TERN - Summer 2023

Exclusive holidays for life

Enjoy exclusive holidays for life in some of the UK and Europe’s most unspoilt places

Nature right on your doorstep

HPB has always strived to protect our natural heritage, looking after the environment and working closely with nature. Many of our properties in the UK are situated in National Parks or Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, with a number having achieved awards for their sympathetic architecture and natural landscaping. Both here and overseas, HPB always seeks to find the most beautiful and unspoilt locations.

You can holiday in any of more than 1,400 HPB-owned properties at over 30 UK and European locations for the whole of your lifetime and then pass the benefits on to your children or grandchildren. An initial investment of as little as £5,000 means that you can look forward to truly memorable holidays in beautiful places, with top quality accommodation year after year after year.

To find out more about HPB, please read ‘Exclusive holidays for life’ on the right and then request your FREE information pack. Visit hpb.co.uk/nwt

Call FREE on 0800 66 54 90

Scan the QR code

An initial payment from £5,000 and a quarterly fee of just over £35 (that is around £140 a year), which can increase in line with but not exceed the Retail Price Index Excluding Mortgage Interest (RPIX), gives you access to all HPB’s holiday homes. For each HPB holiday, you will pay a no-profit user charge covering only property running and maintenance costs and use of on-site facilities. The charge is the same throughout the year and for a studio averages about £347 a week and around £533 a week for a two bedroom property. Larger properties are also available. After an initial charge of 25% your money is invested in a fund of holiday properties and securities. The fund itself meets annual charges of 2.5% of its net assets at cost, calculated monthly. Your investment return is purely in the form of holidays and, as with most investments, your capital is at risk. You can surrender your investment to the company after two years or more (subject to deferral in exceptional circumstances) but you will get back less than you invested because of the charges referred to above, as well as other overheads and changes in the value of the fund’s properties and securities.

This advertisement is issued by HPB Management Limited (HPBM), the main UK agent and the property manager for HPB, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, registered at HPB House, Newmarket, Suffolk, CB8 8EH. HPB is available exclusively through HPBM. HPB is issued by HPB Assurance Limited (HPBA) registered in the Isle of Man and authorised by the Financial Services Authority there. HPBM promotes only HPB and is not independent of HPBA. Holders of policies issued by HPBA will not be protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme if the company becomes unable to meet its liabilities to them but Isle of Man compensation arrangements apply to new policies.

The Wildlife Trusts donation will only be made if: 1. You quote “Wildlife Trusts” when requesting further details; and 2. You have not previously requested or received information about the Holiday Property Bond from us; and 3. You invest in the Holiday Property Bond within 24 months of your initial enquiry and do not cancel that investment within the statutory 30 day cooling off period.

Henllys, HPB’s former Franciscan monastery, offers

Bondholder Sue Barker on a recent birdwatching trip to HPB’s El Pueblito de Alfaix in Almeria, southern Spain

Tigh Mor Trossachs: HPB’s historic mansion beside Loch Achray in the Scottish Highlands

Merlewood: HPB’s imposing Victorian mansion in Cumbia

Stigliano: HPB’s beautifully restored palazzo in Tuscany

© Richard Osbourne, Mick Davis

Become a member

Norfolk Wildlife Trust is a charity dedicated to all aspects of wildlife conservation in Norfolk. Established in 1926, we are the oldest in a partnership of 47 Wildlife Trusts located throughout the UK.

If you are not already a member of NWT, please join today. Alternatively, you could give membership as a rewarding and worthwhile gift to a friend or relative. To become a member from as little as £3 a month you can:

• Visit our website norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk

• Call us on 01603 625540

• Ask a member of staff at one of our five visitor centres

Tern is published three times a year by Norfolk Wildlife Trust. Advertising sales by Countrywide Publications and printed by Micropress Printers Ltd.

Editor: Nick Acheson

Designer: Scott Poulson/Hannah Moulton

While every care is taken when accepting advertisements neither Norfolk Wildlife Trust nor Countrywide Publications can accept responsibility for unsatisfactory transactions which arise. The views expressed in this magazine are those of the contributors and not necessarily those of Norfolk Wildlife Trust.

NORFOLK WILDLIFE TRUST

Bewick House, 22 Thorpe Road, Norwich NR1 1RY, UK

T: 01603 625540

E: info@norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk

All contents © Norfolk Wildlife Trust.

Reg Charity No: 208734

Cover photo: Alphotographic/iStock

The long days of summer gift us more time to get out and enjoy nature. What better place to do this than at one of our amazing Norfolk reserves. Our Visitor Centres at Cley, Ranworth, Hickling, Weeting and Holme really are windows onto nature, offering us the chance to share with you what we feel about wild species and places, as well as being calming spaces to pause a while and recharge. Find out more and plan your visit on page 24.

It is easy to feel overwhelmed by the shocking decline in our native plant species, particularly in Norfolk –a county of intensive arable farming –but recent NWT initiatives are starting to have a real impact. From nurturing rare plants, like fingered speedwell at our Brecks Arable Plant Reserve, to rewilding our roadside verges, we are making a difference across Norfolk. Read more on page 20.

Of course, we couldn’t achieve so much without our wonderful staff and volunteers. Tori Backham is our Assistant Warden at NWT Holme Dunes, who among other things oversees vital work

CONTENTS

protecting beach-nesting birds. Read more about Tori’s eventful working days on page 32.

We hope you feel inspired by the stories we share with you this season and wish you a wonderful, wild summer. Thank you so much for your continued support.

Eliot Lyne

Welcome 31 Wilder Wardens 32 A day in the life 34 Discover, Explore, Take action 40 Gardening for wildlife 42 Learn with Tern 44 Get involved 46 From the President

WELCOME TERN | Summer 2023 3

Highlights from Norfolk and national news from The Wildlife Trusts

The Wildlife Trust’s giant nature challenge – 30 Days Wild – is back this June

30 Days Wild, the UK’s biggest nature challenge, is run by The Wildlife Trusts and invites people of all ages to connect with nature every single day of the month of June. This year there’s a new twist as 30 Days Wild will take you on a week-by-week adventure moving through these five themes:

• tune into the senses

• movement and play

• learning and discovery

• helping nature

• emotional connection to nature

The themes will guide you, your family and friends through the challenge and help you reach that 30-day target.

Whether tuning into the sound of birdlife, visiting your nearest NWT nature reserve (see p.24), building a den or discovering an unexplored country lane or local park, you can make time for wildlife every day.

To mark the half-way point of the challenge, Norfolk Wildlife Trust is offering free entry to NWT Cley Marshes for the weekend of 17 – 18 June.

New 30 Days Wild activity packs include a wild bee poster, along with seeds and other materials to inspire you to do something wild every single day. 30 Days Wild is funded thanks to players of People’s Postcode Lottery and has grown a huge and dedicated fan base. Over two million people have taken part in the last nine years.

Last year more than 500,000 people got involved in the challenge, including 114,245 households, 11,740 schools, 898 care homes and 1,384 businesses. Wildlife-watching, eating outdoors, planting wildflower seeds and listening to birdsong were among the most popular activities. Other favourite pastimes included bug-hunting, fruitpicking, growing flowers, exploring nature reserves, creating mini-ponds and taking a beach or river walk.

Get involved

It is not too late to get started! The Wildlife Trusts provide free resources for everyone who signs up – simply register your interest here wildlifetrusts.org/30dayswild

New resources for communities and land-managers

Our 18-month Claylands Wilder Connections project came to an end in March. Thanks to funding through the Green Recovery Challenge Fund, financed by Defra and administered by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, we have successfully engaged communities and landowners in the South Norfolk Claylands to support the area’s wildlife.

The project focused on restoring the fabric of the countryside by connecting habitats across the landscape, such as the ponds, copses, hedgerows and meadows that are so vital for wildlife.

