September when I find some. (I have read that Oak trees only bear acorns after 70+ years!!! So I will not see any on my shop bought one in my life time, unless I live another 60 years!)
And you know what, its like when you a buy a car, and then you see the same car popping up everywhere!!
....I have since noticed seven Oak trees within the 1km radius of my house....Three which are very close and very mature - one is only 500 metres away!!! I never noticed it as the leaves were quite late coming this year. But there it was...right in front of me!
I would say those three mature ones are excess of 200 years old, judging by the size of them and the others I have seen are 20 years+ or younger, where people have planted them in their gardens.
And now mine will make number eight! Of course there is probably much more around that I haven't yet spotted, so that is really good!!
I took a few photos at the weekend of them all....the bottom left is the one quite near me on the road right up from my house....out of the three local mature trees, two are Pendunculate Oak and one is a Sessile Oak - both native to Ireland.
Both have been native to Ireland for hundreds of year, however apparently it was only in the 1900's that the "Sessile Oak" was declared Irelands national tree.
I have learned this weekend how to identify them.
The Sessile Oak (Quercus Patraea) has more neater uniform shaped leaves which grow out on stalks, and its acorns will have no stalks, they will grow in a close cluster attached on the branch. It is more suited to rocky, hilly terrains so you'll see them in mountainous regions more. The leaves are more of a dark purple-brown in Autumn.
The Pendunculate Oak (Quercus Robur) is in fact known here now as the 'English Oak' - I have bought a Pendunculate Oak (I have never actually seen the Sessile Oak for sale anywhere)....The Pendunculate Oak has 'rhomboid' leaves (i.e tapers outward, with irregularity and then back in) with no stalks as the leaves are just attached to nodules on the branch, but the acorns do grow out on long stalks. This Oak is more suited to lowlands and peaty soil - which Kildare is full of. These leaves are tan brown in the Autumn.
The acorns, out of anything else, will help you really identify what tree it is though due to the presence or absence of stalks on the acorn cluster.
Then there are Pendunculate/Sessile hybrids which are quite common too because the two species cross propagate quite easily apparently. So that could cause confusion trying to identify it, as the tree will have traits of both species, ha,ha!
All species of Oak offer the exact same benefit to wildlife, with one having no advantage over the other. A mature tree can host up to 280 different species of insects.
So now!
Wildlife and Bird news:
Fox came really close to the house last night. I've moved the camera to a patio area now and I'll place food out in the hopes I'll catch a good shot of him. The hedgehog also has been spotted in this area...so either way, i'll hopefully get a good shot of something.
Here is my three little guys this morning - this is Day 17 . They are adult sized now and really getting restless and often are out of the nest cup, looking out the window. I know its a little early, but I believe they will go in the next few days. This one in the centre of the photo has shown great bravery and I believe this one will go first.
I will miss it all being in work, but I'm still thrilled to bits about how everything has gone so far.