Help save at-risk species
HELLO DEER
Rutting roe deer and where to spot them
How farming and nature’s recovery can go hand in hand
Ber kshire
Buckinghamshire & Ox fordshire
Wildlif e Trust
Recent weeks have been dominated by the General Election. Throughout the campaign we worked hard to ensure nature’s voice was heard and will continue to do so as we welcome and build relationships with our new MPs. We will work with them to bring back lost wildlife, end river pollution and water scarcity, fund wildlife-friendly farming, enable healthy communities, and tackle the climate emergency.
The UK is ranked 212 out of 240 for the state of its nature, making us one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world, with one in six species at risk of extinction. It is within the gift of Government, civil society and business to halt any further decline by investing in nature on both land and sea, so that our climate and nature can start to heal.
Public awareness and direct action are crucial for achieving nature’s recovery. Every little bit helps, from window boxes of wild flowers to wilder gardens and public spaces, from wildlifeconscious farming to building with nature. Rest assured your Wildlife Trust will lead with a strong voice and compassion.
Our Nature Recovery Fund continues to grow; thank you to everyone who has already donated. But there is still a long way to go to reach our target.
We urgently need to secure more funding to expand our work with farmers and landowners. This includes advising on naturefriendly methods such as regenerative farming, where the land is gradually improved for the environment and wildlife – all while producing food! It can be done, and Steve Proud, our Director of Land Management, explains how from page 12.
I hope that as the seasons turn, you will find time to head out into nature, perhaps on one of our nature reserves – to reconnect, to breathe, to feel grounded once again. In a busy world we need this more than ever.
With thanks as always for your continued support.
Estelle Bailey, Chief Executive
Wild Berks, Bucks & Oxon is the membership magazine for Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust
Contact 01865 775476, info@bbowt.org.uk
Membership 01865 788300, membership@bbowt.org.uk
Address The Lodge, 1 Armstrong Road, Littlemore, Oxford OX4 4XT
Website www.bbowt.org.uk
President Steve Backshall
Chair George Levvy
Chief Executive Estelle Bailey
UK Consultant Editor Joanna Foat
UK Consultant Designer Ben Cook
Design Yorkshire Wildlife Trust Design Studio
Print CKN Print Ltd
Cover Amy Lewis
A large-print version of Wild Berks, Bucks & Oxon (text only) is available on request. Call 01865 775476 or email info@bbowt.org.uk
Enjoy the extended version of Wild Berks, Bucks & Oxon online at bbowt.org.uk/publications
The best of the season’s wildlife and where to enjoy it on your local patch
With your support... Thank you for helping us look after woodland nature reserves, essential for butterflies, birds, badgers, and roe deer.
Summer months are the best time to catch a glimpse of roe deer as they begin the rutting season. These elegant and shy animals live in woodland where they graze on leaves and tree bark. They often feed in arable fields and pasture, usually close to woodland where they quickly retreat if startled.
To spot one, move slowly and quietly, using binoculars to scan the undergrowth and catch its rusty red coat and threepronged antlers, or its white rump as it leaps away. Listen for the high-pitched piping call of the does (females) attracting the bucks (males). The bucks respond with a rasping noise and will chase the does until they are ready to mate. Maintain your distance, especially during the rutting season, and always keep dogs on leads.
SEE THEM THIS SUMMER
Finemere Wood: Spot the dainty two-slot tracks of deer on their welltrodden pathways.
Warburg Nature Reserve: Visit early morning or late afternoon to see roe deer grazing in the pastures.
We can do so much to help wildlife, starting in our gardens.
How do our garden birds, amphibians, and mammals cope with hot summers? They all need water, which is easy to provide in a plant saucer, sunken washing-up bowl or a small pond. Shady areas are also welcome, usually from trees, shrubs, and hedges.
Watch birds take frequent splashes in bird baths and puddles to shed their old feathers and spruce up for winter. Young birds moult fluffy juvenile feathers as they transform into their adult plumage. During this time, you won’t hear many birds singing. Perhaps they don’t want to be seen looking so dishevelled! Even robins, the most reliable of garden songsters, will sing less, and blackbirds and thrushes may be silent.
Frogs and toads spend most of their time hidden among garden undergrowth, but they love a refreshing bath in a plant saucer filled with cooling water.
Trees and shrubs start shedding leaves after a dry summer and as autumn approaches. Let the leaves lie where they fall for wildlife such as ladybirds, beetles, earthworms, and woodlice.
Water works Position water near shrubs or trees so birds feel they can retreat to safety. Clean and refill regularly.
Worm their way in Look after the wiggly wonders of your wildlife garden. Keep soil covered and start a compost heap.
Pile it up Leave rock and log piles as shelter for overwintering frogs and toads and as a cool retreat on hot days.
Looking for inspiration? Take action for wildlife in your garden and beyond: bbowt.org.uk/actions
Make piles of leaves with old branches and wood, creating instant hibernacula for the gardeners’ best friend. Hedgehogs need water to rehydrate on summer evenings, and if they like your garden, they may burrow into a leaf and log pile to check it out for winter hibernation. Make a hole in your fence to give hedgehogs a wider range for their nightly rambles.
Plant fruiting trees and shrubs such as rowan, hawthorn, elder and dog rose to feed pollinators in spring, and birds from summer into autumn.
