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.’

Starlings in Somerset

The RSPB provides this information about the roosting sites for Starlings

For information on the roosting starlings please phone the Avalon Marshes Starling Hotline - 07866 554142. Please do not leave enquiries on this number, as it is an automated service and they cannot be answered.

You can also find out more about the location and receive an automated email, by emailing starlings@rspb.org.uk.

The starlings use sites managed by three different organisations - the RSPB (Ham Wall), Natural England (Shapwick Heath) and Somerset Wildlife Trust (Westhay Moor). There is very little parking available at any of the sites, so avoiding the weekend rush will greatly improve your visit.

Whenever you come, please follow any parking instructions given and avoid stopping on narrow verges or blocking gateways. There is no parking for coaches other than at The Avalon Marshes Centre situated between Shapwick and Westhay villages. Parking for the western end of Shapwick Heath is also at The Avalon Marshes Centre.

Please take care not to disturb the wildlife or other visitors, by keeping noise to a minimum and obeying rules about dogs and restricted access.

Local Nature Reserve, Batty Piece, Somerset

A friend has just taken these photos for me showing some of the interesting wildlife to be found there at the moment.

Photographs taken by John Bebbington

Batty Piece , a natural meadow in Somerset

The  excitement of finding "ordinary" nature prospering in our meadow nature reserve.
Two visits over the last two days have found a Small Blue and Large Skipper, Grass Vetchling and most pleasing the first of this years Bee Orchid. Here are some of them yesterday. What you cant hear is that in the sunshine and with little wind there were many bees and flies buzzing around and a few butterflies. So they are still alive and well in Somerset!

Botany Study Group field trip

Heart of the Levels Area Group.

Today our Study Group is going to a nature reserve near Buckland St Mary in Somerset.
We have around 17 members  most of whom come to all the trips.
As usual Anne Bebbington has already made a preliminary survey and as the cold weather is holding back flowering plants we will be mostly doing vegetative identifications.
The site is a mixture of damp neutral grassland with a small stream and an area of woodland. Boots are recommended!
We will be stopping for our packed lunch in the local village hall and finished about 3.30 pm ( British Summer Time since yesterday)
Weather clouded over and about 1 degree C and a bit breezy. Will report more soon.

Bats in Somerset

Number four in the posts most frequently visited on this Blog is one I published way back on Sept 12th 2006 and it still attracts a steady number of visits. Its titled " Do Bats fly in the middle of the day?"
There have been 542 visits to the posting!

To follow up on my earlier post I think the answer to my question is that they may do when they are hungry or disturbed of course!

The Somerset Bat Group web site gives more information about their current programme  including their AGM to be held at the RSPCA Centre at West Hatch on April 27th. Incidental one of our local wildlife group works there as a volunteer and was recently helping in the cleaning of sea birds after the recent sea contamination and getting rather pecked by the unhappy  birds.

Here is a link to their web site:   http://www.somersetbatgroup.org.uk/index.html

I'm sure they would be pleased to hear from you.

The web site shows a series of photos of bats taken by Paul Kennedy. The Group claims that 15 of the 16 UK native bats have been identified in Somerset and hopes one day to find the 16th.

Article By        Louise Gray,     Environment Correspondent

( The Telegraph)

7:00AM GMT 13 Dec 2012

You can read this article by clicking on the link above.

"Owen Paterson, the Environment Secretary, is considering merging the work of Natural England and the Environment Agency as part of the “bonfire of the quangos”.

The Wildlife Trusts fear this will lead to a cut in staff and budgets, threatening key programmes to protect rare species.

Even more seriously, the review suggests that Natural England should “support and contribute to the Government's aims and priorities as effectively as possible".

But legal advice commissioned by the RSPB points out that this clashes with NE’s original purpose, that is "to ensure that the natural environment is conserved.”

Mike Clarke, Chief Executive of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, said the review threatened the independence of NE and therefore its ability to stand up to the Government on controversial planning decisions."

Just seen this news item. I must do some more research on it!

Oaken Wood is at risk, you can help us save it - The Woodland Trust

Oaken Wood is at risk, you can help us save it - The Woodland Trust

The Kent Wildlife Trust is working with the Woodland Trust to save this Wood. Here is a quote from the Woodland Trust web site:

Over 32 hectares of ancient woodland in Kent under threat from plans to quarry into Oaken Wood.

Over 6,500 of you helped us to convince Secretary of State Eric Pickles to ‘call in’ the planning application for a public inquiry. Now we have the chance to ensure that the plans are examined in detail.

