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Chafford Gorges Nature Park
The Chafford Gorges Nature Park is a nature reserve located in Chafford Hundred, England, and managed by the Essex Wildlife Trust. It includes two Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Grays Thurrock Chalk Pit has been designated for its biological interest, and Lion Pit for geological interest. Facilities There was a visitors' centre for the nature park on Drake Road. It had a gift shop which sold refreshments and there were toilets and an observation deck. However, it has now closed. History The reserve is on the site of three major chalk quarries – Warren Gorge, Lion Gorge, and Grays Gorge which were worked from the end of the 18th century for around 150 years. Lion Pit In the Lion Gorge are the remnants of an old tramway cutting created in the nineteenth century to transport chalk from Lion Pit to the riverside wharves. The tramway ran roughly south from the chalk diggings to the Lion Works – a Portland cement factory opened in 1874. (Until about 1980, Thurrock was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chafford Hundred
Chafford Hundred, or simply Chafford, is a housing development and suburb in the town of Grays in the borough of Thurrock in Essex, England. Chafford Hundred is north-west of Grays Town Centre. Its railway station serves the area and Lakeside Shopping Centre. Lakeside Shopping Centre is in West Thurrock. Chafford Hundred was built on parts of the historical parishes of Stifford and West Thurrock, Mill Lane being the border of the respective historical parishes. It is located directly between North Stifford and South Stifford. History Prehistory and Thurrock Chalklands The earliest evidence of human occupation in the area around Chafford Hundred dates back to the prehistoric period, with archeological evidence strongly suggesting the existence of human settlement and agricultural and industrial development in the area from around 8,000 BC in the Mesolithic through to the Neolithic, Bronze, Iron, Roman and Early Medieval periods. Animal fossils and shark fossils datin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sand Martin
The sand martin (''Riparia riparia''), also known as collared sand martin or common sand martin, and in the Americas as the bank swallow, is a migratory passerine bird in the swallow family Hirundinidae. It has a wide range in summer, embracing practically the whole Holarctic area, from Europe, across Asia to the Pacific Ocean, and throughout North America. It winters in eastern and southern Africa, southern Asia, and South America. Taxonomy This species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'', and originally named ''Hirundo riparia''; the description consisted of the simple "''H rundocinerea, gula abdomineque albis''" ("an ash-grey swallow, with white throat and belly") and the type locality was simply given as "Europa", subsequently refined to refer to Linnaeus's homeland of Sweden. The specific name means "of the riverbank"; it is derived from the Latin ''ripa'' "riverbank". There are three or four weakly-defined subspecies: * ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bird's-nest Orchid
''Neottia nidus-avis'', the bird's-nest orchid, is a non-photosynthetic orchid, native to Europe, Russia, with sporadic presence in North-Africa, and some parts of the Middle East. Description ''Neottia nidus-avis'' grows to tall and each shoot can carry up to 60 flowers. Plants are not in any part green, deriving all their nutrition from a mycorrhizal fungus in the soil/litter, which in turn derives nutrition from the roots of trees. Plants are generally beige-brown, though sometimes yellowish or white forms are discovered. The flower labellum splits and strongly diverges at its lower end. This species of orchid can be hard to spot, being camouflaged against the leaf litter. Across Europe, this species flowers May–June. Distribution and habitat It is widespread across most of Europe, occurring also in Algeria, Tunisia, western Siberia, the Caucasus, Iran and Turkey. In the British Isles, ''Neottia nidus-avis'' is found in shady woodland, especially beech, on basic soils. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ophrys Apifera
