OXFORD WILDLIFE NUMBER 99 NEWS AUTUMN 2013
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NEWS FROM BOUNDARY BROOK NATURE PARK We have had a very interesting and productive three months this summer. As well as the usual school parties we have had two groups of Beavers who came to be shown round and also to perform small conservation tasks. We also had Shotover Brownies planning to come but unfortunately the visit was cancelled because of rain. We took part in the Oxford Festival of Nature in Botley park and the Elder Stubbs Festival where we had a stall with puzzles to entertain children, sold books and seeds to the adults and talked about what we did. One of us also gave a talk on our nature park in Blewbury. We have had several visits from reporters and photographers from the Oxford Mail and Times this quarter. The first, in August, resulted in a double-page spread in the Oxford Mail, following our 25 th Anniversary celebrations, entitled “Keeping a quiet corner of Oxford green and thriving.” As well as several photos, past and present, it gave descriptions of the various habitats at the Nature Park and what we have done in our 25 years. It is possible to look up these reports on the internet. This one for example can be found at: http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/10595289.Keeping_a_quiet_corner_of_Oxford_green_and_thriving/ We again held a mini-pond-dipping session in Cowley library. We obviously can’t have made too much of a mess during our previous visit! We had some very enthusiastic children taking part as well as an intrigued reporter and photographer from the Oxford Mail. Reports of our event appeared on two days afterwards. See further details under Past Events. Alan, helped by volunteers, has been clearing the buffer zone between us and the allotments and also repairing the track across the allotments where, last winter, the lorry trying to collect the skip from the Nature Park got spectacularly stuck in the mud as it entered the Nature Park. It also damaged the verge on its way. It had to be rescued by a JCB which churned up even more mud. After the summer dry weather the track was firm enough to remove the full skips and bring another empty one.
Why not have your own key to Boundary Brook Nature Park? Did you know that if you are a member of OUWG you are entitled to have a key to the Nature Park (for a returnable deposit of £10). You can then visit whenever you want to. To get a key you need to contact Alan Hart 07901 120 308. You may be accompanied by visitors who are non-members but any children under 14 must be within your care at all times.
Why not have your plot on Boundary Brook Nature Park? As you have probably seen, the organic kitchen garden is being revamped. The people who are doing it are very happy for any member who wishes to have a section on which to grow their own crops – i.e. vegetables, herbs, flowers or soft fruit As you will realise you would need to use organic methods i.e. no artificial fertilisers, weedkillers insecticides etc. as we use it as a demonstration area for visitors. .
EVENTS
Past . . . Oxford Festival of Nature
Cowley Library Cowley library bravely invited us back to have another session of mini-pond-dipping in the library. At first we had difficulty finding suitable wildlife in the big pond at Boundary Brook. The water level was very low and covered in a dense matt of duckweed. I imagine insects like dragonflies, hunting for somewhere to lay their eggs, can’t have realised it was a pond. We got very little out of ponddipping there apart from a lot of empty snail shells and some newt larvae. I went to the pond in the demonstration wildlife garden which had dried out but luckily I found more at home in the garden pond, snails, water beetles, water boatmen and caddis fly larvae and in our rain-water butt an extremely dense cloud of water fleas. We had a good attendance at the library with children who were fascinated and spent a long time fishing the wildlife out of the aquarium, looking at it with hand lenses, a microscope and viewing boxes. We managed to leave the library intact and so we may even be invited back again!
We joined in the West Oxford Fun Day in Botley Park which was a lively location. There were many stalls with a high proportion of wildlife interest and many, wideranging themes. It drew in a good collection of visitors. I hope it proved a success and that it will be repeated in future years.
Elder Stubbs festival This again was a very enjoyable day with a good turnout of visitors and the usual varied collection of stalls. The rain held off, apart from a brief shower, and, in spite of the very gusty wind, we managed to keep our gazebo from taking off. The usual Feely boxes and lifecycle puzzle entertained the children and a lot of the adults as well. We hope a lot of the visitors will come and visit our events at Boundary Brook in future.
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Future events. . .
Chris Lewis supervised the children in the library as they “fished” for wildlife and examined their catch
Wolvercote Apple Day We are again taking part in this interesting event. We will have an Oxford Urban Wildlife stall in the wonderful community orchard at Wolvercote. Elsewhere there are stalls selling apples of every variety and you can taste before buying, you can even pick your own. Elsewhere there are every type of apple products you can think of, including jam, cakes, juice, etc. There are activities and competitions for children and adults. Often there is an apple peeling contest, and other similar diversions.
