wildlifematters Autumn 2016 No.21
NEWS FROM YOUR LOCAL WILDLIFE TRUST AND FROM AROUND THE UK
Winter visitors
Wintering birds migrate to sunny Hertfordshire 12
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NORMAN WEST
See the work that goes into our woodlands during the colder months 22
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Our Lemsford Springs’ green sandpipers have been busy birds 6
MANAGEMENT
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TO NORWAY
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>> NON-STOP FLIGHT >> WINTER WOODLAND
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Give the
gift of wildlife this Christmas
We have a brand new range of wildlife sponsorship gifts – order yours today! Help protect local wildlife by sponsoring one of our priority species this Christmas! For just £20 you will get a gift pack that includes a sponsorship certificate, beautiful colour photograph, fact cards and more!
Sponsor a little ringed plover
Sponsor a song thrush
Sponsor a hedgehog Sponsor a hedgehog and know that you are giving our prickly friends the chance to thrive in a mosaic of suitable local habitats!
Your gift will help to restore and conserve our local oak-hornbeam woodlands, which provide a home for this beautiful, musical bird.
Sponsor a small blue butterfly
Sponsor this small wading bird and know that you are contributing to the protection of its vital gravel habitats in the county.
Sponsoring a small blue butterfly will help the Trust to restore chalk grasslands, a habitat they depend on to survive.
Order yours today at:
hertswildlifetrust.org.uk/wildgifts
Sponsor a water vole Sponsoring a water vole will support us to continue our specialist species recovery programme and protect these furry creatures!
contents Autumn 2016
NEWS FROM YOUR LOCAL WILDLIFE TRUST AND FROM AROUND THE UK
LOCAL NEWS 5
Slimy Wrigglers Read about the ways we are supporting local eel migration
6
Green sandpiper tracking Find out about the cutting-edge technology tracking Herts birds
UK NEWS 8
Can the UK find a way? See what The Wildlife Trusts are doing following the EU Referendum
CONSERVATION
CONSERVATION 12
Winter woodland management
inter Visitors W Meet the birds that overwinter in Britain
MORE ON
MY WILD LIFE 14
My Wild Life Robert Law explains how his farm is helping to support local wildlife
DAYS OUT
RESERVE FOCUS 18
Tring Reservoirs Find out more about these West Herts reservoirs that support large populations of waterfowl
24
Nature’s Calendar Tim Hill highlights what rich wildlife the colder weather brings
MICRO HABITATS 26 The Nature of Christmas Find out how nature has influenced our Christmas traditions
HERTS & MIDDLESEX WILDLIFE TRUST Grebe House, St Michael’s Street, St Albans, Herts AL3 4SN 01727 858 901 info@hmwt.org www.hertswildlifetrust.org.uk
Spring 2017 issue copy deadline: 29 January 2017
Editorial Team Josh Kubale and Charlotte Hussey 01727 858901 x 240 josh.kubale@hmwt.org charlotte.hussey@hmwt.org Membership Alan Cotterell 01727 858901 x 234 alan.cotterell@hmwt.org
Registered Charity No: 239863 Registered in England: 816710 All rights reserved. No part may be reproduced without written permission from the editor. The publishers do not necessarily identify with or hold themselves responsible for the views expressed by contributors, correspondents or advertisers.
Design TU ink www.tuink.co.uk Printed on FSC © stock
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22
LOCAL NEWS
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Ian Watson, Friends of Stocker’s Lake, Simon Cocks, Affinity Water and Mike Master, HMWT
Nature reserves receive boost from new partnership The Trust has launched a new partnership project with Affinity Water aimed at improving important habitat for wildlife and increasing community engagement. The project focuses on two nature reserves – Stocker’s Lake and Hilfield Park Reservoir. The reserves, which are owned by Affinity Water and managed by the Trust, lie at the northern end of the Colne Valley Regional Park and are a significant habitat for wetland birds. Stocker’s Lake boasts the largest heron roost in the county whilst Hilfield Park Reservoir is a vital breeding site for rare black-necked grebes and is of national importance for its summer populations of
pochard, tufted duck and common tern. The project, which will run until 2020, will see a programme of habitat restoration and improvement works. In addition the Trust will recruit a new member of the team to lead guided walks, support community engagement and encourage those living near the reserves to learn more about their local wildlife and provide volunteering opportunities.
Festival of Wildlife and Apple Day PATRICIA RAYNER
Standing up for wildlife has never been more important and remains a high priority for the Trust. Our local wildlife is under increasing pressure and we have to do what we can to protect it. This year’s State of Nature Report showed some positive news with populations of species, such as the otter, recovering. The report also revealed greater partnership working between conservation organisations in response to the crisis that our wildlife is facing. Sadly though, the report underlines that many species and habitats are continuing to decline, such as the water vole, which we are still fortunate to have here in Herts and Middlesex. This year has also seen the decision to leave the EU, which presents challenges, but also new opportunity for a positive change for wildlife. We must ensure that species and habitats have robust protection – the concern is that much of this is currently through EU legislation. Leaving the EU also offers the chance to redesign the current agri-environment funding towards measures which give greater benefit to wildlife. Equally important is what is happening locally; we continue to advise planning authorities and developers on how they should take ecology into account and how such developments can have a net gain for wildlife. Additionally, we are still campaigning to ensure that High Speed Two reduces its detrimental impact on our Broadwater Lake Nature Reserve through appropriate mitigation. Standing up for wildlife is not just about what the Trust centrally can achieve though; please join us by speaking to your local and national politicians and urging them at this time of change to ensure there is a better future for wildlife. Thank you.
JOSH KUBALE
From the Chief Executive
Creating a passageway for Hertfordshire’s slimy wrigglers Together with support from Environment Agency and the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority, we have installed two new eel passes in the Lower River Lea to aid eel migration along from the River Thames.
CHARLOTTE HUSSEY
CHARLOTTE HUSSEY
The passes were installed on Holyfield Weir in the Lee Valley Regional Park and are intended to help address the dramatic decline in eel numbers in recent years. Over the past three decades global stocks of European eel have declined by 95% and they are classified as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List. It is believed that the dramatic decline in eel numbers is due to a number of factors including habitat loss, barriers to migration, parasites, pollution, over-fishing and climate change. The eel passes, which form part of HMWT’s larger ‘Slimy Wrigglers’ project to conserve and enhance eel numbers in Hertfordshire, allow eels to wriggle their way up a bristle lined box, to reach the other side of the 1.2 metre high weir.
