How can I record wildlife I see in my village?

On Tuesday this week our local group of the Somerset Wildlife Trust organised a talk to explain to members how we can do this.
I was interested to listen to an excellent presentation of the on line recording system developed by Somerset Environmental Records Centre.( SERC) I followed up the same evening by entering my sighting of a Orange Tip butterfly in my own garden two days ago. I expect many people have seen them recently. After a couple of tries I have entered this sighting onto the Somerset Records. Not remarkable but as was apparent from questions a common reaction to being urged to report common sightings is  why report something which is thought off as not worth the effort.

For me the reason is the same as led us to start our own local village system which you can see in operation if you visit Curry Rivel Community Website. Use this link :http://www.curryrivel.org.uk  A map is shown with the Parish boundary marked  using Google Earth maps and on the map are symbols to represent the reports we have receive, their location and description of what was seen. We set that system up because of our interest in wildlife and because as on of small group of volunteers said," if we want to protect out wildlife then we first need to know what wildlife is currently resident in our area!"

What I learnt form our talk was that SERC have given us the means to pass on our sightings so that they can be " officially" recorded centrally for Somerset where they are available for planning departments , developers and local councils who are considering housing and other projects.

So its a lot more than just local curiosity and interest and I hope we will be able to use this tool and well as keeping our local initiative going in parallel.

SERC web site and the way to make our reports are clearly shown at this web address link:   http://www.somerc.com/who-are-serc/

To see the Facebook page for our local area group of the Somerset Wildlife Trust try this link:http:://www.somersetwildlife.org/Heart_of_the_Level

Starlings hotline now active

We have a visitor coming to stay a few days who is a keen birdwatcher. We want to show him our wonderful Starlings. 

To find the best places to see them we will use the:

Avalon Marshes Starling Hotline - Ham Wall - Ham Wall - The RSPB ...

www.rspb.org.uk › Home › Places to visit › Ham Wall › Ham Wall

26 Oct 2012 - Yes, it's that time of year again and Starlings are beginning to swarm over Ham Wall at Dusk. The Avalon Marshes Starling Hotline is now LIVE. This is a recorded message telling you where the last known location of the Starling roost was. The number is: 07866 554142.

Glow worm search

The Heart of the Levels Group had a successful search a few weeks ago and found 15 insects  near Somerton. This walk hopes to find the insects in Curry Rivel parish.

Curry Rivel News August 2017

Gleeful Glow worms in Curry Rivel Catherine Mowat

Family event - We’re looking for glow worms around Curry Rivel on Friday 11th August. Come and help us find them! Meet outside West Field play park at 8pm. Bring torches and stout footwear; children must be accompanied. We will split into groups, some walking a short distance on easy terrain, some further – up to 2 miles – who will explore steep uneven terrain. This will be in the dark, and people can choose their group.

As we travel in our cars at night with their glowing headlights, we fail to notce the little magical glow worm, shining about as bright as a hi-fi LED indicator. Yet we are fortunate to have these unusual beetles in our parish. The adult female has glowing segments on her tail; she sits in open grassland and holds up her tail after dusk to atract a mate. She can’t fly, and repeats this for several nights until a male – who can fly – flies in and mates with her. She then turns out her light, lays her eggs and dies. She is called a glow worm because she looks a bit life a caterpillar, with segments and no wings. The eggs hatch into larvae which spend two summers or so, feeding on snails which they paralyse before sucking them empty.

If you find a glow worm, admire it but do not disturb it and, most importantly, leave it where it is. There are very few about indeed, we need to let them get on with their life. 

National Meadow Day , Curry Rivel

National Meadows Day - Saturday 1st July.

Curry Rivel Wildlife Survey Group

To mark this day we invite you to visit our own local meadows located in Holdens Way for a guided walk.

Eastfield Community Meadow and Batty Piece, a private nature reserve and wild flower meadow.

Car parking by Westfield Recreation Field.

Contact us for details of guided walks between 2pm and 5pm.

Please contact me for alternative arrangements

Contact David German 01458 259688 or email at davidgerman555@gmail.com

               

        Pyramidal Orchid                                            Marbled white butterfly                       Grass vetchling and   Goat’s-beard

"Meadows, once a feature of every parish in Somerset are now an increasingly fragile part of our national heritage but all is not lost. National Meadows Day is the perfect way to explore and enjoy the flowers and wildlife of Somerset's magnificent meadows and understand their special place in our shared social and cultural history.

 "Beyond being a quintessential sight of summer, meadows' value to our wildlife cannot be overstated — a single healthy meadow can be home to over 80 species of wild flowers, such as cuckoo flower, yellow rattle, orchids, knapweed and scabious, compared to most modern agricultural pasture which typically supports under a dozen species."

Claire Parton, ‘Save Our Magnificent Meadows’   Project Manager for Somerset Wildlife Trust

Walk round a special meadow.

Babcary Meadows WildWalk

Thursday 22 June 18:3

Join us for the launch of our new WildWalk around Babcary Meadows Nature Reserve! With an introduction to the meadows by Reserve Manager, Mark Green, and apple juice kindly provided by Orchard Pig.

Please note:  there is limited parking available at the Red Lion Inn. Please wear sensible clothing and footwear. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Dogs welcome but must be kept on a lead.

This event is Kindly supported by Orchard Pig, The Heart of the Levels Area Group of volunteers and The Red Lion Inn

Where
The Red Lion Inn, Babcary, Somerton TA11 7ED

Contact/Booking Information, for more information please contact stephanie.wheeler@somersetwildlife.org

Cost
Free event but donations welcome

Information about the meadows.

