Langport house building verses conservation of Somerset meadow.

All these wild flowers and grasses I photographed last June in a similar unimproved grassland location some two miles from a meadow under threat from house building. Read about it below.

Broomrape

 Bee Orchid

 Emerging Pyramidal Orchid's

 Geass Vetchling against a Goats-beard

 Bee Orchid

 Quaking -grass

Under the title “ Battle Brewing” in the 15^th March edition, the Langport Leveller reports on the way in which local residents have explained their opposition to a planning application to build 36 houses on “unimproved meadowland that has recently been used for grazing. With the extended flooding on the levels and moors in the last 12 months such grazing land is urgently required by Somerset farmers.

The site itself is described as good quality agricultural land and is a habitat frequented by roe deer,badgers,foxes, barn owls, bats and grass snakes. Other recent and close by housing developments have demonstrably caused, for example , the disappearance of moths and the range of wild plant species they feed off. For many species it has been claimed that the field is their sole local home.An official Peripherals Study prepared for the South Somerset District Council in 2008 identified the land as having the “ highest landscape sensitivity “ and “highest visual impact” when compered to other parcels of land in the study.

There are many other points of objection raised during two local Council meetings. A respected local naturalist John Bebbington asked the Council to take into account the beautiful and rare wild Orchids and butterflies found there including the Brown Hairstreak butterfly.

It any other support was needed to prevent a change in the usage of this agricultural land then the Royal horticultural Society is holding its London Orchid and Botanical Art Show on 12-13 April.

Many people these days grow cultivated orchids in their homes but here in Somerset we have our own beautiful wild plants which we should do everything we can to conserve. Plant lovers can admire in detail some of the worlds best botanic art in London this month. 

Look at :     www.rhs.org.uk/londonshows

Being a volunteer with the Wildlife Trust is almost a full time job and in another short briefing here are some of the recent activities I find myself involved in.

No sooner had I sent off my comments to my MP and the Gov on the NPPF ( see my earlier post) than I learn about the Neighbourhood Planning Bill  ( which I suppose I had heard about but not taken too seriously). It might be very significant and I've started finding out what its implications might be. I think there is a consultation period now so that could important but what should we say?

I might join the local history society to find our more about the history of the hedges round our village and fields. Some are likely to be hundreds of years old. It important from a wildlife point of view to be able to argue against any move to cut them down.

Attended a meeting of the local Area Groups a couple of weeks ago, which is a good place to find out how other groups are getting on . We can them make our views known to the Trust. We have some differences about how we volunteers would like more support  in trying to get better web site coverage and in making contact with our members. An ongoing discussion. Our Group had thought about having its own web site but that's on hold at present.

This week have had a local group committee meeting with two guests who might join our committee. The meeting as usual ranged over quite a few topics and might have been a little confusing for our guests. Talked about our future programme of events for 2012. More summer site visits to our local reserves perhaps. Tonight we have a talk about the importance of woodlands and how they function. Hope we have a reasonable turnout.

Yesterday spent most of the day at the HQ of the SWT. First in a meeting of the Private and Community Nature Reserves  Network . Its just a way for land owners with a few acres to get help in managing their land for the benefit of wildlife  and to be able to share their experience. with others.There are about 200 members. Discussed two field events next year with a Botany field trip included

Most of us stayed on to sit in on a presentation by the  manager of the local RSPCA rescue and rehabilitation centre. Its about 10 miles from here and I hope to arrange a visit to see their work and facilities. Very impressive.

Lastly a committee member is hoping to find more people to take a few battery hens from local farmers who are banned from keeping chickens in battery conditions from next Jan. A good idea , not wildlife of course and I don't think we could cope with looking after them. The Hen Welfare Trust will tell you more.

That'll do for this week.

PS Don't forget that the IPCC is meeting this week in Kampla between 18th and 19th. We should hear their latest news and views on climate change.

