3 minute read
Wildlife Chris Sperring MBE
Think global, act local for wildlife
AS I sit here writing this article in the midSeptember heat, I just marvel at the speed of change and what a difference one month can make for our wildlife. Where allowed, nature provides a bountiful supply of food through seed, nuts, berries and fruit and, already, many birds from northern lands are heading to our area to spend the winter.
We are, of course, at the forefront in ensuring a good number of them survive to be able to then return to their breeding areas for the spring nesting season. Have you ever thought – or been inspired – by the fact that action in your local area can have a knock-on effect to help species across political borders and sometimes thousands of miles away?
October will see the mass arrival of some familiar species, ones may you be surprised at. Birds such as starlings and wood pigeons will be already on the move from North and Eastern Europe mixing in with native birds.
They will go on to form very large gatherings during their roosting times, a classic example of this being the starling spectacle on the Somerset Levels with literally thousands of birds gathering before darkness forming their famous murmurations, which will already be building up numbers during October.
Many other small bird species will make the journey to the UK and help enrich those gloomy short winter days; even a colourful member of the crow family, the jay, will swell its numbers with Scandinavian jays feasting on our big crops of beechmast and acorns alike.
An October walk can be full of surprises, as on mild, sunny days you can still find many insects active, especially around ivy. Ivy flower takes around seven years of growth before flowering, and these flowers can be vital for insects at this time of year.
If you’re out walking and come across ivy that is flowering, just spend some time watching and always have your camera/smart phone ready because, as with any mass gathering of insects or even
By CHRIS SPERRING MBE
birds, predators will not be far away. So, watch out for dragonflies and hornets patrolling over the ivy ready to pounce on an unsuspecting prey.
At the beginning of November there is another mass gathering with huge implications for our depleted wildlife and natural habitats that will also have an impact on us as well. This is the gathering of world leaders in Glasgow for the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26).
Reading through the agenda for these talks what continues to be repeated, apart from the obvious reduction of fossil fuels, is the real concern for our natural world and the importance of working together to achieve aims. Many readers, of course, will know this is a theme of mine and although it has a huge knock-on effect on the wider community both regionally and nationally my idea remains that a ground-up approach is needed to create solutions and not topdown imposed rules and action.
Nature-based solutions are all around us just waiting to be allowed and, as I have said before, if this starts with local action delivered by the community it will have longevity. As I’m sure we all know, anything imposed as a top-down measure will have a short shelf life.
So, look around your community and see if you have a group trying to help wildlife in your area and join them or even create a group of your own.
To return to the start of this article, just think of this: if you just grow a berry bush that helps a bird survive our winter that then returns to nest in Northern Europe, you can and should, pat yourself on the back as your local action has just had international reach.
Starlings will soon be arriving from Europe to join our native birds in mass murmurations
