Suffolk
Wildlife News from Suffolk Wildlife Trust
AUTUMN 2018
SUFFOLK WILDLIFE
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Living Landscapes Living Gardens Living Seas
AUTUMN 2018
CONTENTS
9
PIXABAY
JOHN FERGUSSON
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14
AMY LEWIS
STEVE AYLWARD
18
CONSERVATION NEWS
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Carlton target hit!
Suffolk Wildlife Trust celebrated the purchase of new land at Carlton Marshes and hitting our £1 million fundraising target this summer.
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Reserves round-up
All the latest news from the Trust's reserves.
SPECIES SPOTLIGHT
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A raven beauty
John Grant explains how this beautiful bird of fable and folklore has bred in the county for the first time in 138 years.
18 Moth magic
Discover the weird and wonderful world of Suffolk's moths.
MILKWEED TUSSOCK MOTH CATERPILLAR: ALAMY
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SUFFOLK WILDLIFE
WILDLIFE & PEOPLE
LIVING LANDSCAPES
24 The pull of the river
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28 Stay wild
Matt Gaw looks at the role played by County Wildlife Sites and the threats facing these precious bastions of biodiversity.
Have we lost our connection with our watery past?
So you've done 30 Days Wild – why not try 365 days wild?!
For the BBC’s Security Correspondent Frank Gardner, finding a nightjar was a thrilling experience.
30 My first nightjar
The unsung heroes of our countryside
14 Farming for good
What does the future hold for both farmland wildlife and those who work the land?
UK NEWS
22 Campaign for nature's recovery
Please help us build momentum for a Nature Recovery Network.
DIRECTORY
32 Advertising directory
JOHN FERGUSON
Welcome
Suffolk
Wildlife News from Suffolk Wildlife Trust
AUTUMN 2018
On the cover
Suffolk’s top wildlife story for 2018 must be the return of raven as a breeding species after an absence of 138 years. John Grant (on page 9) welcomes this charismatic bird back after its long absence. Ravens follow on from buzzards and polecats in spreading out from their strongholds in the west across the Midlands to East Anglia. For me it is a source of great excitement to see these species recolonising their former range after having been driven out in the 19th century. Even if I never see a Julian Roughton polecat – and very few of us will - I rejoice that they Chief Executive are in Suffolk again. As we celebrate the ravens’ return to Suffolk, voices (and hands) are rising against them elsewhere with echoes of past persecution. In Scotland over 1,000 birds a year are now being culled and, in recent weeks, Natural England has issued licenses to kill ravens in lowland counties where populations have only recently re-established. There will be the occasional need to cull individual problem birds that target lambs - that is what a licence system is designed to address. However, it is the scale and unscientific nature of proposed culls that raises concerns, especially given the UK’s unparalleled history of eradicating even smaller predators. Ravens are still recovering from two centuries of persecution and, with less than 8,000 breeding pairs in the UK, they remain far from common. There are good reasons for managing species populations - some introduced species can have a devastating impact on species and habitats. Muntjac deer, if left unchecked, can have severe impacts on ancient woodland ground flora, including rare species such as oxlips. Deer can also change the structure of woods. At Bradfield Woods detailed research has shown how the loss of bramble from deer browsing has driven the decline of cherished and threatened species such as nightingale. The introduction of American mink led to a collapse in water vole populations as they have no defence against these effective predators. In a few years water voles disappeared from entire river catchments. In Suffolk the future for water voles has been transformed by the Trust’s coordination of mink trapping by landowners and water voles have, once again, returned to most rivers. In these cases the scientific evidence has been clear but trust in Defra’s decisions on culling native wildlife has been eroded by the badger cull. Defra’s decisions need to be transparent and open to public scrutiny. Only then can we be sure that culls of ravens are based on science and evidence rather than a Victorian legacy of persecution that still haunts us.