Local news

I think I should Blog about some of the small stuff going on in my small part of Somerset. We're getting on with our programme of public meetings. Talks so far on Beavers and then on Rattle Snakes I missed the first which whilst an important conservation subject only attracted a small attendance. Snakes were a more popular subject. We need a certain number paying our very reasonable charges just to cover the cost of the speaker and the hire of the hall.
Last Sundays walk in the Beer Wood was excellent and discovered a rare species for this part of Europe. That was a bit special for the group and a good addition to the record. We must look again next year to see if it will reappear.
Here is a picture of the moment of discovery! Identified as Battarrea phalloides or also  known as a Sandy Stiltball. Followed by the Group gathering round to see what all the fuss was about.I should add that the specimen was well into the cycle of dispersal of spores but the specimen was left in place as a sensible practice. 

I came across an old small booklet recently on the subject of hedges. Their  history is very much tied up in social history going back to the Enclosure Laws which allowed land owners to make it impossible for the general public to have access. It included articles on methods of dating hedges based on a survey of the numbers of species of shrubs and trees that had appeared over time. I've made contact with a local History Society to see if they can help in any way with identifying local ancient hedges.

  This photo is of our newly planted hedge three years ago which contains seven species of hedge plants. According to the theory if you found a hedge with such a number of species it would be several hundreds of years old. That might be confusing at some time in the future! Here is a picture of a worthy volunteer doing the planting by fitting canes and  plastic guards to stop the rabbits from eating the young  plants..

Last Monday I attended a regular meeting of Chairs of Local Area Groups and had a very stimulating discussion about how we all function and how we relate to the parent body , the Somerset Wildlife Trust. Amongst many points raised was the need to review and update a 5 year old document which laid down rules and guidelines for the work we all do as volunteers. On the basis of the old rule that anyone who speaks out on such items gets asked to be involved in the job of doing the revision. So I've got a nice little project for the next 2 or 3 months.

Meanwhile of course our own small committee has its next meeting in a weeks time when we will need to review our future programe and work out what our priorities are. We are very limited in volunteer resources and need to attract more help.

wild flowers

Yesterday on March 11th I noticed first flowering of our 3 year old hedge. Blackthorn is flowering on one of the 1000 hedge plants we planted nearly 3 years ago and at the edge of the field in just one small area were the first cowslips flowering. The photos are not brilliant partly because the sky was overcast and the light poor.

Curry Rivel Community Website | Autumn glory | Stunning, Rose

Here is my recent posting of autumnal photos on our local community web site.Click on the link shown below.
The post showed an unusual growth on a self seeded wild rose growing in our local meadow new hedge. I now have the following explanation:

The growth on your rose is caused by a small gall wasp belonging to the Family Cynipidae. These galls are commonly known as Robin's pin cushions!
I'll add the photo here now.

Curry Rivel Community Website | Autumn glory | Stunning, Rose

There seems to be a problem getting to see the photos which are on a Picasa Web Album and not on the local web site at the moment. Please use this link here to view.
Or use this URL :
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/102496237551017155815/Wildlife#  
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As usual I found myself wondering what this Robins Pin Cushion was all about so Wiki gave me a great deal of information. Click here for the link.

Hedges and Verges --Somerset Wildlife Trust protest

I missed this news item shown on the SWT web site in September but as it's an important wildlife issue you might like to see it here. The full news report is on the SWT web site which you can see by clicking on the link below ( Somerset Wildlife Trust).

Somerset Wildlife Trust: "28 September 2009

Leave the roadsides and hedges alone!


This autumn, leave the roadsides and hedges alone! Today, Somerset Wildlife Trust is asking why Somerset Highways is damaging roadside wildlife?

Somerset Wildlife Trust members have reported that during September, Somerset Highways contractors have been over-flailing roadside verges, trees and hedgerows, damaging valuable wildlife habitat and leaving an unsightly mess.

