Wild Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust - Spring 2021 by BBOWT

Wild

Spring 2021

Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire

NATURE’S BACK

Discover how we are playing our part for a wilder future

GROW WILD

Eight tips to help nature improve your garden crops

SEASONAL SPECTACLES

Butterfly effect Meet the orchids and butterflies of spring

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Welcome More nature everywhere RIC MELLIS

Over the past year we have been refreshing our plans for putting nature into recovery. The backdrop of the escalating nature and climate emergency makes this a tough job, and the scale of social and environmental change makes for extraordinary times. The unremitting loss of wildlife and natural habitats across the planet is a picture reflected in our own three counties. The pandemic has highlighted that we all need nature as much as it needs us. A recent United Nations report states ‘we can no longer afford to cast nature aside’. Never truer words spoken! We are confident that by working with local communities, councils, farmers and businesses – among others – we can bring nature back at scale, but urgent action is needed to turn the tide. So, as we look forward our ambition for wildlife is bigger and bolder than ever before. To achieve our long-term goal of nature being in recovery we want to see 30% of the land across Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire managed for nature by 2030. Our Wilder plan for 2021-2026 builds on the ambition and achievements of our 2016-2021 plan Be Part of Nature’s Recovery to continue the journey to our new 2030 goal and beyond. Wilder sets one simple, overarching aim: to create more nature everywhere. To do this, we need to inspire people to take local action and we need to do all we can to restore wilder landscapes, including in urban areas. By 2030 our corner of the world will look and feel very different. You can read more about our plans and how you can get involved on page 10. We hope that you will walk with us on this journey, as your continued support is essential. In the meantime, our nature reserves are now bursting with springtime life – enjoy it all!

3 10

Spring has sprung! Make the most of it

Estelle Bailey, Chief Executive

30 by 30 The decade we save our wildlife

Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust 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 Joanna Davidson Chief Executive Estelle Bailey

More nature everywhere Our bold new vision

Wherever you are in the country your Wildlife Trust is standing up for wildlife and wild places in your area and bringing people closer to nature. Wild Berks, Bucks & Oxon brought to you by Editor Ben Vanheems UK Consultant Editor Tom Hibbert UK Consultant Designer Ben Cook Design Yorkshire Wildlife Trust Design Studio Print Warners Midlands Cover Ross Hoddinott/2020VISION

Get in touch

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

Registered Charity Number 204330 Company Registered Number 006800007

Wild Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire | Spring 2021

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The best of the season’s wildlife and where to enjoy it on your local patch

MARK HAMBLIN/2020VISION

Your wild spring T h a n k y ou

ship means Your member ct precious we can prote . ss our region orchids acro r u yo s er way Find out oth e helps wildlif ip sh member t u o b /a k .u at bbowt.org

SPRING SPECTACLE

Awesome orchids Orchids have a habit of leaving their admirers awestruck. These precious plants are a diverse family that include blooms with some of the headiest scents of all flowers. Some species, like the bee orchid, mimic insects in order to attract them to pollinate. Then there’s the bird’s-nest orchid, which taps into the roots of nearby trees to steal their nutrients. These bewitching and often bizarre wild flowers vie for our attention from April to September, reaching their zenith in May and June. Visit bbowt.org.uk/seasonal-spectacles for the highlights of what to see when. SEE THEM THIS SPRING  Bernwood Meadows Rare green-winged orchids flourish in their thousands, flowering in May.  Hartslock Delight in a profusion of chalkland flowers, including pyramidal orchids and white helleborines.  Aston Clinton Ragpits One of the very best places in the country to see orchids, from twayblades to greater butterfly orchids.

Maytime is orchid time at Bernwood Meadows in Buckinghamshire, where the rare and precious green-winged orchid thrives Wild Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire | Spring 2021

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YOUR WILD SPRING

Sensational spring!

Caterpillar tracks Butterflies and moths complete four life stages: egg, caterpillar, pupa and, finally, adult. Caterpillars can look very different to their adult form. Here are some of the easiest to identify.

Nature’s awoken and is yours to explore

All of a flutter SEE THEM THIS SPRING  Yoesden The warm, sun-soaked slope of this rare chalk grassland is perfect habitat for butterflies, including the rare Adonis blue, chalkhill blue and small blue.  Chimney Meadows Scan the wildflower meadows as you stroll through for butterflies such as brimstone, orange-tip, peacock, marbled white and holly blue.

Mullein moth Find these speckled caterpillars in a range of open habitats, including gardens. They feed on buddleia and mullein.

Find out how to attract butterflies to your garden: bbowt.org.uk/butterflies

RACHEL SCOPES

Did you know the collective nouns for butterflies include a flight, a flutter, and a kaleidoscope? These beautiful pollinators are also a vital part of the food chain – it takes up to 10,000 caterpillars to rear a single brood of blue tits! Beautiful, beguiling butterflies light up our world from early spring to autumn. Attracting these colourful insects in your garden starts with flowers – nectarrich blooms that give them the energy they need to fly. Leave a few patches of weeds as food for their caterpillars: grasses, nettles, thistles and ivy are popular, as well as common wild flowers such as bird’s-foot trefoil, which can be bought as ready-to-plant plug plants. Don’t throw out fruits like apples or bananas that have gone soft. Leave them outside for our fluttering friends so they can enjoy a sugary boost.

D id y ou k n ow?

VAUGHAN MATTHEWS

TOM MARSHALL

JIM HIGHAM

VAUGHAN MATTHEWS

There are 59 sp ecies of butterfly foun d in the UK, but more than 2,500 moths, including man y species of da yflying moth su ch as the easi ly distinguished black and red burnet and ci nnabar moths .

