Tag: Wildlife

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Wildlife Warden Update – Verges

Many of you will already know that we are managing the Bridford verges – those up Pound Lane and near Butts Close- for wildflowers and we are happy to report that the Parish Council has given the go ahead for another year of managing them this way.  This means that the verges are left to grow from January until the plants drop their seed in August/ September, bar a 1.5 metre path by the road for access and visibility.

We have sown the area with yellow rattle seed, which parasites on grass and allows wildflowers the space to grow. Over a few years you will see that the grasses lessen and wildflowers increase and there is a maintenance plan to help this along, which includes:

  • Mowing in late summer/ autumn and taking away the grass (with thanks to Graham Dicker) – taking away the grass is vital so that this is not allowed to over fertilise the ground, as wildflowers like nutrient poor soil. The paths are regularly mown with cuttings taken away.
  • Weeding out docks and nettles in the early summer. Although these plants have their benefits for wildlife, they could take over in this case, so need to be pulled out/ cut so they are not allowed to seed.  You may see us out doing this in May/ June.
  • Ensuring that dog faeces are picked up – again these can over fertilise the ground and we appreciate you picking up any of your dog faeces and using the bins in the village provided.
  • The grass on the Butts Close verge is still growing through strongly, which is partly due to the ground being very fertile. This year the Wildlife Wardens have put some wildflower plugs including yarrow, oxeye daisy and knapweed to help this area along a bit. These should make the verge more visually appealing.

You may ask why we are doing this?  Wildflowers are vital to a healthy ecosystem, supporting insects, birds and small mammals.  Meadows of wildflowers used to be part of traditional farming, but 97% of these have been lost since the 1930s (including throughout the countryside) and this has had a significant impact on the species dependent on them.  The UK is in the bottom 10% of nations for biodiversity and though there are many factors, the loss of this habitat is one of them.  We can all help combat this, and areas such as the Bridford verges link up through the wider landscape with nature friendly farm margins, gardens and parks etc to become a corridor for wildlife.  This biodiversity is not just vital for itself, but vital for society, as it has wide ranging effects on food production and human health, both mental and physical. Having seen the swallows turn up again in the last few weeks, I am also glad that these verges and similar areas are supplying a bounty of flying insects for them after their long journey.

If you have any comments or suggestions for other ideas that would help wildlife in the area, please do let us know at wildlifewarden@bridfordvillage.co.uk

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Wildlife Warden Update – FREE TREES AVAILABLE

January is a time for new beginnings.  We are heading back towards the longer days, the earth rich with autumn’s decaying foliage, ready to spring to life again with the first of the year’s flowers.  What better way to celebrate this time than with planting a tree!

We will be giving out free trees from 10am on Saturday 20 January at the Bridford Woodland Park.  These trees have been grown as part of the Devon Wildlife Trust Devon Treescapes project. The project is looking to get Devon’s communities, landowners and business involved in combating the threats to Devon’s trees, such as Ash Dieback. There will be a variety of trees available including crab apple, wild cherry, rowan, field maple, hazel, so whether you would like to plant a small hedge or just tuck one in the corner of your garden, please come along and pick a tree up.  The trees available are all great for UK wildlife whether this is through its flower’s pollen, it offering a leaf to nibble or nest on, or fruit for hungry birds and mammals.

Trees are available on a first come first served basis, and depending on how many people turn up we may be able to offer up to 20 trees per person.  We hope to see you there.  There is also a tree hub in Dunsford on 3rd February if you are unable to make the 20th January.  If you have any questions, please let us know at wildlifewarden@bridfordvillage.co.uk

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Wildlife Warden Update

December’s wildlife challenge – let the ivy grow

Playing second fiddle to holly in the famous Christmas carol and often maligned for causing damage to trees, ivy should not be underestimated in terms of its importance for wildlife.  Though ivy can undermine a damaged tree, it should not cause an issue for a healthy one where it grows up and alongside it with the ivy’s roots in the soil.  The ivy clings to the tree reaching to the light so that it can flower.  The flowers and berries come at a vital time for insects and birds as they are available later than many others, so bridge the hunger gap.

Ivy flowers in autumn after many blooms are on the way out and on a bright day can be abuzz with bees, flies, wasps, hoverflies and late butterflies.  The berries that start forming before Christmas are ready to eat in January/ February and are a highly nutritious calorie packed meal at exactly the right time in the year when they are needed by birds and small mammals.  Blackbirds, blackcaps, thrushes and redwings will all flock to feast on bountiful ivy.  Other than that, has it any benefits?  Yes, many!  A dense thicket provides great nesting opportunity for birds and also hibernating habitat for insects.  Many caterpillars will eat the plant, including those of the holly blue butterfly and yellow-barred brindle moths.

I hope this convinces you of the qualities of ivy and this month’s challenge is if you see it in a tree or a hedge to let it grow, allowing it to provide all these benefits, or if you are looking for a climber in your garden consider planting some.  It is also, to my mind, a beautiful plant – if you have a lot of it, maybe celebrate it this Christmas by making a wreath out of some strands of it, possibly incorporating it into a Christmas wreath for the birds.

Tree hub- free trees available!

February’s challenge was to plant a tree.  We are now at a good time of year for planting trees again so if you have a little bit of space in your garden, or know someone who does and would like one, why not consider planting a tree that can provide pollen and a food source for years to come.  I am pleased to say that we will be running a tree hub on 20th January in the Woodland Park where we will be giving out free broadleaf tree whips. This is part of the Devon Wildlife Trust Saving Devon’s Treescapes scheme and thank you to David Price and The Bridford Trust for agreeing for us to run this from the Woodland Park.  There will be further details in January’s Unity.

wildlifewarden@bridfordvillage.co.uk

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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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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