Eel pass
CHARLOTTE HUSSEY
Our Living Rivers Officer, David Johnson, at Holyfield Weir
The 2016 Festival of Wildlife took place over the sunny weekend of 30/31 July at Tarmac’s beautiful Panshanger Park, near Hertford. The Festival, hosted in association with Herts Natural History Society, celebrated the rich diversity of wildlife in Hertfordshire and Middlesex. The weekend was a great success and saw 1,500 people enjoy walks, talks and activities led by experts from the Trust and the National History Society. On Sunday 9 October, the Trust enjoyed the fruits of Tewin Orchard at the annual Apple Day. Hundreds of people enjoyed the event at Tewin cricket club and were treated to home-made cakes, Tewin Orchard apple juice as well as guided orchard tours and children’s activities.
Friends of Tring Reservoir join Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust After over 20 years of dedicated conservation and public engagement, the Friends of Tring Reservoirs (FoTR) has decided to close as an independent charity and hand over its local responsibilities to HMWT.
FoTR was set up by a group of likeminded individuals to promote the conservation of Tring Reservoirs as a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The group has successfully fought against planning applications and activity proposals that would have had a hugely detrimental impact on the sites and their value to wildlife. FoTR were instrumental in establishing the Trust’s management of the nature reserves in 2012 and have regularly carried out practical conservation and public awareness activities, growing a membership of over 300 supporters. We look forward to welcoming the members of FoTR to the Trust, and will continue to appreciate their expertise and passion for the reservoirs as we work with site owners, Canal & River Trust, to care for and improve this special nature reserve. Read more about Tring Reservoirs on P18
Autumn 2016 wildlifematters 5
LOCAL NEWS
New satellite technology tracks Hertfordshire bird on non-stop flight to Norway A new GPS bird-tagging project has tracked a group of green sandpipers from our Lemsford Springs Nature Reserve to their breeding grounds; one all the way to Norway and back. This pioneering project is the first of its kind for this species and is leading the way on green sandpiper research in the UK. The small wading birds have been the subject of a long-term study for 33 years, led by Lemsford Springs Volunteer Reserve Warden, Barry Trevis, and local bird experts, Ken Smith and Mike Reed.
6 wildlifematters Autumn 2016
The team locally ringed birds – where an identifying band is placed on a bird’s leg for future identification before it is released – as well as colour-ringed the birds for even easier identification when
out in the field. The green sandpiper project is the longest running wader colour-ringing project in the UK. Until recent years, the team’s study has focussed on the birds’ wintering behaviour, feeding biology and the site fidelity of the Lemsford Springs’ birds. The results of these studies have previously been published in two scientific papers and shown that the birds spend up to 10 months a year on the reserve and near-by wetlands, many returning year after year. The advances in miniature tracking technology has allowed the team to somewhat
LUKE MASSEY
White-ongreen’s epic adventure… 26 April Lemsford Springs 28 April Store Saesoy 30 April Langfjorden 2 May Store Fiskloysan 15 July Lemsford Springs Norway Sweden United Kingdon
Each of the sandpipers have unique coloured rings on their legs to help identify them. This map shows the journey of one sandpiper – white-on-green – on its long journey to Norway.
complete the picture of the local green sandpipers’ year by establishing where the birds spend the few months when they are away from the reserve in order to breed. Green sandpipers usually migrate to northern and eastern Europe to breed, with just a few pairs recorded breeding in northern Scotland. Cutting edge GPS tags, weighing only a gram, were fitted to the local green sandpipers by Barry, Ken and Mike over the last four years to track where the birds go to breed. The micro-computers record the birds’ positions in the world down
to one metre accuracy at pre-set intervals during the breeding season. Lemsford Springs is a very special site for green sandpipers and has one of the highest densities of the species in the UK over winter. Last year the Trust carried out major restoration work on the cress bed areas of the reserve. Volunteers and Trust staff helped to re-gravel the cress beds and rake the cress. The cress beds form an important habitat for freshwater shrimp which are a vital source of food for green sandpipers and other wildlife.
26th April – Recorded at Lemsford Springs Nature Reserve 28th April – Arrives at Store Saesöy, an island off the coast of southern Norway, just two days later, indicating that it made a non-stop flight across the North Sea. 30 April – Tracked to Llangfjorden near Molde 2nd May – Reaches breeding grounds in northern Norway 15th July – Spotted back at Lemsford Springs 30th July – Barry Trevis recaptures the green sandpiper, removes the GPS tag and releases. White-on-green has been seen regularly on the lagoons since.
LUKE MASSEY
BA R
IS EV TR RY
Autumn 2016 wildlifematters 7
UK NEWS
Can the UK find a way?
Following the Leave vote, The Wildlife Trusts are challenging every MP to support nature’s recovery even more effectively than the EU did
It may not be an easy path but the decision to leave the EU is a chance to accelerate progress towards nature’s recovery The Wildlife Trusts are using the UK’s vote to leave the EU as an opportunity to press the Government to be more ambitious about the future of our natural world. We are asking every MP to pledge support for three key asks: • Reform society’s investment in land management so that it protects our life support systems. • Sustain the effort to establish a network of Marine Protected Areas and bring about sustainable fishing. • Recognise the need for wildlife laws and set even higher environmental standards for the future. “Success in these three areas is vital not just for wildlife, but for our health, wellbeing and economic security, and that of future generations,” said Joan Edwards, Head of Living Seas at The Wildlife Trusts. “Even before the Leave vote we needed more positive planning for nature’s 8 wildlifematters Autumn 2016
We are asking every MP to pledge support
Life support systems
We want a new Integrated Environment and Agriculture Policy which pays farmers and landowners for the things recovery, rather than just protecting the we all need, such as helping to manage best of what was left. Our challenge is to flooding, cleaning up our water supplies build and improve on the benefits that as well as increasing wildlife and having EU membership brought wildlife. beautiful landscapes for us all to enjoy. “The seismic change facing the UK “This is not a polarised debate must be used ambitiously. It must between the need for food prevent any further losses; and the need for a healthy recover and reconnect THE environment,” said Steve wildlife and wild places; WAY AHE A D Trotter, Director of The and recognise the vital We want to see an Wildlife Trusts for England. role that our natural integrated environme “The two outcomes are world plays in our ntal and agricu ltural policy interconnected, and we economy, health and – good for w ildlife need both of them to work wellbeing.” and people well. We all have a stake in achieving the best outcomes Has your MP pledged? Check for all involved.” on http://tinyurl.com/h642uxw
To turn around decades of decline in the health of our seas and enable their recovery, The Wildlife Trusts want to see a strong, ecologically coherent network of Marine Protected Areas. We believe that the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy provides some strong measures, especially moving towards sustainable levels of fishing; banning the discarding of ‘unwanted’ fish; and linking fisheries and marine conservation targets. At the very least, these good parts of the Common Fisheries THE Policy must be WAY AHE AD maintained in any Keep the b est of the future agreements EU legislati on, and and future UK complete th e UK’s legislation. network o f MPAs
We will persuade all stakeholders that healthy fish stocks live in healthy seas
Strong wildlife laws
Environment Secretary Andrea Leadsom meets with The Wildlife Trusts
THE WAY AHE AD
FIONA GILSENAN
The EU has some of If we get th the most extensive is rig we will beco ht environmental me world lead legislation in the ers in environme world, protecting ntal protection vital wildlife and wild places on land and at sea, and improving member states’ approach to natural resource management. “It is vital that the UK continues to benefit from equally robust laws,” said Steve Trotter. “In fact, this is not just a chance to ensure existing laws are better implemented. A visionary approach can enhance our towns, cities, countryside and seas. This is an opportunity to build an overwhelming case for a sustainable future.”
