Worcestershire Wildlife Trust Volunteers

Birds & Flowers

2012-03-20T15:03:00.000Z

Last month's meeting saw what must have been a record attendance of both members and non members for the current venue. They enjoyed a most interesting talk on the Upton Warren nature reserve by the always-popular Gordon Forrest. He described the history of the reserve from the creation of the pools as a result of the salt extraction in the area, it's donation of the reserve, which now bears his name, by Christopher Cadbury and it's development over the years into the county's premier bidwatching reserve. The talk, which was interspersed by many humerous anecdotes, was illustrated by Gordon's superb photographs of the birds seen at the reserve over the years. Of particular interest was a series of slides showing Gordon building the hide at the Flashes lagoon; he was rather sad as it it had now been demolished to make way for the new double decker hide which has recently opened.

This month's meeting on Friday 30th March will welcome another of our favourite speakers, Roy Mantle from Bridgnorth, already well known for his fungi talks and walks. He will be giving us an illustrated talk on another of his specialities, "Wayside Flowers".

The meeting commences at 7.30 pm at the Eco Centre, Ridgewood High School, Park Road West, Wollaston, Stourbridge, DY8 3NQ where there is ample free parking in the grounds and disabled access to the lecture room. Admission is £2 which includes light refreshments. Members and non members equally welcome we're looking forward to seeing you!

John, Stourbridge local group

Froggie goes a-courtin'

2012-03-06T09:11:00.000Z

One of the more spectacular events of this month is the mating of common toads and frogs in shallow ponds around the area. It's something that volunteers might like to look out for on work days or everyone may want to watch for when they're out and about in wet areas.

Mating toads at Wilden

I was lucky enough to witness common toads mating in the North Pond at Wilden Marsh last year. http://mike585.wordpress.com/2011/03/16/wilden-marsh-march-in-hoo-wood-and-wilden-marsh-nature-reserve-part-2/

Mike, Wilden

PS If you're lucky enough to come across a toad crossing, you can help the toads from getting run over by registering it with Froglife and helping the toads to cross the road! http://www.froglife.org/toadsonroads/

The Conservation Garden

2012-03-05T11:48:00.000Z

Spring is nearly here, the first daffodils are out and members of the Malvern local group have observed bees and frogspawn in their gardens. What can we do to encourage more wildlife to thrive this year? Rachel Salisbury’s talk on Thursday evening provided many ideas and discussed the environmental issues behind the choices we all make when planning what to plant in our gardens.

A conservation garden doesn't have to be unkempt. While there may be corners left not tidied or a fallen log left where it fell, the plants can be planned and managed in relatively formal designs. A wide range of plants is a good idea. It's best to know and understand your garden; encouraging plants which are naturally at home there, growing drought resistant plants in dry soils and not trying to turn alkaline soil into acid. Containers look attractive but watering them through the summer months may not be ecologically desirable. A pond is always a great wildlife habitat – even a small one will attract frogs, newts, water-loving insects and birds. A bird table and nest boxes will provide food and protection. It is better to manage without pesticides and other chemicals if possible, not least because most sprays are not particular to one type of insect and will kill beneficial ones as well as pests.

Some people are adamant that only “native” species of plants should be grown in our gardens. It is difficult to define precisely what native means and there are some native species one would definitely prefer not to have in the garden, like the creeping buttercup. Celandines, marsh marigolds, primroses, violets and honesty are all very attractive. Single varieties of most species are better for attracting bees and other pollinaters; the doubles are pretty but the bees can’t reach the pollen. There's no need to feel guilty about having some 'exotic' species; the buddleia is a prime example of a non-native plant which attracts more butterflies and moths than almost any other common species.

Gardening should not be a battle but an enjoyable and harmonious process. We are part of the ecology and gardens are for our benefit as well as the plants and wildlife we hope to encourage.

We're looking forward to our next talk - Rob Allen, Reserves officer at the Trust, on Wetlands Creation and Conservation, on March 29^th at 7.30 pm.(Chase Sixth Form Annexe, Geraldine Close). Don't forget you can find out more about us and other groups around the county on the Trust's website

Alison, Malvern local group

Hard work at Feckenham

2012-02-17T17:05:00.000Z

We've been busy this winter on the reserve.

