Severn babies in bathwater risk

Severn babies in bathwater risk

Here is a new venture for me!!!

Looking at the RSPB web site for news about the Severn Estuary energy proposals I came across a Blog they run and a post on the subject.

There were all sorts of links on the page including Blogger, and clicking on the symbol comes up with "Blog this" which I did ( bravely) and lo and behold it appears on my own Blog ( I had to sign in with my Google pass word etc).

So if you are still with me, and interested in what the RSPB thinks about flooding the Severn Estuary than click on the link above.  Then don't forget to come to our next public meeting . See previous posts.

Energy recovery from the Severn Estuary, The Severn Barrage and other scheems.

Here are details of our next public meeting. The wildlife which relies on the Severn Estuary makes it a very special place. Slimbridge is part of it. Before we see it seriously damaged we should take the time and trouble to find out what is being proposed.

Thur, Feb, 11th, 2010   Time 7.30 pm till approx 9.30 pm                           

Title of Talk :  Major Energy Projects and Somerset Wildlife

Description of talk: Severn Tidal Power is just one of several major energy projects proposed for Somerset all of which will affect wildlife.

Lisa Schneidau, SWT’s Director of Conservation, will give a presentation concentrating on the potential for energy recovery from the Severn estuary. Lisa will  review the current situation regarding the effect on wildlife, the Trusts response and future plans. The proposed new power station at Hinkley Point will also be covered.  There will be a Q and A session after the interval. Your comments and questions are  welcome.

Meeting Place:  Somerton United Reform Church Hall, West Street, Somerton

Where to Park: Free car park close by.

Is Venue Suitable for Wheelchair-User/Limited Mobility: Yes but not easy.

Admission fee:     £2.50

Bumble Bees

A quick note to give an advance reference to the subject of our public meeting on March 11th
Bumble Bees.

Here is a link to a Blog which has an excellent and informative post on the subject. Click here.
You should find a post dated Sept 27th 2009 all about Bumble bees

I've also just changed to a new editor for the Blog so I'm not entirely sure every thing is working. So will just publish and look at the results!! Well, it didnt work first time because of operator error! This time it will be OK.

British Owls; their natural history and practical conservation

This time last night I was on my way to our planned public meeting. Our speaker was almost certainly on his way from Bristol with a Barn Owl in the back of his car. As always with these meetings we have no way of knowing how many people will turn up, or if anyone except our small committee and our speaker. There are almost always glitches in the arrangements and it is all a bit stressful really but that's because its very important for our purpose of spreading some light on the mostly hidden world of wildlife.
So how did it go? Dealing with the glitches we got under way with an audience of around 65. That might not sound many but it is probably a record for our meetings. Many of them turned out to not be members of the Wildlife Trust. That was a surprise but also a bonus since some of them may join. The speaker was brilliant, the photos shown were excellent and the Barn Owl stole the show.
We manged a short break for tea or coffee, we had a raffle for prizes with an owl theme and there were good questions. Having arrived at the hall at around 7 pm we finally left at 10 pm. Our treasurer was happy because we had made a small surplus and the audience all looked very happy. Job done!
I should write another post with a bit more conservation content but that needs a bit of research.

British Owls; their natural history and practical conservation

We confirm ( on Wed 13.01.10 ) that the School is open and the meeting will take place as advertised.



Dont forget our meeting on British Owls on Thursday 14th at 7.30 pm Huish Episcopy School,Wincanton Rd, Langport. This photograph by Chris Sperring, our speaker for the meeting may well be the one accompaning Chris for the talk!
PS the latest snow is melting fast now.

BBC Breathing Spaces

Photo by Mike Cook.

Here's a lovely photo of a Goldfinch taken by a neighbour, showing some of the recent snow. It may be the same bird which feeds on Niger seed in our garden too. We often have three or four birds at a time. The night time temperature has been down to minus 5 or 6 C over the last few nights. How do these birds stand it?

I get a regular newsletter from the Breathing Spaces team and its a good reminder of the many events and activities going on in the wildlife world. Even if you cant get to any of them they are still good value for activity ideas.
So here is a link to their newsletter web site. Click here.

And here is the full BBC Breathing spaces web site. Click here

Chris Sperring MBE: Best Wishes to all for 2010

This bitterly cold weather ( might be regarded as climate change but not to be confused with global warming!) is causing a lot of problems for people getting out and about. I had to make a special trip to buy bird food. I am also concerned that it might stop people coming to our next public meeting on Jan 14th. Fingers crossed that conditions might have eased by then.
I have just visited Cris Sperring's Blog to see what is going on in the Hawk and Owl world.
He has a wonderful photograph of an Owl of course which is worth seeing. I blogged his last post , (link below) which I found full of good things to look forward to in 2010 so here it is. I recommend it to keep you up to date.
Click on this link:
Chris Sperring MBE: Best Wishes to all for 2010

Starlings

I wonder how our starlings are faring in this prolonged icy weather. Are they still flocking to Westhay and Hamwall to roost? Finding food in the fields must be difficult and it must take a lot of energy to fly ten or twenty miles just to settle in the reed beds of the levels. I must look this afternoon to see if they fly over our village at around 3.30 to 4.00 pm.
The starling hot line says ( lunch time Wednesday) that they are currently roosting at the Natural England site at Shapwick Heath. I have been surprised to find that they change the location from time to time.
I am hoping to get along to hear the talk on Starlings organised by the Taunton Dene local Group of SWT next Tuesday 12th Jan :
Talk on Starlings by Chris Sperring.
Why do starlings mass in the sky? Where do they come from? Chris Sperring, a well-known local naturalist, will explain the habits of starlings and their amazing gatherings over the Somerset Levels during the winter months. Tea, coffee & raffle. Children welcome. Meetings Room, Taunton Library, Paul Street, Taunton. Car park nearby. Suitable for wheelchair users/limited mobility. £2.50.