Ants, ant intelligence and ant-hills Dr Tim King is a biologist based in Oxford where he is a research member of Wolfson College. He is just finishing a popular book comparing ant and human societies, ‘Could an ant ride a bicycle?’ His doctorate, and much of his research has been on the biology of ant-hills built by the yellow meadow ant in pastures, particularly at Aston Rowant NNR. Starting with the cultural history of ants, he will briefly survey their evolution, ecological roles and worldwide importance. Then he will cover their communication, brains and mental abilities, discussing how a typical ant colony is organised. Finally he will concentrate on local ants, especially the biology of the mounds built by the yellow meadow ant and their value in conservation and field dating.
September open day The miserable weather did not prevent families coming to our open day. Altogether we had 55 people and many of them were children. The big attraction as usual was pond dipping but because the pond level was very, very low and the layer of duckweed on top was so thick that the only option was to have mini-pond-dipping again as we did at the library. Chris Lewis again helped children to “fish” in the aquarium where they were rewarded by catching frog tadpoles, newt tadpoles and a variety of other pondlife.
Autumn Open Day We will have an open day with the usual activities including pond-dipping if the pond is full enough by then. We will look at the autumn colour and hope to have model-making for children as well as the usual books, seeds and a few plants for sale. See back page for further details.
Interestingly there was also a large group of about 10 long-tailed tits spotted in the northern extension. We hope they will be frequent visitors in future.
Christmas get-together
This year we decided it would be a good idea to have a “slide show” for a change, showing early pictures of the OUWG’s activities in the first years after our formation and also the very early stages of Boundary Brook Nature Park when we tackled the transition from derelict allotments into a wildlife area. As usual, bring along some light refreshments to be shared amongst us, we will provide Christmas Punch.
Science Oxford Live in St Clements is now closed, so our talks and events this quarter will be held elsewhere. Science Oxford is still organising a good range of interesting events (see pages 9 and 10) and details are on their website. Book by ringing 01865 810 000 or look on their website: http://www.scienceoxford.com/live/whatson-events/
See details of these events on page 12.
Next newsletter is no 100 th
As this is the 99 Edition of our newsletter it would be good to make the next one really special. Could you send in a piece to go in it. It need only be a sentence but on something of wildlife or OUWG interest – can you remember a good event you enjoyed in the last 25 years?
Can you send in an observation of wildlife you’ve seen recently, or in the past, with date and area e.g. “Our local Rose Hill robin’s favourite food seems to be . . .?” If enough of you send in something we could print more than the normal 12 pages. Photos could be included.
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Email me or send it by post before December 1 st – or even today while you still remember! My details are at the bottom of page 12.
Janet Keene
Missing centre page article For some time now we open the centre pages of the newsletter and find a double, or even treble, page spread and there is the article by John Gorrill. It is always interesting, sometimes quirky, often very amusing, of wildlife interest and usually with photos to accompany it or some of his distinctive illustrations.
We have known for a while that he planned to move to the Lake District and now his move looks imminent. We are glad that he is doing what he aimed to do but very regretful that his articles on Oxford wildlife are ending. So many thanks John for entertaining and instructing us and we sent you every good wish for your future in the north. Janet Keene
Blackbird Incident (this happened on 16.6.13) Cycling over Donnington Bridge one Saturday morning, the poorest of those little sounds elicited much healthier and slowing to take the turn down to the river, I became looking eye-movements, and the bird began to focus and aware of a magpie swooping to attack something dark look more alive. It was so close, such a pleasure to watch, and immobile on the pavement. The magpie is a sleek and those quirky little bristles just by its beak were funny. I and powerful predator and this one was whooshing up took a long stalk of grass and used it to brush away the and down, making violent screeching noises and pecking loose fluffy feathers that had been dislodged by the magpie at what appeared to be a dead blackbird. and were clinging untidily to the breast. His eyes swivelled, came into focus again, and I did some more chirping to I rushed at the magpie, shooed it off and after taking a remind him that he was a blackbird and might have normal, closer look at the blackbird decided not to leave it blackbird business to attend to. Another tickle with the grass exposed on the pavement, so I picked it up, cupped it in and then suddenly his brain seemed to re-engage with his both hands and stroked it gently with one finger to see if body and he took off on an apparently normal blackbird anything happened. There was a little movement of the flight, heading off across Donnington Bridge Road and into eye, but the body seemed paralysed. No blood, no guts, the vegetation on the other side and, just before taking off, just a few feathers hanging loose. The eyes closed, then he lowered a perfectly normal looking foot from wherever opened, then turned white, and the poor bird seemed to he’d been hiding it. Wonderful. Having witnessed the have only