Time to go wild!

Peacock Nettles are the preferred food plant of peacock butterfly caterpillars. Look for them on communal webs from late spring.

Pale tussock These rather funky fellas appear on deciduous trees and other plants from June. They are easily distinguished by their tufts.

CHRIS GOMERSALL/2020VISION

Every June we invite people to sign up to 30 Days Wild and complete 30 ‘Random Acts of Wildness’. Following a 73% increase in sign-ups last year, we are planning for an even bigger impact in 2021. Register your interest now and get hold of your free 30 Days Wild pack. See back page for more.

HEAR THIS

Sunday 2 May is International Dawn Chorus Day. Get up nice and early and tune in to the soundtrack of spring. Get some bird-listening tips at bbowt.org.uk/dawn-chorus

PLANT THIS

Now is a good time to plant trees and shrubs as food and shelter for birds and pollinators. Crab apples are great allrounders. Search more options at bbowt.org.uk/provide-bushes

Wild Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire | Spring 2021

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WILD THOUGHTS

Gillian Burke @gillians_voice

It was the best little hide! A hibiscus bush with the perfect little-girl-sized hollow, where I would spend whole mornings, watching butterflies and jewel-like sunbirds flitting and darting nervously from flower to flower. I had no access to field guides and no idea what the birds were called. To be perfectly honest, it didn’t really matter because I was quite content with just watching and occasionally trying to draw what I saw in a little notebook. This was my Kenya in the late seventies. No internet, no clubs, no daytime telly, no distractions — just the world outside to explore and discover. With time and freedom on my side, I got to know the many moods of the natural world. Beautiful flowers hid thorns, lush green grass hid snakes, the same wondrous sun, that gently warmed up the day, would birth violent afternoon storms that, in turn, gave way to the cooling sweet smell of the earth. I loved it all. All this gave me a profound sense, even as a little girl, that everything in nature had its place. My younger self had yet to learn that this is what biologists call diversity — the single word that describes the infinite possibilities, expressions and connections of life on earth. From a biologist’s perspective, all this variety is not just the spice of life, it is the source of nature’s resilience and adaptability.

Viewed with this lens it is hard, therefore, to believe that there is still the need to debate diversity in the conservation and environmental sector but clearly we do. From senior leadership roles to volunteer positions, just 0.6% are from black, mixed and other ethnic groups. This is a famously quoted figure and one that likely extends to under-representation from white working class backgrounds as well. One thing that we can all agree on is that we have the fight of our lives right now in meeting the twin challenges of the climate and ecological crisis. As 2020 is set to go down in history as ‘one hell of a year’, there is a precious opportunity to set a course for a truly 21st century mind-set. If we are ever really going to walk the walk and actually do things differently, we are going to need the full power of diverse voices and perspectives to forge resilience and adaptability in a fresh, new system that serves everyone and everything, and exploits nothing and no one.

The Wildlife Trusts are committed to putting equality, diversity and inclusion at the heart of our movement. Find out more: wildlifetrusts.org/wild-about-inclusion

WILDER IS HEALTHIER

Research published by The Wildlife Trusts in 2019 showed that children experience profound and diverse benefits through regular contact with nature. It’s essential that all children (and adults too) have the opportunity to experience nature in their daily lives, but 42% of people from minority ethnic backgrounds live in the most green-space deprived areas, compared to just 15% of white people*. We need at least 30% of land to be restored for nature, helping wildlife recover and bringing nature into everyone’s daily lives. Gillian Burke is a biologist and wildlife presenter and has recently become vice president of The Wildlife Trusts.

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*England’s green space gap, Friends of the Earth

ILLUSTRATION: C. IZUNDU

Together for nature

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Don’t miss out

WILD NEWS

All the latest local and national news from The Wildlife Trusts

On the verge

NEW NATURE RESERVE

BBOWT is partnering with West Berkshire Council to create a network of wildlifefriendly habitats alongside local roads. The Wild Verges project runs until 2023 but starts this spring with volunteers undertaking road verge surveys to identify which verges can be supported to promote greater diversity.

Magical Pixey Mead With all the legal paperwork now complete, Pixey Mead is finally ours! We will continue to protect the wildlife found here, including more than 200 plant species such as early and southern marsh-orchids, common meadow-rue, ragged robin and great burnet. The meadows also play an important role in storing floodwater, helping to alleviate problems in Oxford during our increasingly wetter winters. A big thank you to all of you who helped us with the purchase.

MARK HAMBLIN/2020VISION

Pixey Mead, a rare ancient hay meadow, is the latest nature reserve to be saved with your support. This type of floodplain meadow is exceptionally rare and, at 20 hectares, Pixey Mead represents more than 1% of what is left. The meadow lies on an island in the Thames, just north of Oxford, opposite our existing Oxey Mead nature reserve. Together they form part of a wider network of floodplain meadows that includes Iffley Meadows further downstream.

Trunk call

The volunteers at College Lake work hard to ensure the nature reserve has as much wildlife benefit as possible, but their work has also benefitted animals of an entirely unexpected nature. In a recent tie up with ZSL Whipsnade Zoo, cuttings were donated as elephant feed that appear to have been enthusiastically received!

