Native Owls by Gilian Hales

We were delighted to welcome Gillian Hales and eleven lovely owls to our Worcester local group meeting this November.  Gillian was keen to share her extensive knowledge of owls and we had an enthusiastic audience of almost 50 people who were keen to meet them!  Her love for owls goes back to childhood and now she rehomes badly treated, injured and unwanted owls of all ages from chicks to maturity. 

After an enjoyable illustrated talk, we were introduced by name to each of the owls along with a life history synopsis and how they came to be in Gillian’s care. Species included barn, tawny, burrowing,  little and the magnificent brown wood from Sri Lanka. 

No one could deny their unique personalities especially when Chip, the brown wood, snuggled up to Gillian and the 13 year old barn owl wagged his tail as he lapped up the applause at the end of a most enjoyable evening! 

Caryl, Worcester Local Group

Hedgehog talk by Terry Green

The autumn season of indoor meetings got off to a great start for Worcester Local Group last week with an illustrated talk by Terry Green on Hedgehogs. These prickly little characters proved to be a great crowd-puller with almost 50 people turning up to share a most enjoyable evening. Terry has just retired as an animal care lecturer at Pershore College, and with his experience of looking after hedgehogs, was able to entertain us both with his scientific knowledge and his stories, including the one about a hedgehog being rescued from a washing machine by the fire brigade! It was also good to hear that many people in the audience have hedgehog visitors, and Terry gave us lots of tips on how to help them.

Hedgehog © Rosemary Winnall

To add to the success of the evening, we were delighted to be able to give Terry a donation of £50 for the British Hedgehog Preservation Society.

Sandra, Worcestershire Local Group.

The Natural History of Christmas

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

Fun at Smite

A great time was had by all who attended the Worcester Group guided tour of Lower Smite Farm last Sunday afternoon, 17th July. 

We were especially delighted to welcome some members who hadn't been to Smite before (including Valda the retired guide-dog!) and very fortunate to have Steve Bloomfield as our guide. He shared his wealth of experience and knowledge with us as we explored the many different habitats at Smite: arable fields, meadows, hedgerows, orchard, ponds... 

Steve explained  how farming for profit can go hand in hand with conservation and looking after our wildlife and we learnt about how wildlife at Smite has benefited - skylarks, frogs, great crested newts, dragonflies, finches, bees, grasshoppers, hares, butterflies, you name it!..... wonderful stuff! 

The rain decided to bless us just as we were passing the bee hives and making our way back to the farm ... which made the tea and cake waiting for us all the more welcome!! 

A big thanks again to Steve and also to Zoe, who was brilliant at organising the event. As one lady commented - "what a super afternoon!"

Sandra, Worcester local group

PS For those of you, like Valda, who haven't been to Smite before then why not pop along between 11 & 4 this coming Sunday (31st) when there'll be a Farm Fayre full of local produce and craft stalls, guided walks, pond dipping & tractor rides!!

Worcester group is back!

Worcester Group members may be aware that their committee, having lost several long-standing and valuable members, has struggled for some time to organise activities. It got so bad that the committee didn’t have enough people to carry on and so, regretfully, no indoor meetings were organised this winter.

With backing from Community Officer Zoe and Conservation Asst Paul, a meeting was held at Lower Smite Farm in early October for anyone interested in helping to run the Group. Half a dozen people came along to enjoy Zoe’s presentation about the Wildlife Trust and our wonderful local reserves, and then to enjoy tea and cake with existing committee members and find out a bit more about what we're all about and the many different ways to get involved.

It was a great evening with a very positive result. Everyone was keen to get the committee started again and continue to provide meetings and activities for Worcester Group members to enjoy. We are now delighted to announce that indoor meetings will start again next spring at our new venue of Nunnery Wood High School, Spetchley Road, where there is plenty of free parking.

We have already arranged two special events so make a note in your diaries! On 2 March 2011 Johnny Birks will give a talk on that fascinating yet little-known mammal, the polecat, and on 6 April 2011 our very own Harry Green will talk to us about garden birds and the year-round importance of the garden habitat. The cost for each meeting will be just £2 including refreshments.

The newly-formed committee has lots of creative ideas for future indoor and outdoor events, so do please support us by coming along, having a good time, and supporting the Trust’s work on behalf of local wildlife.

It is never too late if you want to get involved! You can contact the group via the website – we’d love to hear from you.

Sandra, Worcester Local Group

Merry Christmas

We'll only be having a short rest over Christmas as there's lots happening in the New Year and our wildlife tends not to celebrate Christmas. From log sales at Tiddesley to New Year walks with the Wyre Forest local group as well as indoor talks with Bromsgrove and Worcester local groups during the first week of the New Year, there's plenty to do and get involved with.

Some of us will also be trying our hand at sorting out and taking photos for the calendar competition that's just been launched - this frost is making for some lovely shots! There's information on our main website if you're interested in entering.

So, until 2010, we hope you have a wonderfully Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year.

We hope some of you will join is in the New Year!

WWT volunteers

Committee members needed

I joined the committee of Worcester local group a couple of years ago. I was a bit nervous about joining but there really was no need to be. Our committee meetings are held about 4 times a year and always provoke interesting ideas and debates! We’ve organised (and enjoyed!) bird-watching walks, cream tea cruises, interesting talks and much more.

With a couple of our committee members due to step down we’re now on the look out for others to join our team. However much or little time you have to spare is always gratefully received and no particular skills are required as there’s such a wide variety of ways you can get involved. I generally give a few hours of my time each month and these are easily fitted around my full-time work and other commitments.

In the relatively short time I’ve been involved with the group I’ve made lots of friends, discovered new places, learnt many new things and, perhaps most importantly, has the satisfaction of knowing I’m doing my bit to help support the Trust’s invaluable work.

If you’re interested in helping out on the Worcester committee (I believe Bromsgrove and South Birmingham are also recruiting new committee members) please get in touch with Zoe Stevens on 01905 754919 or zoe@worcestershirewildlifetrust.org.