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Wildlife Warden Update – November

November’s wildlife challenge – provide a highway and home for a hedgehog

We are pleased to report a few sightings or signs of hedgehogs in the area. These prickly little animals are under threat in the UK where there are thought to be fewer than 1 million left, so it is great that some of them are still snuffling around the parish.  Gardens, hedgerows, woodlands, grasslands, parks and cemeteries are all good habitats for hedgehogs.   As with many birds and wild animals they can fall victim to a ‘tidying up’ of gardens and the countryside, where there is not enough connected rough grassland, bushy hedgerows and sheltering woodland and scrub for them to live in.  It is vital that these areas are connected as an adult hedgehog can travel between 1 and 2 km per night, with home ranges as large as 20 hectares.  There are a number of ways you can help them:

  • Do not use pesticides in your garden, including slug pellets. Slugs are a vital part of the hedgehog diet so they need plenty of them to stay healthy. Have a hedgehog in your garden and it will help you keep down the slugs naturally.
  • Have you got a fence separating you and your neighbours? Why not make a hole in the fence (13cm x 13cm), or dig a channel beneath it, so that visiting hedgehogs can move through an area without having to go on to roads.
  • Leave a pile of logs and leaves as hedgehogs will use them to nest in with their young and to hibernate in. You could go one step further and build a hedgehog home – see the advice on doing this at building a hedgehog home. 
  • Check an area before mowing/ strimming or burning a bonfire to make sure there are no sleeping hedgehogs in the area.
  • And lastly, create an environment in your garden that attracts the invertebrates that the hedgehog eats, whether this is through planting, leaving some long grass and leaves or making a small pond. Embrace a little natural ‘mess’.

We hope that by taking these actions together we might create an area in which hedgehogs can thrive.  Please do let us know if you see a hedgehog near you.

Hedges

Hedges are now coming into fruit, creating a winter larder of berries for birds and wild animals.  If you have a hedge in your garden or bordering it (if it doesn’t impact road access/ visibility) please consider cutting this back on a 2 or 3 year rotation, targeting different sections each year. The flower buds and fruit often form only on second year growth so by rotating the cycle and leaving some untouched for a year or two you can ensure this vital winter bounty is available.  According to the Wildlife Trusts, hedges cut every three years can produce two and a half times as much blossom and fruit as those cut annually.

wildlifewarden@bridfordvillage.co.uk

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Roadworks Wednesday 11th-13th October Affecting 360 Bus

The roadworks on the valley road between Wednesday 11th and Friday 13th October will affect the 360 bus in the village.

Country Bus have advised that the first two buses of the day (07:15 and 09:25) will run from Bridford. And the last two buses from Exeter – Sidwell St (16:15 and 17:55) will also run to Bridford. However, the two buses in the middle of the day will terminate at Teign House.

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Wildlife Warden Update – October

October’s Wildlife Challenge

Put up a nest box for house martins and swallows

Did you see many house martins and swallows up around Bridford this year? These migratory birds travel from Africa to breed in the UK every year, arriving around March/ April and staying until September/ October.  British swallows spend their winter in South Africa, travelling up across the Sahara, through Morocco and then into Europe across the Pyrenees and up through France.  Surprisingly it is not known for certain where house martins over winter, but it is thought that they might spend it flying over the equatorial forest canopy catching tropical insects.  The journey that both species make to and from the UK is fraught with peril, where they are at threat from storms and starvation on the way.

Once in the UK, they need flying insects to feed on and a nest in which to bring up their young.  Sadly, they are struggling with both of these requirements. Changes in land management over the last 60 years have negatively affected the number of insects in the UK dramatically, this including changes to farming practices, use of pesticides, unsympathetic development of land, pollution of rivers and trends in gardening. Nesting sites have been affected by the way in which houses are built and renovations made and also by a changing climate;  the once predictable April showers that would produce muddy earth with which the birds could make their nests, are no longer so predictable.  There are a number of ways of helping provide more insects which I have been suggesting in these updates, including not using pesticides and embracing a wilder kind of gardening.  Another way of helping the birds though, is by providing a nest and that is this month’s challenge.

Swallows like outbuildings that they can easily access – have you got an open shed, or one that you could put a small hole in (50mm high and 200 mm wide) under the eaves?  If so, you could make a platform from four flat pieces of wood and they will then use this as the basis of their nest. House martins make their nests under the eaves of buildings.  North and east facing walls are ideal and they need to be high enough that they can fly in and out comfortably.  You can buy a nest cup for both breeds that can be placed in the correct area or also there is advice on the RSPB website about how to make these.

Are you living somewhere where there used to be a lot of nests and you would like to recreate these?  If so, please do let us know as we will be looking into funding for buying up some nest boxes.

