Science & Nature

THE FIRECREST

Hamish Murray, Dorset Wildlife Trust Conservation Officer

Image: Hamish Murray

One of the real gems of Dorset’s winter woodland is the diminutive firecrest which vies with the goldcrest for the title of the UK’s smallest bird. Firecrests were first recorded breeding in the UK in Hampshire in 1962, and are now found in coniferous forests throughout much of southern England. A small number of these tiny sprites breed in the county but the population is boosted in winter by visitors from continental Europe.

Compared to the equally tiny and closely related goldcrest, firecrests are generally brighter with clearer markings. The black and white face pattern is particularly distinctive and contrasts with the goldcrest’s rather vacant expression. Male firecrests can usually be distinguished from females by their bright orange crown edged with black, while the female’s crown is yellow, but this can be difficult to see. The firecrest’s name has a royal ring to it - Regulus ignicapilla translates roughly as the fire-capped little king, a reference to that beautiful orange crown.

Firecrests can be found in a variety of woodlands and hedgerows but seem to have a slight preference for evergreens like holly and holm oak. Like many small birds, they are more often heard than seen and the high-pitched calls are often the first sign of a firecrest in the vicinity.

During the late autumn and winter, firecrests can be found in many Dorset locations. I’ve been lucky enough to observe several in my garden, where they often feed on the many aphids found on the underside of sycamore leaves. Although often solitary, firecrests can also be found amongst the roving flocks of tits which forage in the winter woodland.

dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk

FIRECREST FACTS

• Firecrests are restless, energetic little birds that rarely stay still for long. • A hint of orange on this bird’s crown stripe suggests it’s a male • Goldcrests are closely related but are generally duller than firecrests with a rather

‘sad-eyed’, vacant expression. • If seen well, the striped head pattern of a firecrest is unmistakable. The bright green

‘collar’ is another good identification feature.

HWall/Shutterstock

DRAWN TO THE LIGHT

Silver Y Autographa gamma Gillian Nash

The Silver Y is one of our commonest migrant moths and may appear throughout the year in almost any UK habitat, especially in southern counties.

Most sightings however will be during spring through to autumn as they arrive from North Africa and southern Europe, having taken advantage of fast, high airstreams to assist flight. Although essentially an immigrant species, there will be one or two homebred generations during late spring and summer – these individuals tend to be of deeper shades of marbled and mottled silver, black and brown than the often paler, greyer migrant individuals. The resulting late-season offspring of these earlier visitors may return to their counties of origin in autumn.

Some years see high numbers of migrant Silver Y moths. One such year was 2016 when the Paris Euro football final coincided with a large influx, making international headline news. Overnight stadium lights had attracted thousands of moths to the pitch and stands. Such an unusual sight caused a mixed reaction with some panic from the arriving crowds and players as the resting but now disturbed moths tried to locate alternative hard-to-find cover during the match.

Green larvae hatch from single eggs laid on many different groups of plants including nettle, dock, hop, toadflax, brassicas and garden peas. Such a wideranging variety of foodplants make it less likely that significant harm would be caused to UK garden vegetable crops in years of normal migration levels.

In its tentiform resting pose, the characteristic striking silver ‘Y’ on each intricately patterned forewing easily reveals the identity of this beautiful moth. Less frequently seen closely related species including Plain Golden Y and Beautiful Golden Y have a similar identifying mark but none are day-flying. Active both at night and during daylight hours, they fly rapidly from flower to flower seeking nectar from many cultivated and native plants of open bloom type such as scabious, knapweeds and buddleia. Incorporating nectar-rich species in garden planting schemes will almost certainly reward with the sight of this amazing insect among town and country flower borders.

FARMING AND CONSERVATION

Simon Ford, Land and Nature Adviser

Dorset is one of the most beautiful counties in Britain, with an amazing variety of places, from the heaths of Purbeck to the rolling downland around Cerne; the forests at Puddletown; the heavy clay of Blackmore Vale and the sea cliffs at Golden Cap. There are no truly wild areas in Dorset and arguably in Britain, with man’s influence found from the top of the Cairngorms to areas below sea level in East Anglia and Somerset Levels.

