With all the recent activity around the John Crank and lecture Centre with the major excavation for the relocation of a data Centre and power cable in readiness for the demolition of the John Crank building ,it may seem odd for a female mallard to nest so close ,still she seems content with the choice.
Excavation work for cabling and data
quiet please
Mallard
Here something people may not be aware of and that is how diverse the campus is when it comes to the variety of bird life around them from robins to ring necked parakeets, grey heron in the pond to kingfisher along the river, mistle thrush nesting in the Trachycarpus to mallards nesting in the courtyard of Marie Jahoda . So keep you eyes open as you may be surprised on what you see, also later on in the year we intend to carry out part of the bird survey to help monitor what’s on site so if you feel like helping look out for more information later on and if you are a keen photographer how about taking a few pictures I am sure you can do better than the Administrators attempts!
Grey heron Little Egret Kingfisher
It was our turn this year to host the varsity against St. Marys on the 29th March, it’s always an event the Ground team look forward to despite the increased amount of work generated with outdoor pitch preparations for rugby, football, lacrosse and ultimate Frisbee, outdoor courts and track cleaning, litter picking etc.. A great day with the right result at the end .
Well done Team Brunel.
Another planting session with the Wildlife and Environmental Conservation Society just a few weeks ago, this time not so cold ! planted up Winter aconites grown ‘in the green’ ideal for the partial shade under the trees.
Plenty to choose from right now with all the various spring bulbs flowering across campus so lets go for something different. Check out the Forsythia around campus, bright yellow flowers in abundance when you prune it correctly-best time to prune? right after flowering as they flower on the previous years growth.
Not too much damage after storm Doris hit,only one tree down a Robinia pseudoacacia at the back of Heinz Wolff building, all sawn up by the team, a suitable replacement will be planted later on in the year.
Here’s one most people will recognise Galanthus nivalis the common snowdrop traditionally seen as the ending of Winter and the coming of Spring, probably not with our current climate. Likes partial shade in well drained moist soil for best results plant ‘in the green ‘ look around campus as there are a number of areas where this can be seen.
For those of you who are awake in the early hours of the morning keep a sharp lookout for the Brunel badgers foraging for worms, they are not that easy to see but you may be lucky.
Here is a picture of one of them taken on site.
Here is a deciduous plant know for its highly scented clusters of pink/white flowers which can be flowering from as early as December through to February, it has an upright habit with dark green leaves. Its name is Viburnum bodnantense ‘Dawn’ check it out at the back of Gaskell.
Continuing with our tree maintenance programme, crown reduction on the Salix alba’s along the river Pinn .