We of course do not know if swallows and house martins will take up these boxes and it can take some years for the birds to come, however I think it is worth trying to help these vulnerable and hard working birds. We have also heard of a good number of nest boxes being taken up by house martins near to Bridford so we know it has been effective nearby. If the nest boxes are not taken up by these birds, there is also a good chance they make be taken up by sparrows, so helping another species that is currently listed as being in critical decline.

wildlifewarden@bridfordvillage.co.uk

 

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Bus Shelter Opening

We had a marvellous turnout of 25 people for the Bridford Bus Shelter launch on Thursday 7th September. It was lovely to have some of the Cubs with us who had contributed gorgeous birds and butterflies, as well as the trio of artists – Lucy from Whippletree, Lucy Smerdon and Pippa Marriott – who have created the different elements. Jennifer Padgham, Parish Council chair, officiated, and chat and fizz and buns were enjoyed as well as a delightful community buzz. Big thanks to Judy, and Lou too, for all their work and the splendid flowers.

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Wildlife Warden Update – September

September’s Wildlife Challenge

Create a bug hotel

This month’s challenge is to build a bug hotel.  An average garden can support more than 2000 species of insect and a good balance of insects is a great way of managing your garden naturally, for example ladybirds, lacewings and hoverflies will eat aphids so protecting your plants from them. These insects are part of the foundation of a wildlife friendly garden and looking closely at these mini lives amongst the flowers and shrubs can be a fascinating insight into a very different world.  Providing a bug hotel helps many species reproduce and over winter.  You don’t need to go out and buy one of these, but can make one using reclaimed wood, old pallets, hay, bamboo canes, dried out hogweed stems.  See building a bug mansion on the the Wildlife Trust website for great advice on putting one together.

A simple way to create a quick bee hotel is to get a log and drill holes between 2 and 6mm diameter and about 15 mm deep into a log.  Put this slightly angled down (so it’s protected from rain) and in a sunny south facing position. Alternatively, if you have a few logs you can create your own wood sculpture and then leave this to rot in the garden.  Rotten wood is a crucial habitat for many insects, including beetles and centipedes.

Another thing to remember is not to cut back all your stems and flower heads at the end of summer, as leaving some of these means that insects can over winter in them.  The common knapweed, for example, is a prime bit of real estate – the Epiblema cirsiana moth larva overwinters in its stem, the Metzneria metzneriella moth larva and the Urophora sp fly stay in the seed head. Another example is the Endothenia gentianaeana moth larva which uses teasel heads to hunker down over winter.  Visually the bare bones of these plants can give a bit of winter interest to your garden.

It is great to see that a more insect friendly approach to gardening is being increasingly widely embraced and promoted.  The Royal Entomological Society Garden at Chelsea Flower Show won a silver medal and showed how incorporating insect habitat into a garden can be both ecologically important and beautiful. See RHS Chelsea for further information about this garden.

Hedgehogs in Bridford

We are pleased to say there have been various hedgehogs sightings recently in Bridford.  Have you seen any?  If you have, please do let us know where, as it will be good to keep a record.

By Lucy Smerdon (with thanks to Sam Gray for his moth expertise) wildlifewarden@bridfordvillage.co.uk

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Bridford Wildlife Warden – July update

Monthly Wildlife Challenge – July’s Challenge

This month’s challenge is to provide a water source for wildlife. Whether this is a dish of water, a bird bath or a small pond, providing a water source is one of the most important things you can do for wildlife.

After a wet spring, we have had a prolonged dry spell in May and June. Collecting rain water when it falls, is a great way to conserve water and provide it for your garden plants and wildlife. Connecting a water butt to a roof gutter is the most effective way to do this and there are many cheap water butts available second hand through websites such as Gumtree. Another good way to keep water topped up is by putting a bucket in the shower, particularly while the shower heats up, and using a washing up bowl to collect run off in the kitchen sink. Avoid getting soap in the water. This water can then be added to a butt, watering can, or bird bath.

A little refreshment
A shallow dish of water on the ground outside provides some vital refreshment for wildlife and could be used by birds, invertebrates or if you are lucky, a hedgehog. Alternatively you could use a shallow old pot as a birdbath. Have you got any teasles? The leaves of these plants growing up the stalk create a natural cup for water, creating a fly by pit stop for passing birds and insects. For more advice on providing water see the Wildlife Trusts advice at how to provide water

Create a pond
Creating a pond is one of the main things you can do to increase biodiversity where you live. Many invertebrates depend on a water source to complete their life cycle, with flying insects such as dragonflies and some species of hoverflies starting out as water dwelling larvae. Amphibians such as newts will also thank you for a pond in which they can spend their mating season and lay their eggs.
The pond does not need to be complex or big. In fact, larger ponds are best made in autumn/ winter when there is more water. Put out a large water tight container (such as a Belfast sink) and collect water in it. You could dig this into the ground or build up the ground it. Create a shallower end with rocks and gravel so that amphibians, birds and small mammals can get in and out. And then just leave it and see what finds its way there, it is amazing what does. Please see creating a mini pond for more details.

The Bridford Verges
The Wildlife Wardens spent a morning on the verges in June. We are pleased to report that the Yellow Rattle that was sown in autumn 2022 has taken well. Though much of the winter was quite mild, we also had a few colder spells with temperatures below 0 degrees at night which the Rattle needs to germinate, so this has given it a good start. This annual plant will parasite on the grasses, enabling space for a wide range of wildflowers to take hold. We also took out thistles and docks – though these plants have value for wildlife, we are taking these out on the verges to make sure they don’t out compete the flowers while they become established.

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