Raven Paul Sawer RSPB Images SUFFOLK WILDLIFE
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Living Landscapes Living Gardens Living Seas
SUFFOLK WILDLIFE SUFFOLK WILDLIFE MAGAZINE is published by Suffolk Wildlife Trust, Brooke House, Ashbocking IP6 9JY 01473 890089 info@suffolkwildlifetrust.org suffolkwildlifetrust.org EDITOR Matt Gaw DESIGN Clare Sheehan ADVERTISING Today Magazines, Framlingham 01728 622030 PRINTING Five Castles Press, Ipswich
Registered charity no 262777
Suffolk Wildlife Trust is a registered charity no 262777 and a company limited by guarantee no 695346 PATRON Lord Tollemache PRESIDENT William Kendall VICE PRESIDENTS David Barker MBE, Sir Kenneth Carlisle, Lord Deben, Dawn Girling, Peter Wilson TRUSTEES Nigel Farthing (Chairman), James Alexander (Treasurer), David Alborough (Hon Secretary), John Cousins, Rachel Eburne, Denise Goldsmith, Pip Goodwin, Peter Holborn, Simon Roberts, Anna Saltmarsh.
KEEP IN TOUCH
Suffolk Wildlife Trust benefits from the most incredible support, with many members’ commitment stretching over decades. Please tell our Membership Manager, Sam Grange, if your circumstances change, so we can keep your membership record up-to-date, for example if your family has grown out of the children’s magazine. If you would like to change how we contact you, or would rather receive your magazine in a digital format please let us know.
Sam Grange our Membership Manager is happy to help with any questions about your membership. 01473 890089 Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram SUFFOLK WILDLIFE TRUST is one of a national network of Wildlife Trusts dedicated to safeguarding the future of wildlife for the benefit of all.
SUFFOLK WILDLIFE
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JOHN FERGUSSON
CONSERVATION NEWS
WILD DAY OUT... wild JOHN FERGUSSON
Birders waiting for a glimpse of the American bittern in April.
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SUFFOLK WILDLIFE
A
fter two years of extensive planning, research, wildlife surveys and tireless fundraising, Suffolk Wildlife Trust celebrated the founding of the new landscape-scale nature reserve at Carlton Marshes this summer. The Wild Day Out offered people the chance to see exactly what will be happening at the reserve as the Trust works towards its vision of creating 1,000 acres of wildness on the doorstep of Lowestoft. The day of celebration, when it
was also revealed that the Trust had hit the ÂŁ1 milllion match-funding target, was also an opportunity to say thank you to everyone who has supported the dream to protect this precious corner of East Anglia. Earlier this year the Heritage Lottery Fund awarded a grant of ÂŁ4,063,000 to the Trust to complete what will be the biggest habitat restoration and wetland creation in the Broads National Park for a decade. A new flagship visitor centre will also be built. Julian Roughton, Chief Executive
THE LOST WORDS The campaign to bring The Lost Words by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris to every primary school in Suffolk has been a resounding success. Members and supporters have to date donated more than £3,000, allowing the book – created to celebrate and revive words used to describe the natural world that had been cut from the Oxford Junior Dictionary – to also be gifted to special schools, high schools, pupil referral units and other learning settings. Over the past six months, Trust staff and volunteers have handdelivered the books to schools and presented them, with an exclusive bookmark for each child, to the children and staff in assembly. Schools have also explored the book in curriculum-linked half day and day sessions based on The Lost Words delivered in workshops, schools and on reserves.
250 OVER
years to come American bittern
of Suffolk Wildlife Trust, said the award from HLF was a defining moment for the county’s conservation efforts and one of the most significant events in the charity’s 57-year history. “The support from the HLF means that Suffolk Wildlife Trust can now begin restoring this precious part of East Anglia and create a place where wildness spreads as far as the eye can see. This nature reserve will be now safeguarded forever, providing homes for some of the UK’s most iconic species. “As well as being good for
wildlife the new visitor centre, new walkways and boardwalks across the marshes will help even more people explore the landscape and discover the wonders of the natural world. This nature reserve will be a flagship conservation story for the UK showing how nature can be brought back.” And the new land is already attracting wildlife. An American bittern – the first recorded in East Anglia – was seen on Share Marsh during the spring and early summer, attracting thousands of visitors from across the country and beyond.
SCHOOLS IN SUFFOLK WILL RECEIVE A BOOK
SUFFOLK WILDLIFE
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CONSERVATION NEWS GREY HERON
TURTLE DOVE
HERONS AT HEN
DARSHAM’S DOVES
The Beast from the East hit bird numbers hard this spring, with new colonists at Hen Reedbeds, such as Cetti's warblers and little egrets suffering while no sightings of kingfishers have been reported. But thankfully bittern still appeared to be doing well with two booming on the reserve. The grey herons, which normally nest in the pine trees opposite Hen, this year set up in the reedbed with 11 nests containing young.
