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RealClimate is a commentary site on climate science by working climate scientists for the interested public and journalists. We aim to provide a quick response to developing stories and provide the context sometimes missing in mainstream commentary. The discussion here is restricted to scientific topics and will not get involved in any political or economic implications of the science.
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"e" newsletter to members

Here is an example of how we try to communicate with as many of our local members as possible. This is a recent email to about 20% of our members. The details are also on our Diary blog. To receive our e newsletter all you need to do is send an email to:
levelswildlife@btinternet.com and ask to be added to the circulation list.

From: "David"
To: "Heart of the Levels Area Group"
Subject: Heart of the Levels Group news
Date: 27 July 2007 14:33


Heart of the Levels Group of Somerset Wildlife Trust.


27.07 News update sent to around 100 members and friends as blind copies (ref 01). For more information reply to this email.
Items in chronological order.

Dear all,
We hope you find some of these items of interest.

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11th August 20:00 Somerset Moth Group. Breach Wood MOD ST425306 National moth Night. Meet at Cemetery south of High Ham and we will then be directed to this fine underecorded woodland site.
Extract from their web site: We organise field trips throughout the year and these are open to all. There is no charge and you don't have to have a moth trap to come along. They are a good opportunity to learn how to identify moths, use trapping equipment and meet like-minded people. We try to target interesting habitats with a range of exciting species.


More information here: http://http://www.somersetmothgroup.org.uk/portal

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Sunday 12th August Somerset and Bristol Branch of Butterfly Conservation.




Programme of Guided Butterfly walks in Somerset in 2007

Sunday 12th August 2007 time tbc - Langport M.O.D. Rifle Ranges. Leader Tom Marlow

Meet at High Ham Cemetery at ST 425 306 to be escorted to the reserve. This is the morning after National Moth Night and the previous night's catch should be available for inspection. Target butterfly species: SWF, PH, WA.

More information here: http://www.somerset-butterflies.org.uk/

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A training day for those who wish to find out more about running children and family friendly activities confidently

Thurs 6th Sept at Fyne Court or Sat 8th Sept at Carymoor

10-4pm

more information here:http://http://www.somersetwildlife.org.uk/education/education.html



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Thursday 13th September. Heart of the Levels Group, AGM and talk on Somerset Otters by James Williams from the Somerset Otter Group.
The Group members take responsibility for a particular stretch of watercourse to record and monitor Otters. The group produces its own newsletter and is a branch of the Somerset Wildlife Trust.
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15 - 30 September is Climate Friendly Fortnight. The Climate Friends campaign is about encouraging everyone to get involved in taking action towards achieving a more climate friendly lifestyle. It's about celebrating the people who have already taken steps towards this, and encouraging others to take positive action too. More information at: http://www.climatefriends.org.uk/ and also at:http://www.risingtothechallenge.org.uk for Somerset County Council.

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Sunday 16th September from 10 to 4pm.This is the 2nd year of the Somerset Wildlife Trust open day for members at the Bishop's Palace, Wells.

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October 6th SWT Annual Conference and AGM Saturday 6th October at Draycott Village Hall. 12 noon to 4.30 See next copy of magazine for details.

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For more information about our group visit our web site and better still let us have your comments on our programme.


Read news from our group at:
Heart of the Levels Wildlife Group
http://heartofthelevels.blogspot.com/
(updated 20.07.07)
Diary of Events:
http://heart-of-the-levels-diary.blogspot.com/
( updated 25.07.07)


To receive our e newsletter all you need to do is send an email to:
levelswildlife@btinternet.com and ask to be added to the circulation list.

Group events for August , September and October

Details of our programme and involvement in SWT events have been updated on our Diary blog. See link on this page.

Reports of events in June

June and July are very busy months for wildlife groups and there is a lot to record from activities we have been involved in. Brief notes in chronological order will be followed by a few photos.

9 and 10th June and overlooked last post was my sponsored walk in the Langport International Walking Festival. 10km on the 9th and 20km on the 10th raised around £100 for our group and the Trust. We tried to get publicity for the Trust and its difficult to gauge our success but the cash will be useful.

11th June. Our Group hosted a meeting of all Area Chairs in the Long Sutton Village Hall. Members of our committee provided tea and cakes for around 20 people including Council members of the SW Trust and Officers. This meeting happens three times a year and provides a chance for volunteers to exchange news and views and debate common problems with the Officers. It was quite a lively meeting with a number of actions to be followed up. We need to issue the minutes of the meeting soon.

23th June. Our visit to a reserve to see the Large Blue butterfly has already been reported in an earlier post.

26th June. Some time ago we had organised a trip to some local lakes to look for Dragonflies with an expert to guide us. Dr Mike Parr who also happens to be a member.
The weather wasn't kind for this visit and although it didn't rain ( only a little anyway) it was overcast and windy. We saw a fair number of Damselflies but none of the larger Dragonflies hoped for. Even so we spent an hour of so walking round the lake with enough interest to satisfy us but left us wanting more. Dr Parr generously offered to postpone the second part of the walk till the weather improved which we subsequently tried to organise but again beaten by the weather. See below for report dated 13th July.

Here are some photos - the best I could!




Some more to follow soon.

"The Large Blue"

The one photo I really wanted to get right and here is the result:
A Large Blue butterfly which was extinct in the UK in 1979 and recently reintroduced in selected sites.

By clicking on the photo it should be possible to see it full size and by scrolling to cover the picture to find the butterfly on a flower head.




At least the Thyme plant the caterpillars feed on can be seen a little more clearly!