To ensure the project leaves a lasting legacy, we have created a wide range of free online resources to help landowners and communities act for wildlife. They include:

• Guidance on how landscape history can influence current land management, written by Professor Tom Williamson of the University of East Anglia.

Spider survey at NWT Weeting Heath

• Handouts covering a range of topics including surveying and managing meadows, ponds and woodlands.

• Case studies from landowners and communities, detailing how work was carried out with the Claylands Wilder Connections project.

• Information on the importance of landscape-scale connectivity for wildlife.

• Toolkits to help communities and landowners consider habitat connectivity in land-management decisions.

• Three videos, on meadow enhancement, pond restoration and hedge laying, showing how to plan and undertake improvements.

For the full range of resources visit: norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk/ wilderconnections

In the spring edition of Tern we reported that monitoring staff from Natural England had travelled to Weeting Heath to collect and identify samples of spider DNA. The Brecks are known for several nationally rare spiders and Weeting is an important reserve. Survey results were released in February. Twelve species had been recorded, some of them exciting finds for the reserve. James Symonds, Warden at Weeting Heath, was delighted: ‘Hypsosinga albovittata and Ozyptila scabricula are nice finds. They have been recorded at Weeting before, but both are nationally scarce, so the site remains important for them.’

James was particularly pleased by the discovery of a new spider for the reserve. ‘Mastigusa macrophthalma was a real surprise and not something one would expect to turn up. It’s nationally rare and most records are from the Charnwood and Sherwood Forest area. I don’t think there are any East Anglian records at all. This spider was formerly considered a species of ancient woodland, associated with ants around deadwood, definitely not a Brecks heathland species.’

Mastigusa macrophthalma

Managing the meadow at Saxlingham Nethergate Coronation Meadows community green space.

Discover life under your feet

more about the insects beneath our feet, as ground-dwelling insects are just as important as the more colourful butterflies, bees and dragonflies we all love. By increasing our knowledge, we can help them thrive again.

Etta’s fossil find!

Insects are vital to life on Earth but we know relatively little about them. We’re supporting UEA with a new citizen science project aimed at discovering more about terrestrial invertebrates. And we need your help!

More than one million insect species are known. They pollinate our food plants, keep our soils healthy, recycle nutrients and provide food for many other species – including humans. But with a warming climate, some insect species are getting smaller or experiencing unprecedented declines. Scientists at UEA want to learn

Anyone can get involved in the National Pitfall Trap project, even families and children. You can join in by looking for insects in your garden or community space and sharing your findings with the team at UEA. All you need to do is dig a little hole in the ground and insert a small pot (such as a takeaway coffee cup), making sure the top of the cup is level with the ground surface. Add a small amount of soil or leaf litter to the cup and you have your pitfall trap! Leave the trap overnight and return the next morning to record and release any invertebrates you have caught. To share your findings with the team at UEA, and contribute to their important research, visit rainbeetles.wordpress.com

A shared vision for Sweet Briar Marshes

for wildlife. With forty schools in the area around the reserve, we can help young people connect with nature too.

To deliver these all-important nature connections we are using a collaborative approach to the development of Sweet Briar Marshes. This means including the community and other stakeholders in plans for the future of the nature reserve.

Inspired by our family events, last summer a Norfolk youngster made an incredible find! Having attended our ‘Fascinating Fossils’ event at West Runton, and learned to identify fossilised wood and bone, young naturalist Etta spotted a fossil on a family walk on the beach. To her delight, Etta had discovered a 700,000-year-old bear tooth, a find confirmed by Dr David Waterhouse of the Norfolk Museums Service.

‘The [NWT] course got them interested in fossils.’ Etta’s mum told us. ‘Etta figured out how to identify bone and fossilised wood. The course was invaluable - Etta wouldn’t have found the tooth without your course!’

Etta and her sisters have been to several NWT family events, including ‘Searching for Sharks’ at NWT Holme Dunes and ‘Beaks, Bones and Body Bits’ at NWT Cley Marshes. They have since gone on to convert their garden shed into a natural history museum, showcasing their many finds.

Inspired? To find out more about our family events, and to book, visit norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk/ events

We are moving forward with exciting plans to transform NWT Sweet Briar Marshes into a new wild space for the people of Norwich and beyond.

There is potential to restore valuable habitats and biodiversity at Sweet Briar Marshes. Critically, thanks to the site’s location, we also have a unique opportunity to give city residents access to nature, for their wellbeing and enjoyment, and help them take action

Our Sweet Briar Marshes work would not be possible without the tremendous support of all those who so generously donated to our appeal to buy the land last year. Aviva will continue to support the project, through this discovery phase and beyond, both financially and with corporate volunteers.

Though Sweet Briar Marshes is not yet open to the public, we are running events to help people get to know the space. For information, please visit norfolkwildlifetrust. org.uk/sweetbriar

© Elizabeth Dack, Richard Osbourne

New scrapes at Ranworth Marsh

Improving water control at NWT Salthouse Marsh

To improve the movement of freshwater on and off NWT Salthouse Marsh, four new water control structures have been installed at the far eastern end of Cley and Salthouse grazing marshes, south of Gramborough Hill.

‘This will enable freshwater from the catchwater drain, on the southern edge of the reserve, onto the grazing marshes,’ says George Baldock, Reserve Manager, ‘and raise levels enough to provide water in the low areas of the marsh.’

The area in which the water levels will be raised is an original saltmarsh creek, as the reserve was tidal until it was embanked in the mid 19th century. ‘These shallow in-field wet features,’ George continued, ‘will provide habitat for overwintering wildfowl and better opportunities for breeding waders, such as redshank and lapwing.’

In September 2022 work was completed on three of five scrapes planned for Ranworth Marsh, which together will cover an area of one hectare. The scrapes are part of a broader scheme, encompassing ditches and water control structures. To benefit fen and aquatic plants, the new scrapes have a very shallow profile, sloping gradually to a depth of 70cm. Care was taken to spread the spoil as thinly as possible, to avoid creating elevated, drier areas.

Adam Houlgate, Lead Officer for the Broads South team, tells us, ‘The scrapes are interconnected by short stretches of ditch and are fed from the main Ranworth ditch system. Their shape maximises the length of edge, increasing benefits for wildlife.’

An important part of the work was clearing scrub. ‘Clearing nearby scrub,’

Adam explains, ‘reduces opportunities for predators to perch or ambush, and is part of a wider effort to prevent the succession of this wetland habitat into woodland, for the benefit of rare fen wildlife. Volunteers and staff have been working hard over the last three winters, concentrating on a broad strip along the south bank of the Bure.’

Benefits to wildlife will include:

• More habitat for water voles, whose Bure Valley stronghold is Ranworth Marsh.

• Breeding grounds for frogs and toads.

• Improved feeding and breeding habitats for birds such as bittern and crane.

• Increased winter wildfowl refuge and feeding areas.

• Flight corridors and breeding pools for dragonflies and damselflies.

New ways to read Tern

Tern magazine can now be read on our website as a textonly document. You can make changes to font size and background colour, for easier reading, and enjoy Tern using a screen reader. This issue is available to download at norfolkwt.uk/PlainTextTern

Above: Before. Below: After.

© Don Cuddon, NWT

Are ospreys making a Norfolk comeback?

12-year-old Oscar was one of many people who visited Ranworth to catch a glimpse of the osprey. Here’s an extract from his blog, which you can read in full on our website.

We soon caught sight of the huge osprey, flying in over the Broad. It circled on its long, bowed wings over the treeline, deciding where the best perch was. It swooped onto a tree which broke away from the skyline like a hand from a bustling crowd.

He seemed to be going about its business as normal – having a scratch, stretching its wings, watching the water – oblivious to the handful of birders observing it keenly through their telescopes.

To our great excitement, in April a male osprey was observed nestbuilding at Ranworth Broad, leading to hopes that this majestic bird might breed in East Anglia after an absence of over 250 years.