The public inquiry is due to start 27th November 2012. The Woodland Trust, along with Kent Wildlife Trust, is taking part and we are currently preparing our evidence to present to the Planning Inspector.

Nick Baker on Westhay nature reserve.

If you don't follow the Somerset Wildlife Trust on Facebook you are missing a treat.  Here is a very recent posting with a video clip describing a nature reserve not far from where I live and which I only occasionally visit. Time and other interests make it difficult to keep in touch with the natural world around us but it's a shame if we don't try.  Thanks to Jane for bringing it to our attention!

Viewing this video with Nick Baker taking us on a walk on the reserve is very well put together and gives us an insight into our own local natural world.

Here are links to the Trusts Facebook page and to the video clip

http://www.facebook.com/somersetwildlifetrust?

ref=streamhttp://www.facebook.com/somersetwildlifetrust?ref=stream

Somerset Wildlife Trust

Did you see Nick Baker watching dragonflies being caught by sundews on our Westhay Moor Nature Reserve the other night, on BBC's Inside Out? Don't worry if you missed it, you can watch it again here. Enjoy! It's really great footage! Jane

Inside Out South West: 12/11/2012

www.bbc.co.uk

Nick Baker visits Westhay Moor nature reserve in Somerset, an outstanding haven for wildlife largely created by man.

Like ·  · Share · 422 · about an hour ago · 

• 4 people like this.
• 2 shares
• 

  Somerset Wildlife Trust Great to see our very own Mark Blake being interviewed as well - explaining how we are conserving the largest surviving fragment of lowland acid mire in the south west. Jane

  about an hour ago · Like
• 

  Ruth Bartleet This is a lovely film. Thank you so much for sharing it.

Meadow crisis

Meadow crisis.

Problems with getting the hay cut!


Have just finished pulling Ragwort.


Contractors who do hay cutting are using such large machines , year by year getting bigger that our 4 acre meadow is now too small to be worth while.
Our gate onto a small lane is not big enough for the machine to get in the field or to get a trailer in to take away the bales.
Probably because we have encouraged Yellow Rattle, in some parts of the field the grass is described as just weeds !  ( weeds indeed!)
Maybe it could be better used for silage?
What about topping it. I think that means just cutting but not baling and removing.
Possibly because we have had a wet summer grasses everywhere have been growing strongly so our small field is not very appealing for hay making.

Now looking for a plan B or C.

Will keep you posted.

Meadow photographs

Here are some of my photos taken this afternoon in a break in the showers.

All seen in our meadow or in the adjacent hedge.

Burnet Moth (possibly Five-spot)

Broomerape

Bee Orchid

Very fresh Pyramidal Orchids

Goats Beard with a Grass Vetchling

Quaking Grass

A caterpillar!?

Changes to my Blog

Hi,
I've decided to have a fresh look at how I present my Blog. I've started by stripping out one or two features like the list of labels which filled up a lot of space. Each post will still have labels and you can still click on any shown on a post to see other posts on the same subject. I've taken off the heading and photo which was a bit old news! Ironically as the orchid and Ladies Bedstraw shown are just about to come into flower again!!
It will be interesting to see if I get any comments or if the viewings change. Its all a big experiment really.
I must also find the time to update my 365 photo coverage of the year but maybe there is a better way of showing you an album on Picasa or similar.
Any advice you can offer is welcome.
Best wishes to all,
David

Pictures below from my visit to a nature reserve on the south coast. There are three Turns here all squabbling about nesting space. The aerial acrobatics display was very impressive!

Brownsea Island

Just back from a visit to this well known and lovely Island Nature Reserve. Owned by the National Trust with about 20% managed by the Dorset Wildlife Trust.
Lovely warm day with a little cloud and a lot of sun.  A big attraction was the possible sighting of the rare Red Squirrels, leaflets say they are more active in the Autumn and we wern't lucky. We did see the half eaten cones as shown below. The range of habitats is quite remarkable in such a small area. With my new interest in Lichens I found plenty of interest and different to those in  Somerset, also shown below.

The star display of wild life were the noisy and very active terns nesting and rearing chicks on the lagoon islands created close to the Mac Hide. This is in the area managed by Dorset Wildlife Trust which has its headquarters in the "Villa" located in the centre of the reserve.

The Lichens shown I will try to get identified and add details to this post.

Wild Plant Conservation

A favourite botanical charity of mine has written to me with a new scheme and I think it could be useful for anyone concerned about the state of wild flowers and plants in their own area. As with any other project it will only be successful if more people get involved. As a small step I'm including details as a post on my Blog. I'll download the parish record form and try to make use of it here in my own Parish. Think about it. Give it a go! You could also sign up for their free newsletter. If you happen to live in Somerset we have our own Botany Groups who carry out identification surveys and they would be pleased to hear from you and you dont need to be an experienced botanist. You can contact me through this Blog.