Autumn 2016 wildlifematters 9
TUREPL.COM DAN BURTON/NA
EARLY PURPLE ORCHIDS, BYRLIP WOOD: DAVID CHAPMAN
Marine Protected Areas
UK NEWS
The State Of Nature It’s not too late to save UK nature but we must act now – that is the conclusion from a coalition of more than 50 leading wildlife and research organisations behind the State of Nature 2016 report. Following on from the groundbreaking State of Nature report in 2013, leading professionals from 53 wildlife organisations have pooled expertise and knowledge to present the clearest picture to date of the status of our native species across land and sea. The report reveals that over half (56%) of UK species studied have declined since 1970, while more than one in ten (1,199 species) of the nearly 8,000 species assessed in the UK are under threat of disappearing from our shores altogether. There are many inspiring examples of conservation action that is helping to turn the tide. From pioneering science that has revealed for the first time the reasons why nature is changing in the UK, to conservation work – such as the reintroductions of the pine marten and large blue butterfly and the restoration of areas of our uplands, meadows and coastal habitats. But more is needed to put nature back where it belongs. In order to reduce the impact we are having on our wildlife, and to help struggling species, we needed to understand what’s causing these declines. Using evidence from the last 50 years, experts have identified that significant and ongoing changes in agricultural practices are having the single biggest impact on nature. The widespread decline of nature in the UK remains a serious problem to this day. For the first time scientists
have uncovered how wildlife has fared in recent years. The report reveals that since 2002 more than half (53%) of UK species studied have declined and there is little evidence to suggest that the rate of loss is slowing down. Mark Eaton, lead author on the report, said: “Never before have we known this much about the state of UK nature and the threats it is facing. Since the 2013 report, the partnership and many landowners have used this knowledge to underpin some amazing scientific and conservation work. But more is needed to put nature back where it belongs – we must continue to work to help restore our land and sea for wildlife. “Of course, this report wouldn’t have been possible without the army
The report at a glance ...
53
wildlife organisations pooled knowledge and expertise to produce it
1,199 53% of the 8,000 species studied are at risk of extinction
10 wildlifematters Autumn 2016
of the 8,000 UK species studied have declined since 2002
of dedicated volunteers who brave all conditions to survey the UK’s wildlife. Knowledge is the most essential tool that a conservationist can have, and without their efforts, our knowledge would be significantly poorer.” As the UK Government and devolved administrations move forward in the light of the EU Referendum result, there is an opportunity to secure world-leading protection for our species and restoration of our nature. Now is the time to make ambitious decisions and significant investment in nature to ensure year-on-year improvement to the health and protection of the UK’s nature and environment for future generations.
Norfolk Wildlife Trust is 90 In 1926, one visionary purchase began the county Wildlife Trusts movement In March 1926, a group of local people led by Dr Sydney Long bought 435 acres of marsh at Cley in Norfolk. The marsh was famous for its bird life, and the group agreed to create a trust and give the marshes to it, to be preserved, in Dr Long’s words, “as a bird-breeding sanctuary for all time.” The Norfolk Naturalists Trust came into being on 5 November 1926. Today, it is Norfolk Wildlife Trust. Not only were Cley’s habitats and wildlife preserved; the foundation of the trust was the start of the county Wildlife Trusts movement.
Dr Long’s group continued purchasing important sites for wildlife and people. Today, the Trust owns and cares for more than 50. “This group was not afraid to take big risks to achieve their goals,” says the Trust’s Chief Executive, Brendan Joyce. “I feel passionately that Norfolk Wildlife Trust should always push on. “2016 has been a fantastic year for us: celebrating what has been achieved but looking forward to what still must be done in Norfolk and also with our fellow Trusts across the UK.” More on wildat90.org.uk The 1926 bill of sale for Cley Marshes, the Trust’s first nature reserve
Cley marshes nature reserve today
The Secretary of State with farmer, David Banner
FIONA GILSENAN
Worcestershire Wildlife Trust is running a five-year pollinator project with more than 20 farmers. Each farm undertakes a pollinator health check and shares best practice on improving land for native wild pollinators. “This is a great opportunity for farmers to get together through study days, site visits and training events to talk about changes they can make, or have made, that complement the different practices of each individual farm,” said the Trust’s Caroline Corsie. “They work together to establish what pollinators are on their farms and how they can help increase their numbers.” The project is funded from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development through Natural England’s Countryside Stewardship Scheme’s Facilitation Fund.
Proud farmer Jonathan Boaz standing in his three year-old nectar/pollen margin
Minister backs nature-friendly farm
CAROLINE CORSIE
Bee friendly farmers
ANDI SAPEY
A bird-breeding sanctuary for all time
The Rt Hon Andrea Leadsom MP visited Dovecote Farm in Northants in October where the local Wildlife Trust has helped inspire a farmer to revert arable land to wildflower meadows. Mrs Leadsom said: “We’re working with farmers and environmental organisations to learn from their expertise and develop an ambitious plan setting out a new approach to managing our environment to bring about even more successes like this.” Autumn 2016 wildlifematters 11
CONSERVATION Redwing
Winter visitors We may think of our winters as cold, but some species come to the UK over the winter for the warm weather! In the autumn, many migrant birds arrive in the UK from colder climes. Charlotte Hussey looks at some of the species that visit Hertfordshire and Middlesex over the winter
S
ome sedentary birds never move far from where they fledged. Many others though, up to 50% of UK birds, will migrate for the winter to much warmer areas, or arrive here for the winter to escape the cold. Some, such as swallows, breed in Europe and fly to much warmer climates in Africa, but some will find the UK temperate enough to overwinter if they are born in much colder places such as Scandanavia or Eastern Europe. Birds migrate for a number of reasons with the top two being food
Golden-plover
12 wildlifematters Autumn 2016
and breeding. Food becomes scarcer when temperatures grow cooler and other regions offer increasing insect populations that birds depend on for survival. Different birds require different environments for breeding, with warmer climates needed for those that usually live in the Arctic and cooler areas being advantageous for those that live in the hottest tropics. Local wintering birds Hertfordshire and Middlesex is a great place to see visitors from colder shores.
