Thursday 29 November 2018

Speak Up For Wildlife

Cheshire Wildlife Trust's latest newsletter...

Barn Owl

I need your help

My home is under threat and there are fewer places to find food every day. And I’m not alone: thousands of birds, insects and other animals across England are finding it harder and harder to survive. Plants and trees are under pressure too.

The Wildlife Trusts and friends have convinced Westminster Government of the need for a new law – an Environment Act - to improve protection for our country’s wildlife. But not all politicians are convinced and to make sure the law not only protects wildlife like me but helps us to recover, we need everyone on board.


Now is the moment

MPs will be voting on this soon, so we need them to support a strong Environment Act, because a country with more wildlife is better for me – and better for you too!

Earlier this month, Cheshire Wildlife Trust went to Westminster to speak up for wildlife on behalf of their 13,000 members.

Cheshire Wildlife Trust's Katie Greenwood and Charlotte Harris at Westminster.

Pictured above: Cheshire Wildlife Trust's Katie Greenwood and Charlotte Harris at Westminster.


I don't have an MP - but you do

Wildlife Trusts all around the country are calling on you! Please arrange a meeting with your MP and help us talk to every single one by Christmas.

By talking to your MP you can help them to understand the part they have to play in stopping the loss of wildlife and bringing about more nature in people’s lives. Please ask your MP to support a strong Environment Act and to promote this to others in their party.


Hare

Critically, we need the Environment Act to give us:

Nature Targets: legal targets for nature's recovery that politicians must ultimately achieve and regularly report on progress towards e.g. safer air to breathe in our cities

A Nature Recovery Network: a joined-up network of habitats that provide enough space for wildlife to recover and for people to thrive.

A Nature Watchdog: an independent body to help people challenge bad decisions made by Government and councils, which have a negative impact on wildlife and our natural environment.



Hedgehog

1. Improve our access to nature, especially in towns and cities

2. Create new wild areas and wildlife corridors across the county

3. Keep our existing wildlife sites safe from harm

4. Protect our best wildlife habitats under the sea

5. Stop our soils washing away into rivers and the sea

6. Improve air quality

7. Stop poisoning our rivers and streams with chemicals

8. Reduce emissions that are contributing to climate change

9. Protect our rights to a healthy natural environment

10. Avoid the loss of environmental protection laws after Brexit.


Saturday 17 November 2018

Starling Murmurations


A great article from the Cheshire Wildlife Trust e-newsletter…

Starling Murmuration


At this time of year, large numbers of starlings visit Britain from the continent, seeking out the relative warmth of our island climate. They reward our hospitality with a wonderful aerial ‘ballet’ called a murmuration.

Young Starling

After spending the day finding food, as dusk arrives starlings set off for their communal roost in one of the most staggering natural spectacles of all. Flocks arrive from all directions, gathering in the skies above their roost sites. As the numbers reach into thousands (sometimes millions), the murmurations take on incredible shapes in the sky, contracting and expanding as one flock merges into another. They take on a life of their own, swirling back and forth in ever more complex and beautiful patterns. These flocks are targeted by predators such as peregrine falcons, so it is thought starlings perform as one great murmuration to have safety in numbers.

As the numbers reach their peak and the last of the light fades, the birds suddenly decide the time is right, as if by a secret signal. They funnel down into their roosting site in one last whoosh of wings, and the show’s over. It’s bed time.

Adult Starling
Statistics
Length: 22cm
Wingspan: 40cm
Weight: 78g
Average lifespan: 5 years
The starling is a familiar sight in our farmland, parkland, gardens and towns. Sociable birds, they spend a lot of their time in large flocks. They make untidy nests in holes in trees or in buildings, in which the female lays five to seven eggs. Both parents raise the chicks.

Conservation status 
Classified in the UK as Red under the Birds of Conservation Concern 4: the Red List for Birds (2015). Protected in the UK under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, 1981. Priority Species under the UK Post-2010 Biodiversity Framework.

How to identify
Adult starlings are a beautiful, oily black colour, with a purple and green sheen. In the winter, they are covered in tiny beige spots. Young starlings are dark grey-brown.

When to see
November – January

Over to you...

We’re lucky enough to be enjoying a sizable ‘ballet’ every afternoon at our Bickley Hall Farm headquarters. Take a look at one we recorded a few days ago on our Facebook page. These ‘dances’ can be seen in the coming months all across Cheshire at places like Marbury, Delamere and Rosthern.

We at Cheshire Wildlife Trust hope to support the 'dance' to continue and grow by managing nature reserves such as Marbury Reedbed and Bickley Hall Farm.
Be sure to catch this wonderful spectacle – why not join the dance?