Farmland covers about 70% or 24 million hectares of the United Kingdom. There is an additional 3.2 million hectares of woodland, accounting for 13% of the land area, although half of this is commercial conifer plantations. We have farmed land for millennia, from Neolithic man clearing the forests to the monasteries draining wetlands and modern tractors ploughing even the most difficult terrain.

It is well known that we have squeezed out nature in our demand for more and more production. Ponds have been filled in, hedges ripped out or flailed to an inch of their lives, traditional hay meadows sprayed with herbicide and woodlands grubbed out.

The very sad result of this is that the UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world, bottom of the G7 and Europe and only just above countries such as Somalia and Sudan, in the last 10% of 180 countries.

One in seven species in Britain now faces extinction and in Dorset, the Wildlife Trust estimates that we have lost over 400 species that were recorded here in the past. Clearly, this is worrying and we should not be allowing this to spiral any further.

When I was a young ranger, working for Dartmoor National Park, there was an exciting development. In 1987, The European Union (or EEC as it was then), rolled out a new scheme to help fund positive management for wildlife on farmland. It was called the Countryside Stewardship Scheme and the UK was one of the first countries to adopt it.

Ondrej Prosicky/Shutterstock

The plan was to pay farmers and landowners a grant ‘to implement environmentally beneficial management of land and to conserve wildlife, maintain and enhance landscapes, protect the historic environment and natural resources and to promote public access’. My job was to speak to farmers to see if we could get some wildlife gains in lieu of payments.

Over the years, these grants morphed into different schemes, such as Higher Level Scheme and in some areas Environmentally Sensitive Area Scheme and Habitats Scheme, but all had the same aim of protecting the areas we had left and to enhance degraded areas. Management plans were written by ecologists and organisations such as the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group (FWAG) and the local Wildlife Trusts to make sure that the plans would

not only benefit nature but also would be suitable for the farmer. Payments were made to landowners to help them achieve the plans and could include projects such as re-planting lost hedges, re-seeding wildflower-rich downland, creating ponds, leaving margins on arable fields to encourage rare birds and arable ‘weeds’ and removing conifers from heathland.

It has been rewarding seeing previously degraded sites, once again flourishing. The farmers and landowners were proud of what they had achieved and to be able to do something positive to redress some of the losses we have seen in the UK.

Over the past 6 years, a great deal of work has been put into designing a replacement for the previous environmental schemes. The proposal was to create a new scheme called Environmental Land Management Scheme (ELMS). Many people will have seen in the press that there has been a great deal of disquiet from almost every environmental charity from the RSPB, National Trust, Woodland Trust, Wildlife Trust, Butterfly Conservation, Plantlife, Bat Conservation Trust, Bumblebee Conservation, The Rivers Trust… (the list goes on) about threats to environmental protection and the future of grants to maintain naturefriendly farming.

Let us hope for an enlightened approach, where wildlife is seen as an incredible asset and vital to all of us, rather than something which is a block to growth. Everyone needs nature. Let’s try to reverse the declines and do something positive for the environment.

Oregano THE THREE KINGS OF HONEY

Paula Carnell, Beekeeping Consultant, Writer and Speaker

Sidr Zandaz

Mauro Rodrigues/Shutterstock

There are some things that are just not available locally produced – some single variety types of honey are an example. I find it interesting that many people won’t think twice about eating lemons, coffee, chocolate or bananas, and yet declare that importing honey is wrong.

I agree wholeheartedly that wherever possible we should eat local food, and in season. I also believe strongly that we are a global community and trading with communities around the world is vital for mankind’s survival.