50 years of local conservation:
Supported by its members Somerset Wildlife Trust has been protecting vulnerable wildlife and preserving wild places for 50 years. Throughout 2014, the Trust  celebrated its golden anniversary year by encouraging local people to ‘Love Somerset, Love nature’. Babcary is just one of 72 nature reserves under the Trust’s stewardship, which helps ensure Somerset remains one of the most wildlife-rich places in the UK.
Please donate to Somerset Wildlife Trust’s meadow appeal:

Make a donation and help the Trust keep meadows like Babcary Meadows special for people and wildlife.

As you cross the River Cary, which flows gently along the southern edge of the reserve, Babcary’s secrets begin to be revealed.

It’s like stepping into history, back to a time before the Second World War when meadows like this were a common sight in our countryside.

The fields are botanically-rich; June brings bee orchids, yellow rattle and common spotted orchids, whilst water voles inhabit the riverbank and the songs of skylarks and other birds add to the atmosphere of this rural idyll.

Somerset Wildlife Trust Reserves Manager Mark Green said: ‘I love Babcary Meadows – it’s such a tranquil place and there’s always something different to see, every time I visit.‘From late May, the salad burnet gives a lovely red hue to the landscape then, in June and July, there are hundreds of butterfies, such as meadow browns and marbled whites fluttering around.’

Wild Life Crime

From:

Roger Dickey | Chairman Heart of the Level Group | 441458 273753 | 447973534282 | roger@dickey4444.freeserve.co.uk

Dear SWT Heart of the Levels supporter.

 

Our next talk is this coming Tuesday 14th March. Once again we gone for something a little different.

 

The subject that is very often overlooked, as crime statistics are mentioned, is wildlife crime – we all have our own views on what this means but it is a topic rarely reported in the Press unless it involves certain protected species, and even then hardly credits a mention. What actually is a wildlife crime, how much crime is there and is there anything we can do to help prevent it or indeed report it?

 

We are very fortunate to have Dave Pepper coming to speak to us on Tuesday, not only because he is a local police officer, but also because there are only a few Wildlife Crimes Officers in the county making him a bit of a rare breed.

 

I do hope to see you in the Parish Rooms at 7:30 pm for this talk with a difference.

 

Cheers

 

Roger

 

Forensic use of Pollen. Talk by Dr Michael Keith- Lucas

This evening we listened to one of the most interesting and refreshing illustrated 
talks on a specialised subject.  The speaker brought a potentially boring academic subject to life in  a way of interest to gardeners and bee keepers alike
I hope to get copies of some of his articles and papers written for publications such as the Kew Gardens Journal and the Bee Keepers Association.
Here is a summary of his professional work on the subject taken from  the  Zoominfo web site.


The talk was given to the Sedgemoor Gardening Club in Langport.


"Professor Michael Keith-Lucas has recently retired as Senior Tutor in Plant Sciences at the University of Reading, but has been appointed an Honorary Fellow and Consultant.He has research interests in pollen in vegetation history, archaeology, allergy, and forensic science, and plant ecology, including tropical rainforest ecology. In addition he is Chairman of the local region of the Institute of Biology, the Wildlife Trust and Reading and District Gardeners. He has worked on pollen in vegetation history, archaeology, medicine and in honey, as well as in forensic science.

In his talk on 'The Uses of Pollen in Forensic Science' he gives examples of its use in solving crimes of fraud, theft, fire-arms offences, bombings and murder, and how pollen and spores disperse and arrive at the scenes of crime. He also looks into what needs to be done to avoid detection, or how to commit the perfect murder!"



What this post needs now is a review of his talk and that I hope to add soon. If you get the chance to hear his talks I recommend them to you. I will be recommending our local wildlife group to arrange another talk sometime. It reminds me of a book titled "An Orchard Invisible - A natural history of Seeds." As recommended by Dr Anne Bebbington.

Biodiversity

As you may recall I have been involved in helping to produce a Parish Plan for the Somerset Parish I live in.
A section of the plan is all about the countryside and wildlife in the 6 sq miles around Curry Rivel.
It includes part of the nationally important RSPB reserve called West Sedgemoor and other local nature reserves. For 2016 I hope we can capture some local enthusiasm for protecting / saving / rescuing biodiversity in our Parish.
Somerset Wildlife Trust has a big programme called Living Landscape but that is limited to several specific areas of the county. It would be great if we could add every parish to that programme by local volunteering action. Is that a practical reality or just a dream?

Please watch the video from Natural England

Nightingale interrupts live coverage of the UK election count!

I've edited this earlier post to bring our news up to date.

Whilst enjoying the all night TV coverage of the UK election I dragged myself away from the TV and went into the garden to listen for bird song. I was not disappointed. At 1am and again at 2am I found our local nightingale in full song and apparently much closer than previously. It was a  very satisfying experience and long may it continue.

I don't know anyone locally who has seen this bird but here is a summary of times we have heard it singing.

16.4.15 First report.
19.4.15 Night time walk at 2300 hrs confirms location.

Then heard daily until:

27.4.15 no reports then for nearly two weeks  till 7.5.15. Weather was cold and wet  during this time.
New report on 7.5.15 Election day!
Then heard daily up to present 11.5.15
We have made our own recording of the song using a mobile phone and last night using an iPad so we have a very clear and good record.  Using an App on the iPad we can compare the two recordings.

Links for more information:

RSPB:
On this site you can see a photo of a Nightingale and hopefully hear the bird song, if the link works!

http://www.rspb.org.uk/discoverandenjoynature/discoverandlearn/birdguide/name/n/nightingale/

Somerset Wildlife Trust.

http://www.somersetwildlife.org/wildlife_in may_2012

We would be pleased if you would visit our new blog for the Heart of the Levels Wildlife local area group. The Groups official blog for information about our activities.:

http://heartofthelevels.wordpress.com/