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Could you be our next Chair? Our current Chair is moving from the area and we need someone with leadership and chairing skills to replace her. You will also have experience of running an organisation. We are also looking for trustees with expertise in one or more of the following areas: campaigning and advocacy, including influencing local and national government policy; senior local government, for example in planning or policy; digital/IT; or agriculture/land management. All candidates must be committed to BBOWT’s work, values and future strategy. BBOWT is keen to increase the ethnic diversity of the Board. Please contact Jade Sturdy for more details, an application pack

LUKE MASSEY/2020VISION

Can you help to lead us?

or to arrange a phone call with a current trustee: jadesturdy@bbowt.org.uk. The deadline for applications is Monday 10 May 2021.

Pocket expert

Want to hone up on your wildlife ID skills? The series of books and guides from NatureBureau could be just what you’re after. Order any book and enjoy a 10% discount, while BBOWT receives a donation worth 20% of the order value! For details on this and other ways you can shop for wildlife visit bbowt.org.uk/ shop-wildlife

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LIZ BONNIN © ANDREW CROWLEY; BUFF-TAILED BUMBLEBEE © CHRIS GOMERSALL/2020VISION; BROWN TROUT © LINDA PITKIN/2020VISION HUMPBACK WHALE TAILFIN © GUDKOV ANDREY/SHUTTERSTOCK

UK NEWS Wildlife Trusts welcome new president Broadcaster and biologist, Liz Bonnin has been elected as president of The Wildlife Trusts. Liz will be championing The Wildlife Trusts’ new 30 by 30 vision to protect 30% of land and sea for nature by 2030. Liz says, “It is a critical time for the natural world, and I hope that through lending my voice and support, and by working together, we can help to enforce the changes that must take place in order to secure a brighter future for our wild places.” Alongside Liz Bonnin’s appointment, The Wildlife Trusts have also welcomed biologist and Springwatch presenter Gillian Burke as vice president, as well as four new ambassadors: environmentalist and birder, Mya-Rose Craig; actor and presenter, Cel Spellman; actor and podcaster, David Oakes; and professor of biology and bumblebee expert, Dave Goulson.

Discover how The Wildlife Trusts are helping wildlife across the UK

Ulster Wildlife are using coconut fibre logs to create dams on Cuilcagh Mountain, re-wetting and restoring large areas of peatland. The boggy areas created will capture and store carbon, helping combat the climate crisis, and provide a better habitat for wildlife. This work, done in conjunction with local farmers, is part of a project to restore 16 hectares of degraded peatland on Cuilcagh.

2 Shark sanctuaries

whales and dolphins in a huge feeding frenzy. Joan Edwards, The Wildlife Trusts’ director of living seas, says: “Wildlife Trusts around the country were reporting a surge of public interest in marine life and coastal species — people delighted in seeing marine life and it lifted the hearts of millions in this most difficult year.” Read The Wildlife Trusts’ marine review 2020, which includes many amazing stories from around our coasts, at wildlifetrusts. org/marine-review-20

Scottish Wildlife Trust welcomed the designation of a new suite of protected areas in Scottish seas. Four new Marine Protected Areas will help safeguard species like basking sharks and minke whales, alongside 12 new Special Protection Areas created to benefit Scotland’s iconic seabirds. It is essential now that these areas are backed by effective management measures.

3 River restoration

Surrey Wildlife Trust are working with a wide range of partners to restore the natural course of the Rye Brook, near Ashtead, helping to encourage brown trout upstream and capture flood waters. Riverbanks were reprofiled and natural bends and meanders were added, as well as a large riverside pond, to create more habitat for wildlife, including spawning areas for brown trout.

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1 A dam good job

Seaside sightings surge The Wildlife Trusts’ Living Seas teams are the eyes and ears of the UK coast, but last year their observations were joined by a surge in sightings from the public, as more people spent time around our coasts. In this bumper year for sightings, highlights included the first orcas in Strangford Lough, Ulster, since the 1970s, and a rare ‘run’ of Atlantic bluefin tuna up the English Channel from Cornwall to Sussex. These impressive fish can weigh hundreds of kilograms and were sometimes joined by porpoises, minke

UK HIGHLIGHTS 2

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L oo k w hoante! y ou ’ve d

at rship th membe ct local r u o y It’s ote us to pr ers enables h as wild flow c u s s t h at wildlife y insect n a m e and th them. rely on

KATE DENT

Bluebells herald the arrival of brighter, warmer days at Moor Copse

Head outdoors and discover new life

TOM MARSHALL

MARGARET HOLLAND

Wildlife has woken up to a new growing season, full of opportunity and wonder. Experience the joy of spring on one of BBOWT’s 86 nature reserves

1 Moor Copse Postcode RG8 8FD Great for… Riverside calm Best time to visit All year round Size 65 hectares Map ref SU 634 738 If there truly is a paradise on Earth, Moor Copse could well be it! This wildlife treasure trove has all the elements of the bucolic idyll: woodland ringing with birdsong, colourful wildflower meadow and grassland, and the watery calm of the River Pang that slips on by close to its western edge. It is this magical mix of natural splendour that’s believed to have inspired EH Shephard whose illustrations accompanied Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows. If you are very lucky, you might – just might – catch a glimpse of ‘Ratty’, the water vole, as he plops down into the water, or perhaps signs of Badger down in the woods. This remarkable reserve offers unparalleled diversity. So where to start?! How about the tranquil woodlands as they triumphantly burst

from their winter slumber? The unrivalled optimism of an English springtime wouldn’t be complete without the heart-thumping elation of bluebells, which Moor Copse has in abundance. Stand and admire the display, then close your eyes, breathe deep and inhale the sweet, mead-like scent of these bellshaped blooms that droop, as if suspended from a fishing rod. Other woodland flowers in a race against time with the closing canopy include wood anemone, violets and wood spurge. Coppicing in Park Wood and Moor Copse Wood ensures more sunlight reaches the woodland floor, encouraging these delicate flowers and the butterflies that feed on them to thrive. The flower-rich grassland is at its best from early summer. In 2012 the meadows were recognised for their abundance when they were named Berkshire’s Coronation Meadow. The Coronation Meadows Project, initiated by HRH Prince Charles, encourages the creation of new wildflower meadows using seed harvested as green hay from Coronation sites such as this.

