(Wild Service Tree Sorbus torminalis Photo © Jagoda Zajac)

Open Living Lab at the OU, and Swifts at Kents Hill
Martin Ferns & Mike LeRoy + Dr Kadmiel Maseyk

On a pleasant, sunny June evening, about 25 members gathered to walk around a small section of the OU Campus at Walton Hall, alongside the River Ouzel between the Church and the football pitch. For a long time this area has been little known and rarely visited even by OU staff and has always been rich in birdsong and plant life and invertebrates, largely undisturbed.  As such it was a natural choice of site for the OU’s Environmental Science department to establish a Living Lab in 2022.

We were joined on the walk through this area by Dr Kadmiel Maseyk, who is the project leader, who briefed the group about the aims and approach of the project, and the work done to date. An initial survey had been completed, and as well as putting in place equipment to monitor the developments at the site, a large number of trees have been planted, which provided the opportunity for practising our tree identification skills (before the trees are labelled). A list of trees and shrubs observed during the walk is given overleaf.

 
(a) Common Alder Alnus glutinosa; (b) Purging Buckthorn Rhamnus cathartica. (Photos © Jagoda Zajac)

That evening, there were few invertebrates in evidence and wildflowers generally also scarce, apart from an abundance of Water Crowfoot (ranunculus sp.) along the riverbed. The most dramatic sighting during this part of the evening was a Kestrel tangling with and chasing off a Red Kite, over the football pitch.

There was more aerial excitement for those of the group who continued on to Kents Hill, to watch the swifts of what is one of MK’s largest colonies, swooping, swirling and calling overhead in the late evening sun. They were probably 40-50 in number, sometimes high up, sometimes at roof level, and we were able to see the occasional one disappearing into the eaves of the taller, 3-storey houses, as the sun also disappeared.

Mike LeRoy’s handout notes on both the OU Living Lab, and Swifts in MK can be found here:

Our thanks to Kadmiel for joining us for the evening. We’ll look forward to learning more in future about how the Living Lab progresses and the results of the investigations.

Martin Ferns and Mike LeRoy
July 2025

Tree species planted in 2025 for riverside woodland establishment

Scientific name                      Common name
Acer campestre                         Field Maple
Alnus cordata                            Italian Alder
Alnus glutinosa                          Common Alder
Betula pubescens                      Downy Birch
Carpinus betulus                        Hornbeam (European)
Corylus avellana                        Hazel
Crataegus laevigata                   Midland Hawthorn
Ilex aquifolium                           Holly
Quercus robur                            Pedunculate (English) Oak
Salix pentandra                          Bay Willow
Sorbus torminalis                       Wild service tree

Shrub species planted in 2025 for riverside woodland establishment
Cornus sanguinea                   Dogwood
Prunus spinosa                          Blackthorn
Rhamnus carthatica                  Buckthorn (Purging)

Other tree species possibly present by the river
Acer pseudoplatanus                 Sycamore
Betula pendula                           Silver Birch
Sambucus nigra                         Elder (Common )
Populus spp.                               Poplars
Populus nigra                             Black Poplar
Populus nigra ssp. Betulifolia   Black Poplar (rare native sub-species)
Populus x canadensis                Hybrid Black Poplar (many varieties)
Pterocarya fraxinifolia               Caucasian Wingnut
Salix spp.                                     Willows
Sorbus spp.                                 Whitebeams