one leg, and that seemed pretty rickety and brutality of the attack, I was not at all surprised that the bird useless. Stroked it again and offered it to a fence post had been traumatised and needed a full ten minutes to where it managed to stand, one-legged and dishevelled. I moved back a few feet and decided to give it time to recover, ready to offer protection if the magpie returned. A few curious passersby received a brief explanation of the incident and a Frenchman, regarded the bird for a moment, told me it was unlikely to make it and clearly thought I was being unrealistic about nature. He also thought it might be a fledgling, but it had an orange-yellow beak – which by my reckoning made it an adult male; his pessimism didn’t seem to be founded on knowing much about birds. When things had quietened down after about ten minutes and there was just me, the traumatised blackbird, the blue sky and the long grass swaying in the wind, I decided it was time to try a bit of chirping, and thereby live up to the unrealistic about nature reputation I was earning. A few days previously I’d sung a duet with a blackbird on my allotment, but this morning my chirping wasn’t up to much. However
revive. Perhaps he had been attacked while distracting the magpie from the nest. Hopefully, he had a better afternoon, the drama certainly enlivened my journey. Susan Heeks
Diary of a Goldfinch Crisis 23.7.13
I summer-pruned the cooking apple tree near the house, as I do every year, but when I arrived at the topmost branch I
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found a nest, soft, spongy and about the size of half a teacup. I could make out only one chick inside. The nest is within a woody cage of this seasons’ extension growth, and there is a ceiling of foliage above it, emerging from the end of a nearly vertical branch. But the cover lower down on the tree has been reduced and I desperately hope the parent birds, be they goldfinches or wrens, are able to continue raising this chick. If I had known, I would have left this tree alone. 24.7.13 It’s 8.10am and I have just seen two adult goldfinches taking turns to visit the nest. They had previously been obscured by the dense new growth of the tree.
The parents are fussing around, sometimes appearing to forage for insects, and there is another small, but not so tiny, goldfinch on top of the clematis wigwam. They never land on grass. One adult is positioning and repositioning itself on the lower stems of taller herbaceous stems, while another chases off yet another goldfinch. There are also some visiting sparrows and a couple of juvenile blackbirds bickering en route to the pond. 9.05am Three tree sparrows, one of which is a grey, fluffy fledgling, are poking around on the shed roof. Now they are down in the yard foraging with the chaffinch, and a blackbird is disappearing round the back of the compost bin in search of slugs and woodlice. It’s a Mecca of avian activity down there today.
26.7.13 Dusk. There is a new problem. Went to draw the curtains and saw a neighbours’ cat up the tree, heading for the nest. The cat, being white, is visible in the shadows, and resembles a heraldic hyena prancing up a staff. I make lots of noise and go down and shoo him out of the garden, and then cut climbing rose stems to wrap around the lower branches of the tree. Upstairs again, I stand watch at the window with a washing-up-liquid bottle water pistol, with which I surprise the cat when he comes back. He returns five times before seeming to give up but I know he’ll be back.
9.30am Went into the garden briefly and found some goldfinch remains; tail feathers and a bit of red head. Later The parents came back regularly all day, making their pulsing, seep-seep chaffinch calls, but perhaps the baby is too small to fly. 28.7.13 A wonderful thing happened. The goldfinch parents were still calling this morning, one parent in particular, anxiously to and fro-ing on the wigwam tops. Rather than give up hope, I decided to intervene and search the lily of the valley, but to no avail, so I cut back some perennial geranium near the shed and peered underneath. Saw what at first looked like a pale, woody piece of old root but which was, on closer scrutiny, a beige coloured baby goldfinch. Scooped it carefully up in cupped together hands and lifted it on to the shed roof . I was aware of a rapid flutter of little wings above my line of vision and thought it was just the parent, but when I stood back, I was able to see the parents flying with the chick, which despite seeming too small to fly, was doing fine – in fact it was born to fly rather than to starve in a forest of lily of the valley.
27.7.13 6am Goldfinches have been flitting to and fro and diving down around the base of the tree. I have not seen them go to the nest and surmise that the cat must have returned and killed the chick or else created a disturbance necessitating some rapid fledging. There seems to be an extended family in attendance. 9am There are four or five adult goldfinches swooping and turning somersaults and they are interested in the area below the tree which is densely covered with herbaceous growth. Blue tits, a great tit and a male chaffinch are also busy in the honeysuckle, just below the nest. Oh my god! I have just seen a tiny, tiny goldfinch staggering out from under the plants beneath the tree, crossing a grass path and taking cover under the lily of the valley beside the shed.
I still see the goldfinches now and then, as they fly between the taller trees, and often hear their pulsing, seepseep calls. They live their lives at greater altitude, which is something of a relief. Susan Heeks
Otters at Wytham Following our report on otters in the Thames it was good to see that at Wytham Farm, which we visited last year they are going ahead with constructing two otter holts.
