Wildlife Durham: spring 2021 by Durham Wildlife Trust

SPRING 2021

WWW.DURHAMWT.COM

Campaigning

A path to a Wilder Future 30 by 30 50 at 50

Reserves

New Reserves Woodland Officer Reserves round-up Spotlight on Shibdon

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Conservation

“No” to water vole disappearance Healing Nature

News

A winning team effort Running wild

National News Bad news for bees

Your stories

Competition winner If you would like to opt in to receiving a digital copy of Wildlife Durham instead of your printed copy, please email mail@durhamwt.co.uk with your name and membership number and we will update your preferences.

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SPRING 2021 ISSUE At the moment, I’m looking out of the window at the snow, and it feels like this winter is particularly long and cold. Hopefully, in a few weeks’ time, when this spring edition arrives on doormats, sunshine, flowers and birdsong will be the order of the day. No less than we all deserve.

n truth, I find spring a frustrating time. The early signs are quite exciting; the first leaf on the tree, the first bud to flower. After that, everything seems to take too long to happen, and by the time it has happened, I’ve forgotten I was waiting for it. This year I will be more patient and much more appreciative. As you will see in this edition, 2021 promises to be a good one for Durham Wildlife Trust, and for nature and the environment in general. There are projects on the verge of delivery after years of planning and preparation, and new legislation on the way after months of delay. As we have all heard a lot recently, good times are on the way – we just need a little more patience!

VISITOR CENTRES Rainton Meadows Nature Reserve Chilton Moor, Houghton-le-Spring, Tyne & Wear, DH4 6PU. Tel: 0191 584 3112

Jim Cokill – Director

The Meadows Coffee Shop Angela Watson and Team. Tel: 0191 512 8940

MAGAZINE

Low Barns Nature Reserve Witton-le-Wear, Bishop Auckland, County Durham, DL14 0AG. Tel: 01388 488 728

Paper: FSC accredited, 100% recycled uncoated

Low Barns Coffee Shop Angela Watson and Team. Tel: 01388 488 729

Design: Edmundson Design www.edmundsondesign.com Printed by: North Wolds Printers Cover Image: Red Admiral, Ian A Turner

MANY THANKS TO ALL OUR CORPORATE MEMBERS FOR THEIR ONGOING SUPPORT

Gold Members

Northumbrian Water Northern Gas Networks Vine House Farm Thomas Swan & Co. Ltd. 2 | WILDLIFE DURHAM SPRING 2021

Silver Members Wieberberger GlaxoSmithKline

Bronze Members

Simon Berry Optometrists Down to Earth Garden Care Spincraft Holidaycottages.co.uk

CAMPAIGNING

A path to a

Wilder Future

By Jim Cokill – Director

Spring is a time when we often look to the future and what is to come. This year, I know I’m definitely looking forward and hoping for better times, and for wildlife, there are some positive signs this spring.

new Environment Act is on the horizon that, although delayed by the parliamentary backlog created by Covid-19, promises to bring some improvements to legislation, and implement mechanisms that can help to bring about nature’s recovery. Perhaps the most significant measures for nature recovery set out in the Environment Bill – which will hopefully receive royal assent in the autumn of 2021 – are the creation of Local Nature Recovery Strategies by local authorities, and the requirement for the planning system to deliver ‘biodiversity net gain’. To quote directly from the Government’s own description of the Environment Bill: ‘Integrating biodiversity net gain into the planning system will provide a step change in how planning and development is delivered. The Bill will provide new opportunities for innovation, as well as stimulating new economic markets. This is expected to result in the creation, and the avoidance of loss, of several thousands of hectares of habitat for wildlife each year.’ On Local Nature Recovery Strategies the tone is equally as positive: ‘These are tools that will support better spatial planning for nature recovery, by setting out priorities and opportunities for protecting and investing in nature within a local area. They will include a map of existing nature assets, including protected sites and wildlife-rich habitats, and will identify key opportunities for enhancement. Local Nature Recovery Strategies will help local authorities, and other public bodies, identify priorities and opportunities for conserving and enhancing nature. These tools will also support strategic planning for housing and infrastructure, and help direct net gain investment so that it has the greatest benefit for local wildlife and people.’