Lapwing
Which reserves to visit this winter
Amwell is a former gravel pit in the Lee Valley, near Ware. It supports internationally important numbers of wintering wildfowl, along with outstanding communities of breeding birds. One of the best birdwatching spots in southern England, Tring Reservoirs, has a diverse range of birdlife to spot.
TIM HILL
GEORGE MCCARTHY
Visit one of the oldest gravel pits in the Colne Valley, Stocker’s Lake, for nationally important numbers of wintering birds including goldeneye and smew. Over 60 species of breeding birds have been recorded here and the heronry is the largest in the county.
hear them singing to re-establish territories and warn off intruders. If you visit our wetland reserves, you can spot large populations of visiting waterfowl including goldeneye from northern Europe, wigeon from Iceland and Russia and, if it’s cold enough, smew from Scandinavia. You will also be able to spot resident birds such as goosanda, lapwing and golden plovers, whose distinctive gold and black plumage is replaced by buff and white colouring in winter. Roving flocks Whilst winter is a great time to see migrating birds, you can also spot native birds adapting their behaviour to thrive in the changing seasons. While bird song generally quietens down outside of the summer breeding, over the autumn and winter months many birds will group together in a roving flock. Members of the tit family in particular will do this, moving through feeding grounds in noisy flocks. There is safety in numbers as the protection of the leafy canopy reduces and birds can share the benefit of those who know the best sites for food. Flocks can vary from 10 birds to over 100 in exceptional circumstances. Locally you could expect to see blue, great, coal, long-tailed and marsh tits in such a group. Other species also join the group and you may see the treecreeper, nuthatch, goldcrest, blackcap, chiffchaff or even firecrest.
Robin
TIM HILL
MARGARET HOLLAND
Redwings can be found feeding in fields and hedgerows, only venturing into gardens when it is very cold, and fieldfares can be seen flocking in groups of a dozen to several hundred. Both can be heard on clear, starry nights. If it is particularly cold you may spot a brambling in beech woodland where it joins flocks of chaffinches. British favourite, the robin, is vocal all year round and over winter you can
Autumn 2016 wildlifematters 13
MY WILD LIFE
My Wild Life
Robert Law is a farmer and owner of Thrift Farm in Royston, a farm that has worked with Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust to help ensure that his farm is benefiting wildlife. Recently, Robert has been working with the Trust as part of the Jordan’s Farm Partnership. Here he tells us what that means and how it is helping wildlife…
Robert, what is the Jordans Farm Partnership? The Jordans Farm Partnership is a new and unique collaboration involving The Wildlife Trusts, Linking Environment And Farming (LEAF) and Jordans cereals. The Partnership will promote sustainable farming practices and address rural development issues through The Prince’s Countryside Fund – it will create a new model for UK farm sustainability and set high standards for nature-friendly farming. And why was this partnership created? The Jordans Farm Partnership has been set up to address key issues facing rural communities today, including the decline in priority wildlife species of almost 67% since 1970, with significant reductions in insects and farmland birds; the requirement to produce more food to feed a growing population, balanced with 14 wildlifematters Autumn 2016
an equally important need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with agricultural output; and lastly to provide support for rural communities, many of which are struggling from social and economic changes. Fantastic – how did you get involved? I am one of eight farms in Hertfordshire that supply grain to the breakfast cereal brand, Jordans. There are 42 farms nationally that are embarking on this new model for sustainable farming and maintaining nature-friendly corridors on farmland – if placed end to end, they would reach from Land’s End to John O’Groats. Together, the farms in the Partnership manage over 44,500 acres of land. So how will you go about ensuring your part in the partnership? I have been working with Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust for many
Wildflowers in field margins at Thrift Farm
years now and following the Jordans Farm Partnership, the Trust are working with me to develop a management plan for the farm – the farms in the Jordans Farm Partnership are committed to supporting wildlife on at least 10% of their land and a wide variety of measures will be undertaken to protect water and soil. How is the Prince’s Countryside Fund involved? Through the partnership, Jordans will develop its longstanding relationship with The Prince’s Countryside Fund. The Fund is a charity which seeks
What sort of things will you be doing to protect wildlife? The land set aside for supporting wildlife will continue to be managed to provide food for farmland birds, pollen and nectar for bees, butterflies and pollinating insects. Landscapescale wildlife corridors will be sustained,with dedicated habitats, such as ponds and hedgerow highways, for species of significance in the local area.
ALL IMAGES: JOSH KUBALE
to secure a brighter future for the British countryside and the people that live and work in our rural communities. The Prince’s Countryside Fund has invested over £6.7m supporting over 210,000 people in rural areas across the UK, including support for many young people who want to enter farming as a career by creating access to training and apprenticeship opportunities. Jordans contributes to The Prince’s Countryside Fund and will continue to work through them to address rural development issues as part of the Partnership.
Lastly, what does being a part of the Jordans Farm Partnership mean to you? The Jordans Farm Partnership is very exciting for me. I am passionate about conserving wildlife and already work to protect local wildlife that could be supported by Thrift Farm. To receive further support from Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust is fantastic and means we can work together to really make a tangible difference in protecting our nature. Autumn 2016 wildlifematters 15
YOUR WILDLIFE TRUST
Thank you The Trust has received a legacy from John Michael Fortnum Rogers who kindly remembered us, as well as other Wildlife Trusts and environmental charities, in his will. Mr Rogers was a long-standing member of the Trust for over 28 years, as well as a regular Green Team volunteer. It was very thoughtful of him to have remembered our work in this way, for which we are very grateful.
