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Buckden Roundabout
March 2020
Fungi and more
The very mild and wet autumn and winter produced an incredi-
ble show of fungi. It just went on and on with very few frosts to
end the fungi fruiting season. There was a wonderful array and
abundance of species around the village and many front lawns
and green spaces had some spectacular displays.
I was very pleased to find the rather rare and beautiful Wrin-
kled Peach on piles of Elm logs that had been left for wildlife at
Buckden Towers. I was also stopped in my tracks one morning
as I drove to work by the sight of two large “peaches” growing
on what was obviously an Elm log marking the boundary of a
resident’s flowerbed (see photo). It was a fantastic autumn for
this rare species that grows on Elm, and wonderful to know we
have it in Buckden too.
This is just one of the scarce species associated with Elm, so it
such a tragedy that the mature Elm hedge was taken out on
Luck’s Lane. It doesn’t look as if the Elm has been replaced in
the subsequent replanting which will take decades to start to
resemble anything useful for wildlife.
Other rare wildlife is associated with the Poplars at Buckden
Marina and I was pleased to find tiny Poplar Bells on fallen, wet
branches in February. Hopefully these trees are left alone as
several mature specimens were removed further to the north
and we would lose a whole community of species if we lost all
our Poplars.
One of my favourite fungal finds was a colony of stunning Fly
Agaric toadstools growing under its associate tree, Birch, on
one of the greens in Greenway in October (see photos). Sadly,
a few days later, the ominous early-morning roar of mowers
had me rushing out of my house, but my fears were confirmed
when I saw that they’d all been chopped up. I had a chat with
those doing the work and thankfully they said they could be
mowed around next year if I fence them off.
A lack of awareness of wildlife contributes to the destruction of
things that fail to conform to many people’s view of “tidy” ra-
ther than it always being deliberate. It was great to see the
amazing turnout of hundreds of people for the “What on Earth
can Buckden do?” climate change event at the village hall and
that The Wildlife Trust (where their Chief executive Brian Ever-
sham gave a fantastic talk about the effects of climate change
on our wildlife) and Woodland Trust were present. There’s
now a big drive to plant trees in Britain to help combat climate
change. Wouldn’t it be nice to see some of the land being sold,
and lined up, for ultra-profitable housing schemes in the village
given over to this cause instead?
It has been great to work with the Parish Council (who are do-
ing an excellent job for our wildlife and wild places), at the
church. While much Bramble has been cleared, there are plans
to create large areas of wildflowers, which the many bees that
nest in the walls nearby will benefit from. I also ensured piles
of super-valuable logs and branches were left for wildlife. If
you do one thing for wildlife this year, which will also save you
money needed to dispose of it, leave a pile of old branches or
logs in a quiet corner to make a mini nature reserve. We can’t
expect to benefit from beautiful birdsong, butterflies, bees and
more if we keep making everything so monochrome and
“tidy”!
We have had a rarity spending winter with us again with a Si-
berian Chiffchaff frequenting the ivy, trees and scrub alongside
the sewage works where many flies and other insects remain
active all winter and there was a good dawn chorus going in
the village as early as February. A Mistle Thrush was a particu-
larly fine sound coming from Buckden Towers and several Song
Thrushes were in full voice by then. Blackbirds were also going
earlier than usual. The quality of our Buckden dawn chorus is
another huge asset for those of us lucky to live here.
Another treat in later winter was something I’d never noticed
before: a stunning display of Winter Aconites opposite Buck-
den Towers and within its grounds, a fine display of Winter
Heliotrope. The Towers is a superb spot for wildlife and won-
derful to see it managed for its great historical importance
and
wildlife. It is one of several “hotspots” identified in the Buck-
den Neighbourhood Plan.
Mark Ward is a nature author and the RSPB’s Editor-in-Chief,
producing its magazines and other communications for its 1.1
million members. His latest book, “Wildlife on Your Doorstep” is
based on his experiences with the wildlife of the Buckden area.
It is available from Amazon and all good booksellers.
Buckden wildlife
The rare ‘wrinkled peach’ fungus
Fly Agaric toadstools on Greenway