24 Aug 2025: New tree discovered
During today's working session we decided to carry out a partial inventory of the larger and smaller trees, with a view to planning which ones to look after and which ones need to be removed to make more room for the others. We need to allow light to penetrate to the woodland floor to allow the smaller plants such as the bluebells and other flowers to flourish, not to mention encouraging biodiversity generally.
We were surprised to find a horse-chestnut tree (Aesculus hippocastanum) which we hadn't noticed before! Just shows how important it is to do surveys!
The leaves were discoloured by large blotches. We are unsure whether these were caused by a fungus, the Horse chestnut leaf blotch Phyllosticta paviae (syn. Guignardia aesculi) or by the larvae of the Horse Chestnut Leaf-miner moth, Cameraria ohridella. However, the distribution map given at https://www.ukmoths.org.uk/species/cameraria-ohridella for this moth shows the nearest records as Hambledon Hill in Dorset and the Test Valley in north Hampshire, both quite a distance from Bishop's Pond.