|
Willsbridge
Willsbridge is a village in the unitary authority of South Gloucestershire, England, located on the outskirts of Bristol. Willsbridge Castle, situated on a prominent hillside site, was built around 1730, with crenellations added in the nineteenth century. The village contains a nature reserve and historic buildings next to the Siston Brook. The mill and barn buildings are managed by a voluntary group, Willsbridge Mill Community Refresh, for community use. The valley contains many habitats. The woodlands have carpets of Common Bluebells, Silene dioica, champions and resound with birdsong. The ponds are homes for Common frog, frogs, Common toad, toads and dragonflies, and White-throated dipper, dippers and Common kingfisher, kingfishers visit the stream. Red fox, Foxes and European badger, badgers live in the valley and noctule and Greater Horseshoe Bat feed on the insects in the valley. Willsbridge was the childhood home of composer Robert Lucas de Pearsall. Though he sold the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Willsbridge Castle
Willsbridge is a village in the unitary authority of South Gloucestershire, England, located on the outskirts of Bristol. Willsbridge Castle, situated on a prominent hillside site, was built around 1730, with crenellations added in the nineteenth century. The village contains a nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ... and historic buildings next to the Siston Brook. The mill and barn buildings are managed by a voluntary group, Willsbridge Mill Community Refresh, for community use. The valley contains many habitats. The woodlands have carpets of Common Bluebells, champions and resound with birdsong. The ponds are homes for frogs, toads and dragonflies, and dippers and kingfishers visit the stream. Foxes and badgers live in the valley and noct ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Lucas De Pearsall
Robert Lucas Pearsall (14 March 1795 – 5 August 1856) was an English composer mainly of vocal music, including an elaborate setting of " In dulci jubilo" and the richly harmonic part song '' Lay a garland'' of 1840, both still often performed today. He spent the last 31 years of his life abroad, at first in Germany, then at a castle he bought in Switzerland. Biography Pearsall was born at Clifton in Bristol on 14 March 1795 into a wealthy, originally Quaker family. His father, Richard Pearsall (died 1813), was an army officer and an amateur musician. Pearsall was privately educated. In 1816 Pearsall's mother, Elizabeth (née Lucas), bought the Pearsall family's home at Willsbridge, Gloucestershire (now part of Bristol), from her brother-in-law, Thomas Pearsall. Thomas had been ruined by the failure of the iron mill that had been the family's business since 1712. After the death of his mother in 1837, Pearsall sold Willsbridge House again, but although he would never live ther ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Siston Brook
Siston Brook rises in two separate streams which issue from a ridge just north of the village of Siston, South Gloucestershire, England. The brook is approximately long and is a tributary of the Bristol Avon. Much of its course is through the eastern suburbs of Bristol, although it remains outside the city boundaries. Tributaries include the Warmley Brook and an unnamed tributary from Bridgeyate. The stream has provided power for watermills and battery mills in the past and some mill buildings still survive. Wildlife is supported by nature reserves through which the Siston Brook runs. Flooding has caused problems in the past, but modern measures to alleviate this include an attenuation reservoir and proposals to reinstate historic weirs and sluices. The name Siston is believed to derive from Anglo-Saxon, meaning ''Sige's Farmstead''. Course The source of Siston Brook is two springs which flow out of a ridge just north of the village of Siston. These join near to the villa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South Gloucestershire
South Gloucestershire is a unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, South West England. Towns in the area include Yate, Chipping Sodbury, Kingswood, Thornbury, Filton, Patchway and Bradley Stoke. The southern part of its area falls within the Greater Bristol urban area surrounding the city of Bristol. South Gloucestershire was created in 1996 to replace the Northavon district of the abolished county of Avon. It is separate from Gloucestershire County Council, but is part of the ceremonial county and shares Gloucestershire's Lord Lieutenant (the Sovereign's representative to the county). Because of its history as part of the county of Avon, South Gloucestershire works closely with the other unitary authorities that took over when that county was abolished, including shared services such as Avon Fire and Rescue Service and Avon and Somerset Police, together with co-operation in planning strategy for transport, roads and housing. History Pri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Common Kingfisher
The common kingfisher (''Alcedo atthis''), also known as the Eurasian kingfisher and river kingfisher, is a small kingfisher with seven subspecies recognized within its wide distribution across Eurasia and North Africa. It is resident in much of its range, but migrates from areas where rivers freeze in winter. This sparrow-sized bird has the typical short-tailed, large-headed kingfisher profile; it has blue upperparts, orange underparts and a long bill. It feeds mainly on fish, caught by diving, and has special visual adaptations to enable it to see prey under water. The glossy white eggs are laid in a nest at the end of a burrow in a riverbank. Taxonomy The common kingfisher was first described by Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of his ''Systema Naturae'' in 1758 as ''Gracula atthis''. The modern binomial name derives from the Latin ', 'kingfisher' (from Greek , '), and ''Atthis'', a beautiful young woman of Lesbos, and favourite of Sappho. The genus '' Alcedo'' compri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nature Reserves In Gloucestershire
Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the laws, elements and phenomena of the physical world, including life. Although humans are part of nature, human activity or humans as a whole are often described as at times at odds, or outright separate and even superior to nature. During the advent of modern scientific method in the last several centuries, nature became the passive reality, organized and moved by divine laws. With the Industrial Revolution, nature increasingly became seen as the part of reality deprived from intentional intervention: it was hence considered as sacred by some traditions (Rousseau, American transcendentalism) or a mere decorum for divine providence or human history (Hegel, Marx). However, a vitalist vision of nature, closer to the pre-Socratic one, got reborn at the same time, especially after Charles Darwin. Within the various uses of the word t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greater Horseshoe Bat
The greater horseshoe bat (''Rhinolophus ferrumequinum'') is an Insectivore, insectivorous bat of the genus ''Rhinolophus''. Its distribution covers Europe, Northern Africa, Central Asia and Eastern Asia. It is the largest of the horseshoe bats in Europe and is thus easily distinguished from other species. The species is sedentary, typically travelling up to between the winter and summer roosts, with the longest recorded movement being . The frequencies used by this bat species for echolocation lie between 69–83 kHz, have most energy at 81 kHz and have an average duration of 37.4 ms. Description The greater horseshoe bat is the largest horseshoe bat in Europe.Schober, W., E. Grimmberger. 1997. It has a distinctive noseleaf, which has a pointed upper part and a horseshoe-shaped lower part. Its horseshoe noseleaf helps to focus the ultrasound it uses to 'see'. The greater horseshoe bat also has tooth and bone structures that are distinct from that of other rhi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Noctule
''Nyctalus'' is a genus of vespertilionid bats commonly known as the noctule bats. They are distributed in the temperate and subtropical areas of Europe, Asia and North Africa. There are eight species within this genus: * Birdlike noctule, ''Nyctalus aviator'' * Azores noctule, ''Nyctalus azoreum'' * Japanese noctule, ''Nyctalus furvus'' *Greater noctule bat, ''Nyctalus lasiopterus'' * Lesser noctule, ''Nyctalus leisleri'' * Mountain noctule, ''Nyctalus montanus'' *Common noctule, ''Nyctalus noctula'' * Chinese noctule, ''Nyctalus plancyi'' See also *Microbat *Yangochiroptera Yangochiroptera, or Vespertilioniformes, is a suborder of Chiroptera that includes most of the microbat families, except the Rhinopomatidae, Rhinolophidae, Hipposideridae, Craseonycteridae and Megadermatidae. These other families, plus the ... References Bat genera Taxa named by Thomas Edward Bowdich {{Vespertilionidae-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
European Badger
The European badger (''Meles meles''), also known as the Eurasian badger, is a badger species in the family Mustelidae native to Europe and West Asia and parts of Central Asia. It is classified as least concern on the IUCN Red List, as it has a wide range and a large, stable population size which is thought to be increasing in some regions. Several subspecies are recognized, with the nominate subspecies (''M. m. meles'') predominating in most of Europe. In Europe, where no other badger species commonly occurs, it is generally just called the "badger". The European badger is a powerfully built, black, white, brown, and grey animal with a small head, a stocky body, small black eyes, and a short tail. Its weight varies, being in spring, but building up to in autumn before the winter sleep period. It is nocturnal and is a social, burrowing animal that sleeps during the day in one of several setts in its territorial range. These burrows have multiple chambers and entrances, and are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Red Fox
The red fox (''Vulpes vulpes'') is the largest of the true foxes and one of the most widely distributed members of the order Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere including most of North America, Europe and Asia, plus parts of North Africa. It is listed as least concern on the IUCN Red List. Its range has increased alongside human expansion, having been Foxes in Australia, introduced to Australia, where it is considered harmful to native small and medium-sized rodents and marsupials. Due to its impact on native species, it is included on the list of the "List of the world's 100 worst invasive species, world's 100 worst invasive species". The red fox originated in Eurasia during the Middle Pleistocene at least 400,000 years ago and later colonised North America sometime prior to 130,000 years ago. Among the true foxes, the red fox represents a more progressive form in the direction of Carnivore, carnivory. Apart from its large size, the red fox is distin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Common Toad
The common toad, European toad, or in Anglophone parts of Europe, simply the toad (''Bufo bufo'', from Latin ''bufo'' "toad"), is a toad found throughout most of Europe (with the exception of Ireland, Iceland, parts of Scandinavia, and some List of islands in the Mediterranean, Mediterranean islands), in the western part of North Asia, and in a small portion of Northwest Africa. It is one of a group of closely related animals that are descended from a common ancestral line of toads and which form a species complex. The toad is an inconspicuous animal as it usually lies hidden during the day. It becomes active at dusk and spends the night hunting for the invertebrates on which it feeds. It moves with a slow, ungainly walk or short jumps, and has greyish-brown skin covered with wart-like lumps. Although toads are usually solitary animals, in the breeding season, large numbers of toads converge on certain breeding ponds, where the males compete to mate with the females. Eggs are laid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