''Ophrys apifera'', known in Europe as the bee orchid, is a perennial plant, perennial herbaceous plant of the genus ''Ophrys'', in the family of Orchidaceae. It serves as an example of Sexual mimicry#Interspecific deceptive mimicry, sexually deceptive pollination and floral mimicry, a highly selective and highly evolved plant–pollinator relationship. Description ''Ophrys apifera'' grows to a height of . This hardy orchid develops small rosettes of leaf, leaves in autumn that continue to grow slowly during winter. Basal leaves are ovate or oblong-lanceolate, and upper leaves and bracts are ovate-lanceolate and sheathing. Leaves exhibit parallel venation. The plant blooms from mid-April in continental Europe, but in the United Kingdom it flowers June to July. A flower spike is produced, composed from one to twelve flowers. Three large, purple sepals surround the base of the flower, which can easily be mistaken for petals. The true petals lie just above the sepals as two sho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Common Spotted Orchid
''Dactylorhiza maculata'' subsp. ''fuchsii'', the common spotted orchid, is a subspecies of flowering plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae. ''Dactylorhiza maculata'' subsp. ''fuchsii'' is one of Europe's most common wild orchids. It is widespread across much of Europe, with the range extending eastward into Siberia, Mongolia and Xinjiang. The species is also reportedly naturalised in the Canadian Province of Ontario. ''Dactylorhiza maculata'' subsp. ''fuchsii'' is a herbaceous perennial plant ranging from in height. The inflorescence is a dense-flowered spike, produced in June–August, that is at first conical then cylindrical. The flower colour can vary from white to pale purple with purple spots, a symmetrical pattern of dark purple loops or dots and dashes. The lip has three lobes. The bracts are usually shorter than the flower. The lip is smaller than that of the very similar '' Dactylorhiza maculata'' and has three deeper cuts. The middle lobe is more than half as large ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bream
Bream (, ) are species of freshwater fish belonging to a variety of genera including '' Abramis'' (e.g., ''A. brama'', the common bream), '' Ballerus'', '' Blicca'', '' Brama'', '' Chilotilapia'', '' Etelis'', '' Lepomis'', '' Gymnocranius'', '' Lethrinus'', '' Nemipterus'', '' Pharyngochromis'', '' Rhabdosargus'', '' Scolopsis'', or '' Serranochromis''. Although species from all of these genera are called "bream", the term does not imply a degree of relatedness between them. Fish termed "bream" tend to be narrow, deep-bodied species. The name is a derivation of the Middle English word ''breme'', of Old French origin. Marine species The term sea bream is sometimes used for fish of the family (biology)">family Sparidae including ''Acanthopagrus'' (Australia), ''Argyrops spinifer, Argyrops'', gilt-head bream ''Sparus aurata'' (''orata'' in Italy, ''dorada'' in Spain), black seabream ''Spondyliosoma cantharus'' and red seabream '' Pagrus'' or '' Pagellus'' species; or pomfre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Northern Pike
The northern pike (''Esox lucius'') is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus ''Esox'' (pikes). They are commonly found in brackish water, moderately salty and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). They are known simply as a pike (Plural, : pike) in Great Britain, Ireland, most of Eastern Europe, Canada and the United States, U.S., although in the Midwestern United States, they may just be called a Northern. Pike can grow to a relatively large size. Their average length is about , with maximum recorded lengths of up to and maximum weights of . The International Game Fish Association, IGFA currently recognises a pike caught by Lothar Louis on Greffern Lake, Germany, on 16 October 1986, as the all-tackle world-record holding northern pike. Northern pike grow to larger sizes in Eurasia than in North America, and in coastal Eurasian regions than inland ones. Etymology The northern pike gets its common name from its resemblance to the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Common Rudd
The common rudd (''Scardinius erythrophthalmus'') is a benthos, bentho-pelagic freshwater Actinopterygii, ray-finned fish belonging to the Family (biology), family Leuciscidae. This species is widely spread in Europe and central Asia, around the basins of the North Sea, North, Baltic Sea, Baltic, Black Sea, Black, Caspian Sea, Caspian and Aral Sea, Aral seas. Identification Morphologically, this species is very similar to the roach (''Rutilus rutilus''), with which it can be easily confused. It can be identified by the yellow eye colour. The eye of the roach has a big red spot above the pupil, that can be more or less conspicuous. The rudd has an upturned mouth allowing it to feed easily at the top of the water. The placement of the dorsal fin is more to the rear which is even visible in very young fish. There are normally only one or two scales between the tip of the pelvic fins and the anal fins, while on the roach there are five. Also the skin of the rudd is yellowish green, w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tench