The Trust has also received kind donations in memory of the late Peter John Best, who was a member of the Trust for 15 years and hugely interested in wildlife; Brenda Bangle, who supported the Trust as a member for 12 years and had a lifelong love of birds and other animals, as well as her menagerie of pets; and Christopher George Hurnell, who contributed to the Trust’s local conservation work for the past 5 years, along with his wife, through their joint membership. These thoughtful gifts will make
a real difference to our conservation work – by safeguarding our natural heritage we can ensure that the local wildlife, which Mr Rogers, Mr Best, Mrs Bangle and Mr Hurnell loved so much throughout their lives, is protected for future generations to enjoy. Our thanks and condolences go to their friends and family. Legacies and donations made in this special way make a valued contribution to our work safeguarding local wildlife and their habitats, thank you.
STAYING IN TOUCH
The Grove show their support ‘fore’ wildlife
Do we have your email address? We currently have addresses for about a third of our members. If you have an email address, and you are happy for us to communicate with you, we would love to send you the Trust’s monthly e-newsletter and other updates. Email is a cost effective way for us to let you know what’s happening with wildlife in our area.
Thanks and welcome to local hotel, spa and golf resort, The Grove, that has joined the Wildlife Trust as a Gold Corporate Member. Keen to encourage more wildlife to the already stunning Estate, The Grove and Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust are also working together to develop a management plan to look after and further enhance the fauna and flora in the various habitats across the entire site. By their very nature, golf courses are relatively large areas of countryside, much of which is made up of rougher, less
Corporates upgrade their support
Gift Aid If we claim gift aid on your membership, please help us to keep our records up to date by letting us know if you are no longer a UK tax payer. membership@hmwt.org
We’d love to hear from you. Get in touch with us at membership@hmwt.org 16 wildlifematters Autumn 2016
intensively-managed land. Managed sympathetically, these areas have huge potential to contribute to a Living Landscape. This doesn’t need to impact on the existing land use – it actually enhances it. In fact, wildlife and natural surroundings can make golf more enjoyable.
Affinity Water at Amwell
Our thanks go to longterm Trust supporter, Affinity Water, that has upgraded its corporate membership from silver to gold this year.
Mace Group at Rye Meads
The Trust fondly remembers: Jane Baldwin
Working for wildlife Our corporate supporters have been working hard for wildlife. We’ve had teams from Mace Group, Britvic and Affinity Water helping us tackle invasive Himalayan balsam at Rye Meads, Tewinbury and Amwell. We were also joined by two staff teams from Amgen that helped us with cutting and raking at Broadwater Lake in July and clearing bramble at Old Park Wood in September. In the coming months, we have many more corporate events scheduled, including Platinum Corporate Members, UK Power Networks and Bourne Leisure Group Plc, that will be working on our reserves at Tewin Orchard and Long Deans. Visit hertswildlifetrust.org.uk/workparty to organise a Working for Wildlife Day for your business team. Alternatively, contact Sarah Rutherford on 01727 858901 ext. 242 or email sarah.rutherford@ hmwt.org to discuss your requirements.
Volunteer Awards with the Trust please IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO VOLUNTEER visit our website or contact
Volunteers help us across all of our work; from practical work on our reserves volunteering and wider countryside, to @hmwt.org delivering community events and working in our St Albans Office. Last month we held our annual volunteer thank you evening to show how grateful we are to all our passionate and hardworking volunteers. Carol Newman, who supports our central office team, and Jon Fish, who volunteers on a number of our reserves – received this year’s volunteer awards in recognition of their outstanding contribution to the Trust’s work.
Jane was a hugely loyal supporter and volunteer with Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust (HMWT), her involvement goes back 40 years and includes serving on HMWT’s Council of Trustees. In recent years Jane had Jane receiving her volunteer award fro been our volunteer m Trust Chairman Mike M gardener at Grebe aster House. Jane was a brilliant wildlife gardener and her knowledge of plants and horticulture was encyclopaedic. Our beautiful garden, which Jane designed in 1994, has always been a popular attraction in Verulamium Park and she was always happy to share her knowledge with our many visitors. Jane was generous with her time and spent two mornings every week with us and the neighbouring Verulamium museum garden. She is hugely missed by all of us.
John Rogers
John had been an enthusiastic volunteer with the Trust and he is fondly remembered by many of the volunteers he worked with. John was an incredibly keen and knowledgeable amateur naturalist, his particular passion was arable weeds, and he did much to keep some species that had declined massively in our farmland landscape alive.
Bob Clark
Bob and his wife Jackie are long-standing members of the Trust and Bob was an active volunteer at Hertford Heath. Bob is fondly remembered for his can-do attitude and willingness to help. He often came to working parties in his trusty Land Rover, which was sometimes very useful particularly in the days before the Trust had any such vehicle.
Autumn 2016 wildlifematters 17
RESERVE FOCUS
PAUL THRUSH
Tring Reservoirs
Tring Reservoirs, in the west of Hertfordshire, boast a diverse range of wildfowl and other wildlife. Originally built to serve the canal system, the reservoirs have become one of the best birdwatching spots in southern England.
Reserves round up Ashwell Quarry – the late-summer programme of cutting and raking at this reserve has been completed. This will help ensure that this chalk grassland will be abundant with wildflowers and butterflies in the summer. Frogmore Meadow – as part of our
18 wildlifematters Autumn 2016
Tesco Bags of Help grant, we’ve been busy improving the fencing at the reserve to allow us to graze cattle there. We will also be installing new interpretation boards there in the early spring. Lemsford Springs – we’ve been improving visitor access to the reserve by upgrading walkways and footbridges,
T
ring Reservoirs is comprised of four individual reservoirs; Startops, Marsworth and Tringford reservoirs are all close together but separated by paths and roads and Wilstone Reservoir is a short distance to the west of the other three. The reservoirs were created to feed the Grand Union Canal, which runs from London to Birmingham. The water in the reservoirs is needed to replace the 200,000 litres of water which are displaced every time a canal boat moves through a lock. Tring Reservoirs are a Site of Special Scientific Interest due to their situation on the lower chalk at the foot of the Chilterns escarpment; water bodies here are rare. The reservoirs show typical characteristics of shallow marl lakes, support diverse communities of plants and animals, and represent an important area of breeding, passage and wintering birds and invertebrate communities. Winter wildlife The reservoirs support a wealth of wildlife and, being a wetland habitat, birds have a natural stronghold here. Now is the time to see a large number of wintering wildfowl across all four reservoirs, including tufted duck, pochard, teal, gadwall, wigeon and shoveler with occasional goldeneye, goosander and smew if it is very cold. In recent years rarer birds have also made an appearance, including the Bonaparte’s gull and red footed falcon (appearing in the spring on passage). Wilstone Reservoir was made famous by the first nesting in this country of black-necked grebes in 1918 and also boasts the rare mudwort plant that can be spotted on the mudflats during autumn months as the waters recede.
all as part of our Tesco Bags of Help grant. We will also be re-gravelling parts of the lagoon at the end of winter. Longspring Wood – our programme of winter woodland management has begun by clearing areas of holly. This will allow more light through and will improve the bluebell display in the spring.