In the UK we consume far more honey than is produced on our islands, and so much honey is imported to satisfy the demand. Sadly a large proportion of that is adulterated or mis-labeled, implying it is honey produced by bees. Honey is the second most adulterated food (to olive oil) and trusting the label isn’t enough to ensure that you are eating what the packaging says. Any jar that is labelled ‘A blend of EU and Non-EU honey’ has the potential for adulteration. Honey is sold in

drums around the world, and checking each one would be impossible. The industry has ‘experts’ in fooling the tests, adding pollen to sugar and rice syrups, using a small percentage of real honey, and then topping it up with water or fructose corn syrup.

Any honey is only as good as where it comes from. Local would, of course, be excellent, if the bees are foraging in a pristine, chemical-free environment, and if their beekeeper hasn’t drenched the beehive in smoke, miticides or antibiotics. Following the disastrous number of ‘adulterated’ honey that entered the Montreal Apimondia in 2019, the beekeepers who failed the testing for their honey demanded more information on why their honey failed, after all, they were mostly small honey producers who’d simply extracted the honey from their hives. This year, CSI, the German honey analysis laboratory, respected globally for their thorough and complex testing, published the detailed results of the follow-up testing of each sample. What they discovered was honey contaminated with high levels of processed sugar, miticides, smoke and even genetically modified soya, which some beekeepers had used to make winter and spring ‘pollen patties’ to feed their bees. I think we could all agree we wouldn’t want to be eating honey with any of those ingredients in it.

The bees do a marvellous job of removing toxins from plants and the environment when they produce honey, but even they have their limits.

Knowing where your food and honey come from is therefore important if you are to make an informed choice on your purchase.

Through my travels, studies in Bologna in honey sensory analysis, and judging global honey, I have learned much and connected with many excellent beekeepers and honey producers. My own bees need a large portion of the honey they produce, and so to ensure my customers can have quality honey all year round, I support other beekeepers, in the UK, Spain, Romania, Madagascar, Mexico and Morocco.

My favourites this autumn for the winter months, and festive season, are Sidr, Oregano and Zandaz. The latter has an incredible story, only being produced twice in any five-year period. Although looking like a typical honeydew honey with its dark viscous consistency, it actually comes from a small flowering shrub found in a small area in the Atlas mountains of Morocco. For the shrub to bloom its yellow flowers, there have to be warm sunny days, cold moist nights, and a 50 degrees centigrade breeze from the Sahara desert! The added complication is that that hot breeze burns the wings of the bees causing them to die after only 3 days on the wing, rather than the usual 3 weeks. It is therefore no wonder that the beekeepers hold on to this rich honey until the second harvest before selling the first! Sidr is the favoured honey in the Islamic community, coming from a very holy tree found across the Middle East and North Africa. Said to be the tree used to make the crown of thorns, its huge spikes are distinctive in the dry arid landscape it is found in. It has a distinctive almond flavour and smooth consistency, ranging from dark amber to a pale cream when crystallised. I found in Oman that most households have a large litre bottle of this Sidr honey in their medicine cabinet, their warm climate preventing the honey from crystallising. There are Sidr trees found in India, Pakistan, Egypt, Arabia and Northern Africa. It’s also known as Jujbe, Lote and Nabkh – the botanical name is Ziziphus spina-christi, Christ’s thorn. The Sidr leaves are rich in calcium, iron and magnesium, extracted from the soil by its deep roots. The leaves have strong anti-inflammatory and antiseptic properties making their use wide in producing natural wound disinfectants as well as herbal shampoos and deodorants. It makes sense to believe that some of those properties from the tree would be translated into the honey. It has one of the highest levels of antioxidants per 100 grams. N 2017, Dr. Taher Ashraf a researcher in Los Angeles found that ‘Sidr honey acts as a potent anti-inflammatory that impedes tumour cell proliferation and inhibits angiogenesis – the process by which new blood vessels form – by inhibiting the expression of the tumour suppressor gene on the cell membrane.’ Oregano honey from Morocco is one of the most sought-after and appreciated in the world. Oregano was a symbol of happiness for the ancient greeks and Romans with the name literally translated as ‘joy of the mountain’. Moroccan oregano honey can be produced from three species of the plant creating an unusual and unique flavour. Locals use the honey in massage to treat rheumatism. Internally it’s taken to treat digestive complaints, as well as anti-intoxication. What better selection of honey to get us through the festive season!

paulacarnell.com

Paula’s hive in Galhampton will be open to visitors every Thursday and Friday between 10am-12pm in December. Call or email to book an appointment for alternative times.