They had to abandon their plans to do it last autumn because of the extremely wet weather FAI (Food Animal Initiative) hopes to attract sufficient volunteers later this year to finally provide two homes to
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the local otter population. Natural England have provided a ‘How to build an Otter Holt’ guidance sheet and the materials will be sourced from the farm’s willow trees so all we need now is the manpower!
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If you would like to join us, please email your contact details to Jo Copping at enquiries@faifarms.co.uk who is co-ordinating the dates
The birth of the demonstration Wildlife Garden
Assembling the posts to mark out the borders. 1.02.92 Clearing the ground to make the Demonstration Wildlife Garden and marking out the different areas. Installing the boundary posts
1.02.1992
Getting ready to build the raised beds
The raised beds were originally used as vegetable beds . Later, when the Organic Kitchen Garden was established next door, vegetables were grown there. The raised beds then became the Sensory Beds .
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The advantage of raised beds is that people with bad backs or in wheelchairs can still do gardening. When the wooden beds eventually rotted they were replaced with ready-made structures made from recycled plastic – mainly milk containers we are told. These should last indefinitely we hope. The sensory garden contains plants with a variety of textures, colours, smells and tastes. Nothing yet to appeal to the sense of hearing although we do have yellow rattle elsewhere on the site!
at Boundary Brook Nature Park Summer 1992 The pond was dug and some marsh plants put in around the edge. Volunteers installed the two revetments to retain banks of soil planted mainly with wildflowers and also some shrubs. In this garden, unlike the rest of the site, we didn’t only put in native plants but also plants that people might want to grow in their gardens which were attractive both to humans and wildlife e.g. Buddleia. The grass area to the left, later with the picnic table, was again to make it more like the average city garden.
The different areas are all taking shape and the plants are beginning to colonise their patch. The Kitchen Garden planned beyond this area has yet to be started. The boundary
poles, now completely hidden by the hedge, demarcate the area.
The summer flowers in the beds are already attracting insects and later foxes too have made their dens in both beds. They still actively burrow under the right-hand bed and have raised their families successfully. Note the row of flats are not yet hidden by the woodland, planted in front of it. Twenty years later school groups now say “Can we go in the forest?”
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This summer the pond dried out but the recent rain is beginning to fill it again.
If you want to see these photos in colour look at the copy of this newsletter on our website www.ouwg.org.uk
Plant a Poppy Commemoration of the outbreak of WWI and beyond On hearing about the Royal British Legion’s 2014 Real Poppy Campaign, to commemorate the outbreak of the First World War, I thought that could also see the British countryside turn itself back into how it looked back in 1914. I feel that if the public engage with this in large numbers, social benefits far exceed the British Legion’s aims.
diversity which would improve food chains. It’s the balance we strive for. To do nothing isn't always going to help that balance either. Many of our wildflower meadows have disappeared so there is room for redressing that, without causing an imbalance in doing so. If for example, practices in agriculture changed, Poppies would spread once again. That would probably be considered acceptable, so giving a helping hand, if managed properly isn't too much of an issue in my view, especially as much of our soil contains poppy seeds anyway.
I normally write solely about wildlife gardening, but this project should perhaps be focused on and rolled out as a well-oiled larger campaign, which I am hoping to start in these articles.
We must avoid spreading the seed near Sites of Special Scientific Interest and also to avoid farmers having to spray more herbicides to control the Poppies, do not sow near farmland.
To commemorate WW1, The Royal British Legion is distributing Poppy seed to the public to scatter them in random places, i.e. hedgerows, traffic roundabouts, empty back garden borders, planters, preferably not somewhere mown regularly. Then, this time next year, when they all flower, we will be looking at a display of poppies in remembrance of all that happened during The Great War. We could make this a global movement. This not only benefits the countryside but if communities get involved this could be the trigger that ignites a lifelong interest in nature for children.
Perhaps the problem on farmland is as follows. In the old days crops were harvested in late August and September. By this time, the poppy seeds had burst out of their pods and were lying on the ground so they would not get mixed in with the crop seed. Nowadays, crops are harvested much earlier, and before the poppy seeds have dispersed, so the crop seed gets mixed with the poppy seed. This apparently is not a good thing.
Poppies are a poignant reminder of The Great War, as the battlefields after the war were colonized soon with poppies, and this is because poppy seed need to be on the surface of bare soil to germinate. It would be no good scattering the seed where vegetation is growing. Plough almost any area of the countryside, leave the area bare, and poppies will grow. This is much the same as what happened after the end of WWI or what happens when areas are disturbed by road works, etc.
I’m promoting this idea in all the wildlife gardening tutorials and lectures I give. In all the articles I write and even in the independent wildlife radio show I make. I’m happy to assist with anyone who wants to get involved with this. After all, engaging people with Mother Nature is my job. It is my belief that we should start a campaign to build on the British Legion’s idea, this should be done yearly until we get our poppies back. People just need to be aware that the bare soil they are sowing onto needs to be disturbed each year and not compacted otherwise the seed just won’t germinate. How can this fail if we all do our bit?.