As with all legislation still making its way through Parliament, there are opportunities for amendments to occur, but the requirement for new developments to deliver more biodiversity than existed before, and a local strategy in place to show where that biodiversity uplift is best delivered, is a step forward from where we are today. Of course, the system relies on there being development in the first place, in order to pay for the biodiversity uplift. The Government is, in effect, looking for private investment to restore nature – wildlife still isn’t seen as a significant enough priority to merit a greater share of the Government expenditure. We will also have to rely on the planning system to make the right decisions on where development should go. As the recent planning approval for a new coal mine in Cumbria shows, the planning system can’t always be relied on to make the right decisions. If legislation is moving in a better direction, what are the Wildlife Trusts doing to up their game in response? At Durham Wildlife Trust, we will, of course, be supporting our local authorities to produce their Local Nature Recovery Strategies. Currently, there are six pilot projects underway across England, to assess how the strategies can be best developed. One of those is in Cumbria, another in Northumberland, and the local Wildlife Trusts are involved to some extent, so information on the process is available and preparation work is already underway at some of the Durham Wildlife Trust area local councils. Across the country, the Wildlife Trusts are bringing together the push for nature’s recovery under the banner of Wilder Future – a phrase that neatly encapsulates what we are trying to achieve. If we want our future to be wilder, with a greater diversity and abundance of wildlife that generates benefits for us all, we need to make more space for nature. Species need habitats, and for habitats to persist they need to be larger and more connected, so the Wildlife Trusts are pushing for the restoration of 30% of land and sea for nature by 2030, a.k.a. 30 by 30. WILDLIFE DURHAM SPRING 2021 | 3

CAMPAIGNING

30 by 30 The decade we save our wildlife

Hedgehogs have undergone massi ve long-term decline s

We 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.

HEDGEHOG © TOM MARSHALL

he 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.

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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 wildlife-rich 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.

CAMPAIGNING

ocally, at Durham Wildlife Trust, we need to deliver our 30 by 30 objectives in a number of different ways. To reach the target, the Trust will need to influence land owners and managers across our patch – and that work is already underway. Across the Bright Water project area (the catchment of the River Skerne in the south of County Durham and Darlington), what is known as a Facilitation Group is working with farmers, to support them to enter land management schemes that provide them with additional income for improving and creating habitats on their farms. The new Healing Nature project is working with local councils across urban Tyne and Wear, to restore wildlife areas and create new habitats. The Trust is also working with businesses, such as Thomas Swan & Co. Ltd., Northumbrian Water, and Northern Gas Networks, to improve their land for wildlife. We have also worked on restoring habitats by transport routes, with Sir Robert McAlpine and Highways England, bringing more and more land, piece by piece, into management for wildlife. We mustn’t forget our marine environment, and Durham Wildlife Trust is currently recruiting for its first-ever dedicated marine conservation officer, as part of the Seascapes project, hosted by Durham Heritage Coast.

#30by30

ore directly, Durham Wildlife Trust is growing its own estate, with the target of having 50 nature reserves by the end of our 50th anniversary year, in July 2022 – our 50 at 50 campaign. Since launching 50 at 50, the Trust has been able to grow its estate from 38 to 40 nature reserves, and, together with extensions to existing sites at Shibdon Pond and Shibdon Meadows, increase the area of land it manages from 830 hectares to 870 hectares.

ore sites are in the pipeline and, by July this year, we hope to be able to announce another five sites that will add 30 hectares of land to the Trust holding. We are making good progress towards our 50 at 50 target, which, in turn, is contributing to restoring 30% of land across County Durham, Darlington, Gateshead, South Tyneside, and Sunderland, and 30% of the seas off our coast, for wildlife, by 2030. This is a decade where we must make real progress in addressing the ecological and climate emergencies before it is too late to effect real change. Legislation can play its part in bringing this about, but the change will only come if our society begins to place greater value on wildlife and the natural environment.