Contractors are in pollarding the big old crack willows along the NW boundary hedge line. This is a continuation of work started last year to maintain and contain these very big trees that, unless work was done to reduce their height, would ultimately result in damage and even them being blown down in a strong wind. We have left existing cracks and holes to encourage bats and woodpeckers.

Other contractors are felling some ash in the wood alongside the main pool. This is thinning work as nothing has been done to this stand of trees since they were planted in the early 1980s. Thinning will encourage more diverse ground cover as more light is let in and will also benefit the growth of the hazel understory.

My regular hard-working Wednesday volunters have been busy. We've cut another 10% of the reed bed, which we found to be very successful in previous years; regenerating growth producing taller denser and stronger re-growth. This will provide better habitat for nesting warblers in the coming months.

More work has been done on coppicing in the alders to reduce leaf drop into the dragonfly ponds and allow in more light. We've also started work on coppicing/pollarding the cross hedge between the paddock and the alder carr. This work is part of the greater scheme of things to open up the reed bed and marsh to enable birds such as snipe and other similar species to fly into the wet areas without having to dodge tall trees and high hedges. We'll be leaving any dead trees in the hedge line as habitat and 'cuckoo posts'.

We've now completed the clearance work to the aged blackthorn where we have had our brown hairstreak success. This will now allow fresh suckers to grow and provide a small micro climate for BH to use in the future.

Nothing to report on rare bird sightings and in general the reserve has been very quiet. We have had our bird-ringers on site and they have also found it to be very quiet. Last week I did, however, put up 2 woodcock, which was a bonus.

Paul, Feckenham Wylde Moor

Madagascan Wildlife

2012-02-13T10:41:00.000Z

The island of Madagascar was the subject of a fascinating illustrated talk recently given by Phred Newbury to the Malvern local group.

Madagascar is two and a half times the size of the British Isles and is the fourth largest island in the world. It has been inhabited for only 2000 years by people believed to be of Indonesian descent. The island encompasses rainforests in the east and deciduous dry forests in the west separated by a high plateau. Looking at a map, it is clear that Madagascar would fit to the east coast of Africa like a jigsaw piece and it is thought that it broke away from Africa some 160 million years ago. As in Australia, this has led to the evolution of different animals and birds and many of the island’s species are found only in Madagascar. A good example is the Fossa, a large mammalian, nocturnal carnivore. New species continue to be discovered there.

The lemur is unique to Madagascar, where there are around 90 species. In Africa, lemurs were predated by monkeys and apes - they survived in Madagascar where there are no monkeys or apes. Even now they are hunted for food by humans despite being an endangered species.

Phred travelled over much of the island but her main objective was to visit the small, undeveloped island of Nosy Mangabe in the far north east of Madagascar in the hope of seeing Aye Aye Lemurs which are relatively safe there. Stephen Fry and Mark Cardwadine had failed to find these rare primates in the television programme Last Chance to See; Phred was very fortunate to see one of these amazing creatures only a short distance from her tent.

Phred supports Durrell, a wildlife conservation trust which was established by Gerald Durrell the writer who founded Jersey zoo. The trust’s mission is to save species from extinction and much of its work is carried out in Madagascar where it attempts to raise awareness of the importance of conservation amongst local people. She showed many excellent Durrell photographs of animals, birds, lizards, plants and insects which are endemic to Madagascar.

Our next indoor meeting will be held on Thursday 1st March when Rachel Salisbury will give an illustrated talk entitled The Conservation Garden. The meeting starts at 7.30 pm at the Chase Academy Sixth Form Annexe, Geraldine Close, Barnards Green WR14 3PF and we'd love to see you there.

Derek, Malvern local group

Honeycomb at Beaconwood

2012-02-09T10:59:00.000Z

I was out in Beaconwood on Tuesday and came across this fallen tree - with a lovely honeycomb interior.

Just a quick reminder about our talk in Bournville tomorrow evening (providing we don't get too deluged with snow tonight)...come along and discover more about Hidden Places, Secret Lives with Rosemary Winnall.

Sylvia, South Birmingham local group

Tasting Broadway

2012-01-30T15:27:00.000Z

Sorry! This is staff hi-jacking the blog again ... but this time it's about volunteers and volunteering!

Last Wednesday, 25^th Jan, a group of 16 volunteers headed to Broadway Gravel Pit, a small 1.6 hectare wetland reserve just north west of Broadway village. The reserve is a seasonally flooded gravel pit featuring open woodland, scrub and carr woodland which has been colonised by plenty of birds, plants and animals since being used for gravel extraction. It's owned by Wychavon District Council but managed by Worcestershire Wildlife Trust.