Ospreys are migratory birds, present in the UK in spring and summer. They currently nest in parts of Scotland, Cumbria, the East Midlands and Wales, though it is not uncommon to see a migrating osprey over any large body of water.

Individual ospreys have often stayed longer at Ranworth, sometimes spending the best part of summer there. Since a pair was present for most of summer 2022, we took advice and, over the winter, we constructed a nest platform for them in trees beside the Broad. This spring the male returned and, in addition to displaying and calling, he began to show interest in the artificial nest.

By the time you read this edition of Tern, we will know whether our visiting osprey found a mate. Our fingers are crossed that he will.

Another behaviour we saw was stick-collecting. He was adding to the already huge nest platform built by NWT, evidently hoping a female might join him. To have nesting ospreys at Ranworth would be a real privilege. I believe one day this fantasy will come true...

For more information about NWT Ranworth Broad and our boat trips there, which offer great views of our new osprey platform, visit norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk or call the Visitor Centre on 01603 270479.

© Lynne Warner

Photo: Sarah Darnell

On sandy beaches and mudflats, ringed plovers are striking. Starlingsized and dumpy, they are boldly marked, with a thick black band across the breast and a jaunty black mask, split by a white blaze above the bill. Slender orange legs and sharp orange bills, tipped with black, complete these lovely birds.

But against the dappled background of the strandline, between small flints – in every shade of grey and brown and tawny – and the broken shells of mussels, cockles and razor clams, these apparently obvious birds can be impossible to see; so perfectly does their pattern of brown, black and white echo the light and shade of a stony Norfolk beach.

Throughout its evolutionary history, the ringed plover’s camouflage has served it well. Here in East Anglia the species lays and incubates its speckled eggs in the strandline (though historically it also nested in the sandy, stony grassland of the Brecks). In 21st-century Norfolk, camouflage is not enough to protect the rapidly declining ringed plover. In addition to the kestrels, foxes, stoats and hedgehogs which have preyed on ringed plover chicks and eggs for millennia, the species faces a terrible new threat today.

It’s us. Human footfall on our beaches, the happy hurtling of our dogs off leads, our drones, our horses, our buggies and our picnics have together pushed the ringed plover to the brink in Norfolk. It’s time we moderated our behaviour, so that this charming bird can survive here as a breeding species.

RINGED

© Nick Appleton

PLOVER

Wildlife roundup

WORDS AND

PICTURES

BY ROBIN CHITTENDEN, WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHER AND WRITER.

Some American waders turn up in the UK more regularly than others. Long-billed dowitcher fits into the fairly regular camp, though they are only seen in tiny numbers each year. In winter plumage, the long-billed dowitcher looks like a grey, overblown common snipe. It is almost identical to the closely related short-billed dowitcher, also from the Americas. This species, though, is a quantum leap rarer to the UK.

Birders were delighted that a longbilled dowitcher chose to overwinter in north Norfolk. NWT Cley Marshes was its favourite place, though initially it spent much of its time on frustratingly distant pools. It travelled about a bit, being seen at RSPB Titchwell Marsh, Holkham Freshmarsh and Stiffkey Flood. In late winter its habits changed and it started feeding and roosting nearer to the East Bank and some of the hides of the Cley reserve, allowing much better views. Even so it could be awkward to find. It could hide for hours, roosting just out of view, behind a clump of rushes. It preferred to mix with the black-tailed godwit flock, presumably feeling at home with a similar wader, which also has a disproportionately long bill.

Also overwintering in Norfolk was a juvenile pallid harrier. Although still a vagrant, this species has lately become much more regular as a visitor to the UK. Indeed, this is not the first time one has overwintered in Norfolk. As recently as 2016 one spent the winter in west Norfolk, often roosting at Flitcham. When this winter’s bird first arrived, it was tracked by several observers as it flew virtually the entire length of north Norfolk. Eventually it

Left: Two taiga bean geese at Weybourne (although it is possible the right-hand bird could be a hybrid taiga/ tundra bean goose)

Right: The long-billed dowitcher at NWT Cley Marshes

© Robin Chittenden www.robinchittenden.co.uk

‘It was a surprise then when twelve taiga bean geese were found in the Bure Valley. They commuted between fields by St Benet’s Abbey and South Walsham Marsh’

settled to roosting regularly on the saltings between Warham Greens and East Hills, with a well-known roost of hen harriers. Here it might spend the afternoon quartering the saltings on the look-out for prey or, more likely, just suddenly appear over the fields before heading to its roost at dusk.

Two forms of bean geese occur in Norfolk: the taiga bean and the tundra bean. These names refer to their preferred breeding habitats. Tundra bean geese usually hook up with our flocks of pink-footed geese. As they are similar in appearance, there’s joy to be had scanning through flocks of pinkfeet to find that needle in the haystack. The orange feet, less grey backs and narrower white bands at the end of the tail give them away, eventually. The taiga (pronounced ‘tiger’) bean goose is a much rarer beast. Norfolk used to be famous for the returning wintering flock of taiga bean geese in the Yare Valley at RSPB Buckenham & Cantley Marshes. Sadly, the flock there numbered zero this winter, for the first time in living memory. It is thought that, with global warming, there is simply no need for them to leave the continent for our relatively warmer Norfolk winter.

It was a surprise then when 12 taiga bean geese were found in the Bure Valley. They commuted between fields by St Benet’s Abbey and South Walsham Marsh. In addition, one and most likely two taiga bean geese (it’s possible one could have been a hybrid taiga/tundra) were found at Weybourne with pinkfooted geese. In both locations the birds, although fairly distant, were far easier to watch than the hugely wary birds which traditionally overwintered in the Yare Valley. Closer views this winter allowed birders to enjoy the subtleties of bill and head shape which distinguish the two forms.

What insects to look for in summer

Last summer record numbers of hummingbird hawkmoths were recorded in gardens in the UK. These beautiful, day-flying moths love long, pink and purple flowers, such as buddleia and red valerian. As our climate changes, it is increasingly likely that adult hummingbird hawkmoths will overwinter in Norfolk and that the species will increase its foothold as a breeder. Its caterpillars feed on bedstraws, including the very common cleavers or goosegrass.

Another beneficiary of our warming climate is the southern oak bush-cricket. Like the widespread and common oak bush-cricket, it lives in trees and drums with a hind leg on a leaf in courtship. This predatory species has far shorter wings than its common relative and has only very recently colonised Norfolk.

By late summer, the dark bush-cricket can be heard. Common in tangles of brambles, these handsome insects advertise their presence by stridulating, rubbing their wings together to produce a high-pitched chirp, which can be heard through the night and deep into autumn, until the first frost. As human ears age, we often lose the ability to hear high insect noises, but a simple bat detector, set to low frequency, can restore them to us.

‘there’s joy to be had scanning through flocks of pinkfeet to find that needle in the haystack’

The juvenile pallid harrier at Flitcham in 2016 flying from its roost at dawn

Tucked away off Holt Road in Fakenham, Steve and Trish Fuell have created a haven for wildlife. Every inch of their home and garden reflects their commitment to nature. After Steve’s busy career in banking and Trish’s career as PA to the heads of major blue-chip companies, settling in Norfolk is offering them plenty of opportunity to explore the wild.

Trish and Steve have made a pledge in their legacy planning to benefit Norfolk Wildlife Trust. They know the Trust will use their gift for the things that give them so much pleasure right now – keeping Norfolk wild.

‘We both agree that remembering NWT in our legacy is one of the best things we can do for nature in Norfolk.’

A wilder Norfolk –your legacy

Trish is very proud of her family connection to great-great-grandfather, Norfolk naturalist Arthur Henry Patterson. Arthur was a prolific writer on Norfolk wildlife, whose work was recognised in 1935 when he was elected to the Linnean Society. He was also a friend and mentor to a very young Ted Ellis, the renowned Broadland naturalist. Trish’s collection of Arthur’s recorded history is a vital reminder today of how much of the natural world has been lost.