Lisa Schneidau, SWT’s Leader of Living Landscapes, said: “This is the wrong time of year to cut hedges and roadside trees. It leaves no food for wildlife over the winter and damages wildlife habitat that is valuable for birds and small mammals"

Lappet Moth caterpillar

Wow, anyone who is interested in moths and their caterpillars will be impressed I think by a surprising sighting this morning. Walking round our local meadow , inspecting our one year old new hedge, my companion got quite excited and dived into the young hedge to collect a magnificent specimen of the Lappet moth caterpillar. I am including my photo of its discoverer to show its size. You can see the young hedge in the background. The caterpillar was on Blackthorn. I understand this in not fully grown.

I don't have photo of the moth but here is a link to the UK Moths web site.

Somerset Hedge photographic competition

Here are some photos of a new hedge with 1000 whips over 200 metres all planted this year by volunteers. On the left are the young whips soon after planting and on the right is a photo of a butterfly egg ( a small white dot in the fork of the branch laid by a Brown Hairstreak) on a young blackthorn bush in an adjacent hedge.


I shall be attending a presentation this evening to see who has won the competition to find good photos of Somerset hedges.
Here is a link to their web site.

I entered photos of our new hedge planted on our Private Nature Reserve 4 acre wildflower meadow and because hedges are so important for wildlife. Here is an extract from the Hedge Society web site on the subject. See link above for more detail.
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Hedgerow Wildlife

What is a good hedge for wildlife?

Well-managed hedgerows are valuable for wildlife supporting a rich diversity of insects, birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibian. In many lowland areas, hedges are the most significant wildlife habitat remaining. The health of hedgerows is crucial for the survival of many common as well as more rare species.

Native hedge plants such as blackthorn, hawthorn, hazel, dogwood and field maple will support many more species than non-native plants such as garden privet, leylandii and sycamore. In general terms, the more kinds of tree and shrub a hedge contains, the more wildlife it can support due to different flowering and fruiting times. The most valuable hedges are those that combine a thick and bushy hedge with a sympathetically managed bank, ditch or grassy margin.

Hedgerow shrub wildlife species supported:

SPECIES	NO:
Hawthorn	209
Blackthorn	153
Hazel	106
Beech	98
Field Maple	51

Mammals and reptiles A mixed species native hedgerow will provide a supply of fruit, berries, nuts, insects, slugs, snails and spiders for a range of mammals. Hedgehog, common shrew, pygmy shrew, wood mouse and stoat will all use hedges to feed, next or hibernate. Other species such as dormouse and adder are more likely to be found in hedges that link to other hedges and features such as scrub, woodland or ponds.

Amphibians and insects Certain hedge features are favoured by certain species so a variety of hedge shrubs and management is important. Amphibians (frogs, newts and toads) favour hedges with ditches and dense ground cover. The caterpillars of the Holly Blue butterfly, will only be found in hedges containing holly, spindle or dogwood. Another butterfly, the Brown Hairstreak butterfly will only lay its eggs on the young shoots of blackthorn in a hedgerow. Birds Birds use hedgerows to feed, find cover, establish breeding territories, nest and raise chicks. Birds commonly associated with woodland such as blue tit, great tit, wren, blackbird, robin and chaffinch are more common in taller, wider hedges. Birds that favour scrubby or open woodland, such as dunnock, yellowhammer and whitethroat are more common in poor, gappy hedges. A taller hedge allows nests to be built out of the reach of predators and will therefore be more likely to fledge chicks successfully.

Hedgerow trees Hedgerow trees and uncut hedge tops provide important song posts allowing birds to establish territories in the breeding season. It is important to select sapling in hedgerows to grow on into the next generation of trees for wildlife and for landscape value. Oak and ash are valuable, long-lived hedgerow trees supporting a wealth of wildlife species but other native trees can also be left. Bats, songbirds and lichens, which favour undisturbed conditions, can thrive on mature hedgerow trees.

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