The highly successful Green Down butterfly conservation project is a wonderful example of human activity being integrated with a wildlife nature reserve.
For the Large Blue the effect of creating a gallop for training race horses must have been worse than building the Newbury Bypass!

So the guided visit to the reserve last Saturday where I was able to watch a Large Blue laying eggs on Thyme so close I could have reached out and touched it was an exceptional experience. I had to remind myself that this was not a butterfly farm and I was standing in the middle of acres of open downland.

Our guides on the visit of the 20 or so members of our party told us a little about the almost unbelievable story of the butterflies life cycle and the conservation project.

More information can be seen at the Butterfly Conservation web site.

Summer Garden Party - Photos

After taking a few pictures before we started, the party got going so well I forgot to take any more so this only gives an idea of how it looked with the 50 or so members and non members who attended. It was a great success and we must repeat it next year.



We added a raffle with a top prize of a garden token from a local nursery all on show at the entrance where our committee members used gentle persuasion on the visitors to sell raffle tickets.



It was a shock for the chairman who had the job of duty first aider and had to use his SWT issued first aid kit to find and apply a plaster.The scratch which needed plaster was definitely not the result of gentle persuasion. This was a significant moment as Health and Safety has become a serious matter and this was our first opportunity to apply our first aid skills.



We did find a bandage and it was duly applied.



From the entrance and after getting past the gate keeper there was a pleasant walk round to the start of the garden.




Awaiting our visitors we had tables for wine, soft drinks and Somerset cheeses.


At last our first guest made it to collect a glass of wine and the party was officially under way. We did eventually have around 50 visitors all of whom declared they had enjoyed the occasion.

Guided walk on Dundon Beacon

Here are some photographs from our visit today.
You should be able to click on the images to get an enlarged view which makes it easier to see the Bee Orchid for instance and the Woolly Thistle flower head is spectacular when enlarged


A Bee Orchid. The only one we could find today when there are usually many. A close up would have been better!


The Twayblade Orchid


A flower head on a Woolly Thistle


The Greater Butterfly Orchid


The Heart of the Levels group on top of Dundon Beacon.

28 people, mostly but not all members of the Trust, enjoyed a stimulating guided walk and talk. for me the highlights were seeing for the first time the Twayblade and Grater Butterfly Orchids. The latter were quite numerous whereas the other species normally common on the Beacon were scarce this year. It was thought the early dry weather was responsible. Two other species not shown here but seen were the Pyramidal and Common Spotted Orchids.

4 Acre Reserve

Its good to be able to record that today I was able to find several specimens of the Bee orchid in our 4 acre private nature reserve. The Small Blue butterfly has also been seen regularly over the last week or so. Meadow Browns are also present. The Pyramidal Orchid was found over most areas last year but has not been seen so far this year but it may still be too early.

Visit to two Devon Reserves on 19th May 2007

This brief record covers an annual outing organised by the Wells Group of the Somerset Wildlife Trust to reserves in other counties. We visited two sites in Devon.They are both SSSI's. The first map shows the Area of the East Devon Pebbled Heath SSSI part of which is the RSPB site on Woodbury Common. Some of our party are shown walking round one of the acidic ponds popular with dragonflies. As we walked we not only heard two cuckoos but saw them fly across in front of us. At both sites we found orchids to photograph. They were very numerous at Dawlish Warren. The second map shows the Dawlish Warren SSSI site on the River Exe estuary.
We were lucky with the weather and all agreed it was a very worth while and enjoyable visit.

The UK Met Office and research into climate change

As a follow up to my last post I have just checked the link on this blog to the UK Met Office and its Hadley Centre and note that they have provided detailed notes on the several areas of complaint against ill informed comment of the kind seen in the Channel 4 programme:
Here is a link to the relevant Met Office / Hadley Centre web page:

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/corporate/pressoffice/myths/index.html

It seems sensible for all of us to look for reliable sources of factual information when we are forming our own opinions on such important issues.
We should be considering the future of our world in the same way as Bill Shankley once described the game of football at Liverpool FC. "It not a matter of life and death , its more important than that".

The web site deals with what they describe as common myths.

Myth 1 - Ice core records show that changes in temperature drive changes in carbon dioxide, and it is not carbon dioxide that is driving the current warming.

The bottom line is that temperature and CO2 concentrations are linked. In recent ice ages, natural changes in the climate (due to orbit changes for example) led to cooling of the climate system. This caused a fall in CO2 concentrations which weakened the greenhouse effect and amplified the cooling. Now the link between temperature and CO2 is working in the opposite direction. Human-induced increases in CO2 is enhancing the greenhouse effect and amplifying the recent warming.

Myth 2 - Solar activity is the main driver of climate change.

The bottom line is that changes in solar activity do affect global temperatures. However, what research also shows is that increased greenhouse gas concentrations have a much greater effect than changes in the Sun’s energy over the last 50 years.

Myth 3 - There is less warming in the upper atmosphere than at the surface which disproves human-induced warming.

The bottom line is that observations are now consistent with increased warming through the troposphere.

Myth 4 - The intensity of cosmic rays changes climate.

The bottom line is, even if cosmic rays have a detectable effect on climate (and this remains unproven), measured solar activity over the last few decades has not significantly changed and cannot explain the continued warming trend. In contrast, increases in CO2 are well measured and its warming effect is well quantified. It offers the most plausible explanation of most of the recent warming and future increases.

Myth 5 - Climate models are too complex and uncertain to provide useful projections of climate change.

The bottom line is that current models enable us to attribute the causes of past climate change and predict the main features of the future climate with a high degree of confidence. We now need to provide more regional detail and more complete analysis of extreme events.