This is a decade where we must make real progress in addressing the ecological and climate emergencies before it is too late to effect real change. The Covid-19 crisis has shown that many of us do value nature more than we realised, so perhaps a Wilder Future will be the silver lining to the dark cloud we have all been living under.

Keep up t on our c o date ampaign : durh

amwt.co

m/fifty

WILDLIFE DURHAM SPRING 2021 | 5

RESERVES

2021 has brought new additions to Durham Wildlife Trust’s nature reserves Beda Hills

One of the last few remaining substantial areas of lowland acid grassland in Gateshead, Beda Hills forms part of a much larger complex of habitats – a diverse landscape of ancient woodlands, grasslands and wetlands, stretching from the banks of the Tyne at Blaydon, up the Derwent Valley to Shotley Bridge. At six hectares, Beda Hills is only a small part of this much larger landscape, but it contains a rich mosaic of habitats and, as a result, is designated as a Local Wildlife Site. The acid grassland is of primary importance, and currently supports species such as mouse-ear hawkweed; cat’s ear; birdsfoot trefoil; yarrow; pignut; and lesser stitchwort. This rare habitat type has suffered from too much grazing and scrub encroachment for a number of years, but the Trust will now be able to put a proper management regime in place. Grazing will still be important – but at a more appropriate level – and the area of scrub will be reduced to bring the grassland into better condition. Broadleaf woodland extends over half the site, a large part of which bears the scars of the mining activities that once occurred there. There are also some small ponds present, which are rich with aquatic plants and invertebrates. The purchase of the site was made possible by funding from the Banister Charitable Trust, and Gateshead Council.

Bishop’s Fen

Bishop’s Fen sits in the floodplain of the River Skerne, and is currently an area of improved farmland. Before land drainage in the nineteenth century, this area was part of the extensive carr lands that stretched from Bishop Middleham, southwards towards Darlington. The Trust’s Bright Water Landscape Partnership project will restore an area of the original habitat to create a new wetland nature reserve – Bishop’s Fen. Across the wider area, agricultural land drainage straightened the Skerne and its tributaries, turning them into deep drainage ditches known as stells, not natural channels. The coming of the railways further modified these water bodies, with the course of the river and streams being moved to accommodate the railway engineers’ need for flat terrain to cross. Deep mining activity in the area from the mid-nineteenth century needed large-scale pumping to keep the workings dry, and this, in turn, led to the water table being drawn down by tens of metres. As a result, the carr lands and fens disappeared almost entirely, and with them the wetland birds that would have once been abundant. But today, thanks to the rebound of ground water levels, following the end of pumping with the closure of the coal mines – a process that has taken several decades – the wetland character of this landscape is returning. Together with the wetter winters predicted by climate change, this has created the opportunity to restore some of the historical fen and carr habitats. A second phase of habitat restoration is also proposed – realigning the straightened and canalised River Skerne along a more sinuous and natural channel that reconnects to the floodplain. It is hoped that Bishop’s Fen will be the first stage of a much larger wetland habitat restoration scheme throughout the Skerne catchment. The potential to restore Durham’s historic carr lands is enormous, and could be of national significance, with the Trust already establishing relationships with landowners to see if the vision can be made a reality. Where farmland is becoming increasingly marginal due to rising water levels, restoring wildlife may be able to bring economic as well as environmental benefits.

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RESERVES

Durham Wildlife Trust Woodland Officer O

ver the past four years, Peter Downes has been employed, by the Trust, as the Woodland and Access Officer, on behalf of the Land of Oak and Iron Landscape Partnership.

Over the next two years, Peter Downes will continue to work to restore ancient semi-natural woodlands through the Derwent valley, and look to create further areas of new woodland. This will involve Peter running workshops for woodland owners, assisting in the creation of woodland management plans, and providing woodland management advice. Through this approach, 200 hectares of ancient semi-natural woodland will be restored, and a further ten hectares of new broadleaf woodland planted. Community has been at the heart of Peter’s work to date, creating not just a strong network of woodland owners through the project area, but also a diverse and skilled team of