I must warn though, care needs to be taken in this project, although I am not aware of poppies being on any list of proscribed weeds that can be a pest, like ragwort and creeping thistle, this needs doing methodically. Some areas may contain rare species in themselves, which need protecting from unfocused acts of seed sowing. Many areas though would benefit from an increased plant
If this works, we can all in some small part experience the countryside as a past generation did, and in the process bringing communities together with grandparents working alongside children. Stuart Mabbutt
Stuart Mabbutt Widlife Gardening Specialist 01865 747243 'Stuart Mabbutt Channel', would find it. Alternatively, this web address would take you straight to my channel. http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIQjFKXfBq2PAXll7mLetJA You can also hear Stuart’s radio broadcasts if you go to https://soundcloud.com/stuartmabbutt
Advance notice about The Shotover Conference 8
Ivan Wright of Shotover Wildlife sent advance notice that they have been offered the Oxford University Museum of Natural History to stage the Shotover conference. This will be held on Saturday 17 May 2014 and there will be a number of presentations and discussions about the natural history of Shotover and the work of Shotover Wildlife. They’re hoping to mount a complementary exhibition of equipment, surveyors’ field notebooks and preserved specimens - all relating to the early 20th century surveying on Shotover. The Heritage Lottery Fund has awarded them a generous grant under the title, “Wildlife recording at Shotover, Oxford: continuity and sharing of heritage.” Recording has been carried out on Shotover from 1819 and in Victorian and Edwardian times naturalists from the University of Oxford found that Shotover provided an easy-access, locally-unique habitat, making it one of the key places to visit for species diversity.
EVENTS FOR OTHER ORGANISATIONS (For contacts see page 11 unless otherwise listed) OCTOBER Tuesday 1: The moth versus the crowd: how citizen science is revealing the biology of the horse-chestnut leaf miner a talk by Dr Michael Pocock on a citizen science project seeking to reveal more about the biology of the invasive horsechestnut leaf-miner. 7.45 pm. At the Old Schoolroom, Wolvercote. Members free, non-members £2. (ANHSO) Wednesday 2: The Future of Personal Mobility Professor Allan Hutchinson will examine and challenge the future of personal mobility and the challenge of greenhouse gas emissions 6pm Oxford Brookes University. Free. Book on 01865 810 000 or on website http://www.scienceoxford.com/live/whats-on-events/ (SOL) Thursday 3: Back to reality Dr Louise Bunce explores how children learn to navigate the complex boundaries between the real world and the world of fantasy. 7.30pm. Oxford University Museum of Natural History. £5 per person / £16 per group (up to 5 people). Suitable for 13+ (booking see above for Oct 2nd) (SOL) Thursday 3: Hope for Malta's Birds an illustrated talk by Robin Potts who travelled to Malta to gather evidence of the illegal shooting and trapping of migrating birds that pass through Malta each spring and autumn. He will talk about the efforts being made to combat this slaughter. Time: 7.45pm Sandhills School, Terrett Avenue, Oxford OX3 8FN. Free to local group members. Visitors welcome, £3 on the door. Contact Tel: 07813782514. E-mail: lindaeneal@aol.com (RSPB) Saturday 5: Introduction to Spiders Workshop. Tutor: Lawrence Bee. 10am-4pm Withymead. £25 Contact: info@withymead.org Wednesday 9: Spoonbilled sandpipers a talk by Baz Hughes WWT Slimbridge. 7.45pm. Stratfield Brake Sports Ground Kidlington. Members free, non-members donation. Details: Barry Hudson 01993 852028. (OOS) Sunday 20: Field Trip to Blashford Lakes, Hants Birding haunt near Romsey Meeting point is in the education centre car park (10am) just south of Ellingham Drove at OS Ref: SU151080. Ellingham Drove runs east off the A338 just north of Blashford. Field Outing: contact Steven Alley 01608 659628 (OOS) Tuesday 22: Said Business School, Egrove Park. A long awaited return to this relatively new but little-known planting of trees. Originally designed by famous tree lover, author and expert, Alan Mitchell. Many specimen trees including a record silver leaf weeping Lime. Guided tour by the head groundsman. Meet at 2.30pm in the car park. Location - just off slip road of A423 (ring road), North of Kennington. OX1 5NY. (OTC) Tuesday 22: Science Slam a competition for young scientists, combining science communication and science entertainment. This is the first Science Slam EVER in Oxford, and only the fourth in the UK. For details of how to participate and who can take part see website. http://www.scienceoxford.com/live/whats-on-events/ Venue: The Old Fire Station. Doors will open at 7pm, the Slam will start at 8pm, and finish around 10:30pm. £7 per person. (SOL) Saturday, 26 Saturday Science Club: Slime Time. Oxford University Museum of Natural History, 11am and 2pm. Children £5, accompanying adults free. Come and try some slimy experiments and monster creations…. if you dare! For children aged 5 – 8. Children must be accompanied by an adult. (SOL) Sunday 27: RSPB Pagham Harbour, W Sussex. Large tidal mudflats attract thousands of birds throughout the year. Coach leaves Headington Hill Hall at 7.30am. Price: about £20 depending on the numbers. Booking essential. 