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GO EXPLORE THIS SPRING

WALK with care

BANBURY

Never pick wild flowers and take care to avoid accidental trampling.

MILTON KEYNES BUCKINGHAM

Follow the WALK code: Watch where you walk, Abide by the rules of the site, Leave the site as you found it, and Keep to the paths.

BICESTER

AYLESBURY

WITNEY THAME

OXFORD

CHESHAM

Start the journey from your armchair. Visit bbowt.org.uk/reserves

AMERSHAM

ABINGDON

BEACONSFIELD

DIDCOT

SLOUGH

WINDSOR READING

THATCHAM

BRACKNELL

NEWBURY

Oxey Mead

Postcode OX2 8GZ (nearest) Great for… Escaping the city Best time to visit Spring to summer Size 8 hectares Map ref SP 478 107 Located just three miles outside of Oxford, this tranquil floodplain meadow harks back to a simpler time, when wild flowers and the

haze of insects they support were commonplace. Oxey, or Oxhay as it was once known, is a surviving ancient ‘lot’ meadow, land that would have been allocated annually by lottery to villagers to cut for hay. Today’s visitors can look out across a dazzling springtime sea of yellow, courtesy of the buttercups and cowslips that bob, wave and ripple in the breeze.

Bernwood Meadows

Postcode OX33 1BJ Great for… Wild flowers and insects Best time to visit Spring to summer Size 8 hectares Map ref SP 606 111

MARGARET HOLLAND

JIM ASHER

Head to Bernwood Meadows anytime from April to July to marvel at the painterly strokes and hues of this natural paintbox. More than 100 different plant species are found in these traditional hay meadows, often described as Britain’s answer to the Amazon Rainforest. Greenwinged orchids are the prized spot of a Maytime stroll (see page 3). This rare, squat orchid is so named thanks to the green veins in the ‘hood’ of its flowers. The meadows are also host to a dizzying array of butterflies

and day-flying moths such as the burnet companion and the forester moth (above) with its metallic green sheen.

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STRATEGIC PLAN Xxxxx xx x xx x xx x xxx xx x xx xx

WILDER: Our five-year plan to connect everyone with nature

Our landscapes will be transformed over the next decade as 30% of land in our three counties becomes well managed for nature by 2030. We have an ambitious plan to do it, but we need your help to take action and help nature to recover

I JON HAWKINS

n the past few years, the rate of natural and environmental change has increased dramatically. People are noticing that the number of animals, insects and birds visiting gardens has decreased. Voters list the environment as a critically important issue for governments. Local and national governments are declaring climate emergencies. The escalating breakdown of the natural world is finally being recognised as real. These issues are urgent. In better news, the pandemic has highlighted the importance of nature to our physical and mental health. The environment is being recognised as critical to our country’s future economic success.

People are taking action to help nature recover at individual and community scale – from reducing plastic in the home to growing community gardens. More of you are joining organisations like ours, showing your support for nature’s recovery in your local area. But, nature’s recovery depends on much more land being managed in sympathy with nature and at a bigger scale than it is today. Time isn’t on our side, so we must concentrate our efforts on the recovery of all species – common as well as rare – while at the same time restoring and reconnecting habitats. We all need to work across our landscapes: gardens, water meadows, farms, business

developments, urban landscapes and everything in between – to create more nature everywhere. Nature’s recovery also depends on more people taking action. People must be enabled to reconnect with nature. This involves us working with individuals, local communities, schools, businesses and decision makers to educate and engage people to act. It means creating inspirational campaigns and communications to raise awareness of environmental, wildlife and nature issues across our three counties. Simply put, we need more nature everywhere. We have a plan to do it, and we need you to help make it happen.

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DENIS JACKSON

STRATEGIC PLAN

Our vision for 2030

By 2030 our region will start to look and sound very different. Abundant and diverse wildlife will thrive, with natural processes creating wilder, connected landscapes. You will be able to see more nature everywhere. We will reconnect people with nature. We will create bigger, wilder, more connected landscapes where nature can thrive. We will engage and support diverse local communities to act for nature. Your garden can be part of the solution too

Bold but necessary Our new five-year strategic plan takes effect from April, and it is ambitious. Global institutions and the UK Government are calling for a target of 30% of land wellmanaged for nature by 2030, and The Wildlife Trusts have joined this initiative (see page 12). BBOWT reserves currently cover about 0.5% of our three counties, and our work extends across up to 13% of land in our wider countryside. The 30% goal is therefore a bold leap for us, but an achievable one if we all work together.