Informing the Trust about your legacy helps us to plan for the future. We could not continue working with landowners to restore nature everywhere or investing in education and careers in conservation without income from legacy giving. It has been a pleasure to get to know Steve and Trish, and we thank them for their thoughtfulness in remembering NWT. Their legacy will live on for future generations.

If you have included nature in your legacy, we would love to hear from you. Contact our NWT Legacy Officer in confidence: 01603 625540 or legacies@ norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk

Wren

Holly blue butterfly

Blackbird

‘We both agree that remembering NWT in our legacy is one of the best things we can do for nature in Norfolk’

Seth Lambiase, Principal Ecologist at Norfolk Wildlife Services

How did you come to work at NWS?

I joined NWS in 2019, though originally I’m from the United States. I grew up in Pennsylvania but worked as a biologist in North Carolina, where I did my Masters. I worked with a wide range of taxa, including land snails, bats and salamanders. It’s funny coming from a fauna of more than 50 salamander species to Norfolk where there are only three!

I moved to Norfolk as my wife is English, though we met in the US. When I got here I did a second Masters, at UEA, in Environmental Impact Assessment.

What is NWS’ mission?

We are an ecological consultancy. Norfolk Wildlife Services provides quality ecological impact assessment and mitigation to people who are involved in development. We help them stay within the boundaries of planning requirements and environmental legislation. Development is on the increase, so our work is only going to expand.

Who else works for NWS?

There are seven of us altogether: four ecologists, two arboricultural consultants, and our business officer. We’re based at Bewick House, though our work takes us all over the county and beyond.

How does NWS relate to NWT?

The most important thing we do is provide in-house ecological expertise. Even when projects are driven by conservation, they can still have impacts; so we advise NWT on legal compliance, from the point of view of our expertise on protected species and the law.

What would you like NWT members to know about NWS?

If you find yourself needing development consent, you have to satisfy the ecological survey requirements of your local planning authority and be compliant with UK protected species law. This comes at considerable cost. If you use NWS you will know that all the consultancy profit goes towards conservation, through the work of NWT.

‘If you use NWS you will know that all the consultancy profit goes towards conservation, through the work of NWT.

Nature photography competition 2023

Calling all photographers to share your best images of Norfolk’s nature!

Our photography competition this summer is free and open to all ages. There are fantastic prizes to be won and winning photos will feature in next year’s Norfolk Wildlife Trust calendar and in an exhibition at Cley Marshes.

Any portrayal of nature is welcome, including landscapes (especially on our nature reserves), birds, mammals, plants, marine life, bugs, and people enjoying wildlife.

Our fabulous line-up of judges includes wildlife photographer and cameraman Josh Jaggard; wildlife presenter, conservationist and author Ajay Tegala; award-winning Norfolk-based photographer Paula Cooper; and conservationist and wildlife presenter Jess French.

How to enter

Simply submit your best images to www.norfolkwt.uk/ PhotoComp.

Entries are open 7 June – 31 July. Please read the competition rules on our website before entering.

Two of the winning photos from our young people’s photography competition 2022: frog by Bethany Wilson and compass jellyfish by Daniel Masters.

Providing a full range of legal services to individuals, families and businesses in Norfolk.

Providing a full range of legal services to individuals, families and businesses in Norfolk.

Our service is modern and comprehensive, whilst drawing on sixty years of experience and legal knowledge to guide and advise our clients with total professionalism. Our services include:

Our service is modern and comprehensive, whilst drawing on sixty years of experience and legal knowledge to guide and advise our clients with total professionalism. Our services include:

Providing a full range of legal services to individuals, families and businesses in Norfolk. Family Law • Wills, Trusts & Probate • Residential & Commercial Property • Debt Recovery • Employment Law

Law | Wills, Trusts and Probate | Residential and Commercial Property | Debt Recovery | Employment Law

Family Law | Wills, Trusts and Probate | Residential and Commercial Property | Debt Recovery | Employment Law Litigation and Disputes | Clinical Negligence

& Disputes • Clinical Negligence

and Disputes | Clinical Negligence

01603 693500

01603 693500

enquiries@clapham-collinge.co.uk

enquiries@clapham-collinge.co.uk

Providing a full range of legal services to individuals, families and businesses in Norfolk.

| Offices in Norwich, Sheringham and North Walsham

Our service is modern and comprehensive, whilst drawing on sixty years of experience and legal knowledge to guide and advise our clients with total professionalism. Our services include:

www.clapham-collinge.co.uk | Offices in Norwich, Sheringham and North Walsham

Family Law | Wills, Trusts and Probate | Residential and Commercial Property | Debt Recovery | Employment Law Litigation and Disputes | Clinical Negligence

01603 693500

enquiries@clapham-collinge.co.uk

www.clapham-collinge.co.uk | Offices in Norwich, Sheringham and North Walsham

Protecting rare plants

This spring saw the publication of Plant Atlas 2020, a remarkable work based on 30 million records collected by 9,000 botanists over a 20-year period. An in-depth survey of all species growing in a wild state in Britain and Ireland, covering both population and distribution, it particularly highlights changes since the last complete survey in the 1990s. It is distressing to read.

By Bob Morgan, Reserves Officer

The survey indicates a 53 per cent decline in native plants and reveals the shocking statistic that of 3,445 plant species recorded, 1,753 are non-native. Despite concern over non-native plants, the overwhelming cause of the huge decline in floral biodiversity has been the loss or conversion of natural and semi-natural habitats.

In Norfolk, a county of intensive arable farming, this rate of loss has been particularly heavy. However, thanks to the foresight of the county’s conservation pioneers, areas supporting many of our rarest plants are protected. Recent initiatives undertaken by Norfolk Wildlife Trust

are starting to turn the tide on this alarming decline and the hard work of volunteers and community groups is now resulting in the creation of new wildlife-rich wildflower meadows.

Many of our rare native plants are found only in small protected enclaves, relics of formerly larger habitats. These are important, but also vulnerable. The greatest care is required to preserve and sustain their rare plants and, where possible, increase their populations. At NWT Upton Fen and Marshes, a small patch of wet, spongy ground, known as Flight Pond Fen, is home to one of the UK’s rarest orchids. The fen orchid is known only from a handful of sites in the UK, two of them NWT

reserves. In the past, only a tiny number of fen orchids persisted at Upton. In recent years staff and volunteers have worked hard to clear scrub and create turf pools, extending optimal habitat for the orchid. In conjunction with carefully managed mowing in late summer, this has led to survey counts now exceeding a 1,000 plants.

Some native flowers are so rare they are confined to a single field. Thanks to a generous legacy, NWT recently assumed responsibility for the Brecks Arable Plant Reserve, adjacent to our Weeting Heath reserve. The efficiency of modern farming has eradicated many annual arable plants, which are – quite understandably – regarded

Fen orchid

© Mick Davis

as weeds by farmers. This has left many annual plants of arable land susceptible to nationwide extinction. The reserve, established in the 1970s on land owned by the Parrott family, was conceived by Cambridge University student Anne Jones, and realised with help from Christopher Cadbury, an ardent advocate for Norfolk wildlife. Anne’s aspiration was to create habitat in the Norfolk Brecks for the rapidly disappearing flora of arable fields. James Symonds, Warden at NWT Weeting Heath, is clear how special the reserve now is: ‘The sheer abundance of flowers among the crop is impressive, particularly nationally threatened species. A good example is fingered speedwell. This tiny plant, with beautiful deep blue flowers, is so rare that this one field probably supports 99 per cent of the UK population.’

Protecting Norfolk’s rare plants is not just a task for nature reserves. The refuges of some of our rarest wildflowers can be in the most unlikely of places. Since the 1930s, the UK has lost a staggering 98.5 per cent of wildflower meadows. Many of these flower-rich meadows are likely to have been hundreds of years old; but modern fertilisers, herbicides and drainage converted them to monocultures of lush green grass.