KEEP UT YE O AN Eur May 2017 K o ...for WAL Y B HOBin the next ild! Go W
Marsworth reedbed
ANDREW
MORFFEW
Goldcrest
JOSH KUBALE
The reserve attracts breeding common terns which use rafts that the Trust has installed and we have also had breeding oystercatchers in past years. Between December and February, Marsworth Reservoir is a great place to see overwintering bitterns, as this site has a fantastic reedbed that retains its water to allow the birds to feed throughout the season.
Spring wildlife If you choose to visit the reservoirs during late spring when it starts to warm up then you may spot a hobby – an African migrant bird that is best seen on warm summer days at the end of May when there is plenty of prey around. You can also occasionally hear the call of the cuckoo, especially from the back of the reedbed at Wilstone or Marsworth where you should also be able to hear and see reed warblers. There is a heronry – a place where herons gather together over many generations for nesting and raising young – on the bank of Wilstone reservoir and if you take a field scope or good pair of binoculars you should be able to catch a glimpse of these usually solitary birds in large numbers. Visit our reserves in April when nests are usually still visible before the opening of tree leaves cover them up.
Tring ringing Tring Ringing Group conduct bird ringing across two sites at Tring Reservoirs with the support of the Trust. The ringing sites at Tring are among the longest running in the country and the data collected contributes to the national figures on the abundance, productivity and longevity of breeding birds in the UK. The ringing group monitor local populations of birds that rely on reservoirs but often record visitors from further afield; in August 2015 the group trapped a marsh warbler with a French ring. The bird had been originally ringed in August 2014 in the south-east of France near the Swiss and German borders. October 2015 saw a big influx of goldcrests across the country from Scandinavia and beyond, the group caught two already bearing rings at Marsworth: one that had been ringed on the coast of Norway 11 days earlier (865kms) and one that had been ringed on Flamborough Head in October 2014.
DATES OF TRING WALKS Join us at one of our events at Tring Reservoirs this winter: 27th December – Guided walk 11th January – Bittern roost watch 12th February – Guided walk Book your spot online today!
Visit our website to find out more about Tring Reservoirs and plan your visit: hertswildlifetrust.org.uk
Stocker’s Lake and Hilfield Park Reservoir – as part of the new project with Affinity Water we’re writing a new management plan for these sites and recruiting a new member of the team to lead community engagement. << Management of Longspring Wood aims to encourage bluebells next spring
Thorley Wash – following six years of restoration work, the reserve’s Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) status has been upgraded from ‘unfavourable, declining’ to ’favourable’ by Natural England. The change in SSSI status shows the positive impact of conservation management introduced by the Trust.
Autumn 2016 wildlifematters 19
SOCIAL MEDIA
Tweets from the field... Social media highlights from the summer T his green sandpiper was captured on camera by @tomray31 at Lemsford Springs Nature Reserve. Find out more about our Lemsford green sandpipers on pages 6-7
@grahamC57 took this photo of a ruddy darter dragonfly at Amwell at the end of September. The warm weather kept our dragonfly trail busy and open longer than usual this year!
D ylan Cook-Essex snapped this hedgehog in his garden in Hitchin!
B arry Stockwell, our Willowmead volunteer warden, spotted this fantastic tiger moth on the reserve
O ur grazing konik ponies at Rye Meads were seen by @oldbirder earlier this year. The ponies help maintain and increase the biodiversity of our reserve
We love seeing your pictures from our reserves and hearing about your wildlife experiences in Hertfordshire and Middlesex. Get involved with the conversation on Twitter @HMWTBadger or Facebook facebook.com/hertswildlifetrust.
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CONSERVATION
Signs of water voles along Hertfordshireâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s riverbanks thanks to you Thank you so much to everyone who has supported our latest appeal, helping us to raise the funds needed to restore and manage our local riverbanks for water voles. Thanks to your generosity, we raised over ÂŁ15,993 with Gift Aid. With the funding raised through the appeal, we can now continue surveying more of our riverbanks, looking for water vole feeding sites, their burrows, latrines and tracks. Our volunteers and Reserves
Officers have also undertaken the training needed to carry out specialist habitat management work on our wetland reserves this winter to restore and create the right conditions for our endangered voles. This habitat work will result in more of our local riverbanks with lush vegetation and stable banks for burrows to provide the food, shelter and cover our local water vole populations need to thrive and grow. Thanks again for all your support.
TOM MARSHALL
By donating to our appeal you played a direct role in helping to protect and increase the population of the endangered water voles in our area. Since our appeal was launched in May, we have been surveying our local riverbanks looking for evidence of water voles, including signs of our reintroduced residents spreading from Thorley Wash Nature Reserve. So far our monitoring has had positive results with signs of water voles found at Thorley and the south of the reserve too. This means that the new water vole community is thriving, and starting to successfully establish new colonies along the river tributaries.
Autumn 2016 wildlifematters 21
<<
CONSERVATION
A ride cut through Balls Wood Reserves Officer, Rob Hopkins, leads volunteer work parties to manage woodland throughout the winter
<<
Winter woodland mana As the days get colder and the evenings draw in, our Reserves Team are busy maintaining and improving our nature reserves. Reserves Officer, Andy Brown, tells us about all the work that goes into maintaining our woodlands in the winter months. 22 wildlifematters Autumn 2016
Why winter? Much of the work on our reserves has to be carried out during winter when wildlife is generally less active. You might notice woodland becoming wilder throughout the summer months, with paths becoming less defined. Birds nest throughout these months and butterflies, such as the white admiral, can be seen along woodland rides.
Hornbeams are
surprisingly one of the most dominant trees in Hertfordshire. These beautiful trees are quite rare in other counties.
always taken care of it itself in the past. In ancient woodland, the variety of light levels was often introduced naturally as mature trees were blown over, or as a result of excessive grazing by deer. Today the woodlands are managed by man and trees are removed to help manage the light levels.