PAUL HARRIS/2020VISION

More nature everywhere by restoring nature across landscapes The first part of our new strategic plan encourages nature’s recovery through joining up bigger, wilder, connected landscapes. We’ll continue to restore and enrich our existing reserves and we will

People must be enabled to reconnect with nature

strategically buy land which can help nature’s recovery. We’ll develop wider countryside conservation projects in partnership with local farmers, businesses, councils and landowners, encouraging positive

We will champion nature and demonstrate its benefits to our economic and environmental future.

recovery. We’ll work hard to reach new and diverse communities, encouraging people to take action in urban settings as well

“We’ll continue to demonstrate the value of nature and wildlife to our wellbeing, economic future and the environment, and tackle climate change” management of land for nature and wildlife. We’ll continue to demonstrate the value of nature and wildlife to our wellbeing, economic future and the environment, and tackle climate change at a local level. We will offer pragmatic and sensible advice to landowners and farmers, based on our years of expertise and values of trust and integrity in all we do. More nature everywhere through local action The second key goal of our plan empowers people to act for nature. This is where you come in. We want you to act for nature, and we want to do everything we can to support and enable your action. Through our innovative programmes of events, communications and community outreach, we will enable people to learn new skills and try out different actions to encourage nature’s

as rural. We will advocate for nature with decision makers, working to include the environment and nature at every stage of planning and implementation. Why our plan is named ‘Wilder’ Finally, we will identify a potential rewilding project – where we help reinstate and restore functioning ecosystems over larger landscape scales than traditional conservation management. BBOWT’s aim is for a rewilding location to gradually move up a scale of wildness along the continuum from ‘intensively managed’ towards a more nature-led approach, maximising both biodiversity and bio-abundance. Members like you have already helped us achieve huge gains for wildlife. We are incredibly grateful for this support and in return will do all we can protect, restore and enhance nature. The coming decade is make or break for wildlife, but with your action and our plan for more nature everywhere, we are optimistic for the future.

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30 by 30 30 BY 30: THE DECADE WE SAVE OUR WILDLIFE

e know the natural world is in crisis. Every year we’re overwhelmed with new statistics about the shocking losses in the wildlife around us, like last summer’s news that a quarter of UK mammals face extinction. For decades we’ve worked hard to protect the few wild areas that remain, saving species in nature reserves and even bringing some back from local extinction. But to turn the tide, it’s time we raise our ambitions. The Wildlife Trusts are calling for at least 30% of our land and sea to be connected and protected for nature’s recovery by 2030. This goal is essential if we are to truly see a recovery in our natural world. Evidence suggests that at less than 30% cover in a landscape, habitat patches are too small and fragmented. They become isolated and the

wildlife populations living in them begin to decline. Giving 30% of the UK to nature is the bare minimum that nature needs to survive, but we’re still far short of this goal. Imagine living in a country where we make space for nature, finding ways to live alongside wildlife rather than clearing it to make room for ourselves. Restored wildliferich fens, resounding with the bugling calls of cranes and the booms of breeding bitterns. Diverse uplands that are a wonderful mosaic of colour and life, where hen harriers soar over carpets of heather, curlews call from boggy pools and pine martens leap between the branches of woodlands. Towns and cities blossoming with trees and flowers, where hedgehogs roam between parks and gardens bringing nature into all of our daily lives. Together, we can make this a reality.

HEDGEHOG © TOM MARSHALL

The decade we save our wildlife

Hedgehogs have undergone massive longterm declines

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30 BY 30: THE DECADE WE SAVE OUR WILDLIFE Wild Peak,

Derbyshire, Staffordshire and other Wildlife Trusts

Lancashire Wildlife Trust One hectare of peatland can soak up the same amount of CO2 as would be produced by eight car journeys around the world, but huge areas of this vital habitat have been drained to make way for other land uses. Lancashire Wildlife Trust are rewetting and reinvigorating two important areas of peat bog, capturing carbon and helping rare wildlife like sundews and large heath butterflies to thrive. As part of this work, they’re creating a pioneering carbon farm, thought to be the first of its kind in the UK. A carpet of sphagnum mosses will be grown on a former farm field to help soak up carbon and protect the adjacent peatland.

Restoring lost fens,

Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust An ambitious plan is underway to restore 50 hectares of farmland to peat-fenland, boosting Lincolnshire’s endangered fenland habitats by 30%. The new wetland will connect two of the Trust’s existing nature reserves, creating a living landscape of reedbeds, marshes, and pools. The new wetlands will help bring iconic species back to the area, like bitterns, swallowtail butterflies and cranes, which last year nested in Lincolnshire for the first time in more than 400 years.

COLESHILL POOLS WARWICKSHIRE © JOHN BOOTH; SWALLOWTAIL BUTTERFLY © TERRY WHITTAKER/2020VISION; CURLEW © DAMIAN WATERS; SPHAGNUM MOSS © CHRIS LAWRENCE

Carbon farming,

Working across the landscape of the Peak District in a partnership of five Wildlife Trusts, Wild Peak aims to bring these uplands back to life and make them wilder with a mix of restored habitats including woodlands, peat bogs and meadows. There will be more space for rare species like curlews and wood warblers, and eventually lost wildlife like pine martens, red squirrels and golden eagles could make a comeback. By working with partners and local groups, the Wildlife Trusts plan to restore natural processes and wild places so that they become full of life on an unprecedented scale, benefiting local communities, the local economy and, of course, wildlife.

Bringing wildlife back, Warwickshire Wildlife Trust

Simply protecting the areas already rich in wildlife isn’t enough to reverse wider declines, so Warwickshire Wildlife Trust are changing the way they acquire new nature reserves. They will be prioritising land that currently has little value for wildlife, where they have the potential to make the biggest difference. By protecting and improving these places for nature, they will create space for wildlife where currently there is none. Thanks to 20 years of ecological surveys, they can see exactly where to focus their efforts to make the biggest difference and connect up existing nature reserves.