Saturday 10 November 2018

Autumn 2018 at Cleaver Heath


Cleaver Heath Notice Board

Recent visitors to the reserve will have noticed our smart new signage made possible largely by the Tesco Bags of Help grant described in our summer newsletter. At the end of October, some of our expert staff from CWT: Sarah Bennet (Area Manager West), Kevin Feeney (Living Landscape Officer West and author of the original Tesco bid), Fiona Megarrell (Community Conservation Co-ordinator) and their volunteer helpers completed the installation of the major parts of the new signage and access improvements.

Putting up the Notice Board

This involved quite a bit of hard work – digging 1m down through layers of tarmac, builders’ rubble (the old hospital visitors’ car park), sandy soil and boulder clay. Then we manhandled the high quality, and very heavy, wooden sign and notice board into the carefully measured holes. The experts then positioned and stabilised it with millimetre precision using spirit levels - a work of art.

Northern Entrance at Cleaver Heath

The unofficial reserve entry from Oldfield Drive has now become official and rather smart. My memory of the old one goes back to the late 70s. Some enterprising resident (not me!) took it upon themselves to crowbar the railings apart to enable entry to the Cleaver Hospital site by those with a reasonably slim and flexible physique. Repeated attempts by authorities to straighten the railings were quickly undone. The new entry will give dog-walkers convenient access to the nearby litter bin and also help those who wish to incorporate the reserve paths into a linear walk. The main entrance gate has a fine quality routed wooden sign leaving no doubt that this is a Cheshire Wildlife Nature Reserve. To help orient visitors and encourage them in keeping to the main paths, there are some tasteful new way markers. When the finishing touches have been made, the Trust will be organising some appropriate publicity.

The winter work parties have now started – these are on the first Sunday of the month from 10.00. We are making good progress on the ‘bread and butter’ tasks of removing unwanted vegetation from the heathland panel. We have also removed a few more of the non-native saplings such as Sweet Chestnut and Sycamore.

Interpretation Board Map

As last year, we have been making good use of the tree poppers where possible and stump treatment of things we cut. There are, however, places where the best thing is to coppice i.e. cut but not treat. For example, we have an area of ‘managed scrub’ which you can see on the snapshot of our new interpretation board (above). We will also be carrying out more coppicing of European Gorse stands where we are happy to keep them provided they thicken out at the base rather get old and lanky. Gorse provides important shelter for some of our nesting birds. We think we had two pairs of breeding Linnets this year.

My overall conclusion from this year’s Common Bird Census survey at Cleaver is of a lower presence of summer warblers. I made 10 early morning visits to the reserve noting where the birds were visible or singing.

Bird Census Map

The number of Willow Warbler territories was certainly down this year. I had only sporadic sightings of Whitethroat this year – not enough to do any sort of territory analysis. The map above summarises sightings of Linnets and Willow Warblers. I also do some Breeding Bird Survey work for the BTO (British Trust for Ornithology) and noticed a similarly poor turnout this year on my 1km square near Thornton Hough. I don’t know if this was due in part to our poor UK weather conditions in spring or to some other effects on the migration routes.

Fly Agaric

Many of us associate autumn not just with colourful tree leaves but also with fungi. The autumn colours we see in the UK are often due to non-native trees e.g. Maples. Since Cleaver is primarily a Lowland Heath habitat, with only a limited amount of native woodland, we don’t expect to have spectacular autumn colour displays. However, like others who have walked around the Cleaver paths from September onwards, I have instead been enjoying the displays of colourful fungi.

Fly Agaric

Most of us are familiar with Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria). When the fruits first emerge they have orange or red hemispherical caps which then flatten out as they grow. These are still showing along many of the woodland paths segments. I have also spotted examples of another member of the Amanita genus, commonly known as a species of Blusher (Amanita rubescens). This also has white spots, but on a less threatening grey background. The development of its cap follows a similar pattern.

Blusher (Amanita rubescens)

Blusher (Amanita rubescens)

There have been plenty of fine examples of False Chanterelle (Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca). The example below seems to have developed in four segments.

False Chanterelle (Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca)

I am told they are very sensitive to nearby plants. Even a blade of grass flapping against the cap edge can lead to permanent deformation. I am not sufficiently confident of identifying edible to test my judgements. However, this large toadstool shown below (next to a ballpoint pen for scale) has as one of its common names Penny Bun and is commonly eaten. In Tesco, it would be called a porcini and you would get charged more than a penny. It is Boletus edulis.

Penny Bun (Boletus edulis)

I had occasion to seek help from Trust staff when a mature birch, attacked by fungus at the base of the trunk, fell across one of our paths in an October gale. The trunk structure had been damaged by a Southern Bracket fungus (Ganoderma australe).