DAVID KJAER
OYSTERCATCHERS
LOOKING AFTER ALDE
Tom Oliver is standing down as volunteer warden for Alde Mudflats after 20 years’ dedicated service that has led to the collection of vital data about this intertidal reserve. We would like to thank Tom, who still volunteers with the weekly work parties at Trimley Marshes, for all his dedication and hard work. We are currently looking for someone to carry out monthly bird counts at Alde.
FIND OUT MORE if you are available please email andrew.excell@ suffolkwildlifetrust.org
DAVID KJAER
ROGER TIDMAN RSPB
Turtle doves, a species that has suffered a 91% UK population decline since 1995, have bred at Suffolk Wildlife Trust’s Darsham Marshes reserve this year. The success follows the introduction of a “supplementary feeding” programme, courtesy of the Operation Turtle Dove project, which is funded by the RSPB, Natural England, Pensthorpe Conservation Trust and Fair to Nature. One of the problems affecting turtle doves is a shortage of suitable seed food that leads to fewer nesting attempts and fewer chicks.
RESERVES ROUND-UP RINGED PLOVER
BREEDING SUCCESS
ERGUS GILL
Two pairs of marsh harrier nested at Trimley Marshes this year, while grasshopper warbler bred for the first time for a number of years. Ringed plover, a bird that has dramatically declined across the Suffolk coast due to disturbance of their traditional nesting grounds, also fledged young at Trimley. A pair also successfully raised young on the marina wall at Levington, following work with Suffolk Yacht Harbour to keep the area free from human activity during the breeding season.
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BUMPER BROADS BARN OWLS
NIGHTINGALE
GOOD YEAR FOR NIGHTINGALE
PAUL SAWER
After a freezing start to spring, the migrant birds returned to Lackford Lakes a little later than usual but soon made up for lost time. Eight singing male nightingales were recorded on the west of the reserve while a wheatear appeared on Church Heath before moving northwards. As well as whitethroat, sedge, reed and willow warbler moving onto the reserve to breed, stone curlew were heard several times over the new land at Sayer's Breck nearby and we remain hopeful that they bred. A path to the land, recently acquired through our fundraising appeal, has now been completed.
It looks like being another good year for barn owls across the Trust’s northern reserves with high occupancy in most of the Broadland barn owl boxes. Last year 22 owls fledged from six boxes and it’s hoped the numbers could be equalled in 2018.
BILL BASTON
HANDS ON AT BRADFIELD WOODS FOX CUBS
BATS & FOXES AT LOUND LAKES
JON HAWKINS
NEIL GEACH
One of the UK’s rarest bats was found at Lound Lakes this summer. As part of the National Nathusius' Pipistrelle Project, an initiative to determine the resident breeding status of the bat, a pregnant female was trapped and fitted with a tracker. Four fox cubs have been stars of Lound Lakes though and were regularly photographed playing in the scrub during May.
Spring and summer proved to be spectacular again in Bradfield Woods with wild flowers, including the strange, leafless bird’s-nest orchid flourishing in the shade of the coppice. Although the flowers have passed and the reserve team is again gearing up for the coppicing season, there is plenty to do at the wood, including courses in the new green wood-working area. Why not try your hand at pole lathe turning, woodland jewellery making, steam bending or spoonmaking. Bradfield Woods also now has a charcoal kiln and charcoal is available to buy at the reserve.
FIND OUT MORE For details of events see suffolkwildlifetrust.org
SUFFOLK WILDLIFE
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AMA WILDZING LIFE S SHARCENES E US B D WITH Y READ OUR ERS
CONSERVATION NEWS
CHINESE WATER DEER Indigenous to China and Korea, Chinese water deer are threatened in their native habitat. They escaped from captivity in the 1870s and are now thriving in the Broads. Carlton Marshes is a great place to see them.
Our reserve teams also share sightings and wildlife news on social media – a chance to enjoy the reserve through their eyes.
PICTURES FROM OUR RESERVES
Simon Poll's passion for wildlife photography sees him spending many hours at Trust reserves. He particularly enjoys getting shots which capture the personalitly of the animal or shows it in action!
GRASS SNAKE Conservationists have been monitoring the grass snake population at Lound Lakes in recent years. Individual snakes are identified by their unique markings in order to track their activity.
GREENFINCH ON FEEDER Many of you have shared stories of feeding the birds in your garden over the long, dry summer. Feeders like this at North Cove can be a life-line.