SHOW YOUR LOVE WITH PRE-LOVED THIS CHRISTMAS

Peter Littlewood, Director, Young People’s Trust for the Environment

It seems there is a new trend coming this Christmas. With the cost of living going up and with shoppers finding that they have less disposable income available to them, more of us will be buying reconditioned gifts that have previously been used by others.

Buying refurbished goods does make a lot of sense. Many electronic items, such as phones, smartwatches, and computers can be expertly restored to the point where they are as good as new. Additionally, refurbished items often come with a guarantee from the refurbisher, which can mean the customers enjoy similar levels of protection to those they would receive if they bought the same item brand-new. And of course, refurbished goods tend to be considerably cheaper.

In recent years, Black Friday has become an opportunity for retailers to create a consumer buying frenzy, with shoppers feeling the need to try and grab bargains in advance of Christmas. But this can often end up being a frenzy of waste, with shoppers getting carried away and buying items they neither wanted nor needed, simply to satisfy their craving for a bargain.

Black Friday 2022 was different, at least for some retailers. Online auction site eBay took the decision that for Black Friday 2022 it would only promote refurbished goods. No brand-new items received any promotion on the day. It’s a reflection of a trend, which

ArtMarie/iStock

is already seeing increasing numbers of shoppers choosing to buy refurbished goods rather than opting for new items. A recent survey found that over 50% of UK shoppers intend to buy secondhand or refurbished goods as Christmas gifts this year.

Taking the decision to buy items that have been previously used doesn’t just save you money though. It also cuts down on the number of raw materials needed to create new items.

Today’s sophisticated electronic devices contain a wide range of metals and minerals, all of which have to be mined, extracted and refined at considerable cost to the environment. Buying items that have already been made, sold and used before does not create any new levels of environmental impact - at least not over and above the impacts of getting them delivered to your home.

And if electronics aren’t your thing, there are alternative refurbished and reused items that you might consider gifting this Christmas. There are plenty of places where you can get hold of pre-loved clothing. At the most basic level, you could visit your local charity shop in search of bargains, but you could also go online and search sites like eBay, Vinted or Depop.

The trend for reusing clothes is becoming so strong that High Street retailer Zara recently launched Zara Pre-owned, its own online service for shoppers to buy and sell preowned Zara clothing and to offer and book repairs. In doing so, it is joining other retailers, including Marks & Spencer and John Lewis, all of which have teamed up with partners to offer the resale, and in some cases refurbishment, of their own clothing.

It is predicted that the market for reselling and refurbishing clothes is going to grow considerably faster than that of the general fashion industry. Selfridge’s, for example, has stated that it wants almost 50% of its interactions with customers to be about resale, repair, refills, or rentals by 2030.

Increasing awareness of the environmental impacts of the fashion industry has surely been a key driver of this change. With fashion being the second most damaging industry on the planet in terms of environmental impact, it’s good to see an increasing number of businesses within the industry begin to take more responsibility. And that new trend has no doubt been driven by increasingly aware consumers.

When it comes to your food and drink choices, try to buy more locally sourced produce this festive season, if you can. About a quarter of our carbon footprint comes from the food we eat. A lot of our food is now grown hundreds, or even thousands of miles away and transporting it to us has an environmental cost. Reducing that distance by buying from local producers enables us to have a real impact on lowering that carbon footprint. It’s also good in these difficult times to be supporting the farmers and growers who produce food for us in the areas where we actually live.

So join the trend and put locally grown and preowned items on your Christmas list this year. It’s better for the planet, and it’s better for your pocket too!

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