That will lead nicely onto our own meeting on Thursday 14th on British Owls in Langport. See our diary blog for details. Link here.

New year message

Greetings to all readers and best wishes for 2010.

Whilst enjoying a very pleasant social evening yesterday I met someone who is interested in starting their own Blog. Not on the same subject as thisone but never the less it was quite a challenge to have to explain how and why I run my own. I have always hoped that the subjects I post on speak for themselves but that is probably a false assumption. There are many excellent blogs and I'm always impressed by the world wide contacts a blog generates and by the range of subjects covered. But to really catch visitors interest is not easy and I feel I must do better. I wonder if colour works!!!
So I hope I haven't put off a potentially very good new blog.
I did gain from our discussion a renewed enthusiasm for seeking to improve my writing and presentation especially as wildlife conservation is such a huge subject of great importance to everyone.

I must just mention our next public meeting on Owls on Jan 14th and full details are on our Diary of events. Link here.

I'm also adding another U Tube video clip showing a group of owls as I have never seen them before.

Bats

These photos from Kids Zone web site, link here.



The internet provides an amazing ability to link subjects together. Here is how I recently found myself reading about bats!


A few days ago I found a bright yellow flower, size about 10 or 15 mm growing on a grass trail round a local meadow. I tried to remember enough details about its size, petals, stamens and leaf arrangement to identify it at home with books such as Wild Flowers by Blamey and Keeble Martin. Bearing in mind that it is now mid Dec I decided that it must be either the Creeping or the Spring Cinquefoil. I asked a friend for an opinion and went back to check. Naturally the flower had disappeared and I had little luck trying to pin down where I had seen it. There were no other specimens around either.
I've been persuaded that it is the Creeping form and as a final check I searched the web for any further guidance.

I came across a new web site run by Natural England called, "Gardening with Wildlife in Mind" .

Their web site says: "Natural England's Gardening with wildlife in mind aims to help people choose plants likely to attract wildlife. It also shows what eats what in the garden." It seems to be a joint venture with a private company called, " The Plant Press", publishers of books and CD's on gardening.
So with the help of Plant Press you can search for a range of wild animals and find out what they eat and other data. This is where I found my way to Bats!

I tried it out with bats and that is the point of this post, here is an extract from the site. Read more at this link.



I find it interesting to read that:

The pipistrelle bat was thought to be a single species until around 1998, when it was found that there are two genetically distinct species, the larger common pipistrelle and the smaller Pipistrellus pymaeus or 'soprano pipistrelle', so-called because its echolocation call is at a frequency of 55kHz as opposed to the common pipistrelle, which echo locates at 45kHz. New research into these two species is showing that they also have different preferences for food and habitat. The 55kHz bat prefers wetland and lives up to its German common name of 'midge bat'.

In future I must remember to talk about 45 or 55kHz bats which sounds very much more interesting!

I had to follow up this article by clicking on the link to the Bat Conservation Trust which I recall visiting some time ago before posting an item on bats. This time their web site , as usual gives a lot about bats but here is an extract on bats and biodiversity, the latter subject I had posted about recently.
Read more at this link:

Protecting our Biodiversity

The United Nations Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD) in 1992 committed member states to conserve their biological diversity and set a global target 'to achieve a significant reduction of the current rate of biodiversity loss'. In Europe however the goal is that 'biodiversity decline should be halted with the aim of reaching the objective by 2010' known as the Countdown 2010 initiative. We are now less than 600 days away from the end of 2010 and there is still a lot of work to do.

Throughout the UK, BCT is working to maintain our bat biodiversity. We have 17 species of bat and we wish to see the populations of all these conserved and, where possible, enhanced.

All of our bats and their roosts are protected by law. Legislation is one way of maintaining bat biodiversity and shows that the Government thinks that conservation of bats is important.

BCT's Bat Biodiversity Project delivers a whole range of actions in conjunction with the Statutory Nature Conservation Organisations, volunteer bat workers, other environmental charities, sectors of trade and industry and government departments to help ensure that bat biodiversity is maintained. Further details of our work on policy and lobbying can be found on the consultation and lobbying pages.

The work of the Biodiversity Officer is supported by Natural England and the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation

A final interest in all this is that I have been trying to persuade our Group to purchase a bat detector for some time now. I might just have to buy one myself!
Out of this bit of research several outcomes might be generated:

• We organise another meeting about Bats or a bat walk to support the Countdown 2010 event.
  
• We write to all our local authorities : parish and town councils, to ask about their interest in the environment and what they are doing about their responsibilities in respect of biodiversity etc.
• We continue to promote wildlife gardening.