Beda Hills location

volunteers. This fantastic team of volunteers will continue to be supported by this project. Their work is invaluable to restoring many of the woodland areas to their former glory. The traditional woodland management skills the volunteers have developed over the last four years are often fundamental in restoring difficult sites where more conventional methods cannot be employed. To this end, they are a key link between the woodland owners and healthy woods. If you are interested in woodland management or creation, please do get in touch with Peter. His work continues to take him far and wide, and he looks forward to advising on, and answering, any woodland questions across the wider Durham Wildlife Trust area. To contact Peter, email: pdownes@durhamwt.co.uk

Bishop’s Fen location

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RESERVES

Reserves round-up For very obvious reasons, there has been less management work on the Trust’s nature reserves this winter, but staff and volunteers have worked hard to ensure that all essential work was carried out.

hibdon Pond and Meadow has been a major focus for work in the North (more on the next page), along with the continued restoration of ancient woodland habitat at Milkwellburn Wood. The work at Milkwellburn Wood saw a further three hectares of ancient woodland brought under restoration in September. This involved thinning Corsican pine and widening woodland rides, to allow native trees to regenerate and woodland ground flora to flourish.

The Whinnies

In the south, a number of access works have continued, with repairs to the Low Barns boardwalk and circular path (badly affected by flooding of the River Wear in 2020). A highlight for staff working on the boardwalk repairs was the large starling murmurations in December. There was also time to continue with habitat restoration at Black Plantation, a key site in the region for the rare, small pearl-bordered fritillary butterfly. Meanwhile, in Darlington, attention was focused on footpath repairs at The Whinnies, seeing a large stretch restored to the former hard surface path that had been impacted by recent management work on the adjoining railway line. Main image: Black Plantation Top inset: Ali fixing boardwalk at Low Barns

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Above: Completed Boardwalk at Shibdon Pond Right. Raisby Hill Grassland

Trimdon Grange Quarry

RESERVES

Spotlight on Shibdon S

itting amongst the housing and industry of urban Gateshead, the open water, swamps, and fen at Shibdon Pond are always a bit of a surprise. Along with the wet and dry grasslands, scrub, and small areas of woodland, the site offers a fantastic mix of habitats that support a wide variety of plants and animals. Besides the mute swan, teal, mallard, coot, and geese, on the pond at this time of year, a walk around the site gives you a good chance of being able to see willow tit, treecreeper, siskin, and bullfinch. Otters frequent the pond, and roe deer are certainly closer than you realise, but both are adept at staying out of sight. Over the last four years, this fantastic site has been supplemented by the creation of the nine hectares Shibdon Meadow nature reserve, lying just the other side of the A1. It was a busy autumn and winter at Shibdon Pond and Meadow. The Trust’s annual work programme on site sees islands being cleared of vegetation to allow nesting and roosting for gulls, waders, and wildfowl – views of the pond from the onsite bird hide are also maintained. Much of the heavy lifting from a conservation perspective is carried out by our Exmoor Ponies, on site from late summer until December. Thanks always go to the pony wardens who have kept a close eye on them as they munched their way around the pasture, trampling and flattening vegetation as they go – this is great for creating space and light for wildflowers and other plants to come through. Volunteers carried out work last autumn to control the willow and birch scrub in the reedbeds. This prevents these thirsty trees taking hold and drying out the reedswamp. This year has seen more work than usual, with the replacement of 270m of boardwalk through the reedswamp area. The work was delayed due to Covid-19, but is now complete, thanks to support from SUEZ Communities Trust, National Lottery Heritage Fund, Catherine Cookson Charitable Trust, John Spedan Lewis Foundation, Tyne & Wear Community Foundation, and Gateshead Council.

