Wild Dorset

SUN WORSHIPPERS Lydia Harvey, DWT Volunteer

As summer gets into full swing, it brings with it the purple heather we’re used to seeing on heathland this time of year. The mosaic of mature heath we find in Dorset has bare sandy areas and warm, south facing slopes, making them the perfect habitat for basking reptiles. In fact, all six British reptile species can be found in Dorset.

As you walk along the sandy paths, look out for signs of the female sand lizard, who has spent her time digging test burrows in which to lay her eggs. These extremely rare lizards can only be found in a few protected sites in the UK. With its bright green flanks, the male sand lizard makes a very striking sight, especially during the breeding season in April and May.

Usually found in the same habitat, the smooth snake is another rare reptile that calls Dorset heaths its home. It was first discovered in the British Isles in 1852 at Parley Common in Dorset. Smaller and more slender than other snakes, the smooth snake can usually grow to 60-70cm long. It has an eye stripe that extends along the side of the head and is generally a grey or dull brown colour with two rows of black dots down its back.

Keep an eye out for the dark zig-zag markings of the adder as it shelters in the undergrowth. Despite being the UK’s only venomous snake, adders are shy, sensitive and non-aggressive. They will usually only bite if they are disturbed or antagonised.

Grass snakes, which can be found throughout England and Wales, are non-venomous and very timid, feeding mostly on fish and amphibians. Often mistaken for a snake, the slow worm is in fact a lizard. They are very shiny and are usually a greyish brown colour, appearing bronze in some light. The common lizard, as its name suggests, can be found throughout Europe, from heathlands to dry stone walls, sea cliffs and embankments.

With its diversity of habitats, the Upton Heath nature reserve offers the perfect mix of dry, humid and wet heath, bog pools, ponds and grassland and is home to all six of the British reptile species.

Find out more about our heathland nature reserves in Dorset at dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk/nature-reserves. If you are visiting, please be sure to keep dogs on leads and remember BBQs are prohibited due to fire risk.

SHERBORNE DWT Gillian M. Constable, Dorset Wildlife Trust, Sherborne Group Committee Member

The management of road verges for the benefit of wildlife is one of the aims of DWT’s work. For many years, they have maintained the blue post scheme. A blue post area along a verge indicates to verge cutters, and others, that the area is of special interest for flora and fauna therefore rules exist, which they should be aware of, for mowing. Sadly, not always are such indicators observed and valuable flora is mown. Currently, Holwell Drove, a blue post area, is a wonderful example of how its wide verges can look if managed sympathetically. The above photo is of the northern side of the Drove where hundreds of the plant betony, Stachys officinalis, are in flower. From the road, an amazing haze of their magenta flowers can be seen. Amongst them are many other species of wildflower, thousands of grasshoppers and many butterflies. Earlier this year, rare marsh fritillary butterflies were also to be found there. In the past we have heard nightingales singing from its thick hedge.

Betony is native to England and relatively common in Dorset and it seems to thrive in the wet, heavy soils of the Drove. Sadly, its distribution has been reduced by farming practices. Richard Mabey, in Flora Britannica, describes betony as an elegant late-flowering red deadnettle; I think that from a distance it has the look of pyramidal orchid. Medieval herbalists described it

Image: Gillian M. Constable

as one of the great ‘all-heals’ and two millennia ago Antonius Musa, a botanist/physician, claimed it was effective against sorcery.

Last year, I mentioned sightings of the large tortoiseshell butterfly on Portland. There had not been any reports of their breeding in England for 70 years and the source of these individuals was unknown. In June, Portland Observatory’s daily bird records (14/06) reported of someone finding the hatched eggs, about 175 eggs in total, and larval skins of the species on the island. A full account and supporting photos of the findings are now on the Dorset Butterfly Conservation website. One can only guess why they are breeding again in Dorset; let us hope they continue to prosper.

I will give a final mention of the Lorton Meadow DWT Reserve barn owl nesting box. During the very hot weather, sightings were difficult since the owlets were forward in the nest box, out of camera range, seeking some cool air. After some persistence with searches, I have seen them recently and they are jumping about, flapping wings and rapidly losing their fluffy owlet feathers revealing the beautiful barn owl plumage. Soon they will be off discovering Dorset.

CLOVER MEADOWS Paula Carnell, Beekeeping Consultant, Writer and Speaker

Growing up in Dorset, friends lived in roads called ‘Clover Meade’, ‘Clover Meadow’, often referring to the fields that once were before the new developments. Pastureland covered in clover, are not so common now. I have observed this summer, many areas carpeted in white clover, and delighted that it hasn’t been mowed, losing this vital source of nectar and pollen for many species of bees.