Along the quiet lanes of Norfolk some fragments of old meadows have clung on as roadside verges, forming a network of miniature nature reserves. NWT’s Habitat Connectivity Officer, Ben Newton, has been collecting green hay in summer from selected verges. This seed-laden hay has helped local communities and supportive landowners create new wildflower

meadows in previously naturedepleted fields. ‘Cutting roadside nature reserves,’ Ben explains, ‘has the double benefit of keeping them in good condition, while providing green hay, full of a range of wildflower seeds, including knapweed, field scabious, oxeye daisy and the nationally scarce sulphur clover.’

Alongside nature reserves, commons, churchyards and other areas that have remained unchanged for hundreds of years play an essential role in sustaining the remnants of the UK’s embattled native flora. It is, however, vital that we all play our part. We may not all have rare plants in our gardens or local green spaces, but we can all set aside an area for wildflowers. Just allowing a patch of lawn to grow will bring up the daisies and buttercups; and, in our depleted landscape, every little helps.

Field scabious

© Elizabeth Dack

Wild about gardens

The focus of this year’s ‘Wild About Gardens’ is ‘Bring Lawns to Life’. We’ll be advising on how to manage lawns for wildflowers, maximising their value for nature. If a small patch of most lawns is left to grow, daisies, buttercups and dandelions will appear, all rich in nectar and great for bees and butterflies.

There are 23 million gardens and over 62,000 urban green spaces in the UK. We can make crucial space for wildlife in our gardens, which together can create a wild corridor through the landscape. Large or small, window-ledge or yard, your garden can form part of a wider network, helping nature recover in our towns and cities and right across the countryside.

Get involved

To download your free Wild About Gardens information booklet, full of ideas and information on how to create your own wildlife haven, or make a pledge to ‘bring your lawn to life,’ visit: www.wildaboutgardens.org.uk

Yellow rattle

Sulphur clover

‘Protecting Norfolk’s rare plants is not just a task for nature reserves. The refuges of some of our rarest wildflowers can be in the most unlikely of places’

© David Ferre, Elizabeth Dack, Tom Marshall

Windows

Ranworth Broad

© Richard Osbourne

What do our Visitor Centres mean to you?

What memories of them do you treasure?

What thrilling wildlife have you seen from them?

This summer we are celebrating our five Visitor Centres – at Ranworth, Hickling, Weeting, Cley and Holme – and the staff, the volunteers and wildlife that make them special.

onto nature

Our Visitor Centres offer us the chance to share with you – our members – what we feel about wild species and wild places and our passionate commitment to restoring Norfolk’s landscape for wildlife, people and our environment. They are a showcase for our reserves – and all the habitats protected on them – and for the work we do across the county to reverse the dreadful tide of biodiversity loss.

Our Broads Wildlife Centre, at Ranworth Broad, has welcomed visitors since our fiftieth anniversary in 1976. Opened by our Patron, Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, it is a place of discovery, which has taken countless visitors on a journey through the history of the Broadland waterscape and the fragile wildlife which inhabits it.

From the Visitor Centre today you can board our electric boat to visit Ranworth Broad. Here you can learn about the common terns which fly from West Africa every spring to nest

on the floating platforms we have built for them; and about the heavy rubber curtains on the edges of the platforms, designed to keep the otters off. Having declined catastrophically in the 20th century, otters have returned to the Broads in force. Ranworth is among the finest sites for seeing them.

Our Ranworth Visitor Centre is a place of people and community too. Our work here would be impossible without a dedicated band of volunteers. One of them, long-term volunteer and member Barry Madden, has shared with us his feelings about working there:

I love Ranworth Broad. It’s that simple. A trip to the NWT Visitor Centre there never disappoints, but I sometimes wonder why I feel such an affinity with this place.

Perhaps it’s the unrivalled view of the shimmering water, alive with courting grebes and screeching terns. Maybe it’s the walk along the boardwalk through

the closest thing to swamp you are likely to find anywhere in the UK. It could be the otherworldly tangles of moss-draped willow and alder, the bright blaze of springtime iris and marsh marigold, or the gentle rustle of the Broadland breeze through reed and fen.

I can best sum it up by the recollection of approaching the Visitor Centre one sunny springtime morning and having to stop, close my eyes and just listen: the merry tinkling of newly arrived willow warblers, the gentle fluting of robins, a strident song thrush and in the background the sound of chiming church bells. I soaked it up and could physically feel the stresses of the world lifted from my shoulders. If this is my working world for the next six months, I thought, then I’m in for a rare treat.

Main picture: Cley Marshes

Inset top: Cley Marshes Visitors Centre.

Inset bottom: Hickling Broad

Since the Dick Bagnall-Oakeley Visitor Centre opened at Cley Marshes in 1981 – taking its name from the celebrated Norfolk naturalist, film-maker and raconteur – our facilities here have expanded hugely to meet the needs of our ever-growing membership. The view from our glass-fronted Visitor Centre – opened in 2007 – is unparalleled in Norfolk. Here, with a mug of coffee or a warming bowl of soup, a visitor can sit for hours and watch as dark-bellied brent geese fly in burbling waves to the scrapes; or as spoonbills chase after sticklebacks, their outlandish crests waving in the breeze.

Cley Marshes is a place of learning too. Year-round we host talks, workshops and events in the Simon Aspinall Wildlife Education Centre, opened by Sir David Attenborough in 2015. If you can tear your eyes for an hour from the

crashing waves and the languid flight of marsh harriers above the reeds, you can learn to draw or to identify moths here, you can chat with authors or listen with your grandchildren to tales of the wind and the wild. Above all, our Cley Visitor Centre is a place for people and for our common love of wildlife. Members Caroline and David Gittens, for whom Cley Marshes is a deeply special place, have shared what a visit means to them: We returned to Norfolk 16 years ago and one of our first decisions was to join NWT. Over the years the Visitor Centre at Cley Marshes has become one of our favourite places to spend an hour or two and we visit several times a month throughout the year. The facilities are excellent. The shop has a great selection of books and gifts and is a must for greetings cards.

© Richard Osbourne

The friendly cafe is definitely one to visit. You can enjoy an excellent pot of tea, fresh scones or a light lunch whilst soaking up the awesome views over the reserve. Nowhere along the North Norfolk coast are its big skies and spectacular natural landscape more perfectly presented. From here, even on dank days in midwinter, you can feel a connection with the surrounding landscape.

The list of events is very varied and we have attended many interesting talks, some during the day and some in the evening, covering various topics from local archaeology to the Red List. All have been well organised and attended. What’s not to like?

All our Visitor Centres are likewise places of learning and of fun. At Hickling Broad, our Visitor Centre is your stepping stone into one of the county’s richest landscapes for wildlife. Here are swallowtails, flapping like scribbled scraps of tissue paper above the reed. And boat trips too, taking you to quiet corners of the broad, into a world of bearded tits and bitterns.

All through the Easter and summer holidays you will find our outreach team at Hickling, pond-dipping with children, teaching them the secrets of the reedbeds, and sharing the lives of our family of konik ponies. As at all our visitor centres, there are hot and cold drinks and food for sale here, and sunny spots outside to sit while eating, listening to the songs of cuckoos and blackcaps and the joyous bugling of common cranes from the distant marsh.

At our Visitor Centre at Weeting Heath, in Breckland, you may hear the wail of stone curlews instead. The soulful burble of common curlews and the breathy sci-fi tumbling of lapwings are heard here too, as all three species nest on the reserve’s priceless grassland. Even Weeting’s car park is alive with life. Woodlarks are often heard here, piercing the Breckland sky with their plaintive songs, while at your feet there is a tiny world of brown argus butterflies, mottled grasshoppers and pantaloon bees.

