Page 37 - br-nov-2020
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November 2020                       November 2020

       BERE REGIS WILDLIFE AND
       ENVIRONMENT GROUP



       It is said that autumn is the season you can smell – that
       has been so true of this Autumn. With heavy rains and
       damp conditions vegetation has been beaten down
       and  now  decaying,  fungi  have  thrived,  whilst  the
       brighter days have provided us with a dazzling display
       of  varied  tree  leaf  and  fruit  colours  and  have  you
       noticed how plentiful acorns have been. If you can, do get out and enjoy the last
       of Autumn’s wonderful natural show.

       Stonewort in the nature reserve
       pond
       We  were  interested  to  find  a  somewhat
       unusual  submerged  plant  in  the  nature
       reserve  pond. It  was  very dominant in  the
       pond  during  the  latter  period  of  the  dry
                               weather.  This  is
                               Stonewort  also
                               k n o w n    a s
                               Chara  vulgaris  It  was  somewhat  unusual  being
                               polymorphic  which  means  it  is  a  botanical  stage
                               between algae and full plant form. We normally know
                               algae  as  the  green  or red colour  on  stones  or  trees.
                               This is aquatic with fine strands rather than storks and
                               small  red  fruiting  bodies.    The  pictures  show  it
                               magnified at x20.   Interestingly after the rains came
                               and  the  pond  filled  up  it  disappeared.  It  probably
                               arrived there on bird’s feet.

 THE STORY OF CHILDHOOD IN BERE REGIS   Souls Moor Ponies
 IN THE YEARS AROUND THE TIME OF THE   By the time you read this the ponies will have probably left Souls Moor for their

 FIRST WORLD WAR  -  PART 7   warmer and drier winter quarters.  The ponies will hopefully return late spring next
       year.  As  previously  mentioned  the  ponies  are  there  to  help  with  wildlife
       conservation and restoration. They have spent the summer munching through the
       long rank grasses that have built up during the period Souls Moor was ungrazed.
 Thank you again to Tony Bates for sending in these extracts from Bill Lucas’s book   The  long  rank  grasses  tend  to  dominate  and  out-compete  a  range  of  more
 about his boyhood in Bere Regis.   interesting and valuable wildflowers. Thanks to their work we have already seen
       more wildflowers appearing.  With continued summer grazing by the ponies the

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