These are just some of the many Wildlife Trust projects working towards 30 by 30. Find out more and get involved at wildlifetrusts.org/30-30-30 Wild Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire | Spring 2021

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SEABIRD CITIES

Seabird

CITIES T

Kittiwakes screech from mounds of moulded mud and seaweed, and the bright orange bill of a puffin peeks out from the shadows of a narrow crevice. Hundreds of birds cover the cliffs before me, with many thousands more along this single stretch of coast. The colony is in constant motion; it’s noisy, smelly, busy and without a doubt one of the most spectacular things I’ve ever seen. In a time of terrifying species declines, abundance is an increasingly difficult thing to experience. Rare are the butterfly blizzards and moth snowstorms described from just a few decades ago, but a seabird colony still offers the chance to enjoy an overwhelming abundance of wildlife, and the UK is one of the best places in the world to discover these beguiling birds. A quarter of Europe’s breeding seabirds are found in the UK, with over eight million birds of 25 species nesting around Britain and Ireland.

Guillemots nest on cliffs and rocky islands, crowding together on suitable ledges

he air is heavy with the scent of seaweed and the unmistakeable musk of guano. Perched on the dry, cliff-top grass, I lean forward and cautiously peer over the edge. A heart-stopping distance below me, the North Sea washes against the algae-covered rocks. Dark shapes dot the water, with more on the white chalk cliffs. I raise my binoculars and see crowds of guillemots crammed onto the narrow ledges, their neat, almost-blackand-white plumage giving them the air of guests at an overcrowded dinner party. One shuffles and stretches, revealing a glorious turquoise egg tucked between its flipper-like feet. It leans down, studying its precious parcel, before hiding it once again in the soft embrace of its feathers. The guillemots aren’t alone on their rocky home. Razorbills recline on their own little ledges, shunning the crowds for a more private perch.

Tom Hibbert is content officer for The Wildlife Trusts and studies seabirds across the UK.

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SEABIRD CITIES

The UK is home to 55% of the world’s population of northern gannets

A home for the summer Seabirds are a varied group, from the flightless penguins that chase fish through the frigid waters of Antarctica, to the globespanning shearwaters that cross entire oceans on their long, slender wings. They’re adventurers and explorers, taming the untameable, from wind-scoured cliffs to the endless expanse of the open ocean, thriving in the places that for so long were too hostile for us to follow. What unites these

for a hungry fox, stoat or rat. As a result, they tend to favour inaccessibly sheer cliffs or small islands off our coasts, free from the threat of mammalian predators. Prime seabird real estate like this is in short supply, so birds end up clustered together. But even when there is room for them to spread their wings, most species cluster by choice. There’s safety in numbers. Even without the dangers of roaming mammals, there are still predators to worry about;

“Every spring, our seabird cities burst into life as the summer residents return, hurriedly pair up with a new mate or reaffirm bonds with an old flame” amazing animals is their unrivalled ability to be at home on land, at sea, and in most cases, in the air. It’s on land that we know them best. No bird has truly escaped the pull of dry ground, as even the most oceangoing seabirds are tethered to land by the need to lay eggs. Every spring, our seabird cities burst into life as the summer residents return, hurriedly pair up with a new mate or reaffirm bonds with an old flame, and get on with the important business of nesting. For land-loving birds, this is usually a solitary affair, but for seabirds the opposite is true. The majority nest in colonies, sometimes hundreds of thousands strong. There are a few reasons for this, but what it really comes down to is that seabirds are at their most vulnerable when they visit land to nest. Many lay eggs on the ground, where they would be an easy snack

birds of prey, crows and even other seabirds like gulls and skuas are a threat to eggs, chicks and adults. Nesting in numbers is the best defence. For some it’s about protection. Arctic terns are ferociously dedicated parents and will defend their nest from any potential predator that gets too close, plunging and pecking at people, gulls and even polar bears. One angry bird is a nuisance, dozens or even hundreds together make a very effective deterrent. For other species it’s all about the odds — the more nests there are around you, the less likely yours is to be targeted.

Species Spotlight Arctic terns have the longest known migration of any animal, with some travelling over 59,000 miles a year.

Gannets plunge into the water from heights of 30m, reaching speeds of up to 60mph. Guillemots have been recorded diving to depths of 180m in pursuit of fish.

Some of our smaller seabirds keep their eggs and young safe by nesting underground. Puffins, arguably the UK’s most popular seabird, deposit their single egg deep within a rocky crevice, or at the end of a burrow dug into a grassy slope. Pairs can dig their own burrows, but they’ll also steal them from rabbits and Manx shearwaters, secretive seabirds that return to their nests under cover of darkness. Land-locked seabirds You’d be forgiven for thinking that to see a seabird, you have to travel to the coast. After all, sea is in their name. But some seabirds have taken to inland waterways,

Wild Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire | Spring 2021

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SEABIRD CITIES

Puffins nest in burrows or rocky crevices

SEE FOR YOURSELF

Tern inland

College Lake Spot a number of coastal birds, including common terns, easily made out by their loud screeching calls. Hosehill Lake Home to a sizeable colony of blackheaded gulls during the summer months.

Loddon Nature Reserve The islands in this lake offer a retreat for oystercatchers and common terns. Cormorants visit in winter. Thatcham Reedbeds Purpose-made tern rafts attract common terns to come and breed every spring.

