There is lots to look for on the Hook with the changing of the seasons. As well as the beautiful colours of the autumn leaves, there are brightly coloured berries on native trees and shrubs such as hawthorn (above) and Guelder rose. Many of these have been planted by volunteers over recent years and it is fabulous to see them fruiting well, ready to be enjoyed by birds and other wildlife.

As the summer comes to a close, we look back on our best ever year for butterflies, with 1790 spotted in total in our weekly survey walks, across 20 species. With the variety of habitats available on The Hook, including the recent addition of the butterfly bank, hopefully numbers will continue to rise.

To find out more about the birds, berries and butterflies that can be found on The Hook, take a look at our October newsletter. Or for news of events and sightings straight to your inbox, sign up to our monthly newsletter below.

A digger has been hard at work in the main meadow on The Hook! They have been creating ‘scrapes’ – bare patches of earth – to promote the growth of wildflowers and biodiversity in the meadow.

In the past the field has been used by farmers for grazing and was probably sown with perennial rye grass and other strong growing grasses, with little diversity. The digger has scraped away the top layer of turf and rich topsoil to expose bare earth, ready to sew a wildflower mixture. This work has been organised by Rushcliffe Borough Council and Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust with a special grant for promotion of biodiversity.

To find out more about the scrapes, and other work, sightings and events that have happened recently on The Hook, read our latest newsletter. Or sign up below to get regular updates straight to your inbox!

27th September was ‘Apple Day’ at The Hook – and what a fantastic day it was! More than 400 visitors came to the orchard and the church halls to enjoy all things apple – it was a really successful community event.

In the orchard, the nature trail and ‘hook an apple’ were very popular with families. A small crowd turned up to enjoy the traditional morris dancing and we had lots of people attend the pruning workshop. Many just enjoyed the chance to wander around and see the different varieties growing there. A map and description of the different trees is available from this link.

In the church halls visitors enjoyed apple tasting (with 35 different heritage varieties to try), pressing and juicing apples, and of course the peeling competition – some impressive lengths of peel were produced from single apples! On display were some beautiful photographs showing the orchard through the seasons, by local resident Annette Roe. There were games and crafts for children, and a chance to recharge with refreshments.

Harvest mice are Britain’s smallest rodent, weighing only about 5g and measuring a tiny 5-7cm long. They are great climbers and the only mammal in Britain to support a prehensile tail, which they use to hold onto grass stalks as they climb. These fascinating creatures are a target species under the Rushcliffe Local Nature Strategy, so we were very excited to find evidence of them at The Hook, in the form of this beautiful, round little nest!

Harvest mice make spherical nests high up in long grasses, out of tightly woven grass. The leaves remain attached to the plant, supporting the nest above the ground. Around six tiny young in are born the newly built nest, and they grow quickly – they are independent of their mother by about 2 weeks old. By autumn, most nests will be brown in colour and finding these round, tennis ball sized nests is the main sign that harvest mice are around!

Our harvest mouse survey continues and we are hopeful to find more evidence – the more we know, the better we can protect their habitat!

If you have wondered through the Community Orchard on The Hook recently you will have seen the trees brimming with apples. Make sure you don’t miss Apple Day on Saturday 27 September 11-4pm – a chance to celebrate the Community Orchard and its harvest and to taste many different varieties of heritage apples. You can taste freshly pressed apple juice, join in some apple games and enjoy a stunning display of photographs of the orchard through the seasons, For younger ones there are apple games and crafts and for little ones a wildlife discovery trail through the orchard.

Are there harvest mice on The Hook? They are a species in serious decline, thanks to modern farming practices and a target species for protection in the Rushcliffe Local Nature Strategy. We’ll be conducting a survey over the next few months to find any evidence of harvest mice. The more information we can find out, without disturbing them, then the better we can protect their habitat.

Read more about harvest mice and the exciting plans for apple day in our latest newsletter.

Or to get the latest news about events and sightings on The Hook straight to your inbox, sign up to our monthly newsletter.

The Hook has been awarded its second coveted Green Flag Award, celebrating the site as one of the UK’s best green spaces! The reserve has been named among 2,250 other parks and green places across the UK that have received the award, which sets the benchmark standard for the management of recreational outdoor spaces across the UK and around the world.

RBC’s Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Wellbeing, ICT and Member Development Cllr Jonathan Wheeler recently joined members of FroTH and Council officers to raise the prestigious flag.

Cllr Wheeler said: “Building on last year’s achievement, we’re delighted to announce that The Hook has received its second consecutive Green Flag Award and is recognised as one of the leading green spaces in the UK!

“Receiving this award acknowledges all the hard work that goes into maintaining this space. Thank you to the Friends of The Hook volunteer group, Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust, our staff and Streetwise for their excellent work in protecting and conserving the site.”

FroTH Chair Jeffrey Mackintosh said: “We’ve received our second prestigious Green Flag Award for providing a green space that is good for the community and the environment.

This nature reserve hosts many different types of flora and fauna. It’s also a fantastic place for butterfly conservation and our Vice-Chair David co-ordinates a butterfly survey every week as part of the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme – one week 300 butterflies were counted! 

“The habitats here have shown great improvements, and our volunteers continue to work hard to protect this reserve for all to enjoy.”

Each summer volunteers complete a weekly butterfly survey on The Hook. On 25th of July there was excitement as Phil Read and Mark Jones spotted a Brown Argus butterfly. Only one has been spotted in the last 5 years, and this one was captured on camera by Annette Roe – what a beauty!

Find out more about the butterflies of The Hook and the work volunteers do in the insects section of the website.

It’s been a summer of butterflies on The Hook nature reserve this year, with numbers well up on last year. Every week from April to the end of September volunteers carry out a transect, walking the same route and counting the species and numbers. Our records are sent through to form a national picture of how butterflies are doing.

By week 15 last year, volunteers had counted 273 – this year it was 1064. So the number of butterflies is well up, helped by the dry weather which has enabled them to fly, feed and breed. However, the range of species is narrower than in previous years standing at 17, compared with 21 previously. We have not yet seen Small Copper, Painted Lady or Brown Argus, although these have been seen in Nottinghamshire.

We’ll be looking to see if the reserve is offering the range of plants needed for butterflies and caterpillars to feed and breed. If there are gaps, we’ll then find out how to fill them.

Find out how you can get involved in The Big Butterfly Count and some of the brilliant birds that have been spotted recently on The Hook in our July newsletter. Or sign up to get monthly updates in your inbox.