Alder has been planted as an amenity tree at numerous locations on the university estate and its long, pendulous catkins (above) appear very early in February. By the end of summer it develops globular, woody cones that release vast numbers of small, winged seeds that are an important food resource for finches like siskins and redpolls in winter.
Hazel catkins are paler yellow and shorter than alder catkins, and usually open to shed pollen at the end of February. Hazel was planted at several locations on the Science Site in the early 1980s so that its nuts could provide a food resource for red squirrels, which were still common there at that time. At the end of the 1970s it was quite common to see half a dozen red squirrels siting on the wall beyond Hollingside House eating hazel nuts from the small patch of coppiced hazel near the lower end of the Botanic Garden. Sadly, red squirrels are now extinct in almost all of County Durham and the hazel nuts are taken by grey squirrels before they even have a chance to ripen...
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