Dear Parish Pioneer reader

The Wild About Plants team need your help!  We are keen to reach many more people and have prepared the attached article which we would like to ask editors of local parish and village newsletters to consider including in their publications this spring.  Would you be able to approach the relevant person local to you and ask them to do this?  In this way we can all spread the message about the importance of wild plants in our countryside and hopefully recruit lots of new readers for the Parish Pioneer newsletter too.

If you are successful, could you let us know how you've got on and which newsletter has published the article?

Thank you

The Wild About Plants Team.

Attached write up.

Are you Wild About Plants in your parish?

Wild Plant charity, Plantlife, which conserves wild plants on the ground, is interested in your wild plant memories, foraging tales and recipes to find out just how connected our lives still are to wild plants and whether they continue to be important to communities and individuals today. Parishioners can write in to the Wild About Plants team with their memories, poems and photographs which will be added to a plant anthology on the website, www.wildaboutplants.org.uk

If you have more time available, it would be great if you could complete a parish record form, which as well as asking about how local people use wild plants, also asks you to record whether certain wild plants grow in your parish. A parish record form can be downloaded from : http://www.wildaboutplants.org.uk/wp-content/themes/plantlife/content/PP%20parish%20record.pdf

Plant enthusiasts can also subscribe to a lovely free quarterly newsletter called Pioneer which aims to inspire the amateur botanist and nature lover with useful tips, facts and plant ID help – readers are encouraged to provide content and feedback regularly making for a real hands on friendly and fun newsletter! Email: wildaboutplants@plantlife.org.uk to sign up!

Planning law changes and wildlife.

I recently used the CPRE web site to send another letter to my MP on the question of planning changes.
Here is a copy of my letter.

I strongly support the CPRE campaign to minimise the damage to our productive and beautiful countryside, under Government proposals more than half of it would not be adequately protected from development.

Green Belts, National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty make up about 40% of the English countryside. I welcome the commitment to retaining special protections for these areas. But here in Somerset we are also concerned about what the Wildlife Trust calls Living Landscapes. I am concerned that the Government’s reforms to the planning system through the National Planning Policy Framework will remove protection for these important areas of the countryside. Currently, countryside is protected for ‘its intrinsic character and beauty’ but its also vital for its role in enabling the production of food, maintaining the quality of the air we breath and the water we drink.

This policy of protecting the quality of the open countryside has been in place for decades and has been supported by successive governments during times of growth and recession. It doesn’t prevent all development but it has helped ensure that ordinary, though valuable, countryside is not unnecessarily lost to speculative development.

For almost 20 years there has also been a requirement that previously developed land – otherwise known as brownfield land - should be developed before green fields. The Government is also proposing to abandon this policy. Yet, a new report commissioned by the Campaign to Protect Rural England, Building on a Small Island, demonstrates that the supply of previously developed land is actually increasing, including in high demand areas, and that England has previously developed land suitable for providing 1.5 million new homes. I know that some previously developed sites can be important for wildlife but surely these can be protected without scrapping the brownfield-first policy altogether?

Protecting the countryside and building on previously developed land go hand in hand. Time is running out to persuade the Government to think again. I gather that Ministers are currently considering the final changes to be made to their new planning policies.

Please raise my concerns with the Planning Minister, Rt Hon Greg Clark MP, and urge him to ensure that the National Planning Policy Framework makes it absolutely clear that the countryside as a whole needs continued protection, and that building on previously developed sites first should remain an important planning priority.

Yours sincerely

Anger over plans to weaken EU wildlife protection | The Wildlife Trusts

Anger over plans to weaken EU wildlife protection | The Wildlife Trusts

The national organisation supporting the Wildlife Trusts around the counties has a web page( see above link) to communicate its views on important national issues. Somerset Wildlife Trust is very involved and we want to keep our MP's informed of our views. Please visit this web site to keep up to date on development

Reflections of a Curlew: New Relationship With Nature - The Government is g...

By visiting the  Blog shown below you can read a lot more about the Radio 4 programme and Mary Colwell's thoughts on the subject.


Reflections of a Curlew: New Relationship With Nature - The Government is g...: The Great Hall at the University of Bristol for the recording of Sustaining Life for Radio 4 Panelists J...