Discover the best cliffside seabird colonies at wildlifetrusts.org/seabird-cities nesting on lakes, reservoirs and even the roofs and ledges of buildings. Kittiwakes, dainty gulls with black legs and a bright yellow beak, can be heard giving their evocative cry of ‘kitt-eeee-waark’ above the Newcastle-Gateshead Quayside each summer. At around 13 kilometres from the sea, this is the most inland kittiwake colony in the world, but some seabirds have put even more distance between themselves and the coast. Common terns, elegant white birds with long tail streamers, a black cap and a bright red, black-tipped bill, are summer visitors to the UK. They nest along the coast and on offshore islands but can also be found on reservoirs and gravel pits across the country, especially where artificial rafts have been created for them. It’s a joy to watch them hovering above the water, diving and dipping their beak below the surface to snare a fish, before carrying it back to their small, sand-coloured chicks. The same lakes often host cacophonous colonies of black-headed gulls, with their pale grey and white plumage and dark brown hood. They can gather in their thousands, creating a spectacle every bit as raucous, restless and impressive as the more celebrated coastal colonies of seabirds.

Many of these birds have forsaken the sea entirely, remaining near their inland colonies year-round. Ocean wanderers Though some seabirds don’t stray far from their summer breeding grounds, others make incredible journeys. The Arctic tern, who we already know as an impressive parent, makes the longest recorded migration of any animal on the planet. A recent study, using tiny devices that record daylight and allow the bird’s location to be calculated, mapped one intrepid tern’s 59,650-mile return journey from the Farne Islands in Northumberland to the seas around Antarctica. The bird’s meandering route took it around Africa and into the Indian Ocean, then down to Antarctica and across to the Weddell Sea, before returning to the exact same nesting site the following spring. With the potential to live for 30 years, this bird could travel over 1.8 million miles in its lifetime. Manx shearwaters make their own mammoth migrations each year, crossing both the Atlantic and the equator as they head for wintering grounds off the coast of Argentina and Brazil. Studies on birds from the Welsh islands of Skokholm and

Skomer have revealed that they can complete this 6,000-7,000-mile journey in less than a fortnight. Understanding the complex migrations of these globe-spanning seabirds is essential for protecting them. Seabirds across the world are threatened by the introduction of predators to their breeding sites, by being caught up in fishing gear, and from the effects of the climate crisis. Warming seas around the UK are already thought to be responsible for declines in many of our more northerly seabird colonies, as the sand eels that so many species rely on move northwards to cooler waters. Our seabird cities are amongst our greatest natural treasures, we must look after them by protecting their nest sites from development and their food sources from overfishing, and by doing all we can to combat the climate crisis.

Wild Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire | Spring 2021

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STAY CONNECTED

Your window on wildlife With so many restrictions in place, we’ve taken our events programme online – and there’s plenty to keep you amused and in touch with your wild side Zoom ahead

Guide in the hide

Tiers before springtime and lockdown laments! Meeting up in person hasn’t been easy these past few months but at least the coming weeks look a lot more promising. Our events programme has had to adapt, which has meant moving a lot of our usual talks and meetings online. Like other Wildlife Trusts, we’ve joined the Zoom boom, hosting a range of wildlife-themed events to sate your hunger for the great outdoors. So far this spring we have run talks on topics such as wildlife gardening, brought our Teen Rangers club together digitally, and even run a virtual environmental summit. There’s lots planned for the coming months, so search our events calendar at bbowt.org.uk/events where we will also post details of in-person events as soon we are able to and it is safe to do so.

College Lake is widely recognised as one of the best places in Buckinghamshire for water birds, with several hides around the lake making this a must-visit destination for bird watchers and families alike. Thanks to a generous grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, even more wildlife enthusiasts can now drop in on avian action through a brand new webcam fitted onto the Graham’s Hide opposite the Visitor Centre. Perhaps you’ll catch a glimpse of one of the breeding waders, such as lapwing or redshank, sneak a peek of a common tern, or maybe just admire a fiery sunset as it lights up the lake. Head to bbowt.org.uk/nature-reserves/college-lake for a hide’s eye view as well as details of our upcoming ‘guide in the hide’ events where one of our birding experts will curate video content taken from the camera and pick out some of the highlights.

FOX

BLACKBIRD

BADGER

TOAD

Take a tour

Join a virtual nature reserve tour led by one our expert wardens. Leo Keedy takes us around College Lake, while Mick Jones shares his take on Dancersend with Pavis Woods. Discover a little of the fascinating history and wildlife that make these places special. There are more virtual tours in the pipeline, so check back on our YouTube channel from time to time or, better still, subscribe and hit the bell icon to be notified when we post a new video. Now make yourself a cuppa, get comfy and head on over to youtube.com/ user/BBOWildlifeTrust

Don’t forget to sign up to our free Nature Notes e-newsletter for all the latest news across BBOWT, along with ideas to experience nature wherever you live. We will send you emails packed with ingenious ways to connect with wildlife, including activities for children at home, simple ways to help garden wildlife, and plenty to read and listen to.

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Wild Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire | Spring 2021

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Companion planting Even small gardens can be big news for wildlife. Kate Bradbury reveals how you can optimise your space for wildlife. Nasturtium Tropaeolum majus Nasturtiums can lure aphids from beans and egg-laying butterflies from brassicas. You can also transfer white butterfly caterpillars on to nasturtiums from your cabbages and kales. Their flowers attract bumblebees, the main pollinator of tomatoes.

Thyme Thymus vulgaris This low-growing herb can deter blackfly from broad beans and roses. You can also make a tea from its leaves and spray it on brassicas to prevent whitefly.

Beans Fabaceae Brassicas and salad crops need nitrogenrich soil to grow well. Plant them alongside beans, whose roots fix nitrogen into the soil.