Many butterflies continue late into the season, visiting nectar-rich flowers like buddleia and ivy, a vital late source of food for many pollinators.
Red admiral
This butterfly builds its fat reserves from the nectar it feeds on, ready to lie in a state of torpor till spring.
Holly blue
The late broods overwinter in evergreen shrubs and will be the first butterflies you see next spring.
Whites
Large, small, and greenveined whites are still breeding but must soon lay their eggs so the pupae can survive the winter.
Leave patches of long grass for these butterflies. Their caterpillars feed on common grasses such as cock’s-foot.
Become a natural navigator to spot the wood-wideweb of amazing fungi this autumn. Take photos and leave the fungi for wildlife!
Our Nextdoor Nature project in Slough has been extended to September, enabling us to continue developing relationships with the local community. New collaborations include our work with Slough Refugee Support and Artswork, where we are helping to organise school litter picks.
Nextdoor Nature is very different to anything the BBOWT Community Team has tried before. It aims to make nature relevant by bringing it closer to where
people actually live and work, rather than taking them onto our reserves.
Thanks to Slough’s unique demographic and urban development, we have reached out to many underserved communities, including ethnic minorities, those with disabilities, the youth, and LGBTQ+ groups, all while fostering connections that will last well beyond the project. Communities have been truly responsive, recognising the benefits of looking after their green spaces for mental and physical wellbeing. Learnt skills have been transferred home to create their own nature-friendly corners, regardless of whether they live in a house or flat.
To find out more about the project email: teamwilder@bbowt.org.uk
This is an exciting time for the Community Network. Our first networking event in spring saw attendees discuss their actions for nature and included workshops to develop ideas for how we can further support groups. We also held a Leadership Skills training workshop, which proved a great day of knowledge sharing, making connections, and good fun! We received overwhelmingly positive feedback with attendees commenting on the thoughtful mix of activities and teaching styles.
Get your community group involved too: bbowt.org.uk/team-wildercommunity-groups
Join us at one of our in-person workshops or networking days, details at: bbowt.org.uk/events
Or for any questions, please email us at: teamwilder@bbowt.org.uk
This issue of Wild went to press on election day, and by the time you receive your copy the new Government will have been in place for almost a month.
Throughout the build-up to the General Election we campaigned tirelessly for our five election priorities, asking the next Government to set policies targeted towards species recovery, addressing river pollution and water scarcity, funding wildlife-friendly farming, enabling healthy communities, and tackling climate change.
During this time we held several thought leadership and hustings events, inviting members of the public to hear candidates’ plans to address the nature and climate emergencies, while expressing their own hopes and concerns through
question and answer sessions.
BBOWT, along with other Wildlife Trusts, joined other big environmental organisations in June’s Restore Nature Now march in London. This mass gathering demonstrated clear public support for action in advance of the election.
Thanks to everyone who helped us vote for nature. With the new parliamentary session underway, we now call on the Government to move quickly towards delivering real action. Rest assured we will continue to lobby hard for the appropriate funding and policies to put nature’s recovery firmly on the agenda, delivering a green recovery that’s good for nature, people and climate.
Reckon you’ve an eye for the perfect wildlife shot? Then put your skills to the public vote! This year’s Photography Competition returns with a new ‘People’s Choice Award’, with nature lovers of all ages invited to send in their best photos for the chance of top prizes. Prizes include a high-spec bird feeder camera and an exclusive photography masterclass with GG Wildlife Experiences. For full details and to enter visit bbowt.org.uk/photocomp24
For all the latest news sign up to our e-newsletter at bbowt.org.uk/ newsletter
Nature was the theme of a recent community day at St Paul’s in Slough. The event, supported by BBOWT, marked the launch of the church’s Nextdoor Nature initiative, with mayor Amjad Abbasi on hand to unveil new wildlife features in the church grounds.
This spring’s flooding and high winds had a devasting toll on the annual snake’s-head fritillary count at Iffley Meadows, Oxford, with just 6,087 of the flowers counted – the lowest tally since 1993. The good news is that, weather permitting, the fritillaries should fully recover.
Investors in Wildlife member St Anne’s College, Oxford is committed to achieving Net Gain in Biodiversity by 2035 and has been working with BBOWT’s Wildlife Trust Consultancy, Future Nature WTC, on a five-year biodiversity management plan to bring more birds, bees, and butterflies to the college’s green spaces.
Last year The Wildlife Trusts launched The Great Big Nature Survey, calling on the UK public to share their views on some of the most important issues affecting people and wildlife. We asked questions like: How often do you get out into nature? Should people try to control nature to better protect it? And what roles should people, business, and government have in looking after nature?
The Great Big Nature Survey helps to identify what people really think about wildlife and how we, as a society, should protect it. The results also support The Wildlife Trusts when holding the UK governments to account over their environmental policies and priorities.
Whatever your views on nature, however important it is to you, join more than 21,000 people that have already taken part and make your voice heard by taking The Great Big Nature survey today. If you’ve taken the survey before, thank you! Do please take it again, so that we can track how people’s views on these important issues have changed over time.
Have your say at wildlifetrusts.org/ great-big-nature-survey
The Wildlife Trusts have joined forces with the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) to publish a new Wild About Gardens guide, Making Friends with Molluscs. The guide reveals the fascinating world of slugs and snails and challenges common myths about these creatures. For example, did you know that the majority of the 150 slug and snail species in the UK can actually positively contribute to your garden ecosystem?