We are grateful to the families of the following friends of the Trust who have recently remembered us in their Will or through an In memoriam donation. Dorothy Amos Tony Belsham John Cancellor Richard Collison Roger Denny
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Douglas Ellis Valerie Garland Pamela Green Mary Haines Cicely Hunter Brian Ilbrey Peter Leach Judith Lee Basil Littleproud Leslie Marshall Jackie Mayhew Daniel McGrath Sally-Anne
SUFFOLK WILDLIFE
McRoberts Clive Mitchell Susan Munslow John Nix May Parker Brian Pipe Ivan Pleasants Sheila Squibb Ivor & Louise Steer John Thirlwell Patricia Turmer John Walker
PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION
Suffolk Wildlife Trust's annual wildlife photography competition is now open for entries. The competition, which is now in its 19th year, recognises the wealth of nature-inspired photographic talent in the region – and further afield. For information and to enter our free competition visit:
suffolkphotography.org/
Photography COMPETiTiON
BRANDON SMITH ALAMY STOCK PHOTO
Thank you
SPECIES SPOTLIGHT
A RAVEN
BEAUTY After a history of demonisation and cruel death, the raven is back in Suffolk. John Grant explains how this beautiful bird of fable and folklore has bred in the county for the first time in 138 years. SUFFOLK WILDLIFE
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PAUL SAWER RSPB
SPECIES SPOTLIGHT
T
he ravens have left the tower. But far from their exit somehow mystically foretelling of a disaster that is set to befall England, as Tower of London folklore would have us believe, Suffolk nature conservationists are hoping the flight of these coal‑black crows are the heralds of a corvid comeback to a county cruelly rid of its ravens in a persecution purge many decades ago. The tower in question is about as aesthetically far removed from the capital’s famous raven‑guarded historic landmark as could be imagined. Skeletal, grey and eyesore‑ugly, it bestrides a mid‑Suffolk agricultural landscape largely long‑neglected by naturalists. If it were not for its distinguished avian guests, who this year became the first northern ravens to breed in Suffolk since 1870, this would be just another pylon: just another Iron Army soldier on a motionless march towards the distant horizon. But in terms of Suffolk ornithology, this pylon is now set to be as feted as the Tower of London itself is in the annals of British history.
A MOMENT OF LUCK It was a chance discovery. Ecologist Christopher Bridge, a former bird‑ringing resident of Landguard Bird Observatory, was carrying out a survey for his employer, Abrehart Ecology, when the ravens’ interest in the pylon was noted. The rest, as they say, is history. After a tense hush‑hush news black‑out period lasting several weeks to ensure the birds’ security, up to four
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For the first time in 138 years, the raven is back as a breeding species in the county
Suffolk raven chicks fledged. The joyous news that, for the first time in 138 years, the raven was back as a breeding species in the county could be trumpeted far and wide. The raven’s enforced exile was finally over. Chris’ discovery may have been the result of a chance encounter, but ornithologists had been indulging in some reading of the raven runes in recent years and had foretold that this sometimes demonised, sometimes deified species – wreathed for centuries in folklore and fable but also shot, poisoned and bludgeoned to local extinction – was on its way back to Suffolk. The signs had certainly been there, both nationally and locally. Banished to the outer, wilder fringes of Britain by ruthless persecution in the lowlands, where ravens were mercilessly extirpated by Victorian gamekeepers and livestock farmers, the first indications of an eastward return were recorded about 30 years ago. Out of the hills, moorlands and crags of the North and West came the pioneers, sustained by increasing amounts of roadkill to scavenge on as increasing traffic took its wildlife tolls, buoyed and emboldened by fewer gunshots.
A SLOW FLIGHT SOUTH Broadly mirroring the Common Buzzard’s re‑colonisation of former haunts, the raven returned to the Midlands and other erstwhile homes, some on East Anglia’s doorstep. Famously, by 2005, the species was back on the White Cliffs of Dover.
DID YOU KNOW? l It has been claimed that ravens were introduced to the Tower of London to add drama to executions. There are reports of ravens “gazing eerily” from the battlements upon the beheading of Anne Boleyn in 1536. l Ravens have a life span of 10-15 years in the wild.
CONSPIRACY l Ravens rival chimpanzees and dolphins in terms of intelligence. They have been known to push rocks on people who try to approach their nest, steal fish by pulling fishing lines out of ice holes and playing dead beside carrion to scare other ravens away.
