Peiris Japonica by Common Tern

Peiris Japonica Common name: Flamebush Native to: Forests and mountains of Japan

An evergreen shrub with many varieties. Leaves are copper or red in spring, turning green later in the season, flowering in March/April time.

This plant is attractive to bees due to pollen and nectar rich flowers.

Toxic to dogs and cats but not humans, birds or livestock.

Common Tern (Sterna hirundo)

Common Tern are gregarious seabirds, often drawing attention to themselves with strident calls, and with a dainty flight that gave rise to their old name of “sea swallows”. Although they are mainly coastal, they also nest widely inland, especially in central and eastern England, making this the tern most familiar to people in Britain. Western European birds migrats down the western seaboard of Europe and Africa.

Common Tern breed in a wide range of habitats from the arctic fringe to the tropics, both along coast and on inland fresh waters. Outside the breeding season, they occur mainly in a coastal waters, being found mostly on inlets and estuaries, often resting on jetties and beaches.

Conservation problems for Common Tern include marine pollution, overfishing and trapping, with the last of these being by far the biggest avoidable cause of death. However, most of those trapped are juveniles and, since Common Tern are amongst the longest-lived birds, the biggest threat to the species comes from hazards that jeopardize the survival of adults.