One of their most significant roles is as nature’s clean-up crew; molluscs feed on rotting plants, fungi, dung and even
carrion, helping to recycle nitrogen and other nutrients and minerals back into the soil. They can also clean algae off the glass of greenhouses, leaving behind their trademark trails.
Many of our much-loved garden visitors, including frogs, song thrushes and ground beetles, rely on slugs and snails as a key food source. By supporting these molluscs, gardeners indirectly support a diverse array of wildlife too.
For more information visit wildaboutgardens.org.uk
A warm welcome to our newest Investor in Wildlife members: Four Front Group, Karl Storz Endoscopy, Pacific Produce, and SDC Builders.
Special thanks to Blenheim Palace, Freeths Solicitors Oxford, Johnson Matthey Plc, Nature Bureau Consultancy and Publishing, and The Castle Hotel Windsor for renewing their memberships.
Discover how The Wildlife Trusts are helping wildlife across the UK
The Wildlife Trust for Beds, Cambs and Northants is a step closer to securing ownership of the uniquely special Strawberry Hill, thanks to generous funding from Biffa Award. Securing the future of a Bedfordshire farm that has been left to rewild for 25 years represents one of the most exciting land transactions in the Wildlife Trust’s history. wtru.st/BCN-Strawberry-Hill
Prompted by the near-extinction of a member of the heron family, a long term conservation project by Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust and conservation partners has doubled the area of bittern-suitable reedbed habitat. With a breakthrough this year, the first male bittern in recent history was recorded ‘booming,’ making its mating call on Amwell Nature Reserve. wtru.st/Herts-bittern
Alderney Wildlife Trust has recorded its seabird life in more detail than any other island, all thanks to Sula, the wildlife survey boat. Now, Sula needs sponsorship to support her important role in advancing conservation. Her next voyage is to help monitor the island’s grey seals, protect guillemot colonies and map Alderney’s tidal flow and marine habitats.
wtru.st/Sula-Sponsorship
Warm summer days are absolutely the best time to explore many of our nature reserves with friends, family, or
Because of you BBOWT manages a significant proportion of the remaining heathland across our region, but we can only do this with your support.
Postcode RG14 3BQ
Great for… Heathers
Size 96 hectares
Map ref SU 463 710 what3words someone.connector.sang
Snelsmore Common is one of the best places in our three counties to see enchanting native reptiles: silvery common lizards scurrying around the heathland, and slinky adders and grass snakes slipping through woodland glades.
In the marshy valleys, carnivorous round-leaved sundews stretch out their leaves, each one coated in sticky little droplets that attract and snare flies – then
We are delighted to have growing numbers of nightjars now nesting at Snelsmore. These magical birds migrate thousands of miles from Africa each year to come and nest in Berkshire. Their cryptic patterns
allow them to blend perfectly with the vegetation, but because they nest on the ground, they are extremely vulnerable. That is why we ask all human and canine visitors to stick to the paths from March until the end of July. Thank you to everyone who has heeded this request.
One of the most popular highlights at Snelsmore is the eruption of vibrant pink heather across the site in August and September. Three species thrive on the heathland: common heather or ling, bell heather, and cross-leaved heath. Butterflies and bees flit, buzz and busy themselves among the flowers and we have seen some fantastic photos of lizards clambering over the wiry stems.
With so many habitats you can explore for hours then have lunch on one of the picnic benches. You can even pick up supplies at the Snugg Cafe in the car park – check their opening times at facebook.com/thesnuggatsnelsmore
Nature is fragile
We have had problems in the past with people picking fungi at our nature reserves. Please remember that foraging is not allowed at any of our sites. Take only photos, leave only footprints.
It’s a family affair
Kids driving you up the wall this school holiday? Wow them with the wonder of nature on a day out to one of our top family reserves. Introduce them to the magic of wildlife, from curious creepy crawlies to beautiful butterflies. Visit bbowt.org.uk/ explore/family-days-out for our recommendations.
Postcode OX39 4RR
Great for… Chiltern gentians
Size 13 hectares
Map ref SU 753 994
what3words
insurance.slave.paint
One of the highlights of any summer at BBOWT is the flowering of one of our most iconic local species, the Chiltern gentian (pictured) –and Oakley Hill is one of the best reserves to see it. These magnificent purple trumpets are the county flower of Buckinghamshire but found at only a handful of sites in the country, blooming from August to October. This rare chalk grassland, once common along the Chiltern escarpment, is also home to
wild thyme, chalk eyebright, pyramidal orchid, as well as a host of butterflies, such as the comma, which thrive in this precious environment.
Postcode SL7 2DS
Great for… Fungi
Size 8 hectares
Map ref SU 823 861 what3words date.sheds.isolating
When the mercury rises, this magical woodland offers a perfect cooling escape from the summer heat. Beech trees dominate but there are also oak, ash, field maple, birch,
larch, and yew. In the leaf litter below, strange-looking bird’s nest orchids can be seen up until July. Then as autumn arrives, the beech leaves seem to illuminate the woods with a golden glow as some of the more than 150 species of fungi recorded here push through the leaf litter in profusion. If you are a fungi fancier, this is a reserve not to be missed!
Modern farming systems brought efficiencies but nature paid the price. As food production strains under the pressures of climate change and soil degradation, regenerative agriculture offers a desperately needed alternative, as Steve Proud, Director of Land Management, explains.
