Meeting Reports January 2026
On the damp and gloomy morning of 19 January, with a view to prospecting sites for the Doncaster Naturalists’ Society to survey in 2026, Les Coe and I met up in the crowded/noisy environs of the Flourish Café in St Catherine’s Hall within the grounds of Woodfield Park [formerly the grounds of St Catherine’s Hospital]. After a coffee we adjourned into the adjacent Victorian Walled Garden (SE567001) and the heated garden centre greenhouse.
The garden is well stocked with fruit trees and flowering shrubs with beds of culinary herbs and arbours with a range of Clematis and other climbing plants. The south-facing outer boundary brick and limestone wall was designed to accumulate and retain heat from solar radiation and had been prepared to support espaliered fruit trees. It also supported a series of wooden ‘bug-houses’ for hibernating invertebrates, none of which were sealed, being unoccupied for the moment. All these characteristics boded well for good populations of nectaring insects (Hover flies, Bumble bees etc.) during the summer months.
The adjacent canopies of a range of mature deciduous trees indicated this enclosed site could be a good location for overnight moth trapping events.
The outer wall was also hollow and in former times would have been artificially heated internally via coal fires in strategically located hearths. This hollow structure could therefore potentially house colonies of hibernating or roosting bats, a matter for investigation later in the year.
The heated garden centre greenhouse included an area set out with houseplants (including succulents) for sale and an adjacent area for the propagation and potting of houseplants.
Although there was little evidence of invertebrates at this time of year, in the zone benefitting from the hot air blower, we quickly found a small population of the delightful little Garden Centre Spider Uloborus plumipes. Although the majority were tiny and immatures, a couple of adult females were located amongst the steel structures under the roof canopy. Though we were unable to capture them for a photographic record we were able to point them out (and discuss their potential pest controlling benefits) to the greenhouse staff who were delighted to hear of, and be shown, these high-rise visitors.
The Walled Garden, could well provide an interesting site to visit and survey next summer, particularly if linked with over-night moth trapping sessions.
LC & CAH.
Title : New Year Plant Hunt at Bawtry. Followed by a Pub Lunch
Leader : Louise Hill & Jim Burnett
Meet : 10.30 am. at Martin Lane, Bawtry
Objective : To record the wild plants in flower in the depths of winter
12 members of the Society met on a very cold but sunny January morning for a short walk around Bawtry in search of plants in flower.
We commenced from Martin Lane and walked via the Cemetery and then north to Gally Hills, through Kings Wood returning down the eastern side of the East Coast Railway, with a short detour to look at the River Idle floodplain and ending with a well-earned lunch at the Ship Inn.
Our count for the day was an impressive 29 species in flower!
Achillea millefolium Yarrow
Bellis perennis Daisy
Capsella bursa-pastoris Shepherd’s-purse
Corylus avellana Hazel
Dactylis glomerata Cock’s-foot
Erigeron canadensis Canadian Fleabane
Euphorbia helioscopia Sun Spurge
Euphorbia peplus Petty Spurge
Galanthus nivalis Snowdrop
Helleborus Hellebores
Hordeum murinum Wall Barley
Ilex aquifolium Holly
Lamium album White Dead-nettle
Lamium purpureum Red Dead-nettle
Lapsana communis Nipplewort
Lycopsis arvensis Bugloss
Poa annua Annual Meadow-grass
Senecio inaequidens Narrow-leaved Ragwort
Senecio vulgaris Groundsel
Solanum nigrum Black Nightshade
Sonchus oleraceus Smooth Sow-thistle
Stellaria media Common Chickweed
Tanacetum vulgare Tansy
Taraxacum Dandelions
Ulex europaeus Gorse
Urtica urens Small Nettle
Veronica persica Common Field-speedwell
Vinca major Greater Periwinkle
Viola tricolor Wild Pansy
https://nyph.bsbi.org/results.php
Also notable was a small clutch of ferns on a brick wall in a sheltered courtyard which had no less than three species in less than a square foot of wall.
Title : Yorkshire from the air.
Speaker : Tim Prosser.
Meet : 1:30 pm. at Parklands Social Club. DN2 4LT
Title : A.G.M.
The committee’s annual report of the past years activities and financial statement.
Meet : 10 am. at St. Catherines House, Woodfield Park, Balby. DN4 8QP