Our last visitor centre is the wildest, the most remote, the hardest to define. At the end of a long sandy track, with dune slacks to the north – grazed by konik ponies for the benefit of natterjack toads – and grazing marshes to the south – loud with the insistent chimes of nesting avocets – you find

The Firs, headquarters of our Holme Dunes reserve. This is a wondrous place, with saltmarsh, reedbed, pioneer dune, freshwater scrape and pine woodland. Happily, as at all our Visitor Centres, you can buy a range of books here, to help you understand the dizzying wealth of wildlife you may see.

Our Visitor Centres are treasures. Windows onto our reserves, they are an invitation to visit the precious habitats we protect. Run by friendly staff and outstanding volunteers, they share the best of Norfolk’s wildlife with our visitors and members. And money spent in them supports the critically important work we do across the county, for people, for biodiversity and our environment.

© Richard Osbourne

Main picture: Weeting Heath Inset top: Holme Dunes Inset bottom: Scones, Holme Dunes Visitor Centre

© Steve Cox

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Wilder Wardens

This year has seen the launch of NWT’s first ever youth group, ‘Wilder Wardens’.

A monthly practical conservation group for young people, it is currently based at NWT Hickling Broad.

Five of our eight Wilder Wardens joined the group following their attendance at the ‘Careers in Conservation’ fair we hosted at Sheringham High School in November last year.

Our Wilder Wardens have told us they are interested in ‘work experience for a future career in ecology... improving their knowledge and understanding of the natural world... and learning more about wildlife and how to protect it.’

Our aim is to give young people a flavour of what it’s like to be part of the team managing our reserves for Norfolk’s special habitats and wildlife. With this in mind, the group is led by both reserve and education staff. Depending on time of year, tasks carried out in the sessions may include scrub clearance, visitor infrastructure maintenance, and wildlife surveying.

In February’s inaugural session, the young people got stuck in straight away, planting a hedge next to our ‘Living Shelter’. Meanwhile, in March they got a behind-the-scenes tour of the reserve and were lucky enough to see some of the site’s star species, including common cranes, marsh harriers and a bittern! Most

importantly, the group learned how and why the habitats at NWT Hickling Broad are managed for wildlife.

Our Wilder Wardens have loved seeing and learning about wildlife, and the privilege of visiting parts of the reserve not open to the public. They have suggested plenty of activities they would like to undertake in future sessions, which we plan to incorporate.

The creation of our Wilder Wardens group marks the start of NWT’s comprehensive youth engagement offer. This is a significant step for young nature-lovers in Norfolk, for NWT as an inclusive organisation, and for the future of Norfolk’s wildlife and wild spaces.

Below: Our Wilder Wardens supporting our work at Hickling Broad

Day in the life of... our Assistant Warden at NWT Holme Dunes

Tori Backham, Assistant Warden at NWT Holme Dunes, oversees vital work protecting beach-nesting birds. She tells us more:

I’ve had the absolute privilege of helping conserve this beautiful nature reserve and its wildlife for almost two years now and it’s safe to say Holme Dunes holds a very special place in my heart. I really love connecting with the community, enthusing about how wonderful nature is, and showing people that wildlife is for everyone – not just for nature nerds like me!

The life of an Assistant Warden varies day by day but my favourite tasks include practical habitat management to promote biodiversity, looking after our konik ponies (our furry lawnmowers!), engaging with the public, leading education events such as guided walks, collecting data on key species like natterjack toad, and managing our inspiring volunteers, without whom we could not do our important work. Another of my roles is leading the hugely important beach-nesting birds project. Over half of England’s most threatened breeding birds are ground-nesters, including ringed

plover, little tern and oystercatcher, all of which breed here on the beach in spring and summer. They are vulnerable to disturbance, rising sea level and predators. It is my job to protect and monitor these wonderful little birds and explain to visitors why we need everyone’s help, so they can nest here undisturbed.

Giving these special birds space to raise their families is so important and there are things you can do to help. Please keep your distance from our fenced-off areas on the beach, be vigilant for tiny chicks that may be feeding on the shoreline, and keep your fluffy companions under control.

This vital project would not be possible without the help of our enthusiastic and dedicated volunteer beach wardens, who help to protect the birds that nest at Holme Dunes and on neighbouring beaches. If you see us on the beach, do come and say hello: we’re always up for nerdy nature chats!

‘I really love connecting with the community, enthusing about how wonderful nature is, and showing people that wildlife is for everyone – not just for nature nerds like me!’

IMAGES: NWT, Ali Borrman

Ringed plover chick

Discover

Bee orchids

Orchids are exciting plants, which exert a strange fascination. Bee orchids are both beautiful and peculiar, seeming half plant and half insect.

People have long wondered why the bee orchid’s extraordinary flowers so perfectly resemble the hairy body of a bee. One theory suggested that the flowers attracted bees to pollinate the flower, while a rival theory proposed the exact opposite! Why would a bee visit a flower which appeared already to have a bee on its petals?

Another explanation offered was that the mimicry of a bee kept grazing animals away, worried that they might be stung on the tongue. Today part of the true story has been revealed. Bee orchids produce a scent similar to pheromones used by certain female bees to attract a mate. Male bees lured by this scent attempt to mate with the bee orchid flower and are covered in pollen. In moving from flower to flower, they transfer the pollen and fertilise orchids. Despite this, in England bee orchids appear to be self-pollinated.

How to recognise bee orchids

In bloom, a bee orchid is unlikely to be mistaken for any other British plant. The three pink wings of the flower and the hairy, brown body, patterned with yellow spots and lines, are unique. Each flower appears as if – at its centre – a small hairy bee is sucking nectar.

The flowers project outwards from a single green spike which varies in height from just 5cm to more than 30cm. Spikes usually have two to six flowers but only one or two are likely to be fully open at any one time. The flowers at the top of the spike are the last to open.

The leaves are broad and green, shaped like the keel of a boat, with parallel veins running their whole length. Lower leaves are largest and higher leaves clasp the flower spike.

Where to see bee orchids

Bee orchids are notoriously unpredictable, appearing for a few years in good numbers and then vanishing. They prefer freely drained, base-rich soils and can be found on chalk grassland, in coastal sand dunes, and in grassland among scrub. They may even appear on unmown lawns and on previously disturbed ground around building or quarry sites.

The best time to look for bee orchids in flower is June and early July. Nature reserves where they can be seen include NWT Narborough Railway Line and NWT Ringstead Downs. On coastal sand dunes, such as at Holkham and Burnham Overy, they favour grasslands which have developed on the more stable inland side of the dunes. Wherever they grow, despite the striking appearance of the flowers, they can be remarkably difficult to spot.

What’s happening to bee orchids?

Orchids, of many different kinds, have declined not just in Norfolk but right across England. Habitat loss and the use of agricultural sprays and fertilisers have been the greatest causes of decline. Fertilised, intensively managed grasslands cannot support this fantastic flower.

How to help bee orchids

If you have bee orchids on your land, allow them to flower and set seed. Once they have set seed you can mow, remembering to remove the cut grass

This June, July and August send details of your bee orchid sightings to our Norfolk Wildlife Trust online Spotter Surveynorfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk/ spottersurvey

Make your sightings count!

© Elizabeth Dack

Explore Norfolk’s rockpools

Head to the coast this summer and discover the secrets of the sea

Exploring a rockpool at low tide can give you a fascinating insight into the curious lives of the creatures of our coast.

A wide variety of sea animals can be found hidden among the seaweed, including winkles and pyramid-shaped limpets clasping the rocks. Common prawns and shore crabs can be seen darting around the pools, while beadlet anemones wave their tentacles in the hope of a tasty morsel. Numerous seaweeds, such as serrated wrack, can be found clinging to rocks or along the strandline.

You might spot a velvet swimming crab – identified by its velvety-soft shell. These creatures, along with black squat lobster, long-spined sea scorpion and hermit crab, are often found in the furthest rockpools at low tide.

Another lovely find is a starfish, of which there are many species. The common starfish is usually orange in colour, and is instantly recognisable by its fivearmed shape.