JOHN WATERS NATUREPL.COM
A GROUP OF RAVENS IS CALLED AN
l Researchers in Austria have discovered that ravens are capable of “very sophisticated non-vocal signals,” even pointing out objects with their beaks to other birds.
And what of Suffolk? The onslaught against the species that took place in the 19th Century had mirrored the carnage that took place across the country. In his avifauna The Birds of Suffolk, Steve Piotrowski writes that during the early part of that century, ravens appear to have been “fairly common in many parts of Suffolk.” However, he records that persecution by farmers and gamekeepers, the attentions of egg‑collectors and the theft from nests of chicks destined to become pets (the species is widely celebrated for its intelligence and its engaging personality) “eventually saw its demise.” The end came in 1870 with the last nesting in the county taking place at Euston Park, the sadness emphasised by the presence of a few unpaired birds remaining at various sites until 1889. Just eight individuals were recorded in Suffolk between then and 2002 – the first at Walberswick on September 14, 1954, and another was a county “tick” for many a Suffolk birder when it was seen gorging on a dead rabbit at Landguard on October 28, 1993.
JOHN GRANT worked as the environment correspondent for the East Anglian Daily Times and is the honorary president of Suffolk Ornithologist's Group.
AN INCREASE IN SIGHTINGS Four Suffolk records in 2008 and six in 2009 raised hopes that the fortune of the bird was about to turn, but no more were seen in 2010. Then two sightings in 2011 and four in 2012 preceded in 2013 what Suffolk Birds – the authoritative annual report published by the Suffolk Naturalists’ Society and compiled by the Suffolk Ornithologists’ Group – referred to as a “significant increase” in sightings, with nine or 10 birds being seen at a total of seven sites.
Will the northern raven become a familiar part of our avifauna again? In 2014 the report referred to “much speculation about possible colonisation in the future.” It recorded a widely roaming bird in coastal areas between Lowestoft and Shingle Street and two that stayed together for a long period in the Orford and Gedgrave area towards the year’s end. The 2015 report highlighted that mating was seen at one west Suffolk site, at which the pair stayed for several weeks. In total, raven records came from 11 west Suffolk sites and five coastal areas during that year. Four seen together in one west Suffolk locality in September 2016 possibly indicated breeding nearby, although such an event remained officially unproven. Now, at last, we have proof. They’re back and have indeed successfully raised young in Suffolk once again. The question now is whether this initial foothold will be strengthened. Will the northern raven become a familiar part of our avifauna again after being lost for so long? Will it be allowed to?
THE FUTURE
A conspiracy of ravens might soon be a more common sight in Suffolk.
The presence of ravens in Suffolk is a test case for tolerance. Many of the forces that drove the species out of Suffolk still remain. Egg‑collecting is thankfully not as rife as it once was and, surely, no‑one would steal a raven chick as a pet. However, it remains to be seen whether the largest, perhaps the most intelligent and for many certainly the most engaging of the corvids, will be welcomed back unreservedly. n
SUFFOLK WILDLIFE
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LIVING LANDSCAPES
THE UNSUNG HEROES OF OUR COUNTRYSIDE
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Often small and overlooked, County Wildlife Sites are important refuges for nature. Matt Gaw looks at the threats facing these precious bastions of biodiversity.
stop the car just as the rain starts. The first drops hitting ground still warm from days of sun; the air suddenly full of the petrichor scent of grass, earth and asphalt. To the left, between hedge and road is a thin strip of green. A tiny tangle of wildness. I walk up and down slowly, looking out for the pointed, grey-green leaves and the yellowish white flowers that I know are here. Sulphur clover was once relatively widespread in Suffolk. In 1806 The Botanist’s Guide described them in 1806 as “frequent” and “plentiful”. But the decline of grassland meadows and unimproved pasture that came hand-inhand with intensive farming means this plant is now nationally scarce: clinging onto roadside verges where it is still at risk from encroaching scrub, fertiliser run off, traffic damage and over-zealous mowing. As soon as I see one, I see them everywhere, their blooms a busby hat of delicately curved petals, the rain bouncing from their finely furred leaves.