Mark Turner, the volunteer reserve manager for the site, has been involved in the reserve for over 23 years. With his passion for the site and the need for more management, it was decided that we would run a volunteer taster day to raise awareness of the reserve and also to maybe start a regular work party. The taster day gave participants the chance to get involved with some hands-on practical conservation.

There are five species of willow on the reserve: white, grey, crack, goat and osier. These help support a wide range of wildlife - over 150 species of moth are known to feed on the foliage, for example. However, some of the large willows take up large amounts of water. Those of you who know the site will have noticed how dry the gravel pits have been recently. This is due to a combination of factors, such as the general lowering of the water table and the lack of rain, but it is hoped that reducing the amount of large willows will retain water on site. So we felled some of the large willows but stacked the large pieces of timber to form a valuable dead wood habitat.

We also constructed a woven willow screen adjacent to the hide to stop disturbance to the birds by passing visitors. The willow weaving team did a beautiful job, as you can see from this picture.

We also planted some hawthorn and blackthorn saplings in the new hedgerow by the car park so there will be plenty of berries for birds to feed on throughout the winter for many years to come.

The weather held up for us, and we all have a rewarding and fun day. A big thank you to all the attended and hopefully we will see you all soon.

Without our 450 Worcestershire Wildlife Trust volunteers across the county we couldn’t do the range of work we do. From practical conservation to education volunteering, volunteers are involved with all aspects of our work. It’s not just us that benefit, there can be enormous benefits for the volunteers too. It’s a chance to meet new people and learn new skills as well providing the opportunity to keep fit in the great outdoors. If you’re interested in volunteering, whether at Broadway Gravel Pit or elsewhere, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Anna Bunney anna@worcestershirewildlifetrust.org

Conservation Assistant and Volunteer Coordinator

Birdsong at Chance

2012-01-25T09:26:00.000Z

It's been a while since I described what has been happening in Chance Wood. We've continued to work on rhododendron and sycamore control and eaten plenty of cake!

This January we've taken the plunge and started to repair the fence along the public footpath; every previous attempt to make temporary repairs has soon resulted in the wire being cut and little messages written on the posts to the effect that the wood should be open for mountain biking! We've put off attempting more serious repairs until we've been able to gather enough material to make the new fence more difficult to dismantle. John's masterpiece of posts, wire and woven dead-hedge looks pretty substantial but only time will tell if it will stand up to a determined attack.

Our Reserves Officer, Andy, joined us this month and checked the wood for any dangers, particularly in the form of dangerous trees over-hanging the pathways. There is a little non-urgent work that we have now got planned for later this year. As is often the case Andy commented that although Chance Wood is a small reserve it has a great variety of substantial trees, it's always worth taking the time to stand back to admire them.

Yesterday, after the rain, the wood was full of birdsong. In particular two of the larger oaks held a flock of over 100 redwings making enough noise to fill the wood, then going silent before they changed trees, a process that was repeated several times.

There were good numbers of the normal woodland birds; blue, great, coal and long-tailed tits, nuthatches, a treecreeper, great spotted woodpeckers, goldcrests and a pair of colourful bullfinches. Blackbirds and robins were joined by mistle and song thrush, it was good to see a flock of 50 starlings just outside the wood and a number of chaffinches, which had a pretty bad year last year.

The snowdrops are appearing again in small groups and we look to see what effect the mild winter will have had.

Roger, Chance Wood

Devil's Spittleful update

2012-01-19T16:13:00.000Z

The Spittleful mound is starting to re-appear

Following John's blog earlier this week, I thought I'd hi-jack the volunteers' blog and give you a quick staff update on the work at The Devil's Spittleful - hope you don't mind!

I've been regularly visiting the site and, although the work appears extreme, it's great to see the Spittleful mound coming to light for the first time in many years. Clearing the trees makes it much easier to finally see what the heathland is going to look like once it starts to regenerate.

The work will give the rare heathland's plants and animals a chance to recolonise and expand their numbers. In time we hope that birds like woodlark and nightjar will return - they haven't been recorded on the reserve for many many years. Even more well-known birds like green woodpeckers, stonechats, wrens, long-tailed tits and yellowhammers will benefit from the work.