thick with briars and overgrown vegetation, but over the course of six days in November, Trust staff cut it all back to reveal a grassland that looks rich and varied with flowering plants. Along with the flowers, this work benefits the dingy skipper butterfly, which is present but needs birdsfoot trefoil (a plant this work has benefitted) as its larval food plant. From the sidings, it is only a short walk along the footpath beside the railway to arrive at Shibdon Meadow. Various sluices, scrapes, and ditches here, allow water levels to be raised and lowered to benefit wading birds, like curlew, who like to probe the soft mud for food. Positioned next to the River Tyne, the site is best visited at high tide when birds are forced off the mudflats onto adjacent ground, to either continue feeding or to roost. A second phase of wetland creation works was completed at Shibdon Meadow in December, which has further enhanced the habitat for waders by creating a new wet area for them to feed in. Funding from Highways England made this possible. A large part of the management is achieved through conservation grazing. To protect livestock, several weeks in the summer were spent removing ragwort, which is toxic to horses if eaten. New fencing was also constructed that will keep the horses away from the main viewing area on the site. Work over the coming months will complete access and add information boards to the site. On reflection, despite the challenges of 2020, it was a very busy year for the Shibdon sites. So, if you haven’t visited recently, once we are out of lockdown, be sure to pay them a visit. They are rare places tucked amongst an urban setting where you never know what you may see.

Within the wider Shibdon site lies a former landfill area, and the grassland on the railway sidings, beneath the pylons in the shadow of the A1 flyover to the north. Thanks to funding from Highways England, the Trust has carried out work on both this year – clearing encroaching blackthorn on the landfill grassland and transforming the sidings area. This was Right: Treecreeper at Shibdon Meadow

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CONSERVATION

Kirsty Pollard Naturally Native Project Manager

The North East is putting its wellies down and saying “No” to water vole disappearance. By Kirsty Pollard

he Naturally Native Team has started urgent work to reverse the damage caused to water vole populations in the North East. Destruction, poor management, and neglect of habitat, alongside the introduction of non-native American mink, have resulted in a loss of more than 90% of water voles since the 1970s. Despite this drastic loss, there is hope. Other regions of the UK have seen populations undergo a staggering recovery, through efforts simultaneously addressing both the main causes of decline. Durham Wildlife Trust is spearheading the Naturally Native partnership, with Tees Valley and Northumberland Wildlife Trusts, operating on a truly landscape-scale across the entire catchments of the Tees, Wear, and Tyne. With thanks to the players of the National Lottery, we have the opportunity to not only allow water vole populations to recover, but to ensure they become robust enough to survive whatever the future may bring, including the impact of climate change. Throughout the spring and summer months, the Project Team will be monitoring existing water vole populations, and surveying sites which have evidence of historic water vole populations. For more information visit: durhamwt.com/naturally-native 10 | WILDLIFE DURHAM SPRING 2021

The decline of water voles in our lifetimes has been truly shocking. So the opportunity to be involved in an ambitious, landscape-scale conservation effort, aimed at halting this decline and allowing water voles to recolonise parts of their former range in the North East, is very exciting. Working with local communities will be critical to our success, so I am pleased this is an integral part of the Naturally Native Project. Elliot Lea

Naturally Native Project Officer

If you are interested in volunteering to survey for water voles, please contact Elliot, elea@durhamwt.co.uk.

It feels like a new dawn for the North East’s water voles, as vital work begins to reverse the pattern of decline, and allows this enigmatic mammal to, once again, flourish on our ponds, streams and riverbanks.