Bramble is an excellent
feature in any woodland – it provides a source of nectar for insects and butterflies, food for birds and other animals including dormice. It can also be used as a place to live for birds. It does have to be cut back periodically to prevent it covering everything!
gement For these reasons we only do what is absolutely necessary over the summer, with all other management taking place during the winter months. Letting the light in Despite its wild appearance, woodland has to be carefully managed on our reserves to ensure the best habitat for wildlife. The secret to managing a woodland well
for wildlife is to make sure that light can reach all levels; from the floor to the highest tree in the canopy. This allows the maximum variety of flora to thrive. From grasses and herbaceous plants such as orchids and bluebells, through shrubs and small trees like hazel and hawthorn, to mature trees such as oaks, beech and hornbeams – all need access to the lifegiving light. Often the most biodiverse part of the wood is the edge and this is largely due to light. In the middle of the wood light levels are often so low that few plants survive other than the canopy trees. In woods like our Balls Wood Nature Reserve, the extensive ride system effectively represents a woodland edge on either side of the ride. These rides enjoy magnificent displays of butterflies and dragonflies throughout the summer and are excellent hunting grounds for bats at night. All other wildlife in the woodland is dependent on the flora that grows in the wood in one way or another – either to live in or on, for breeding or for food. Then and now People often wonder why we need to manage wild areas when nature has
Tree removal People are sometimes concerned at the numbers of trees that are removed from our woods. On our sites we remove trees whilst carrying out three main conservation activities; thinning out blocks of trees, removing trees alongside paths and rides and the creation of glades. Trees tend to race towards light so if we didn’t manage our woodlands in this way trees would compete against each other, growing into tall stringy trees; many of which would eventually die. In this situation the trees often don’t have any side branches because there would be no light for them – so even the trees that do survive are in a poor shape, become top heavy and are prone to being blown over. When we remove trees for wildlife reasons, we often choose to keep the old and gnarled trees which might otherwise be removed in a commercial forestry focused wood. These trees are left because they are great for wildlife with nooks, crannies and hollows for a number of creatures including insects, birds and bats.
Holly berries
are a great food source for many birds including redwings and fieldfares but the trees can dominate the woodland understory if not managed properly. We sometimes remove areas of holly to allow light into woodland and give other plants a chance to thrive.
Autumn 2016 wildlifematters 23
DAYS OUT
Tim is Conservation Manager for Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust
NOVEMBER
Say Hey to the Jays Jays are shy birds and for most of the year, the only clues to jays being present is their rasping ‘skaarrrch’ shout as they fly away. During the autumn months, they shed their shyness and can be seen almost anywhere there are oak trees, collecting and burying acorns. This is their time to stock up with nature’s bounty of acorns, the equivalent of shoppers at the supermarket on Christmas Eve – no rest until all the food is secured! For shoppers there is something of a false panic as we all know the shops will be open again on Boxing Day but the jays only have one chance to make the most of a stash for the cold months ahead. This is a great time to get out with binoculars and appreciate one of our most beautiful birds – all pink and blue pastels contrasted with black and white. Their big pale eyes with large pupils suggest intelligence borne out in their behaviour to plan ahead for harder times. Jays are one of the corvid (crow) family renowned for their brightness – these are the Oxbridge fellows of the bird world, able to think and overcome problems. Whilst they are bright, their memory does let them down. For every acorn they dig up as food in January and February, there are many more left buried which, come the next spring, sprout, the beginning of a new generation of oak trees. Next time you marvel at a majestic oak, remember that if it wasn’t for that noisy jay, it might not be there at all.
24 wildlifematters Autumn 2016
DECEMBER Christmas Trees Tinsel, check. Baubles, check. Lights, check. Angel, check. All around the world the ritual of trimming the Christmas tree begins in December and what a joy it is bringing light into the shortest month of the year. What isn’t quite such a joy is trying to think of what to give friends and relations, most of whom have all that they need. Well, as an alternative to the usual CDs, sweaters and gloves, why not think about buying each other trees for Christmas? Mid-winter is a good time to plan ahead and make your garden a better place for wildlife by planting a carefully selected tree or shrub. Planting in winter means the new tree will have plenty of moisture and time to settle in before the growing season begins in spring. All wildlife needs food and shelter so I would <<
nature’s
Tim Hill, the Trust’s Conservation Manager, highlights some of his favourite seasonal wildlife and makes suggestions for things to look out for and do through the months ahead...
Y ew Berries
TIM HILL
DON SUTHERLAND
JANUARY Love a shove Hertfordshire is internationally important for two birds, both ducks. One is the gadwall and the other, the shoveler. As a result of their wintering numbers, the Lee Valley has been designated a Special Protection Area (SPA). Two of the Trust’s reserves, Amwell and Rye Meads form part of the SPA and provide excellent opportunities for enjoying both birds. The Gladwin hide at Amwell usually provides close-up views of the birds as they go about their daily ritual. In the depths of winter, their critical activities are feeding and finding somewhere safe to roost and rest. Research done by Graham White (former Conservation Manager at the Trust) showed that shoveler often move from site to site, roosting in one place and then flying elsewhere to feed. He coined the phrase, ‘the thinking duck’ making quite complex decisions to fulfil their needs. One of the most fascinating aspects of shovelers’ behaviour is that they will often join together
Jay
A fuddle! and form a feeding huddle – a fuddle? I’ve seen as many as 15 birds do this and they swim in unison in circles, stirring up or concentrating their food which consists mainly of zooplankton. They have specially adapted shovel-like bills (hence their common name) with comb-like structures down the sides. In dabbling, they take in bill-fulls of water then squeeze it through the combs and in so doing sieve out food items which they swallow. If you would like to find out why we love a shov, join Jenny Sherwen and me for a guided walk at Amwell Nature Reserve on Sunday 29th January 2017 – bookable through the Trust’s website. Who knows, we might even witness a fuddle!
ANDREAS TRPTRE
LE
SB
IN
S
C olt’s-foot
<<
recommend species that will give one or other or ideally both. Fruit-bearing shrubs such as rowans and hawthorn are easy to establish. If you need a screen, think about evergreens such as holly, which also provide fruit. One of my favourite trees for wildlife is yew, although one has to be (very) patient before it fulfils its promise. The foliage seems to attract enormous numbers of spiders and in search of those spiders come birds such as goldcrests and wrens. Unlike other conifers, yew does not produce a cone. Instead the seeds are contained in the red, berry-like structure called arils. The flesh of the aril is not poisonous, unlike every other part of the yew and is a favourite food of blackbirds. For more ideas on what to plant for wildlife have a look at the RHS/ Wildlife Trusts Wild About Gardens website or pick up a leaflet from the Trust office.