Cover crops like phacelia can build soil health and carbon content
and minimise damage by livestock.
Keep living roots in the soil so it remains alive and healthy.
Grow a diversity of crops, both in arable crop rotations and as a diverse mix of species in grassland pasture.
Bring livestock back into arable systems so land can be rested from crops and soil health recharged.
the ecology and the farm business to adapt to the impacts of climate change, extreme weather or fluctuations in farm costs or sale prices.
Changing a farming system isn’t easy and brings many risks and costs before the benefits are fully realised.
Conventional arable farmers are likely to see a drop in yield while the land adapts to regenerative practices, with estimates of around seven years to get the system
properly up and running. Some of this drop will be offset by significantly reduced input costs, but farmers need both financial support and technical advice to give them the confidence to get started.
Regenerative agriculture may not currently be the right system for many farm businesses, but Government must provide the right environment for those farms and farmers where the opportunity does exist.
BBOWT is looking to help farmers increase wildlife and biodiversity on
their farms through our Land and Farm Advice Service. Meanwhile, funding raised through our Nature Recovery Fund will help to support work such as the arable weeds project at College Lake (see below), as well as converting our own farmland to regenerative agricultural practices. We will share our experiences with local farmers as we start on our own journey.
Nature is clearly telling us that we need to change how we produce food and without nature, there will be no food. Regenerative agriculture offers us hope.
“Interest in regenerative agriculture has gathered pace over the past decade and has the potential to secure the future for both farmers and wildlife. ”
The arable weeds project at College Lake, Buckinghamshire, was started in the 1980s to conserve the now rare and beautiful flowers that once thrived on Britain’s farms.
The project includes a nursery where collected seed is used to grow new plants to transplant into the cornfield at the top end of the reserve. Around 36 species are grown, most of which are extinct or at risk of extinction in the wild. Rarities include field cow-wheat, corn cleavers and shepherd’s-needle.
Regenerative agriculture is the hot topic of the moment in the farming community, but working the land with both wildlife and farming in mind is nothing new, says Berkshire Senior Land Manager Tom Hayward.
One of our aims as a Wildlife Trust is to work with more farmers to show how farming can be more wildlifefriendly with less work – something that was an instinctive part of traditional farming systems. That is the motivation behind our latest project around our Woolley Firs Environmental Education Centre near Maidenhead, Berkshire, where we are transforming 20 hectares of land for the benefit of wildlife.
Three fields are becoming what is known as ‘layback land’ for grazing two dozen Dexter cattle over the winter months. These cattle are used for conservation grazing elsewhere for the rest of the year. What was arable land is being converted into diverse grassland,
to be sown with deep-rooting and nitrogen-fixing plants such as sainfoin and chicory, which will also help to lock up more carbon into the soil.
Around 600 metres of hedgerow, trees and shrubs are being planted across the site, while three hectares of ‘nonintervention woodland’ is being left to its own devices. Together these will provide valuable habitat for a host of birds, bats, insects, and small mammals such as wood mice and field voles.
We are trying to make more space for nature throughout the project area. With more available land to graze, we will be able to move cows around more often, so they do not overgraze any one area. At the same time patches of unmanaged land will evolve to create a more structurally diverse habitat for beetles, butterflies and other invertebrates to overwinter.
While the fields around Woolley Firs have been farmed for at least 300 years, this is the first time BBOWT has carried out this type of experiment. The project is being made possible thanks to a grant from The Veolia Environmental Trust, which redirects money from the Landfill Communities Fund.
In time we hope to use the project as a demonstration site when talking
to farmers and landowners about the benefits of plant diversity in grassland fields and other practical ways to support nature and low-input farming systems. This should put us in the best possible position to help more farmers across our area to help wildlife on their own holdings.
Our Land and Farm Advice Service promotes and supports sustainable and regenerative practices, empowering farmers, landowners and communities to create a more sustainable future while realising our mission of ‘more nature everywhere’. All profits are reinvested into BBOWT, directly contributing to the recovery of nature locally. Discover more at bbowt.org.uk/ land-and-farm-advice-service
Alongside our day-to-day work looking after wildlife on our nature reserves, we’re launching new projects to bring our most endangered species back from the brink.
Adders, once commonplace locally, have almost disappeared due to habitat loss and disturbance. Amazingly, one of the last remaining adder strongholds is Greenham Common, Berkshire, the former airbase where nuclear weapons were once stored.
We use innovative radio-tracking technology to monitor the adders and find out how far they roam. Data from the tags showed us the snakes were not crossing Old Thornford Road, a well-used road that divides the commons.
Our Adder Connections project was awarded £113,000 by Natural England’s Species Recovery Programme Capital Grant Scheme to link these isolated populations and secure the species’ survival in one of the last remaining heathland habitats. By forming a larger local population with a greater genetic mix, we can help the adders increase resistance to threats such as disease.
Using our knowledge of the adders’ locations we identified the best places to install special tunnels beneath the road for the snakes to move safely between the commons. Low fences on each side guide the snakes towards the tunnels where they can move across pebbles. The tunnels are the first of their kind in the UK. We will continue to track adders and set up camera traps to see if they are using the tunnels and whether the populations are mixing. The results will have significant implications for similar projects across the country.
Water voles are charismatic mammals, but their survival is precarious because they are relentlessly predated by the nonnative American mink.