CONSERVATION

Healing Nature

Phill Catton

Healing Nature Project Manager

– a response to the Green Recovery Challenge By Phill Catton

iven how besieged wildlife and the natural environment is, by the relentless and multifaceted assault of modern life, it is perhaps bold to name a project ‘Healing Nature’. The problems are well understood. Centuries of habitat loss, land-use change, persecution, and pollution, have impoverished nature in the UK, and climate change and the impact of invasive non-native species, places further pressure on our wildlife. The 2019 State of Nature report highlighted that 15% of assessed UK species are currently threatened with extinction and, from an already diminished 1970 baseline, 41% of the 696 terrestrial and freshwater indicator species have declined in abundance – only 26% have increased, with the remaining 33% showing little change. The silver lining is that while the problems are substantial, they are not insurmountable. The solutions may be difficult, but with decisive action now, they are achievable. In September 2020, the Government announced a £40m Green Recovery Challenge Fund to support environmental charities in delivering nature conservation and restoration, enhancing ecosystem services, and connecting people with nature. Oversubscribed to the tune of £169m, allocations were intensely competitive. We are particularly thrilled and proud that our bid, for Healing Nature, was successful in securing £407,300. Formally commencing in January of this year, the project is ambitious in both its scale and pace of delivery. Over 15 months, the Trust and our partners will carry out habitat management work on 20 local wildlife sites and neighbouring areas, to benefit regionally-important flora and fauna. Including the dingy skipper butterfly, skylark, water vole, otter, and breeding and wintering wading bird populations. The sites, belonging to Gateshead, South Tyneside, and Sunderland Councils (who are also contributing an additional £69,500 to the project), will contribute to a wider nature network – helping to connect habitats important for wildlife across the region, and support our ‘30 by 30’ objective to secure protection and restoration for at least 30% of our land and sea by 2030. By the end of the project in 2022, work will have been undertaken to create and restore flower-rich grasslands; plant and manage hedgerows and broadleaf woodlands; enhance habitats like fens and ponds; and establish the necessary infrastructure and management to maintain these areas going forward. To help us achieve this, we will be taking on four trainees (two at a time, each for seven

months) who will gain skills, knowledge and experience in practical conservation and land management. The legacy of the project will not only be the improved condition that the sites are left in, but, importantly, we will be looking to secure their future by enthusing the local communities about these oases for wildlife that are on their doorstep. Every one of the sites is within 100m of an urban area, and at least 30 schools have been identified nearby, meaning there is enormous potential to engage with people through a programme of walks, talks, activities, and educational events. In total, we will be delivering 87 public events, 16 online talks, and engaging 1,800 school children, as well as running four practical conservation volunteering days per week. Success is about people being more aware and connected with nature, experiencing improved wellbeing, having pride and custodianship for their local sites, and being active supporters and voices for nature and its conservation. So, Healing Nature – a bold name for a project? Perhaps. But not too bold. It is what we must aspire to achieve, and it is within our grasp if we all seek to make a difference where we are able. Stay up to date on the Healing Nature project: durhamwt.com/healing-nature The Healing Nature sites are: Gateshead: Beggar’s Wood, The Folly, Shibdon West, Chopwell East Fields, Chopwell Meadow South Tyneside: River Don Saltmarsh, Church Bank & Straker Street, Cemetery Road, Inverness Road, Colliery Wood & Boldon Railway Line Sunderland: Barmston Pond, Children’s Forest, Grindon Sandhills, South Hylton Dene, Elemore Vale, Elemore Golf Course, Hetton Lyons Country Park, Copt Hill and the Seven Sisters, Rough Drive, Warden Law Quarry

WILDLIFE DURHAM SPRING 2021 | 11

NEWS

New Den at Low Barns Nature Reserve

A winning team effort Everyone at Durham Wildlife Trust was delighted when the Trust was announced as the winner of the North East Charity Awards ‘Uniquely North East’ category. The announcement was made at a virtual awards ceremony held in December last year. Operations Development Manager, Zoe Hull, commented: “We were shortlisted, against some tough competition, for the huge efforts our team made to connect people across the region with nature, during a difficult year. To be named winners was recognition of all that hard work for our small, but dedicated team, and it really was a fantastic morale boost for everyone involved.”

Continuing our work to provide more opportunities to discover and learn about wildlife, we are excited to announce that a new ‘den’ will be built, this spring, at Low Barns. The den, sited next to Marston Lake near the Centre, will be an important base for activity with schools and Wildlife Watch, as well as other visitors to Low Barns. With fantastic views across the water and floor-to-ceiling glass, the hide will be a place to learn about and enjoy wildlife. Alongside this, the nearby viewing tower will be having a makeover, and becoming a wildlife hotel, with bird, bat, and bee boxes, to show what we can all do to encourage wildlife into our gardens. This work is made possible thanks to the Weardale Area Action Partnership, who generously supported us during the re-development of the Visitor Centre in 2019.

Picture perfect The Covid-19 pandemic has made life difficult for all of us, including local volunteers and Wildlife Groups. While the Washington Wildlife Group has not been able to meet indoors for more than a year, they have kept busy undertaking surveys, doing practical conservation work at a local school, and running online meetings. To keep interest in the group going, they also ran a wildlife photography competition for images taken from April 2020 onwards, within the Washington New Town area. The winning entry (pictured below) features an orange tip butterfly and was taken by Ian Cole.