The tench or doctor fish (''Tinca tinca'') is a freshwater, fresh- and brackish water, brackish-water fish of the order Cypriniformes found throughout Eurasia from Western Europe including Great Britain, Britain and Ireland east into Asia as far as the Ob River, Ob and Yenisei Rivers. It is also found in Lake Baikal. It normally inhabits slow-moving freshwater habitats, particularly lakes and lowland rivers.B. Whitton (1982). ''Rivers, Lakes and Marshes'' p 163. Hodder & Staughton, London. Taxonomy The tench was first formally Species description, described in as ''Cyprinus tinca'' by Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the 10th edition of Systema Naturae with its Type locality (biology), type locality given as "European lakes". In 1764 François Alexandre Pierre de Garsault proposed the new monospecific genus ''Tinca'', with ''Cyprinus tinca'' as the type species by absolute tautonymy. The 5th edition of ''Fishes of the World'' classified ''Tinca'' in the subfamily Tincinae, alongside th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Common Pochard
The common pochard (; ''Aythya ferina''), known simply as pochard in the United Kingdom, is a medium-sized diving duck in the family Anatidae. It is widespread across the Palearctic. It breeds primarily in the steppe regions of Scandinavia and Siberia, and winters further south and west. Taxonomy and systematics Swedish taxonomist Carl Linnaeus first assigned a scientific name to the common pochard in the tenth edition of his landmark treatise Systema Naturae; this was the first edition which included such names. He called the duck ''Anas ferina''. In 1822, German zoologist Friedrich Boie created the genus '' Aythya'' for various diving ducks, and moved the common pochard to that new genus. Uptake of ''Aythya'' as the genus for the common pochard was mixed for much of the next century, with some authors leaving the duck in the genus ''Anas'' or assigning it to various other now-defunct genera instead. The common pochard is considered a superspecies with the canvasback. In the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Common Redpoll
The redpoll (''Acanthis flammea'') is a species of small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae. It is the only species placed in the genus ''Acanthis''. It breeds in the Arctic and north temperate Holarctic tundra and taiga. The redpoll was formerly widely treated as three species: the common or mealy redpoll, the arctic or hoary redpoll (''A. hornemanni''), and the lesser redpoll (''A. cabaret''). Taxonomy The redpoll was listed in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of his ''Systema Naturae'' under the binomial name ''Fringilla flammea''. The specific epithet ''flammea'' is Latin meaning "flame-coloured". Linnaeus also described the redpoll as ''Fringilla linaria'' on the same page, but the earlier name ''flammea'' has priority. The redpoll was previously placed in the genus ''Carduelis''. Molecular phylogenetic studies showed that it formed a distinct lineage, so it was moved to the resurrected genus ''Acanthis'' that had been introd ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eurasian Siskin
The Eurasian siskin (''Spinus spinus'') is a small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae. It is also called the European siskin, common siskin or just siskin. Other (archaic) names include ''black-headed goldfinch'', ''barley bird'' and ''aberdevine''. It is very common throughout Europe and Eurosiberia. It is found in forested areas, both coniferous and mixed woodland where it feeds on seeds of all kinds, especially of alder and conifers. It can be distinguished from other similar finches by the colour of the plumage. The upper parts are greyish green and the under parts grey-streaked white. Its wings are black with a conspicuous yellow wing bar, and the tail is black with yellow sides. The male has a mainly yellow face and breast, with a neat black cap. Female and young birds have a greyish green head and no cap. It is a trusting, sociable and active bird. The song of this bird is a pleasant mix of twitters and trills. These birds have an unusual migration pattern ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