Our Joining the Dots project received a £277,000 grant to work with the River Thame Conservation Trust to remove all female mink from our three counties. Our long-running Water Vole Recovery Project already manages 238 mink rafts and traps in key areas. With the help of trained volunteers over the next two years, we will expand mink monitoring and control beyond these sites, targeting potential ‘reservoirs’ of mink so that water voles can expand their current range. The River Thame Conservation Trust also plans to introduce water voles into the catchment and removing mink is vital to maximise the chances of success.
Natural England’s Species Recovery Programme Capital Grant Scheme has also awarded grants to projects in neighbouring Warwickshire, Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire and Middlesex, which should help eradicate mink over a wider area so that water voles can form larger, more robust metapopulations.
BBOWT staff and volunteers target sustained action to slow and reverse the decline of our most vulnerable wildlife, including, for example:
Black hairstreaks
One of the UK’s rarest butterflies. Adults lay their eggs on mature blackthorn, which we carefully manage on our reserves to ensure a variety of height and depth, from new shoots to mature trees.
Curlews
The evocative call of the curlew peals out across Chimney Meadows nature reserve. The groundnesting birds raise their chicks behind fences, which we put up to protect the broods from predators.
Let’s do more!
Support our work to save at-risk species.
Donate to our Nature Recovery Fund at bbowt.org.uk/SOS or call 01865 788300.
Adder
Join the Learning Team on a fully supervised holiday Day Camp this summer. The camps are perfect for children who love being outdoors where they will enjoy lots of fun activities, learn about wildlife and habitats –all while exploring our woodlands, meadows, ponds and streams. All our camps are run in small groups as we appreciate that every child is special and deserves that extra time and attention; we know your children will flourish and grow in confidence during these sessions.
For a full list of this summer’s Day Camps, including dates, FAQs or to book, please head to bbowt.org.uk/events
Nature, Natter & Nibbles
Fri 2 Aug & Fri 6 Sept, Sutton Courtenay Environmental Education Centre
Enjoy a chat while strolling around the meadows, ponds and woodland.
Introduction to Bats
Weds 7 Aug, Windsor Great Park
Learn about these nocturnal wonders on an informative talk and walk.
Bird Walk
Weds 7 Aug & Weds 11 Sept, Nature Discovery Centre
Join a walk around the lake to see what birds are about.
Highlights from our busy events diary. For full and up-to-date listings or to book visit bbowt.org.uk/events
Pond dipping for adults
Sat 10 Aug, College Lake
Explore pond creatures in our newly renovated wetlands educational area.
Austrian Scythe Training
Fri 23 Aug, Sutton Courtenay Educational Environmental Centre
Learn how to use and maintain a scythe.
Botanical Clay Dish Making
Sat 24 Aug, Windsor Great Park
Forage for natural materials and use them to capture the beauty of nature.
Invertebrate Surveying
Weds 28 Aug, Woolley Firs
Learn collection techniques and how to differentiate between insect orders.
Forest Bathing
Sun 1 Sept, Windsor Great Park
Witness the forest’s transition to autumn during this mind calming session.
Tune in Tuesdays
Tues 3, Tues 17 Sept & Tues 1 Oct, College Lake
Take time for yourself on these wellbeing walks.
Guided Bat Walk
Weds 4 Sept, Windsor Great Park
Use bat detectors to locate and identify our resident bats.
Raffia Baskets
Sun 8 Sept, Windsor Great Park
Learn how to weave and coil as you make a beautiful basket.
Birds and a Brew Fri 30 Aug, Nature Discovery Centre
This month’s event focuses on ‘Birds: Good news stories’.
Bats for Beginners
Tues 10 Sept, Woolley Firs
Learn about native bats and join a night walk using bat detectors.
Birds on the Balcony Fri 13 Sept, Nature Discovery Centre
Learn more about birds that visit in winter.
Sunrise Walk and Breakfast Fri 13 Sept, Sutton Courtenay Educational Environmental Centre
Start the day off with a peaceful stroll as the reserve stirs to life.
Beetles! Beetles! Beetles! Sat 3 & Mon 5 – Weds 7 Aug, Sutton Courtenay Environmental Education Centre
Take to the trail and discover fascinating facts about tiny creatures.
Animal Olympics
Tues 6, Thurs 8 & Tues 20 Aug, Nature Discovery Centre
Learn all about our fast and high-jumping
Art to Relax: Butterflies
Thurs 12 Sept, Windsor Great Park
Explore acrylic painting techniques as you admire the beauty of butterflies.
‘The Lost Words’ Various dates, College Lake
Discover the mysteries of The Lost Words through spells, art and nature.
@JuliaBradbury
Vitamin N (for Nature) is good for you physically, mentally and physiologically, and walking is one of the most accessible activities and the easiest way to immerse yourself in it. You don’t need much expertise or equipment, or even an epic landscape; you just put one foot in front of the other. All my life, but even more so through my cancer diagnosis, and other challenging episodes, nature has been there for me. It’s brought me strength and mental clarity. And, as well as the obvious health benefits it brings, the outdoors is a treasure trove of inspiration and really gives me the space to think things through.