01865 723868 (RSPB) Monday 28: Family Bushcraft. 10am at The Earth Trust. A day for all the family to get that living wild feeling! Explore in the woods, make shelters, and even learn how to make a fire. If you’ve seen survival shows on TV and wondered, ‘How do they do that?’ this is the place to try it yourself! Adults £20, Children £15. Booking essential. (SOL)
NOVEMBER Monday 4: Bernard Tucker Memorial Lecture: Bird Sense: What it's like to be a bird, by Dr Tim Birkhead (University of Sheffield) held in Exeter Hall, Kidlington, 7.45pm, admission £2. (ANHSO and OOS) Thursday 7: John Clare - Birdman. An illustrated talk by Dr Simon Kövesi, head of English & Modern Languages Dept. at Oxford Brookes University. John Clare’s poetry is of natural history and countryside experiences and often reflects
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behaviour in human society. Time: 7.45pm. Sandhills School, Terrett Avenue, Oxford OX3 8FN. Free to local group members. Visitors welcome, £3 on the door. Contact Tel: 07813782514. E-mail: lindaeneal@aol.com (RSPB) Wednesday 13: Urban Birds a talk by David Lindo 7.45pm. Stratfield Brake Sports Ground Kidlington. Members free, non-members donation. Details: Barry Hudson 01993 852028. (OOS) Saturday 16th, Sunday 17th and Sat 23rd: Shotover Wildlife Mosses Course. Tutor: Jacqueline Wright. A 3-day course £95. Suitable for complete beginners and those with some experience. See SW website or contact Jacqueline for more information and/or an application form. Email: jawright@shotover-wildlife.org.uk website:www.shotover-wildlife.org.uk (SW) Sunday 24: Broughton. Open country and fine parkland. Field Outing: contact Steven Alley 01608 659628 (OOS) Sunday 24: Coach Trip to Elmley Marshes, Kent. Coach leaves Headington Hill Hall at 7.30am. Vast remote wetland with scrapes borders the Swale mudflats a haven for spectacular flocks of wildfowl and waders, also raptor species, shorteared owl later in the day. There are 5 hides in total on site and the first one is a mile walk from the car park. Price: About £20 depending on the numbers attending. Booking essential: tel: 01865723868. E-mail: anne@anclark.force9.co.uk (RSPB) Saturday 30: Science Club: Fizz and Foam 11am and 2pm. Oxford University Museum of Natural History. Cost: Children £5, accompanying adults free. We’re putting chemistry in action as we make fizzy bath bombs to take home. Bathtime won’t be the same again! For children aged 5 – 8. Children must be accompanied by an adult. (SOL)
DECEMBER Tuesday 3: It's a Bat's Life a talk by David Endacott - an introduction to the life of bats; the seasonal survey work of the Oxfordshire Bat Group and their work in caring for injured and orphaned bats. 7.45 pm. At the Old Schoolroom, Wolvercote. Members free, non-members £2. (ANHSO) Wednesday 11: Great tits - dispersal, social structure and genomics a talk by Dr Colin Garroway 7.45pm Stratfield Brake Sports Ground Kidlington. Members free, non-members donation. Details: Barry Hudson 01993 852028. (OOS) Thursday 5: Winter Warmer - a mixed evening of members' illustrated talks, articles, raffle and a light hearted bird quiz. FREE seasonal nibbles and drinks in interval. 7.45pm Sandhills School, Terrett Avenue, Oxford OX3 8FN. Free to local group members. Visitors welcome, £3 on the door. Contact Tel: 07813782514E-mail: lindaeneal@aol.com (RSPB) Sunday 8: Car Trip to Bury Down, Berks. Car sharing leaving Headington Hill Hall at 9am. Price: Petrol costs are shared between car occupants. A walk on part of the Ridgeway. Usually flocks of linnets, corn buntings, yellowhammers and winter thrushes. Often overwintering short-eared owls. No toilet facilities. If preferred go direct to the meeting place - Ridgeway car park at Bury Down (Grid ref: 479,840) at about 9.30am. Tel: 01865723868. E-mail: anne@anclark.force9.co.uk Sunday 22: Dinton Pastures Country Park lovely wetland near Reading. Field Outing: contact Steven Alley 01608 659628 (OOS)
NEXT NEWSLETTER Please send your copy for the next newsletter as soon as possible to: Janet Keene, 7 Norwood Avenue, Southmoor, Abingdon, OX13 5AD or if possible email: keene@ouwg.org.uk. The final deadline is by the end of November
OXFORD URBAN WILDLIFE GROUP Don't forget that we are here to help. Please contact any member of the committee for help or advice on wildlife matters and we will attempt to help or to put you in touch with someone who can answer.