We're already starting to see regeneration of heathland grasses in areas that we'd cleared last year - which is really good to see. Some of the first colonisers of open ground (not just of heathlands) are foxgloves and mullien - both of which germinated last year and will be in flower this summer.

Mullein & foxgloves poking through

The work will take quite a while - we're expecting big machinery to be off site towards the end of February, which is when we'll start fencing. We hope you keep returning to the Devil's Spittleful to watch the changes as they happen over the coming couple of years - we're sure you'll be impressed!

One of several stands of trees we're leaving - this has a mix of old trees, scrub and dead wood - great for a range of wildlife

For more updates, keep an eye on our website.

Thanks
Andy, Reserves Officer

Work at the Spittleful

2012-01-16T16:37:00.000Z

Just been to the Devil's Spittleful where the Trust is undertaking a major piece of restoration work. There's lots happening and the Spittleful mound is slowly becoming visible again. The heathland landscape is re-appearing - the ground is frozen solid so it's easier to see what it'll look like later this year than if it were really muddy because of the heavy machinery.

John, The Devil's Spittleful

Flora of the Malvern Hills

2012-01-09T09:21:00.000Z

Malvern local group's New Year began enthusiastically with a packed hall, mince pies and hot punch. Rob Havard (Conservation Officer of the Malvern Hills Conservators) gave a fascinating talk with many excellent photographs, focussing to begin with on the beauty of the Malvern Hills and the ever-changing colours of the plants and trees which grow there. I don’t think anyone would predict that a talk on flora would start with several pictures of sheep’s sorrel but when you see it mixed with heath bedstraw and masses of wavy hairgrass, you become aware of the deep reds, whites and pinks - all surprisingly beautiful.

There is a remarkable diversity of plants on the Malverns, because of the mixture of acidic and alkaline soils, lowlands and uplands, tree cover and open grassland, wetlands and dry thin soil. Several species are common here but rare elsewhere like climbing corydalis on acidic soil and llime-loving spring cinquefoil. Yellow flags grow in abundance in the stream beds, foxgloves appear in exuberant swathes especially in the second year after a clearance or a fire and two kinds of gorse flower all the year round; the European and western kinds. In places there are thousands of orchids, mostly common spotted and southern marsh along with various hybrids.

It was interesting to see a photo of British Camp as it was in 1948 and to realise how it has changed since then. In 2001 the Conservators reintroduced grazing on to the Malverns and this has helped restore and maintain the balance between secondary woodland, bracken and open grassland. There has been a mixed public response to the gates, paths and fencing necessary for the livestock but on the whole walkers appreciate the reasons for them and the Conservators actively encourage dog training to reduce control problems. They are keen to promote all reasonable use and enjoyment of the land, maintaining harmony between conservation and tourism.

We are privileged to live near 3000 acres of beautiful open land, much of it designated SSSI. The Malverns are a haven for reptiles, birds, mammals and flora and we need to continue to look after them and appreciate their beauty.

The next meeting will be on February 2^nd at the Chase 6^th Form Annexe. Phred Newbury will talk about the unique wildlife of Madagascar.

Alison, Malvern Local Group

Dormice at Trench?

2011-12-21T11:57:00.000Z

Andy, James and I undertook a nut hunt at Trench Wood on 11^th December but, in spite of carrying our searches of 5 x 20m squares of suitable woodland, we didn't find any dormouse-eaten nuts. However, as we didn't find many nuts at all, it's likely that, in this instance, this method for detecting thes presence of dormice was not so effective. Next year, therefore, we'll instigate a tube survey to ascertain whether dormice are really absent from this woodland.

Elizabeth

The Natural History of Christmas

2011-12-08T11:08:00.001Z

Dr Michael Leach held us all spellbound at last night's local group meeting in Worcester. He started off by giving us a real insight into life as a wildlife cameraman (it takes at least 3 weeks to get a decent 8 seconds of wildlife film. A half-hour episode could take 4 years to film). Then he explored the natural history of Christmas with so many stories and anecdotes we only just managed to leave the building before the caretaker locked us in!

He's now off to film wolves, some have been tagged to help in tracking them...I wish I’d had the courage to ask if he needed an assistant!

Personally I'm really pleased to now have another autographed natural history book (I collect ‘em, and, YES, I have David Attenborough, Bill Oddie and Chris Packham).