UNHERALDED Like many County Wildlife Sites (CWS) this roadside verge is unheralded. The only sign of its status two white posts that mark its boundaries: a refuge for wildlife that lasts for not much more than two dozen paces. While this site just outside Bury St Edmunds may seem small, insignificant, yet it is precious for what it protects but for the whole wild web it is part of. From road verges, abandoned railway lines, ditches and dykes to woodland, heathlands, commons and
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marsh, Suffolk’s 925 CWS form a wild hodgepodge of 19,200 hectares connecting towns, villages, woodlands and green spaces. Accounting for 5% of the county’s landmass they cover an area that is bigger than Sheffield and Liverpool combined. Whether it is here on this roadside verge, the Long Melford railway line or Sudbury’s riverside meadows, they form a wildlife network and a refuge in their own right. Yet although such sites are recognised for their high value to wildlife, with many holding characteristic or threatened species of regional and national importance, unlike officially designated sites for nature, such as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) and Special Protection Areas (SPAs), England’s 42,000 CWS have no legal protection. This situation has left them increasingly vulnerable. Despite the best efforts of Wildlife Trusts, who work with local authorities, statutory agents and landowners to freely advise on management, a recent survey revealed that out of 6,590 sites, 717 had been lost or damaged in the five years to 2013 – victims of neglect, poor management and development pressures.
Suffolk’s 925 County Wildlife Sites form a wild hodgepodge of 19,200 hectares connecting towns, villages, woodlands and green spaces
UNDER THREAT Central to the survival of the CWS has been its place in the National Planning Policy, which requires local authorities to identify Local Wildlife Sites and provide for their protection through local policy. Now this too is under threat. Proposed amendments to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) have seen reference to CWS removed, meaning that regional planners would no longer have to consider unique, wild places when putting together their local plan. PURPLE LOOSESTRIFE: ALAMY
HOW ARE COUN County Wildlife Sites vary in size and shape from small meadows, green lanes, dykes and hedges to much larger areas of ancient woodlands, heathland, greens, commons and marsh. They are designated according to selection criteria that follows
James Meyer, Suffolk Wildlife Trust’s, Senior Conservation Planner, said there was a fear that CWS will become “fair game” for developers and that housing targets and roads could ride roughshod over these precious parts of the countryside. “The way I read it is that they tried to simplify national policy which they tried to do a few times over the years and they wielded the hatchet a bit too strongly.”
There is a fear that County Wildlife Sites will become fair game for developers The lack of official designation for CWS, its paucity of letters, is by no means an indicator of habitat that is somehow less special but rather that statutory protection is only designed to safeguard a small percentage of representative habitats.
A NEW EXCITING DEVELOPMENT The Trust, like all the Wildlife Trusts nationally, submitted their concerns to the consultation in May. A petition signed by 25,000 people, including many of our members who rallied to our call to action, was also handed over. As this very article was being written the Government revealed that “locally designated sites” would be included in the NPPF. The success of the campaign is a clear demonstration of both the public and political interest in protecting these important sites. However, whilst they now continue to be recognised at a national level, it is important that we continue to work with Local Planning Authorities to ensure that these secret strongholds and the wildlife they support are protected through Local Plan policy. n Rebecca Pow, Conservative MP with The Wildlife Trust's Chief Executive, Stephanie Hillbourne.
Natural England guidelines. The Suffolk CWS panel, made up of representatives from Suffolk County Council, Suffolk Biodiversity Information Service (SBIS), Suffolk Wildlife Trust and Natural England, meets to assess and designate CWS using
the Suffolk CWS criteria. SBIS maintain a register that includes CWS locations, boundaries and key features. It is important to be aware that the majority of CWS are privately owned and do not have public access.
County WIldlife Sites such as Old Broom have no statutory protection.
STEVE AYLWARD
TY WILDLIFE SITES DESIGNATED?
SUFFOLK WILDLIFE
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LIVING LANDSCAPES
TIM PLOWDEN ALAMY
FARMING FOR GOOD
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The UK’s first agricultural policy for 40 years will change the face of farming in a post-Brexit world. Organic farmer and President of Suffolk Wildlife Trust William Kendall considers what the future holds for our countryside.
U
nless you are one of those who questions whether Brexit will ever happen, Britain is less than a year away from leaving the EU and therefore its Common Agricultural Policy. Whatever anyone’s views might be on the 2016 referendum, few will miss this element of EU membership. If ever an economics student was looking for an example of how well-intentioned regulators can intervene in an industry and get it so wrong then this must come top of the list. Attempts along the way at reform have removed some of its absurdities but fundamental change was somehow impossible. A policy designed to protect a vital industry has done farming untold damage by reducing it to dependent status. It employs directly a dwindling few and it has lost nearly all connection with the consumer. This is particularly poignant as it coincides with a time when the British public’s interest has been rekindled in how its food is grown.