Website: www.ouwg.org.uk Alan Hart (Warden) of Nature Park Janet Keene: Newsletter Delia Twamley: Planning
07901 120 308 Oxford 820522 Oxford 554636
CONTACTS FOR OTHER ORGANISATIONS Ashmolean Natural History Society of Oxfordshire (ANHSO): Alison McDonald 556651 Botanic Garden: Oxford 286690 British Trust for Conservation Volunteers 01296 330033 Butterfly Conservation: David Redhead Oxford 772520 Campaign for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE) Christopher Gowers Oxford 512047 City's Countryside Sites or Biodiversity in Parks Oxford 252240 email: parks@oxford.gov.uk Forest of Oxford: John Thompson Oxford 513528
Friends of Aston’s Eyot (FAE) Ruth Ashcroft 01865 248344 Friends of CS Lewis Reserve (FoCSL) Helen d'Ayala Oxford 775476 Friends of Oxpens Meadow (FOM) Margaret Maden Oxford 721372 Friends of the Earth (Oxford): Jackie Walkden 07981 572629 Friends of the Trap Grounds (FoTG) Catherine Robinson Oxford 511307
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Friends of Warneford Meadow (FoWM) Sietske Boeles
Oxford Ornithological Soc. (OOS): Barry Hudson 01993 852028 Oxford Tree Club (OTC): Ian Gourlay Oxford 245864 Oxford728153 Oxfordshire Badger Group: Julia Hammett Oxford 864107 Local Wildlife Trust (BBOWT): OxfordOxfordshire Bat Group: David Endacott 01235 764832 775476 Rare Plants Group (RPG): Sue Helm 07774205972 New Marston Wildlife Group Curt Lamberth 07763-Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB): 191072 Peter Wilkinson Oxford 452579 Oxford Conservation Volunteers www.ocv.org.uk (OCV): Science Oxford Live (SOL): Oxford 728953 Jo 07887 Shotover Wildlife (SW): Chair: Ivan Wright Oxford 874423 928115 SS Mary & John Churchyard Group, Ruth Conway, tel 723085 Oxfordshire Nature Conservation Forum (ONCF): OxfordThames Valley Environmental Records Centre (TVERC) 407034 Gavin Bird Oxford 815411
UNIVERSITY of OXFORD – Department for Continuing Education Many of the Day and Weekend classes get booked up in advance. Here are some of the classes that are advertised so do look on the website. Look in good time to see what is coming up that might interest you.
DAY COURSES Wallace`s legacy: Evolution, biogeography and modern biology. Rewley House, 1 Wellington Square. Sat 2 Nov 2013 Fees from £60. Celebrate the life and achievements of Alfred Russel Wallace to mark the 100th anniversary of his death. Wallace is most famous for his co-discovery, with Charles Darwin, of the theory of evolution through natural selection, which, he, independent of Darwin, coined during extensive field work in the Malay Archipelago. Woodland Ecology and Management. Sat 10 May 2014. From £125. Dr Keith Kirby and Mr Nigel Fisher (conservator of Wytham Woods) will lead students on a journey through the essentials of Woodland Ecology and onto the vital woodland management techniques 10am-5pm at Wytham Woods The Oak in Natural History, History and Literature. Ewert House. Sat 14 Jun 20. From £60. The oak is the most well-known of Britain’s native trees. This multidisciplinary day school will include the place of oak in legend and in the history of Britain. The natural history session includes identification, the wide range of birds, insects, flowers, fungi and lichens associated with the oaks and their woodlands. The management of oak woodlands, the supposed shortage of oak and the deliberate planting of new woodlands, the uses of oak are also examined. 2013 – An Extraordinary Year for England’s Woodlands. Rewley House. Sat 30 Nov 2013. Fees from £60, designed for people who have an interest in trees and woodlands.
WEEKLY CLASSES Birds of a feather: An introduction to ornithology. 10 weekly meetings starting Wed 22 Jan 2014, 2-4pm Biological Sciences. CATS points – 10. Fees from £175. Ewert House. Birds are a diverse group that span beyond the visitors of our bird-tables. In this course we will explore aspects of bird biology, from diversity and evolutionary origin, through adaptations to the avian way of life, to bird behaviour and ecology. Birds of Oxfordshire. 10 weekly meetings starting Wed, 16 Apr 14 7-9pm. Biological Sciences. CATS points – 10. Fees from £175. Rewley House. The course will help students develop the skills needed to identify and record the characteristic birds of Oxfordshire, understand their ecology and habitats, and explore current threats and solutions to their conservation.