Looking forward to seeing some of you in the New Year when we'll hear about garden plants for wildlife from Howard Drury on 1st Feb. Until then have a lovely Christmas and all the best for 2012.

Sandra, Worcester local group

Mammals of Malvern

2011-12-07T16:34:00.000Z

Johnny Birks, an excellent and well-known speaker, gave an extremely informative and often amusing talk entitled ‘Mammals of the Malverns’ last week, illustrated with his own beautiful photographs from the field. This was a much-anticipated talk with a turn-out that filled the hall at the Chase 6th Form annexe.

Although British mammals are some of our most loved (and most hated) animals, they can often be elusive and difficult to see. As a true mammal enthusiast, Johnny explained that following their traces through the art of field craft is often the only way to study them. Many species are nocturnal and wary of humans as a result of thousands of years of persecution.

The Malverns have a rich mosaic of rough grassland, scrub and woodland providing important habitats for over forty species of mammal. The woodland around British Camp has recently been found to support one of the largest colonies of lesser horseshoe bats and the even rarer barbastelle. Bat boxes put up as additional roosting sites are helping to boost population numbers and also reveal the presence of other nationally scarce species such as the dormouse.

It is also the presence of some of the most well-known and common mammals that has the most noticeable ecological impact. Rabbits are now doing well after the effects of myxomatosis in the 1990s and have resumed their important role as grazers of rough grassland, keeping the scrub at bay. Grassland is essential habitat for ground-nesting birds, butterflies and other small mammals such as field and bank voles. In these grassland areas, field voles in particular can have very high population densities providing the food source for kestrels and adders, both of which are in national decline.

As part of his work for Vincent Wildlife Trust, Johnny was instrumental in documenting the return of the polecat to the county. As the natural wild form of the domesticated ferret, these nocturnal and historically much maligned carnivores have been expanding their range from Wales, having been persecuted almost to extinction in the early 1900s. Radio tracking and the mapping of road-kill individuals have given fascinating insights into their behaviour. Due to their tendency to live in farmyard haystacks, the accumulation of anticoagulant rat poisons via their rodent prey is an issue for their conservation.

Other larger mammal species such as red deer are found mainly on the Eastnor Estate, with the smaller muntjac being more widespread. It is likely that over the next twenty years deer numbers will increase and it is possible that wild boar will move in from the nearby Forest of Dean.

The next meeting is on Thursday January 5th. Rob Havard, Conservation Officer of the Malvern Hills Conservators, will talk about flora of the Malverns. It starts at 7.30 pm and is held at the Chase Academy Sixth Form Annexe, Geraldine Close, Barnards Green WR14 3PF - we look forward to seeing you there!

Derek, Malvern local group

Dormice at Grafton?

2011-11-22T11:54:00.001Z

On a somewhat damp and misty Sunday morning (20th Nov), I trekked over to Grafton Wood with James, Andy and Veronica to search for hazel nuts eaten by dormice.

After searching through five 20x20m patches of mature hazel coppice for dormouse-gnawed hazel nuts we had to admit that, despite an intensive search effort, we hadn't found any.. However, we discovered many nuts eaten by voles, wood mice and squirrels. We even think that some of the holes had been made by a nut weevil!

Grafton is ideal for dormice so we'll put up tubes there next year to confirm whether or not we've got dormice at Grafton.

I'd like to thank John Tarburn for making some lovely dormouse nest boxes for my surveys at Hunthouse Wood.

We also came across lots of fungi including candle snuff fungus, green wood cup, deceiver and amethyst deceiver.

Elizabeth

PS In the meantime, have a look at Surrey Wildlife Trust footage from a survey of dormice next boxes

Autumn at Feckenham

2011-11-21T09:43:00.000Z

Our Galloways have been working hard in the meadows since July and have munched their way through the late flush of growth. They are currently in the southern end of the reserve and will probably stay there over winter before being moved into the meadows again for a short spring graze. We are hoping to have more cattle on site next year which will enhance our grazing programme.

Our volunteers have also been busy - starting our winter work program with some much needed coppicing of alders next to the dragonfly ponds. This will enable more light to get to them and avoid the dreaded leaf drop each year. We will be doing more coppicing, pollarding and tree maintenance during the winter and into 2012. We also hope to have another stretch of the Moors Lane hedge laid/coppiced by Mervin Needham and his excellent team who did a great job last year. I must also mention John Holder and his team who built our new bothy during the summer. We are now completely spoilt in having a large tool store and somewhere to sit/shelter when it's too wet to work.