Mint Mentha spicata Its strongly scented leaves deter insects with a taste for carrots, onions and brassicas, including flea beetle. Best grown in a pot as it can grow out of control in open ground.

Marigold Calendula officinalis Its leaves repel whitefly from tomatoes and can lure aphids from beans. Its flowers attract pollinators as well as aphid predators like ladybirds, lacewings and hoverflies. Its roots work with soil fungi to deliver more nutrients to other plants.

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ompanion planting is an age-old tradition of organic gardening, designed to help plants grow better, aid pollination, deter insects from munching your crops and encourage the predators that eat them. It basically involves the planting of wildflowers or other crops alongside your main crop — think of them as little friends or guardians, there to keep your plants happy and safe. Most companion plants are strongly scented and therefore can deter insects in search of their host plant. Others attract more beneficial insects, such as ladybirds and lacewings, which then prey on aphids and other crop eaters. Some companion plants are ‘sacrificial’, meaning you grow them so that insects lay eggs on them instead of your prized crop. Others can benefit the soil, such as nitrogen-fixing legumes, which help leafy plants grow better, or calendula, whose roots work particularly well with soil fungi, which aid the uptake of soil nutrients. All of this helps you work in harmony with nature, protect your crops and help them grow better. What’s not to like? On my allotment I grow calendula with tomatoes, onions and garlic with carrots and parsnips, and nasturtiums with beans and brassica crops. I also grow

nettles, fennel, teasels and other wildflowers along my allotment boundaries. These are fantastic wildlife plants, and so bring in a range of insects and birds. Nettles give me a head start on other allotmenteers: coming into leaf early in the year, nettles attract the nettle aphid, Microlophium carnosum. This feeds only on nettles and emerges from hibernation sooner than other species, so attracts aphid predators – such as ladybirds, hoverflies and lacewings – early in the year. This means the predators are already on hand when the blackbean aphid starts breeding on my broad beans. Then in summer, fennel flowers attract hoverflies, which then lay eggs on aphid clusters – I rarely have a problem with aphids. Other wildflowers attract pollinating bees, which stay to fertilise my bean and tomato flowers. I also like to grow caterpillar foodplants for moths and butterflies because they’re nice to have around. I like to think of them as my companions, so companion planting can benefit the gardener, too!

Kate Bradbury is passionate about wildlifefriendly gardening and the author of Wildlife Gardening for Everyone and Everything in association with The Wildlife Trusts.

Gardens and allotments are a vital habitat for many of our struggling insects. Get tips for helping them at: wildlifetrusts.org/take-action-insects

Borage Borago officinalis Its nectar-rich flowers attract bees, butterflies and hoverflies, which pollinate crops. It is also reported to improve the flavour of strawberries.

Garlic chive Allium tuberosum The garlicy scent from its chive-like leaves deters the carrot root fly, which can usually smell carrots from up to a mile away.

Lavender Lavandula angustifolia Its strong-scented foliage can deter aphids and its flowers attract a range of pollinators, including bees. Plant with carrots and leeks to protect them.

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6 places to see blue butterflies

Common blue butterflies are found in grassy places across the UK 20

Wild Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire | Spring 2021

See the spectacle

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for yourself

1 Latterbarrow, Cumbria Wildlife Trust This stunning limestone grassland is a haven for butterflies, including the northern brown argus, which here is at the southern edge of its range. Despite its name, this small brown butterfly is one of the blues and appears silvery in flight. Where: Witherslack, LA11 6RH 2 Maze Park, Tees Valley Wildlife Trust This green oasis in the centre of Teesside attracts more than 12 species of butterfly including the common blue butterfly as well as the increasingly scarce grayling and dingy skipper butterflies (which aren’t in the blue family). Where: Stockton-on-Tees, TS17 6QA 3 Swettenham Valley, Cheshire Wildlife Trust One of Cheshire’s hidden gems, this mosaic of grassland, wood and mire is home to holly blues and common blues, with the latter’s caterpillars feeding on the abundant bird’s-foot trefoil. Where: Swettenham, CW12 2LF 4 Yoesden, Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust This swathe of beautiful chalk grassland, topped with woodland, is known as one of the best butterfly spots in the Chilterns. It’s home to six blue butterfly species — Adonis, chalkhill, small, common, and holly blues, and brown argus. Where: Near Radnage and Bledlow Ridge, HP14 4AR

he blue butterflies are some of our most dazzling and endearing insects; winged gems that come alive in the spring or summer sunlight and dance from flower to flower. They shimmer in shades of blue and silver, though a few of the UK’s nine resident species are misleadingly brown. Some of these butterflies are now only found in the few places their favoured habitat remains. Many of these areas are now nature reserves, protected by The Wildlife Trusts. Some, however, can be seen more widely: common blues emerge around May and fly over many grasslands, including road verges, and holly blues appear around April to flutter through parks and gardens. Your best chance of spotting butterflies is on a calm, sunny day.

5 Daneway Banks, Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust This wonderful wildflower meadow is regarded as one of the best places in the world to see the rare large blue, which was once extinct in the UK. Where: Near Sapperton, GL7 6LN 6 Malling Down, Sussex Wildlife Trust Adonis blue and chalkhill blue butterflies dance over the sun-kissed slopes of this flower-rich chalk grassland, where small blues can also be discovered. Where: Near Lewes, BN7 2RJ

Did you discover any butterflies ? When spotting butterflies, please be sure to follow Government guidance on social distancing and stay local. And remember to tweet us your best photos! @wildlifetrusts

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