ONLINE COURSES Fees from £395 Tutor-led five-week standalone training course. Part-time over five weeks, tutor-led training courses taught entirely online £395 Field Techniques for Surveying Vegetation Wed, 18 Sep 2013 | Applications being accepted Data Analysis in Ecology: Statistics for Ecologists and Field Biologists Wed 30 Oct to Wed 4 Dec 2013 Field Techniques for Surveying Mammals & Reptiles. Wed 8 Jan to Wed 12 Feb 2014 Field Techniques for Surveying Birds Wed 12 Feb to Wed 19 Mar 2014 Field Techniques for Surveying Fish & Amphibians. Wed 26 Mar to Wed 30 Apr 2014 Field Techniques for Surveying Invertebrates Wed 30 April to Wed 4 June 2014
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Leading Change and Action on Climate Change. Mon 30 Sep to Fri 13 Dec 2013 Fees from £220 An Introduction to the Science of Climate and Climate Change This course is free of charge - please visit the www.climateeducation.net website for further details. Online – dates not confirmed.
There are many excellent courses coming up these are just a few of the details so visit Rewley House for leaflets or for more information contact the Administrator, Day & Weekend Schools, OUDCE, 1 Wellington Square, Oxford OX1 2JA. Tel 01865 - 270380 or by email: pp@conted.ox.ac.uk. Website: www.conted.ox.ac.uk.
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OUWG EVENTS
www.ouwg.org.uk
OCTOBER WORK PARTIES Boundary Brook Nature Park: Sundays between 10am and 1pm. Refreshments provided. Ring 07901 120 308 on day to ensure park will be open.
Sunday 6: Wolvercote Apple Day. 2 - 4.30 pm. Taste rare apples, apple cakes and drinks. Plus apple related games and activities including our OUWG stall. Community Orchard opposite the Trout Inn (car park at Inn now charges so perhaps use park near entrance to Port Meadow before you reach the Orchard).
Sunday 27: Autumn Open Day 2-5pm. Come and see the autumn colours in our woods. We will have the usual stalls, guided tours, pond dipping and will also have activities for children such as quizzes and model making.
NOVEMBER WORK PARTIES Boundary Brook Nature Park: Sundays between 10am and 1pm. Refreshments provided. Ring 07901 120 308 on day to ensure park will be open.
Thursday 28: Ants, ant intelligence and ant-hills an illustrated talk by Tim King on these fascinating animals including the cultural history of ants, their evolution, ecological roles and worldwide importance. Then he will cover their communication, brains and mental abilities, discussing how a typical ant colony is organised. Finally he will concentrate on local ants (details on page 3). Venue: Court Room in Oxford Town Hall. 7.30pm.
DECEMBER WORK PARTIES Boundary Brook Nature Park: Sundays between 10am and 1pm. Refreshments provided. Ring 07901 120 308 on day to ensure park will be open.
Tuesday 3: Christmas get-together. A “slide show” of pictures of the early days of Oxford Urban Wildlife Group and the very beginnings of Boundary Brook Nature Park showing how we converted derelict allotments into a nature park. 7.30pm. Bring and share refreshments. Christmas Punch will be provided. St Margaret’s Institute, 30 Polstead Road (OX2 6TN). Polstead Rd links the top of Kingston Road with the Woodstock Road. The Institute is near the Kingston Road end. From Magdalen Street you can catch a bus up the Woodstock Road - bus Nos 17A, 17C and 6. Get off at the St Margaret's Road stop. Let me know if you would like more directions or a lift. BOUNDARY BROOK NATURE PARK. Come and help us to manage the Nature Park. You can choose your task from a variety of jobs. A warm welcome guaranteed. You need not come for the whole time. Please ring on the day of the work party to ensure it has not been cancelled through bad weather etc. Contact: Alan Hart 07901 120 308. Please note new contact number. There is often someone working at Boundary Brook so, if you want to come at other times, find out who will be there and when by ringing Alan Hart but check before setting out to make sure it is still on. Bus route: Stagecoach Route 3. OXFORD URBAN WILDLIFE GROUP If you wish to contact OUWG or would like to become a member write to the editor: Janet Keene, 7 Norwood Ave, Southmoor, 13
Abingdon OX13 5AD or Tel: Oxford 820522. E-mail: keene@ouwg.org.uk Registered charity no 1101126. Printed on paper from sustainable forests.
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