The surface water levels have been significantly lower this year but now, after some rain, they are getting back to normal. We have been fortunate with good levels in all of our new dragonfly ponds and the main pool mainly because these are deep enough to maintain water during summer. As you can see from the pic of the reed next to our dipping pond, the autumn colours are brilliant.

Last week we decided to take a walk down the lane rather than across the reserve. On the way down I noticed there was a particular abundance of sloes on two of the blackthorn that we had planted a few years ago to fill a gap. They would appear to be a different variety than what we expect to find on the reserve. One of my volunteers, Jenny Tonry, suggested that we might look for brown hairstreak eggs on them ... lo and behold we found 14 new eggs. Following this excitement we went to the regular egg spot and found a further 10. This total of 24 is our best since finding the first eggs 2 years ago. As there are two large ash trees along our hedge near to the new find we will actively be looking for BH activity next year and hopefully one of these will turn out to be the elusive assembly tree.

Paul, Feckenham Wylde Moor

Hearing about urban wildlife

2011-11-14T15:19:00.000Z

Thanks to everyone who came to our talk in Bournville on Friday night. Brian Draper gave a fascinating talk about urban wildlife. Brian's got quite a following and it was lovely to see some new faces.

We're already looking forward to our next talk in December - Wild Bees & Wasps by Celia Davis on Fri 9th.

Pat, South Birmingham Local Group

Urban Wildlife

2011-11-11T10:49:00.000Z

We're really looking forward to Brian Draper's talk to South Birmingham local group tonight. This ever-popular speaker will be talking about the hidden wildlife of a city - a subject close to many of us on the urban fringes of Birmingham.

Tonight is also a great opportunity to come along and find out more about the group. The current committee members are standing down in April after many years. We're looking forward to supporting a new team of people to take over the organising of indoor talks and running of the group ... but we need you to be part of that new team. If you've got a few hours a month to spare and think you can help out then please get in touch. We need everything from a chairman for the group to people to help out at the talks themselves. You don't need to know an awful lot about wildlife, you just need to have the enthusiasm to help run a group and spread the word.

Our talk tonight starts at 7.30pm at Dame Elizabeth Hall on Oak Tree Lane in Bournville. Some of the current committee members will be there to chat about the roles. Or you can call Wendy or Zoe at Lower Smite (Mon-Fri 9-5) on 01905 754919. Or check out our website for more information about the roles.

We're looking forward to hearing Brian and perhaps meeting one or two of you tonight!

Pat, South Birmingham local group

Reptiles in Malvern

2011-11-10T09:33:00.000Z

Nigel Hand, the well-known reptile ecologist, gave a fascinating insight into the reptiles of Herefordshire and Worcestershire when he gave a beautifully illustrated talk to the Malvern local group last week.

Nigel became interested in reptiles as a youngster in Stourbridge where they were common along the canals and local brown field sites. His passion has taken him around the globe to study them. Closer to home he's monitored reptile populations on a number of sites for many years and has built up an impressive photographic database of individuals.

There are four kinds of reptiles in our area: adders, grass snakes, slow-worms and the common lizard; the latter belying its name as it's becoming quite rare. Neither of the two other UK reptiles - the smooth snake and the sand lizard - are found here.

Adder (c) Peter Preece

Adders are rarely seen and are non-aggressive. Sadly, stories and folklore misrepresent them and exaggerate the dangers of our only venomous snake - they're sometimes deliberately killed. About 40 to 100 adder bites are recorded each year in the UK; the last recorded death was a child in 1975.

Adder populations tend to be in small isolated pockets, leading to inbreeding. Nigel is involved in a project with the Zoological Society of London to collect adder DNA samples; scientists will then compare the samples to see if the smaller clan groups are genetically impoverished. Adders are born live during August and September and can live for up to 30 years. Pregnant female adders will feed only after giving birth. Their main diet is voles and they consume between 4 and 12 of these a year. Adders are quite small, being only 50-60cm long.


Grass snakes (c) Rosemary Winnall

Unfortunately, grass snakes are often confused with adders and suffer the same undeserved fate at the hands of people. They are more common and considerably bigger (up to 1m long). They are non-venomous and the young hatch out from eggs, often in compost heaps. They're good swimmers and can travel several kilometres along waterways. If cornered or disturbed they will play dead and if that doesn’t deter a potential predator they can release a foul-smelling fluid.