Winter fuel campaign Thank you to everyone who donated to our Winter Fuel campaign, which raised £1000 and is a real boost for the Trust, and wildlife, over the winter months. Winter fuel allowance payments are automatically paid by the government but, thankfully, not everyone needs them to support additional heating costs over winter. By gifting payments to Durham Wildlife Trust, donors are putting the money to good use to support wildlife and give back to the environment. Donations will be used to support the planting of fruit trees at Rainton Meadows, which will provide spring nectar and autumn fruit – important food sources for wildlife.

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Your donations make a real difference!

NEWS

£7 appeal generates an additional £7,000 per year for nature conservation from Tees to Tyne It costs Durham Wildlife Trust an average of £7 per month to manage an acre of land for wildlife. In our appeal letter in the winter magazine, we asked you, our members, to protect an extra acre, and if you could increase your regular contribution to the Trust. At the time of writing, more than 230 of you have very kindly increased your gift to wildlife and, as a result, the Trust will receive an extra £7,000 each year – with even more, thanks to Gift Aid. Membership Development Officer, Emily Routledge, said: “We understand this is a difficult time for many people, so the generosity of response has been overwhelming, and comes at a critical time for our natural world. “Because of the support of its members, the Trust can be more ambitious – increasing the number of nature reserves in our care; undertaking much larger habitat restoration projects; and connecting more children and adults with the natural world.”

A Gift for Wildlife

Leaving a gift in your Will, whatever the size, can help to protect the wild places you love, and help Durham Wildlife Trust restore nature from the Tees to the Tyne. Having an up-to-date Will gives you and your family peace of mind to know that all your affairs are in order. Durham Wildlife Trust is working as a partner charity with Guardian Angel, who offer online Will writing and bereavement services. Their online Will service is safe, secure, and fully endorsed by legal professionals, and can be done from the comfort of your own home, jargon-free. Through our partnership with Guardian Angel, you can write your will for free. To find out more visit www.durhamwt.com/ legacy and follow the Guardian Angel link. There is no obligation to leave a gift to Durham Wildlife Trust. However if you are able to consider it, once all your loved ones are cared for, you will be helping to protect local wildlife. For more information please contact Anne Gladwin at agladwin@durhamwt.co.uk

If you would like to discuss your donation to Durham Wildlife Trust, please contact Emily Routledge on 0191 584 3112, or membership@durhamwt.co.uk

Running wild

Members of the Trust team took on a running challenge – with a wild twist – on the run-up to Christmas last year. Membership Development Officer, Emily Routledge, Communications Officer, Kate English and Wilderness Ranger, Rachel Richards, took part in the December Great Run Solo challenge – a virtual event designed to help charities after the cancellation of so many key fundraising events in 2020. The running trio were delighted to raise more than £800 for their efforts. Kate, who completed her runs alongside Emily around the Trust’s nature reserves, said: “In total, we completed 12 runs across 16 nature reserves, and covered more than 36 miles. Our running shoes had certainly seen better days by the end of it all, but the generous donations from our supporters made it all worthwhile. We’d like to thank everyone who supported us.”

Kate (left) and Emily at Blackhall Rocks Nature Reserve

The Trust has a number of charity places left for the 2021 Great North Run. Numbers are allocated on a first come, first served basis, and priority will be given to members. For more information contact: challenge@durhamwt.co.uk WILDLIFE DURHAM SPRING 2021 | 13

NATIONAL NEWS

Wildlife Trusts welcome new president

Discover how The Wildlife Trusts are 1 helping wildlife across the UK

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

UK HIGHLIGHTS

1 A dam good job

presenter, Cel Spellman; actor and podcaster, David Oakes; and professor of biology and bumblebee expert, Dave Goulson.

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 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.