With jellyfish, blennies and a host of other creatures to discover, head to the seaside for an adventure with the fascinating marine wildlife that is found along our coastal waters.

Species to look out for this summer

Commonly a deep red, this attractive anemone is most likely to be found on rocky shores, hiding beneath boulders or on rocks.

The second largest crab on the Norfolk coast, it has a bristly coat, a dark blue-black shell and bright red eyes. Take care, as swimming crabs can be quite aggressive, raising their claws at any threat.

This 12-14-armed starfish is generally larger than the common starfish, and has bright yellow, red and orange circular bands. These vibrant colours are best appreciated on a living sunstar in a rockpool.

This small sea snail is best recognised by its thick, pale-coloured shell, which is rounded with a pointed spire and spiral ridges.

Beadlet anemone

Common sunstar

Velvet swimming crab

Dog whelk

© Mark Thomas, J. Hatcher, Paul Naylor

How to search a rockpool

Check under reasonably sized, craggy rocks. Replace each rock gently, in the same location.

Small fish like to hide in submerged pieces of seaweed. Try gently moving them aside or brushing along weeds with a net.

Look at things which are attached to rocks, rather than just in the water, but don’t try to remove them – they can easily be harmed.

Crabs can hide just below the sand for camouflage. They give themselves away by letting out air bubbles!

Responsible rockpooling

Here are our top tips for taking care of coastal creatures, and yourselves, as you explore this wonderful underwater world:

1. Visit rockpools only on a retreating tide, wearing shoes with strong grip.

2. Try staying in one area and observing the rockpool carefully.

3. Be patient: shadows and splashes can startle animals. Most will freeze when disturbed, making them much harder to spot.

4. Make sure your bucket has plenty of water and on warm days replace the water every half hour to keep it cool and full of oxygen.

5. If you use a net, be gentle and don’t squash any creatures under it.

6. Always put your catch into water straight away to keep it safe.

7. Use your hands to pick up really delicate creatures such as small crabs.

We run rockpooling sessions on West Runton beach between Easter and October every year. Visit our website for details of our next Rockpool Rummaging session. norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk/events

8. If you move a rock or seaweed, don’t forget to replace it. It is something’s home!

9. Always put creatures back where you found them.

Take Action

Conservation group celebrates forty years helping local nature thrive

Blofield & District Conservation Group (BADCOG) has been managing habitat for wildlife since 1983.

The group was formed out of concern over the decline of local habitats and its first volunteer project was to revitalise Holly Lane Pond, Blofield. This meant removing several felled elms and much debris to restore the pond as a haven for wildlife. The project received a Shell Better Britain award and other awards have followed.

BADCOG now manages 15 sites, covering a wide range of habitats such as fen meadow, dry meadow, woodland, ponds and churchyard conservation areas. Some are designated Local Nature Reserves and

all have diverse habitats for flora and fauna. One of the sites, Railway Wood, belongs to BADCOG, thanks to farsighted collaboration with NWT which was looking for a suitable recipient for this small site. BADCOG has also received support from Broadland District Council and Norwich City Council, and leases Howes Meadow and Walsham Fen from the latter.

Habitat management work parties are held on alternate Saturday mornings. In addition, BADCOG undertakes projects with the local community, including hedge and woodland planting schemes.

A bi-monthly newsletter, with a range of articles, keeps members up to date

with activities. Guided walks are held throughout the year and illustrated talks take place in autumn and winter. Species surveys have been carried out on BADCOG sites, through which over 1,000 records have been added to the group’s database.

Over the last 40 years BADCOG has both improved the diversity of habitats in its area of East Norfolk and fostered friendships that have added to the social lives of members.

To find out more, visit www.badcog.co.uk

Below: Buckenham Woods work party, 2018

Right top: Holly Lane Pond, 1983; Right bottom: Walsham Fen, 2008

Summer Wildlife gardening

The garden in summer is busy, as froglets and toadlets leave the pond for the first time, fledgling birds beg for food, and the whole garden buzzes with life.

In the sky, swallows, house martins and swifts gather insects to feed their young, and at night bats take their place, foraging among the treetops or swooping low over ponds.

If you haven’t already, leave an area of grass to grow long, particularly around your pond. Long grass provides the perfect shelter for young amphibians and food for the caterpillars of several butterflies, including the ringlet, meadow brown and speckled wood. Here, you’ll also find beetles and bugs, plentiful prey for a variety of species further up the food chain, like hedgehogs. Later in the season,

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

the grasses will seed and you may spot house sparrows stripping them for food. Avoid strimming your grass at all if you can, but if you must, be sure to check for hedgehogs and other wildlife first!

Being more tolerant of naturally occurring plants is also important in a wildlife garden. Even dandelions, nettles, dock and chickweed provide food and shelter for a wide range of species. Let them flourish! Or at least leave a few around the edges.

illustrations

by Hannah Bailey, photo © Sarah Cuttle

It’s also a good time to do an audit of flowering plants in your garden. Fill gaps with flowering annuals such as cosmos and borage, which are magnets for bees and other pollinators. Towards the end of summer, add Verbena bonariensis, Rudbeckia and Echinacea for insects still on the wing. You can also sow foxgloves and other biennials now, which will flower next year. If conditions are dry, it’s a good idea to water insect foodplants so they don’t shrivel up, and ensure flowers continue to bear nectar. Use water from your water butt if you have one, and grey water from baths and washing up bowls if you don’t; avoid using tap water as this is a precious resource. Leaving a dish of mud can help house martins fix and build their nests, and providing water – in a pond, bird bath or other container – will ensure

foxes and hedgehogs have something to drink, while birds can bathe and clean their feathers.

Take advantage of fine weather to construct that log pile you’ve been meaning to build, or start a large, open compost heap where wild things can live. There are always improvements to make in our gardens, and summer is a fine time to do them. What can you add?

Get more wildlife-friendly gardening tips at wildlifetrusts.org/gardening

Learn Tern with

Nobody knows how many species exist on Planet Earth, though a recent analysis calculated there might be 8.7 million species of eukaryotes (those whose cells contain a nucleus). What we do know is that 1.2 million species have been described by science, of which an astonishing 400,000 are beetles.

You read that right. Of all known species on Earth – all the birds, all the mammals, all the reptiles and amphibians, all the plants, all the fungi, all the invertebrates – fully a third are beetles. Struck by this fact, the celebrated evolutionary biologist J. B. S. Haldane is said to have quipped that, if a Creator existed, it had ‘an inordinate fondness for beetles.’

Even here in Norfolk, beetle diversity is astonishing. There are tiger beetles which hunt down invertebrate prey, sexton beetles which bury dead rodents and birds in shallow graves to feed their grubs, longhorn beetles whose larvae gnaw through dead wood, ladybirds, of which several species are fearsome predators of aphids, and countless more.

In spring and summer, one of the most remarkable beetles to be seen in Norfolk is the black oil beetle. Four species of oil beetle still occur in the UK, while a further four are thought to have become extinct.

All oil beetles declined enormously during the 20th century, as a result of agricultural intensification.

Oil beetle larvae are nest parasites of mining bees. Females dig burrows in bare ground on the flower-rich chalk grassland, heathland or historic parkland in which they live. Here they lay hundreds of eggs. The tiny black larvae which emerge (charmingly known as triungulins) leave the burrow and climb up a nearby flower, to lie in wait. When an appropriate bee visits the flower, an oil beetle larva

WORDS BY NICK ACHESON, NWT AMBASSADOR

hitches a lift, holding tight with its hooked legs. The larva relinquishes its grip only when the bee enters her burrow. It then feeds on her eggs and her store of nectar and pollen.

In Norfolk, as in much of England, our only extant species is the black oil beetle. An adult black oil beetle is a magnificent beast with a long, fat abdomen. As its elytra (the shiny cases which cover a beetle’s single functional pair of wings) are short, they sit like a cape behind the animal’s thorax, exposing the segments of its abdomen.