Yet, we know that one in two children spend less than a single hour outside every day. One of the barriers I’ve seen through my work with The Outdoor Guide and our Waterproofs and Wellies project is that, in many cases, children simply don’t have the appropriate clothing to spend time outdoors at school. Kids grow out of clothes so quickly, and with the difficult economic times we live in, it’s no surprise that many families struggle to keep up with constantly buying new items. We’re trying to remove this barrier by supplying schools with waterproofs and wellies to aid outdoor learning, enabling children to gain access to nature. Properly equipped, I hope that by spending more time outdoors, children will develop a meaningful connection with the natural world, as well as bringing those enriching experiences that I’ve found have been hugely beneficial in later life.
Nature may be the answer to the climate crisis, but it can also help us to deal with things in our personal lives. The benefits of being out in nature are tangible. When we’re out walking, we have the power to change
our pace and our mood. We can find union with nature, camaraderie with friends, and a form of inner peace with ourselves. Walking balances the soul and acts as a confidante and therapist and has been proven to soothe anxiety and stress. A mountain or a tree, a bird or a beetle, can keep you company in times of grief, celebration and solitude. Building nature into your everyday life creates many positive feedback loops, encouraging exercise, which in turn improves your diet, and enables you to sleep better and have better, more meaningful interactions with the world and the people around you. If you can’t escape for an hour, try five or 10 minutes in your lunch break. I call them Nature Snacks – just a few minutes every day is enough to revive and restore (although the longer the better in my opinion).
I worry that there is a real feeling of disconnection from nature in the current generation of children and young adults. So it’s important to try do our bit to remove barriers. There are many communities doing amazing work supported by The Wildlife Trusts Nextdoor Nature programmes. Schools, individuals and community groups are taking action for nature all across the UK, creating more and more small green spaces, which are especially important in urban areas. That little bit of treasured green space to grow food on and play in gently encourages children to see nature and nurture the spirit of working together.
Find out more about how Wildlife Trusts are helping to support community groups, thanks to funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund. wildlifetrusts.org/nextdoor-nature
Get into the habit of spending more time in nature. Sign up to our free newsletter to receive emails to inspire, including seasonal wildlife to look out for, tips on how to enjoy nature, and the best nature reserves to visit each month.
Sign up at bbowt.org.uk/newsletter
Julia Bradbury
Sunday Times
Best Selling author of Walk Yourself
Happy shares her passion for walking towards happiness with nature by her side. The Outdoor Guide Foundation has a simple aim; to make the outdoors more accessible for all – particularly children. Find out more at theoutdoorguide.co.uk
Going peat-free is good for wildlife and our gardens.
When selecting a compost, the most important thing is to look for a peat-free label. Extracting peat destroys important habitats and releases large amounts of stored carbon into the atmosphere, so gardening peat-free is an easy way to take positive action for wildlife and climate. If you can’t find peat-free stated on the bag, then the chances are the product contains peat. Something marked as organic or environmentally-friendly doesn’t necessarily mean it’s peat-free.
Peat-free mixes contain more microbes, many of which are beneficial for your plants but can change how the compost performs the longer they are left in the bag. To get the best from your compost, use it in the growing season you bought it or within a year of its manufacture. If you are using smaller amounts of specialist mixes, such as ericaceous compost for
acid-loving plants, you could share with a friend or local gardening group to save on cost.
Not every peat-free mix will be a perfect fit for every gardener, so try a couple of different types to find one that suits your plants and growing environment. Peat-free compost has come a long way, with a wide range for every need and plant type available. All peat-free mixes are different, so you might also need to adjust watering and feeding a little. As a general rule, peat-free may need to be watered little and often compared to peat.
Getting to know what you need from your compost and which products give healthy, long-lasting plants can unlock a whole new world of gardening success for anyone, even if you don’t have the greenest fingers!
A wildflower patch won’t need any compost at all, as the seeds can be sown directly into bare ground.
Organic matter-rich soil improvers and manures can add nutrients without the need for lots of fertiliser.
Seed and cutting compost is mixed to suit these young plants, being much finer and with less slow-release feed than multipurpose compost.
Great for wildlife, these plants often come bare root, so you can plant straight into the ground, just adding a mulch of garden compost.
Use your finger to check moisture lower down in the compost. Aim to keep compost just moist.
Look for products labelled as working for plant groups that need specific soil conditions (e.g. carnivorous sundews or ericaceous cranberries).
Use special aquatic mixes to fill pond basket planters. These are formulated for slower nutrient release, stopping unwanted algal growth.
It’s easy to overwater houseplants, so mix houseplant-specific compost with grit or fine bark to improve drainage and avoid root rot.
Peat can also be found in bedding plants and potted houseplants. Help raise awareness of ‘hidden peat’ by becoming a peat inspector: wildlifetrusts.org/ban-sale-peat
Dr Rob Stoneman, director of landscape recovery at The Wildlife Trusts, shares his vision of a Wilder Isles.
Memories of childhood – those long summer days messing around by the river. My little patch of childhood heaven lay underneath an old bridge made of the local limestone speckled with fossils from long ago. We floated out on tractor inner tubes or caught the tiddlers – mottled brown bullheads, minnows and sticklebacks – and hunted for crayfish. The river danced with mayfly – food for grey wagtails, swallows and martins. Banished to memory only, for later, the dredgers moved in, deepening the river and removing the riverside plants. The floodplain field’s old pasture was stripped and re-seeded to grow landscaping turf. Bullheads are now a red data book endangered species and native crayfish not far from extinct.
