Nature Watch, with RON FREETHY

I'VE just had a letter from David Bursborough of Infirmary Street, Blackburn, who wanted to know the the name of the bird which he have photographed.

Well, David the bird is a JAY. The jay is a member of the crow family which at one time was killed in large numbers because of the beautiful feathers. There is lots of pink on the body but the blue on the wings were used as a decoration in the band of gentlemen's trilby hats. Since 1953 this use of bird feathers has been protected by law.

David's excellent photographs taken at a bird table show how attractive the bird us.

Scientists have also shown that the jay is very intelligent and they have become much less frightened of human contact since the law protecting them was passed.

The bird is very noisy and its scientific name is garralus glandarius and we all know what garrulous people are like - they shout a lot!

From the 1890s the Anti-Feather League were garrulous - it took them a long time to have killing birds for their feathers stopped.

Why haven't you heard of the Anti-Feather League? Actually you have - they changed their name to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB).

Tree of the month: Horse chestnut

ALTHOUGH it is not a native to Britain the conker tree which so delights young people in the autumn has candle-like blossoms from mid-May through June and are so common throughout East Lancashire that they are often thought to be native.

They were in fact introduced around 1616 from Greece and Albania.

Why were they planted? Obviously because they look attractive but unlike many trees they are guaranteed to flower every year and they are pollinated by bees and other large insects.

The horse chestnut produces lots of energy-rich nectar.

Why horse chestnut? When the leaves, which are huge and five pointed like a hand, drop off in the autumn a scar is left which is shaped like an inverted horseshoe.

In times past botanists believed that God gave a sign on a plant to show its use. This is now known as "the Doctrine of Signatures" and we have plants called kidney vetch, eyebright, days-eye (or daisy), liverwort, lungwort and of course horse chestnut.

Conkers were collected and fed to horses to prevent attacks of "colic."

Apart from the conkers and the candle-like flowers the buds of the horse chestnut are also of interest and are among the earliest to swell in the spring.

The buds are large and sticky; it is thought that the sticky substance protects the bud from frost but as yet there is no scientific evidence to prove this to be the case.

Uses of horse chestnut: The tree was planted in avenues to grace the entrance to country houses and single trees were often planted close to blacksmith's forges.

The timber is not very hardy but it was once used for making hoops, yokes and gates.

The timber, however, soon rots in wet weather. It should be regarded as attractive rather than functional.

Enjoy the spring candles and look out for the autumn conkers!