Trifolium repens has shorter flower tubes than its cousin the red clover, Trifolium pratense. As honeybees have shorter tongues than bumble and solitary bees, white clover has become a staple for our bees, and therefore British honey production for the past two hundred years. It used to account for 75% of the honey crop, however the changes in agricultural practices has dramatically reduced the abundance, or even appearance of clover across much of the British Isles.

As a natural fertiliser, replacing nitrogen in the soil, nature allows the native wild clover to thrive on all but the most acidic of soils. The slightly larger Dutch clover, used to be sown, but cut just before it flowered for silage production. It is said that the honeybees will chose the wild over the Dutch, and I wonder if that has something to do with the mineral content. Plants that appear of their own accord have done so as nature’s way of correcting the soil, and so they will be a much richer source of nitrogen than a plant sown by humans and with natural or synthetic fertilisers added.

White clover flowers from early June and continues right through the summer. As long as we don’t have severe drought, it can still be feeding bees in September. At this time, when the ‘saving of bees’ is so popular, I am still astonished when I discover that landowners, including the humble gardener, would even be considering removal of such an important plant. I admit that it has taken many years for my husband to finally accept the beauty of a more natural lawn; he was an eager ‘stripy’ lawn lover. I do appreciate that giving up pristine lawns may be a step too far for many who profess to have bee-friendly gardens.

I thought I would try and explain just some of the reasons why we really need to address the mowing and chemical treatments of our special patches of nature:

Firstly, I will address mowing, which may initially appear quite harmless. I was so excited that many of my clients, neighbours and friends participated in

Amy Buxton/Shutterstock

the National ‘No Mow May’ campaign. With such a dry May, it wasn’t too difficult for many as the grass didn’t grow due to the shortage of rain keeping growth to a minimum. This break though did allow for many of our native bee species to find nests sites and breed in peace, without regular disruption. Few realise that the majority of our pollination is due to some of the other 270 species of native and bumble bees we have in Britain. I learned only this past week that an ecological survey discovered that by removing one species of insect or mammal has an impact by, in turn, removing a further 7 species from the interconnected web of nature. Allowing grasses and weeds to grow and flower during May not only provide much needed forage in the form of protein-filled pollen and carbohydrate rich nectar (dandelions for example) but the newly emerging queen bees can find a nest site, begin laying eggs and allow for the first batch of workers to emerge. Thus, leaving the queen to concentrate on laying the next generation of queens and males to mate with them.

Secondly, let’s discuss chemicals. In an ideal world, and in any land under my control, I advocate the use of NO chemicals whatsoever. Through my herbal medicine studies and naturopathic understanding, I know that whatever we introduce into our soil, food or bodies, has a consequence. Our bodies are of nature, and nature requires a balance; the necessary removal of anything unnatural upsets the equilibrium and causes additional strain on any organism. When we understand that everything we produce has to be recycled somewhere on our planet, the realisation that there is no such place as ‘away’ to throw our unwanted products, triggers quite an awakening.

I recently spotted someone dressed in protective clothing, spraying an area of lawn, beautifully scattered with blooming clover. It was daylight, mid-morning, and on a sunny day. I was informed that this was, however, a ‘safe for bees’ mixture called ‘Leystar’ produced by Dow AgroSciences Limited. Although its environmental information sheet states that ‘no risk management necessary… Leystar poses low risk to honeybees and there is no requirement to avoid application of the product when bees may be foraging on flowering weeds,’ the ingredients include fluroxypyr-meptyl, clopyralid, pyridine carboxylic acid herbicides, and florasulam - a triazolopyrimidine herbicide for use in grassland and forage maize. Many of these ingredients are synthetic, not biodegradable, and work by disrupting the cell permeability in plants - DNA disruptors. I am aware that a vast proportion of the population believe that if a product is available for sale, it must be safe. Unfortunately, as shown in the case of neonicotinoids, scientists researching bee health spent over twenty years with their research evidence proving the damage that neonicotinoids did to bees before they could even begin to restrict the usage of these terribly damaging insecticides. What most people are unaware of, is the fact that they are still licensed for use on non-pollinated crops or foods, where bees are kept away.

What you may be interested in learning, is that none of these mixtures are tested on human beings, so we actually do not know if the concoctions devised to kill and disable plants and insects, have any correlation with human disease and particularly the increase of our auto-immune conditions. I often think of Jamie Oliver’s statement that ‘If you can’t pronounce the ingredients, don’t eat it,’ and I look forward to a time when this is also a mantra for what we put on our plants and soil.