It’s a story that can be told across Britain – the last few decades have been calamitous for wildlife. Almost every measure you use shows that same picture. Kent Wildlife Trust’s splatometer is a good example. This measures the number of insects that (sadly) get splattered on your number plate. Comparisons between 2005 and 2020 shows a 50% decline. That insect apocalypse plays out in far fewer pollinators, essential for our real food security, and is already reducing the UK’s £100m apple crop. The song of the dodo will now never be known but its message is clear – the fragmentation of wildlife habitat drives species extinctions, but equally the opposite is true.
For this does not need to be a tale of doom.
The source of many a British river is high on the blanket bogs of our uplands. These peaty waters run the colour of tea, especially after storms as the peat washes out. Yet on a rain-lashed day, I sit on the banks of the River Feshie looking at trout in crystal clear water, for Glen Feshie has been ‘rewilded’. Likewise, as those increasingly intense summer droughts take hold, the tributaries of the River Otter in Devon remain as green oases, for the River Otter has another charismatic mammal in its reach – beavers.
During Storm Desmond, which caused havoc in Cumbria as floodwaters burst out of the rivers and into the homes and livelihoods of the people of Carlisle or Cockermouth, one river stayed in its banks. The River Liza had been restored to its natural function, braiding and meandering, accumulating logs and stones so that when the storm hit, the Liza’s natural obstructions held the water back, filtering it and releasing it more slowly. Imagine the cost saving if all the streams of the Lake District National Park were allowed to run natural and free.
In all these cases, people have intervened to restore the natural processes that bring nature back to balance and back to abundance. From peatland rewetting to leaving dead wood on a tree, to reconnecting a river to its floodplain, reintroducing natural grazing or bringing back top predators such as lynx and wolves, they are all interventions that bring natural function back to our landscapes and to our lives.
The results are spectacular. Dorset and Hampshire & the Isle of Wight Wildlife Trusts have acquired farms and taken them out of arable
Mayflies numbers have declined due to habitat loss.
farming to ease the pollution pressure on coastal ecosystems. Rooting by pigs (we are not allowed to reintroduce wild boar yet), extensive semi-natural grazing by hardy cattle (a proxy for the long-extinct auroch that once roamed Britain) and re-naturalising streams work alongside the natural recolonisation by wildlife. Fields, once almost devoid of wildlife, are now full of finches, buzzing with insects and multicoloured once more with flowers and scrub.
On a tributary of the River Otter, a shallow flooded field oozes with the beauty and splendour of wildlife returning in profusion. Herons, egrets and waders poke the wet soil for food whilst damsel and dragonflies stalk the sweeps of purple and yellow flowers. This return of wildlife abundance cost nothing, required no permissions and was not planned. Rather it resulted from a pair of beavers deciding this place would make a wonderful place to call home.
I return to my childhood memories once more –this time cowboy movies with buffalo on the Great Plains of North America. Magnificent beasts racing across the open grasslands. Only later did I learn that there were over 60 million of these mighty beasts just a few centuries ago and only 547 left by 1880 – an incredible decline and testament to rapid agri-industrialisation of the Plains following European emigration. And much later, I learned that Europe had buffalo too – European bison – whose decline had preceded their American cousins much earlier, leaving less than 50 animals by the 1920s.
Yet, as in North America, captive breeding and eventual wild release has re-established European bison, albeit still at fairly low numbers. Imagine then, the excitement of seeing wild bison once again in Europe. This time in the high Carpathian Mountains of Romania – a brief heart-pumping encounter deep in the beech woods. Imagine that excitement doubled at the prospect of bison in
Britain, yet this is exactly what Kent Wildlife Trust has achieved at Blean Woods.
Restoring natural processes – whether bison in woodlands, sphagnum once more flourishing on an upland moor, or an old oak being given the grace to gently rot from its core over many hundreds of years – is changing the way we think about how to restore nature. What is so exciting about this way of thinking – rewilding — is that it gives us an approach, a way of working where we can have a realistic chance of turning the nature and climate crisis around.
This is a message of hope that lights the path through. It starts with a rewilding of our imagination, it continues with deliberate interventions to restore natural processes, it culminates in a rapid rushing back of wildlife. If we give wildlife space, it will return.
Join this rewilding revolution. Rewild your garden. Adding dead wood, a pond and putting in some structure – a bit of shrubbery for example – has been shown to vastly increase garden wildlife diversity and abundance. Encourage your local school to let the grounds go a bit wilder; ask the Council to plant street trees and leave the grass long in the local park; ask your MP to ban burning on upland moors and allow sphagnum to recover and while you’re at it, ask them to get on with licensing beaver reintroductions. Rewilding is a journey – a continuum of increasing wildness that goes way beyond looking pretty, to places where wildlife is restored. This is a journey of hope and recovery from window box to National Parks. A journey towards our much wilder isles.
Read more about the work of The Wildlife Trusts to bring wildlife back at a landscape-scale. wildlifetrusts.org/rewilding
The glisten of the sea, blue skies and the cry of distant gulls may bring a calm contentment on a summer day at the beach. But if you have a taste for adventure, the salty breeze and the constant rush of waves across the rocks may draw you down the beach as the tide goes out.
Waterproof shoes or wellies make hopping and stepping across slanted slabs, barnacle clad rocks and large, loose stones more fun. And a few hours before low tide is the best time to explore your curiosity for what lies beneath. The most exciting creatures and richest diversity of marine life will be found where the rocks are exposed for the shortest time at low tide.