Oil beetles are special not just for their striking appearance and intricate life cycles. They also represent an older Norfolk landscape, which was far richer in insects, wildflowers and ecosystem services.

Oil beetles are perfect symbols, therefore, for the wilder landscape which – in partnership with landowners, communities, schools, local authorities and many others – we are ambitious to recover. We are determined that, 500 years from now, future members of Norfolk Wildlife Trust can still marvel at the shiny chitin of a black oil beetle and at all the biodiversity that calls our county home.

Black oil beetle

© Bob Carpenter

Yard Barn, Warham

GET INVOLVED

Corporate support from holiday businesses for NWT reserves

Over the years we have received much generous support from businesses in the thriving Norfolk tourism sector. In addition to the financial contribution such businesses make to the running of our nature reserves, their support allows us to introduce visitors to these precious places, helping them to enjoy wildlife with respect.

HPB (Holiday Property Bond) is an international holiday ownership group with a Norfolk site at Barnham Broom near Wymondham. HPB supports Tern magazine, advertising regularly, and has an annual ‘Investors in Wildlife’ subscription. What’s more, under HPB’s affinity commitment every new bond owner joining via these promotions means a most welcome donation of £300 to NWT.

HPB’s subsidiary Norfolk Hideaways is a leading holiday rental agency based in North Norfolk and is also an NWT member and supporter. This year again, Norfolk Hideaways is the sponsor of our ‘Go Wild in Norfolk’ leaflet, of which 90,000 copies are distributed to tourism hubs through the summer, directing holiday makers to our most popular nature reserves.

NWT features prominently on Norfolk Hideaways’ website and the membership offer in its brochure has attracted over 200 new members to the

Trust. This reflects our wonderful ‘out of county’ support, which counts for fully a third of our membership.

Another leading holiday business, Norfolk Cottages, has sponsored our ‘Cley Calling – Closer to Home’ festival at Cley and Salthouse Marshes, while in the Broads Richardson’s Boating Holidays has supported us as an ‘Anniversary Champion’ and Herbert Woods has nominated us for funding through the ‘Love the Broads’ initiative. The Travelling Naturalist brings birding tours to Norfolk, visits our reserves and enrols guests automatically as NWT members as part of their holiday.

Abacus Hotels, Forest Holidays, Martham Ferry Boatyard, Heacham Manor Hotel, The Pheasant, Searles Leisure Resort, holidaycottages. co.uk, Blue Sky Leisure and Clippesby Holidays are all long-standing corporate members, as are cherished Norfolk family attractions including ROARR! Dinosaur Adventure and the Thursford Collection.

We hugely appreciate such wonderful support from those whose business it is to attract visitors to our unique county, who promote our peerless nature reserves and generously fund the vital work we carry out to preserve them.

Staff of our ‘Investors in Wildlife’ and their families are all entitled to free entry to NWT nature reserves where there is an admission charge. To learn how your business can help our work for Norfolk’s wildlife, please contact James Hogg, Senior Corporate & Membership Development Officer james.hogg@norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk

The Norfolk Hideaways team with the NWT ‘Go Wild in Norfolk’ leaflet they sponsored to guide Norfolk visitors to our reserves

This year’s Annual General Meeting will take place online on the evening of Thursday 19 October. Further details will be set out on our website, social media and our AGM mailing. Please contact Marion Riches on 01603 625540 or ceoadmin@norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk if you have any questions.

‘We hugely appreciate such wonderful support from those whose business it is to attract visitors to our unique county’

The third Marine Conservation for Norfolk – Action Group (MCNAG) conference is to be held at NWT Cley Marshes on 5th August, during National Marine Week.

Join us to hear from inspiring speakers on the importance of the Norfolk coast for wildlife and the challenges faced by our marine environment. The conference will discuss key questions, including how to reach the right audiences to ensure action on marine conservation, whether the law effectively protects our marine environment, and how fisheries and conservationists can work together to protect marine wildlife.

No matter your level of expertise or knowledge, there will be something

for everyone who loves the sea: from marine enthusiasts, conservationists and professionals to those who simply enjoy the Norfolk coast.

MCNAG is an action group and will be reporting its work on coastal litter, seabed damage, lost fishing gear, habitat loss and representation. Others are also encouraged to share their actions for marine wildlife and to highlight the importance of acting now.

MCNAG has been formed to give collective voice to all concerned with the preservation of our wild coast underwater. To find out more, visit mcnag.org

Conference tickets are on sale now at norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk/events

Cley Marshes to host MCNAG marine conference this summer National Marine Week

National Marine Week is The Wildlife Trusts’ annual, nationwide celebration of all things marine. This year it takes place from 22 July to 6 August. Here in Norfolk we have plenty of exciting events to dive into!

Norfolk is a wonderful place to appreciate our spectacular UK coast and its wildlife. Our coastal habitats range from shingle banks and sand dunes to Europe’s only chalk reef, all of them home to special wildlife. However, much like terrestrial wildlife, the marine environment is in urgent need of protection.

Take action for wildlife by joining us on a beach clean, or learn about amazing marine species at a family rockpooling or sea-dipping session. Local artist Amelia Mills will also be celebrating marine diversity and beauty, with an art exhibition and demonstration at NWT Cley Marshes.

For the full programme of events, and to book, visit norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk/events

© Richard Osbourne, NWT

From the President

There is a surfeit of unsung heroes in the world of conservation – I guess that means we should sing everyone’s praises more – but some of the most vital nature champions are the volunteers and staffers who greet us when we arrive at nature reserves.

Our initial experience of a nature reserve is, like any first impression, crucial. I’m usually wooed by the woo-woos of the woodpigeons in the pines beside Holme Dunes car park or by the mellow, descending song of a willow warbler in our Hickling reserve car park. But my memories of arriving in these places also include the smiles and informationsharing of Visitor Centre staff.

That welcome is becoming more important than ever as new audiences discover nature and younger and more diverse visitors explore the jewels that are Norfolk Wildlife Trust’s reserves. If a newcomer, who might worry that they don’t have the requisite knowledge (for the record: none is required) isn’t made to feel welcome, we lose a potential nature protector for life.

There are myriad ways to make people feel welcome and I think our Visitor Centres excel at them, whether it is smiles, good coffee, Ronaldo’s icecream, a jacket potato with the best view in Norfolk (at Cley), or my personal favourite – the daily sightings board.

I love clustering around it, discussing rarities with fellow visitors, volunteers and staff, and obtaining their best tips for exactly where to raise our Crane Sighting Likelihood Threshold.

A ‘walk’ can be a hard sell to my children. They see right through my ‘shall we go for an adventure?’ euphemism. But I realised some other magic was at work when they jumped into the car with great eagerness for a local expedition at Hickling.

When we reached the Visitor Centre, the kids dashed inside and installed themselves like veteran quizzers in front of Hickling’s nature quiz screen. This is a fun multiple-choice test and, after three or four visits, the children memorised the answers. Now Milly, Esme and Ted can correctly identify a willow warbler, sedge warbler, reed bunting and chiffchaff in 10 seconds and appear

nature geniuses (as well as putting their Dad’s limited knowledge to shame).

An ice-cream is a great incentive too. I don’t visit reserves to go shopping but our Visitor Centre shops are pretty lovely. They smell so nice. The care is visible on each shelf, and I know a tiny bit about the behind-the-scenes attention-to-detail devoted to stocking these shops. As well as seeking out sustainably made products, they often support local businesses, artists and craftspeople.

In this way, NWT Visitor Centres are part of a virtuous circle, not only boosting nature but sustaining the surrounding community, as well as local, national and international visitors. Every person welcomed is another potential supporter and champion of the nature that delights and sustains us.

WORDS BY PATRICK BARKHAM, NATURAL HISTORY WRITER AND NWT PRESIDENT

Willow warbler at Hickling Broad