Slow-worm (c) Nick Button

Most of us are familiar with the slow- worm. It's a legless lizard about 30-38cm long and can live for around 50 years. Malvern is ideal for slow-worms as one of their preferred habitats is stone walls. They're of great benefit to the gardener as their main prey is slugs!

Nigel concluded by showing two exotic pet snakes (a corn snake and a milk snake) from his private collection. This was a thoroughly enjoyable and informative talk, emphasising the beauty of reptiles and how they deserve our protection, not our dislike.

Our next indoor meeting will be held on Thursday 1st December when Johnny Birks will give an illustrated talk entitled The Mammals of the Malverns. The meeting starts at 7.30 pm at the Chase Academy Sixth Form Annexe, Geraldine Close, Barnards Green WR14 3PF and we look forward to seeing you there.

Derek, Malvern local group

Chance Wood - a new year of work parties

2011-10-20T10:15:00.000+01:00

As work party co-ordinator for Chance Wood my year starts now and runs until spring; we tend to leave the wood alone during the nesting season and late summer apart from the odd ad-hoc session pulling balsam and any other maintenance tasks that arise.

A couple of weeks ago three of us walked the wood and drew up a list of tasks for this season’s work parties. We’ve decided to try running our meetings on a different day of the week in order to meet the needs of the majority of our members; we’ll see how it goes!

The first, urgent task for this month was to remove the large numbers of sycamore seedlings before they lose their leaves and become invisible

and before they develop into young trees in subsequent years.

This gave us a relatively easy start to the year’s work, although a couple of us worked at digging out the larger specimens by the roots; quite hard work but the soil is very dry and sandy so it could have been worse!

As we worked we were accompanied by parties of foraging tits, the buzzard mewed above us and a pair of ravens ‘cronked’ as they flew overhead; returning from dragging a pile of brash to our pile I almost came eye to eye with a sparrowhawk strafing the small birds.

Some might say that we put rather too much emphasis on the party part of ‘work parties’ but we do like a piece of cake!

Roger, Chance Wood

Summer at Feckenham?

2011-10-18T11:40:00.000+01:00

I think we could all be forgiven for thinking that summer 2012 arrived early over the last few weeks.


buttercup

Common Mouse-Ear

Cut-leaved Cranesbill

Lots of plants have started to come into flower now on the reserve. After the recent hot spell I photographed these in bloom last week with others just about to burst forth. They are all in places where we did a late cut by hand a few weeks ago. The new growth and warm spell has meant that the grass, sedge and rush is now lush with many plants that would normally be in flower much earlier in the year re-appearing in these patches.

Meadowsweet

Common Vetch

Although I've heard of cowslips and primroses currently in flower elsewhere, our cowslips aren't but they have put on plenty of strong new leaf growth so who knows, they might.

The dragonfly laying is a migrant hawker (Aeshna mixta) which is only the 9th record on site since 1981, the last being 2005. It's good news that they are back.

Migrant Hawker

Visitors to the reserve will notice that our Galloways are munching their way round Hill Piece and Kernocks Middle Close but I think that the grass etc. is growing faster than they can eat it!

Our winter work schedule is under way and we have plenty of work to keep us busy so, if anyone out there would like to join our Wednesday workparty, we would be pleased to see you. It's the last Wednesday of each month, 10.00am start on the reserve.

As winter approaches we look forward to seeing flocks of redwing and fieldfare descending on the fully laden hawthorne and if the temperature drops dramatically who knows what else will pay a visit....

Paul, Feckenham Wylde Moor

Chance Wood - Now & Then

2011-09-21T13:03:00.000+01:00

I suppose you might think the title of this piece refers to my commitment to keeping up with the volunteer blog for Chance Wood but, in fact, I thought I'd show some of the changes which have taken place in the wood since I first got to know it.

This has been inspired by a bit of a tidy up at home in the course of which I’ve rediscovered a CD of photos sent to me by Tony Williams who volunteered in the wood in the mid 80s and early 90s. These are scanned copies of slides taken at that time. Due to the soil conditions and rapid drainage the woodland takes a long time to recover from any work we do, we’ve come to accept that, and so it was quite surprising to see how much the wood has developed over the last 25yrs or so.