Orchid - night flowering

Our local orchids

Having a photo of a common pyramidal orchid on the header for my Blog I was very interested to see a news report on BBC about a new variety of orchid which normally only flowers at night. It was discovered in Papua New Guinea in an area authorised for logging!
Click here to go to the BBC web page. On the page is another link to  " videos, news and facts " about orchids both in the UK and world wide.
We have two species on our local meadow, Bee and Pyramidal.
On our local Wildlife Trust reserves we can find around half a dozen species. We are planning to organise a visit to all 15 or so reserves next summer and will record what we can find.

Starlings roosting displays.

Just checked the Hot Line for news about the starlings.

The Starling Hotline at 07866 554142 is NOW OPEN and starlings have been gathering locally round Langport for some time now. Last year the Hotline recommended visiting during the week or at DAWN which it says is just as good. Ham Wall is said to be the current  roosting locations.

See my earlier posts on the subject.

Barcroft Hall, Somerset

This is a large private estate in Somerset which has attracted quite a bit of media coverage lately because the owner has created a 2 acre wild flower meadow out of old derelict farm land over the last two years or so. Abandoned buildings have been removed and the land worked on to make it suitable for planting wildflower seeds. This summer and up to the end of August visitors are invited to walk round the field on pathways kept for the purpose to admire this remarkable collection.

I visited last weekend and was surprised to see so many plants still in flower and more so the range of plants. There are some non native plants.
As a visual spectacle it certainly has the wow factor in big measure.

I recommend you visit before it is all over for this year.

Click here for a link. If that doesn't work use this URL:     http://barcrofthall.co.uk

This is the first year for this project and next year may be different and without in any way detracting from this achievement there may be ways in which it can be made even more interesting and wildlife friendly. I should add the conservationist have a wide rang of views on what they consider good practice so my views may not be the only way to go. I think you have to see it for yourself and then we can comment. Bearing in mind that if it wasn't for the private owner there would not be anything except derelict farm buildings to comment on.

For your interest here is a list of some of the flower growing on the field but not necessarily in flower for your visit in August:

Details taken from the Barcroft web site  ( any errors in transcribing the list especially in spelling will be mine!)




Ammobium alatum    Winged everlasting


Brachyscome iberidifolia   Swan River daisy


Calendula arvensis    Calendula


Chrysanthemum carinatum   Chrysanthemum


Cladanthus arabicus   Palm Springs daisy


Clarkia amoena     Farewell to spring


Collinsia bicolor    Chinese houses


Consolida regalis   Forking larkspur


Convolvulus tricolor  Morning glory


Coreopsis basalis      Golden Mane


Coreopsis tinctoria    Plains Coreopsis


Cosmos bipinnatus      Cosmos


Cosmos sulphureus      Sulphur Cosmos


Cynoglossum amabile    Chinese forgrt-me-not


Daucus carota          Wild carrot


Delphinium ajacis      Wild dephinium


Didiscus caerulea      Silver scabious


Echium vulgare         Viper’s bugloss


Eschscholtzia californica    Californian poppy


Gaillardia aristata     Blanket Flower


Gaillardia pulchella    Indian blanket



Gilia capitata       Blue field gilia


Gilia tricolor       Birds eye gilia


Gypsophila muralis     Baby’s breath


Helichrysum monstrosum    Dwarf everlasting flower


Helipterum roseum       Paper flower


Iberis amara         Dwarf candytuft


Iberis umbellata       Candytuft


Delphinium consolida     Larkspur


Lasthenia Californica     California goldfields


Lavatera Trimestris     Rose mallow


Leontodon hispidus      Rough hawkbit


Linaria maroccana      Spurred snapdragon



Linum grandiflorum     Scarlet flax


Linum usitatissimum     Blue flax


Lomas inodora         Yellow ageratum


Nemophila menziesii    Baby blue eyes


Origanum majorana      Origano


Nolana paradoxa        Wild bird


Papaver rhoeas        Poppy


Phacelia Campanularia   Californian bluebell


Phacelia Tanacetifolia   Lacy phacelia


Ratibida columnifera     Prairie coneflowers


Scabiosa columbaria      Scabious


Silene vulgaris      Catchfly



Tolpis barbata      Umbrella milkwort


Ursinia anethoides     Ursinia


Venidium fastuosum    Cape daisy


Viscaria occulta     Blue angel


Agrostemma githago    Corncockle


Chrysanthemum segetum  Corn marigold


Xeranthemum annuum    Everlasting flower


Zinnia elegans     Zinnia


Anthemis Arvensis    Corn Chamomile


Ammi majus      Queen Anne’s lace


Centaurea cyanus    Cornflower


Clarkia unguiculata    Mountain Garland