Southern Bracket fungus (Ganoderma australe)

The Aminita fungi shown above get their nourishment from the soil, particularly in rich woodland soil. Bracket fungi like this one get their food from trees and in so doing, turn the fibres into a mush. The layers on this bracket count the number of years it has lived. When the food runs out the underside turns white as shown below.

Southern Bracket fungus (Ganoderma australe)

The birch seen here then tipped over. We didn’t even need a chain saw to complete the job. My helpful Trust staff member Kevin, used his superior strength to push it all the way down into a safe place.

Not all fungi are harmful to plants. In fact, it is quite the reverse for many of them. I am looking forward to the November Wirral Wildlife talk which will be all about Symbiotic Mycorrhizal Fungi. Large classes of plants benefit from such fungi which facilitate the absorption of soil nutrients via their root systems. The plant gets minerals from the soil and the fungi get sugars and carbohydrates from the plant. Such fungi are also important in helping with plant to plant communication. Trees find out if there is some threat on the way. Fungi are not nearly as well understood as most other life forms. They are quite fascinating. Next time you walk in the reserve think about all the activity going on in the soil under your feet – all year round, not just in autumn.

Alan Irving
Volunteer Reserve Warden for CWT
Cleaver Heath

November 2018

Wednesday 7 November 2018

Helping Wildlife This Autumn


Helping wildlife

Some good advice from Cheshire Wildlife Trust this autumn…

You could be mistaken for feeling that there’s not much to do for wildlife in the autumn. However there are small things that you can do to even make the smallest of gardens, balconies or outside spaces better for wildlife.

Hedgehog

1. Compost, don't burn

Please check for hedgehogs, toads and frogs before lighting a bonfire at this time of year. What we think is a pile of garden waste looks like a warm winter retreat to these creatures. Or even better – why not compost instead? It’s better for hedgehogs and worms will love it too.

Blue tit on feeder

2. Feed the birds

Put out bird food – a fat ball at this time of year can make a huge difference during the lean winter months. Put them in wire cage dispensers and not the plastic nets as birds like woodpeckers can get their tongues caught. Why not make your own using coconut shells, holes drilled in wood or even shells?

Cotoneaster

3. Get planting

Plant berrying and fruiting trees and shrubs such as apple trees, Cotoneaster (right) and Pyracantha. These plants fruit at a time when other food sources are scarce, filling the ‘hungry gap’ for birds in your neighbourhood. They also add a splendid colour to any outdoor area.

Ask at your local garden centre or plant nursery for help in chosing the right plants.

Wildlife Friendly Garden Award

Small actions make a huge difference!

Small things we do can make a huge difference to wildlife on our doorsteps! Look online for advice of how you can make your outside areas better for wildlife.

Do you have a wildlife friendly garden already? Well why not apply for My Wildlife Friendly Garden award and let your neighbourhood know that you’re taking action for wildlife? Simply look online, make a donation and apply today to get your plaque sent in the post.

Tuesday 6 November 2018

Unilever Consumer Team Visit to New Ferry Butterfly Park


Unilever 1

On Tuesday 16th October a team from Unilever spent the morning volunteering their time and energy at the New Ferry Butterfly Park. The visit was organised as part of their Vitality initiative for 2018. The objective was to make a difference to the local community, to build the team and to have fun outdoors.

On our arrival, we were welcomed by Paul and his team of regular volunteers. After a quick introduction to the park and the regulatory Health and Safety briefing, we spilt into teams to tackle a variety of activities.

One group took on the challenge of the invasive honeysuckle – a worthy opponent but it was defeated by the efforts of the Team. This group also rebuilt the layers of the insect house by stuffing it with dried fern leaves and pine cones.

Unilever 3

Another group took on the composting challenge. This involved moving compost at various stages of decomposition from one bin to another. They also bagged up compost ready for sale to raise valuable funds for the park.

Unilever 2

To allow the growth of spring flowers to attract the butterflies, another group scythed. This was hard work which was made to look easy by the regular volunteers, but a determined team completed the task and had the blisters and aching muscles to prove it!

The final group spent the morning coppicing, cutting down trees to encourage regrowth and to provide stakes for hedging work. This particular activity really built teamworking and co-operation skills.

Unilever 4

The time flew by, it was coffee time before we knew it! After a short break which involved networking and some team members becoming acquainted with the compostable toilet facilities, we carried on until it was time for lunch. The volunteers from the park laid on a lovely barbecue for us which was enjoyed by all.

Unilever 5

During our visit, the volunteers also took the time to show us around the park and explained to us how it runs. They also told us about the various activities they run throughout the year.
The Unilever Team returned to work feeling a sense of achievement and wellbeing (even with the blisters!).

We would like to thank Paul and all the volunteers for giving up their time and letting us join them in maintaining a beautiful local attraction. We hope to be back soon!

Philippa Toleman CTI Specialist, CTI Laundry, Unilever.