I’ve tried to take pictures today from the same spot as the originals although obviously the time of day / year is different.

Gateway 1980s

Gateway now

We spent many hours discussing how to restore the summerhouse - until it collapsed!

Summer House 1980s

Summer house now

Many photographs were taken from the bird hide, we could never have dreamed how digital photography and 21st century equipment would have revolutionised our results.

Bird hide 1980s

Bird hide now

Who keeps moving the gravestones around? - that’s not a quiz question like Paul’s Feckenham Blog!

Pet cemetery 1980s


Pet cemetery now

Roger, Chance Wood

It's finished!!

2011-09-02T12:05:00.000+01:00

At long last, I have finished the painting and it's now with the framers.

I'll be dropping off the framed painting at Lower Smite Farm in mid September - they're currently planning where the painting can be shown before the bidding closes in January. It will certainly be on show at the Trust's AGM on 12th October.

I hope you like it and are thinking about bidding for it to help raise funds for the Trust. More information about how to bid can be found on their website http://www.worcswildlifetrust.co.uk/index.php?section=news:archive&id=3746

Good luck with your bid!!
Valerie

Painting update

2011-08-23T13:01:00.000+01:00

The painting is almost done! I'll be putting the finishing touches to it while I'm in residency at the Bevere Art Gallery this week - please come along and see how I'm getting on and have a chat.

We're currently thinking about finding somewhere to display the painting once it's done so if you don't get chance to come and see it this week, we'll let you know where to see it in the future.

Valerie

Silent auction update

2011-08-12T09:50:00.000+01:00

Just a quick note to update you on the progress of my painting for the silent auction.

I'm really enjoying researching the wildlife for the vignettes. Learning about noble chafers was fascinating and I hadn't realised there were perry pears in Tiddesley's orchard.

The painting is coming on well and I'm hoping to finish it off by the time I'm in residence at the Bevere Gallery between 20th & 28th August.

It would be nice to meet some of you at the gallery and I do hope you'll bid on the painting and help raise funds for the Trust.

If you'd like to place a bid you can either email silent-bid@worcestershirewildlifetrust.org or send it to Sian Bakewell, Worcestershire Wildlife Trust, Lower Smite Farm, Smite Hill, Hindlip, Worcestershire, WR3 8SZ.

Thank you
Valerie

Have you seen this bug?

2011-08-11T10:51:00.000+01:00

This vivid red and black hairy plant bug used to be restricted to a few places on the south coast of England but it's now on the move.

Corisuz hyoscyami (c) Oliver Wadsworth

Worcestershire is being invaded and we would like records please, preferably with a picture.

In the last few weeks we have seen them at Hill Court Farm (Longdon), Trench Wood, Chaddesley Wood and in Redditch so it could turn up anywhere. Several have been seen on thistles. The bug feeds on plant juices by sticking its long mouth parts into the stems.

We've only around ten records over the last couple of years so this is a real newcomer - please keep a look-out and let us know if you see any. If you could email your sighting and any photos to wendy@worcestershirewildlifetrust.org in the first place that would really help us out.

Many thanks

Harry

Summer at Feckenham

2011-07-27T16:31:00.000+01:00

Now that summer is well and truly with us the reserve is looking very good.

Firstly the meadows have been mowed and bailed and these are soon to be taken away. We have the Galloway's back in the southern end and they will be moved around in the next week or so. Our Roving volunteers visited last week and spent the day mowing and raking off the western end of Middle Ley Close.

Our Sedge Warblers are still singing in the reed bed as are the chiffchaff and whitethroat. On Sunday we had a pair of Cetti's warblers singing in the alders.

There have been some interesting insects about and these two longhorn beetles (Rutpela maculata) were spotted making the most of the sunny day. There are literally thousands of grasshoppers and coneheads in the un-cut meadows.

This wolf spider was busy carrying her young around on her back; I counted around 50 babies on this one.

Butterfly numbers are quite good but the strong winds over the past weeks have meant that there have not been so many seen on the wing. We did, however, have our first marbled whites for many years. Apparently these are having a good year in general.

Dragonfly and damselfly numbers are good and last week we saw our first emerald damselfly this year. I am hoping that white-legged are going to turn up in the next week or so. Black-tailed skimmer and emperor are also active around our ponds.

Paul, Feckenham Wylde Moor