AMY LEWIS
FEBRUARY The Herald of Spring After the gloomy, short days of December and January, the lengthening days of February lift my spirit. On a sunny day my spirits soar further with the sight of sulphur-yellow colt’s-foot flowers littering bare ground like scattered confetti. I love all the early spring flowers but colt’s-foot, being the first is extra special. It’s not a fussy plant and thrives almost anywhere but does particularly well on clay soils. I’m not the only animal to welcome this flower – it provides valuable food to early flying bees and flies which feast on its nectar – if you find a colt’s-foot flower, wait a few moments and you’re guaranteed to see a hungry insect. Seeing the flowers in February, you may wonder why it’s called colt’s-foot. It’s a plant which flowers before the leaves appear. When they do appear, the leaves are shaped like the hoof of a horse, hence its common name. The plant is still common across our counties but the recent Flora of Hertfordshire stated that it had decreased by 11% in recent times probably as a result of ecological succession of ground to scrub which is causing it be lost through shading.
wildlifematters 25
MICRO HABITATS
THE NATURE OF... Christmas As that magical time of year comes around again, Charlotte Hussey looks at where our Christmas traditions taken from nature originated... Robin redbreast Robins can be found in parks, scrub and woodland and have a loud territorial song that they sing from prominent perches through the winter. Male and females have their own territories and only call a truce during breeding season when the female is allowed into the male’s territory where she sets up a nest. There are many myths surrounding the UK’s favourite bird and how it has become associated with Christmas. Some relate to Bible stories including the kind-hearted robin who got its red breast tending to baby Jesus’s fire. Others equate the robin’s red breast to the red uniforms of Victorian postmen. Whatever the reason, robins have become synonymous with Christmas. Mistletoe and its attentive bird Mistletoe was a symbol of love and friendship in Norse mythology. In Britain the custom of kissing under 26 wildlifematters Autumn 2016
the mistletoe developed, with a berry picked from the sprig before a kiss – when all the berries were gone, there could be no more kissing. The plant is actually less romantic – mistletoe is a parasite and attaches itself to a tree and then grows out of the branch. Mistletoe is often spread in bird poo and its name literally translates as ‘poo on a stick’ from the Anglo Saxon ‘mistel’ meaning dung and ‘tan’ meaning twig, or stick. The mistle thrush, a large songbird, found in parks, gardens and woodland, gets its common name from its love of mistletoe. It enjoys the sticky berries and, once it has found a berry-laden tree, will guard it from any would-be thieves. It also helps mistletoe to thrive by wiping its bill on the tree bark to remove sticky residue and accidentally ‘planting’ the seeds in weak spots. Holly Found in a variety of habitats from woodland to gardens, holly berries
are an important food source for lots of birds including redwings and fieldfares. Holly was used at the Winter Solstice to ward off evil spirits and celebrate new growth. In Christian symbolism the prickly leaves represent the crown of thorns that Jesus wore when he was crucified. The berries represent the drops of blood that were shed by Jesus because of the thorns; in Scandinavia holly is known as the Christ Thorn. Evergreen trees Over the years the evergreen fir tree has become the traditional tree of choice for people to celebrate winter. Christians saw it as a sign of everlasting life with God, Romans used fir trees to decorate their temples at the festival of Saturnalia, whilst Pagans used branches of it to decorate their homes during the winter solstice as a symbol of the spring to come. Across many parts of northern Europe, cherry or hawthorn plants were used as alternative Christmas trees. The plants were put into pots and brought inside in the hope that they would flower at Christmas time.
Y ES !
I would like to help
the Trust manage my local woodland habitats for butterflies and other wildlife
TONY COX
ADULT: Favours flower-rich, sunny, open rides and glades to feed on nectar
EGG: Hairy and golf ball shaped, laid singly on upper leaf of a honeysuckle plant
Y LAST GAR
white admiral
£800 could hire a mower to keep woodland rides and
glades open at one site and allow sunlight to reach from the highest tree in the canopy to the floor.
£525 could create scallops to open up and lengthen the
woodland ride edge, encouraging bramble and other nectar-rich plants.
£230 could provide one of our Reserves Officers with training needed to cut back vegetation and help manage the light levels in our woodlands.
£125 could pay to conduct a butterfly survey on one of
lifecycle
our woodland reserves to monitor white admiral populations.
£50 could help equip our volunteers with the protective equipment needed to clear scrub and control the spread of invasive plants.
£35 could pay for a woodland plant training course to FEATHERSTON E NCE LA
GEORGE COX
help manage and increase growth of honeysuckle and other favourable woodland plant species.
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£800
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LARVA: Feeds solely from tips of honeysuckle leaves, hides from predators along the uneaten central vein
PUPA: Formed upside down under a honeysuckle leaf or stem, with two prominent horns
£525
Our
white admirals are disappearing The Trust monitors populations and manages our nature reserves to provide white admirals with all that they need to flourish in Hertfordshire and Middlesex. To do this, we need your help. Woodland rides and open glades are ideal habitats for a variety of wildlife, allowing light to penetrate the treetop canopy and support the life on the ground below. White admiral butterflies, once a common sight in Hertfordshire and Middlesex, rely on these woodland rides for food and shelter.
We must protect their habitat needs if we are to safeguard this spectacular woodland butterfly.
However, the decline in our native broadleaf woodland habitat has had a dramatic impact on these beautiful butterflies. White admiral populations have declined drastically in the last 20 years, with numbers dropping by as much as 45% between 2005 and 2014.
Our conservation management work helps to restore and diversify woodland rides and glades to accommodate a greater range of wildlife species and support the white admiral throughout its lifecycle. Healthy woodland needs a variety of trees and plants of differing height, size and age to give a distinct vertical structure. The same is true along the ride or glade edge. Our careful management encourages a range of vegetation zones: shorter flowering plants, taller herbs and grasses, and scrub margins neighbouring mature trees. These zones create an ‘understory’ to our woodlands, able to support a fully functioning ecosystem.
Such important habitats need our care, commitment and expertise. We need your support to help us continue our vital woodland management work.
PETE ROSE
Through the work the Trust is doing to manage our local woodlands, and by improving other suitable habitats and their connectivity, the white admiral will have the opportunity to once again become well established across the two counties.
A donation from you today will help our ride and glade management work continue – and allow us to do even more.
TONY COX
To support our local wildlife, we need to understand its basic needs for survival: food, shelter and finding a mate. This is true for our white admiral butterflies.