Neonicotinoids are a threat to bees and other pollinators

Bad news for bees The Government has agreed to authorise the use of the highly damaging neonicotinoid thiamethoxam for the treatment of sugar beet seed in 2021. The Wildlife Trusts strongly oppose this decision. In 2018, the UK Government supported restrictions on the neonicotinoid pesticides across the European Union due to the very clear harm that they were causing to bees and other wildlife. The neonicotinoid will be applied by “seed-dressing”, which results in only 5% of the pesticide going into the crop. The rest accumulates in the soil, from where it can be absorbed by the roots of wildflowers and hedgerow plants, or can leach into rivers and streams. To find out more, take a look at our Wild LIVE episode on the use of neonicotinoids wildlifetrusts.org/wild-live 14 | WILDLIFE DURHAM SPRING 2021

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.

YOUR STORIES

What does wildlife mean to you?

A Journey with Wildlife

The peaceful sabbatical I’d long anticipated was engulfed in a storm of emotions that I seemed unable to process. My father’s death the year before, a very new relationship that was denting my settled singleness and the painful breakdown of others, all played havoc with my mind. Nonetheless, I packed a rucksack and set off one windy May morning from St David’s Head in Pembrokeshire, carrying a tent and a bare minimum of other kit. I walked east, across South Wales, through Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire – and over the course of five weeks, back to my home in London.

To celebrate our 50th Anniversary, we asked you to share your stories that show your love of wildlife and how nature has shaped, or even changed, your life. Each of the stories you submitted was entitled ‘How wildlife changed my life.’ The stories submitted were moving and inspiring, while many of them focused on the positive effect being outdoors and engaging with wildlife has on our health and well-being. We had some wonderful stories from members of all ages, so thanks so much to everyone who submitted an entry. The standard was really high and the panel of judges enjoyed reading all of them. Our first runner up was: Mike Watson who receives a £25 book token and coveted Golden Badger Badge Our second runner up was: Noel Jackson who also receives a £25 book token and coveted Golden Badger Badge

Our winning story was from Daniel Rutland. The judges chose it because they loved the descriptive nature of the piece. Daniel receives a £50 book token and you can read his short story here.

Stunned by the beauty of the unfolding landscapes, internally I was as lost as I sometimes found myself in reality; wandering in remote places where paths marked on the map bore little relation to what was actually before me. All I could do was put one foot in front of the other; that at least I could understand. Gradually the daily rhythm of walking, obtaining food and water, and searching out a place to camp, became habit, and I was often too tired to think of much else. The jumbled contents of my head consumed me less than the weather, the state of my feet, the weight of my pack. I slept on the ground, or at least level with it, and went to bed with the sun. I foraged edible plants to supplement what I could buy, washed in rivers and became more aware of geology than I had ever consciously been before. In the absence of human company, I felt very close to the many creatures, equally occupied with their bodily needs, whose habitations I passed through. Cuckoo calls echoed in the woods, and the gruff barks of ravens in the hills. I drifted asleep to the cries of a hunting tawny owl and was woken by a thrush in full song. I glimpsed the dark shape of an otter in the River Tywi at dusk, and deer grazing nonchalantly in a Cotswold buttercup meadow. I disturbed a stoat with his half-dismembered catch, watched a fox and her cubs trotting beside an urban canal, and in the Forest of Dean even met a wild pig. If I sat still for any length of time, I became a temporary home-extension for all kinds of busy invertebrates. Resting at the side of a field one warm early summer afternoon, a little lost, I became aware of a movement: a hare was loping slowly along the line of the hedgerow towards me. Clearly, he hadn’t sensed me, because he was only a few metres away when he finally stopped. We both held ourselves completely still, but our eyes met. His, more surprised than fearful, were wide and dark in an exquisitely delicate face beneath huge ears. A long moment later he turned and bounded away, and I shouldered my pack and pushed on. Though my legs were weary, my heart skipped with lightness and gratitude.

Daniel Rutland WILDLIFE DURHAM SPRING 2021 | 15

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wildlifetrusts.org/30dayswild Images: young couple © Halfpoint/iStock; older couple © omgimages/iStock; mother and child © TeodorLazarev/shutterstock; woman with plant pot © iStock; elderly lady in wheelchair © Evie + Tom Photography.