As the water slips, soaks and gurgles away, natural aquariums are left behind on the seashore. The habitat revealed is home to dozens of plants and animals that usually live way beneath the sea. Enjoy peering beneath the surface of shiny pools and celebrating rare finds. Observe delicate sea creatures without touching and replace rocks where you found them.
But keep an eye on the tide whilst there. It’s best to finish rockpooling within the first hour of the tide turning, if not before. Take only photos and leave only footprints behind. Here are six of our best beaches for exploring the watery wonders of rockpools.
See the spectacle for yourself
1 Killiedraught Bay, Scottish Wildlife Trust
St Abbs and Eyemouth Voluntary Marine Reserve is one of the finest rockpooling sites in Scotland. At low tide you’ll find seaweeds such as bladderwrack and kelp, as well as animals such as the breadcrumb sponge, bootlace worm and butterfish.
Where: Eyemouth, TD14 5AX
2 Glenarm, Ulster Wildlife
Visit the oldest village in Ulster, Glenarm. This Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is great for rockpooling at the north end of the beach. View a wide range of creatures from anemones to cuvie and sea-squirts to starfish. Well worth a visit.
Where: Glenarm, BT44 0AB
3 Flamborough Headland, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust
At Flamborough Cliffs nature reserve with its striking chalk cliffs look for pools of bright starfish, crabs, tiny fish and a rich carpet of seaweeds. Guided rockpool rambles are offered at the Living Seas Centre, including a night-time safari.
Where: Flamborough Cliffs, YO15 1BJ
4 Blackpool Sea Wall, The Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside
The Blackpool Glitterball on New South Promenade will guide you to the sea wall. Here weird and wonderful wildlife live inside artificial rockpools. Creatures, such as crabs, anemones, shrimps, mussels and honeycomb worms can be found.
Where: Blackpool, FY4 1RW
5 Kimmeridge Bay, Dorset Wildlife Trust
Kimmeridge, on the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site in Dorset, is famous for its rockpools. Small and shallow, with inhabitants equally small and delicate. Come and discover Connemara clingfish, Montagu’s blennies and peacock’s tail seaweed.
Where: Wareham, BH20 5PF
6 Wembury Beach, Devon Wildlife Trust
One of the UK’s best rockpooling destinations, where creatures hang out in hundreds of crevices and pools. You may find cushion stars, beadlet anemones and the rare St Piran’s crab. Wembury Marine Centre runs summer rockpool safaris.
Where: Wembury, PL9 0HP
Did you explore any rockpools?
We’d love to know how your search went. Please tweet us your best photos! @wildlifetrusts
Sarah Ward, Marine Conservation Officer for Sussex Wildlife Trust, introduces you to the watery world of blue, mauve or translucent jellyfish around UK shores. Beware this story has a sting in its tail!
Jellyfish have existed on our planet in various guises for millions of years – they were drifting around before even the dinosaurs existed! In spite of their name, they are not fish at all, but are categorised in the group ‘cnidaria’ (which comes from the Greek word for ‘nettle’) and comprises various marine animals with stinging cells, including anemones and corals.
Jellyfish come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes – and an assortment of beautiful colours (although my personal favourite is the almost colourless moon jellyfish!). The smallest known jellies are around two centimetres wide, and the biggest can be up to two metres. A huge barrel jellyfish was spotted in Cornish waters in 2019, which was estimated to have been one and a half metres wide! Last summer here on the Sussex coast, we had a huge influx of jellyfish. I was lucky enough to witness the phenomenon during one of our Shoresearch surveys, where we recorded hundreds of them – there were at least three different species! It was amazing to see so many of them gently floating in tidal pools in the warm sunshine, having drifted to the coastline on the tide and left temporarily stranded as it retreated.
The influx had been witnessed by many local coast-goers, with Wildlife Trust social media accounts and inboxes being flooded with photos and questions like ‘why are there so many?’, ‘where have they come from?’ and ‘are they dangerous?’.
An increase in jellyfish numbers is not unusual during the summer, particularly if there’s been a spell of warm, settled weather. UK jellyfish
principally eat plankton – they will follow their source of food but as drifters they are not able to swim directionally. They drift in on currents and can sometimes be found in large numbers when they’ve all drifted together. Jellyfish reproduction also generally occurs in the height of summer, when males release their sperm into the sea, with hopes that a nearby female will suck it up into their stomach, where fertilisation occurs.
There are six species of jellyfish that can be seen on UK coasts: the mauve stinger, blue, barrel, lion’s mane, moon and compass jellyfish. There are also two jelly-like relatives, the Portuguese man-o-war and the by-the-wind sailor. All these are able to sting so it is best to be cautious. If you do get stung, the best thing to do is remove any stingers still attached (a credit card is good to use to scrape them off –avoid using your fingers as you’ll end up with stung fingers as well!) and rinse with water. For most people the pain is relatively mild and should subside within a few hours; over-the-counter painkillers or antihistamines can help. Medical advice should be sought if you have a severe reaction.
Remember that jellyfish can still sting when they’re dead, so it’s best not to touch if you see one washed up on the beach.
Have you seen a jellyfish in the UK sea? We have a great identification guide on our website. You can also report your sightings to your local Wildlife Trust.