FARMERS AND WILDLIFE LEFT POORER Our remaining farmers work harder than ever to make a living. They are resourceful and committed yet, most years, the total profitability of UK farming is about equal to the public subsidy. In other words their efforts, collectively, don’t make them a penny. This is a tragedy made worse by the fact that many of the practices encouraged by Europe’s farming policy have not left the natural world in very good shape. Farmers almost universally pride themselves on looking after their land, so it’s particularly painful to hear growing evidence that the land we farm and all that depends on it may have suffered under our most recent stewardship. Many of us have taken expensive measures to encourage wildlife on our farms often without compensation for productive land lost. Conservation organisations and the media have often been too ready to blame farmers for much of any damage done. There is little point now trying to find the culprits and the loss of biodiversity in the farmed countryside is the consequence of a succession of policies whose origins, essentially lie in wartime attempts to boost productivity. The ploughing up of traditional pasture; extensive land drainage and filling-in of water features; the consolidation of small fields and removal of hedgerows. These measures were largely imposed on an industry which had learned from the war and its aftermath that to resist change was to risk a threatening visit from ‘The Man from the Ministry’.
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LIVING LANDSCAPES
Conservation organisations and the media have often been too ready to blame farmers for much of any damage done ALL CHANGE So is everything about to change for the better? It certainly sounds like it if Environment Secretary Michael Gove is to be believed. His department has collected over 40,000 responses to the three month consultation it has been running and we now await the UK’s first agricultural policy in over 40 years. The broad intentions are already known. Farms will only receive a modest direct payment, which will see all but those farming a few hundred acres having this source of income capped. Any more money coming from the public purse will fund the provision of ‘public goods’. That means practices which improve air, water and soil quality and increase biodiversity. They could be measures to mitigate climate change or its consequences; they could be providing cultural benefits, which improve mental health or physical well‑being. This all sounds like good news for those of us who are deeply worried about the state of the British countryside and who think we could do quite a lot about it with a bit of support. The prospect is rather shocking for those landowners still in denial about the impact of some current activities and who would rather continue as they are.
STILL BRIDGES TO CROSS We should be cautious about getting too excited about the prospects of rewilding parts of Britain, about programmes to restore our heavily depleted soils and about our villages filling once more with people working again in farming industry. There
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TOM MARSHALL
ABOVE Could wildness like these organic farm field margins, be seen on more farms as a result of Government proposals? BOTTOM
Yellowhammer and other farmland bird species stand to benefit from farming for the public good.
are many practical and political bridges to cross. We seem to have a very supportive Secretary of State but he needs to survive long enough in a febrile political world as well as convince his colleagues in the Treasury of the merits of his plans. They will be critically assessing the real value of any so‑called public goods while enthusiastically eyeing up the current £3 billion CAP payments for other deserving causes like the NHS. His proposals will be at odds with his colleagues whose ideologies lead them to believe that the public would be better served if we open up our borders to trade with countries producing food under far lower welfare and environmental standards than in the EU.
WHAT IS THE COUNTRYSIDE FOR? The current stormy political disputes shroud an enduring debate about what the British countryside is really for. There is still a powerful group of farmers and landowners who believe that their sole purpose is to produce food unhindered. They resent any possibility that they might be paid park keepers, even though being an unpaid park keeper was a reality for many generations of pre‑war landowners. This narrow argument has struck a chord with many who rightly worry about world food supply. Apart from a brief period around World War II, Britain has relied on imports for a significant proportion of the food it consumes. Of course, we should try to produce as much as we can of what we want to eat but this seems a strange time in our country’s history to argue that this should take
priority over all other land uses. Given that there is now compelling evidence that our soils are so depleted of life and nutrients as to threaten their capacity to produce very much of value in the future, there may be a stronger argument that we should be resting our poorer farmland and building fertility and biodiversity for a time when we really do need to be self-sufficient again. It makes sense to be developing a new farming policy which takes into account this nation’s strengths and weaknesses.
DAVID KJAER
Britain can offer some intelligent leadership to influence other nations to change their attitude to managing the often conflicting uses for our land ABOVE The
decline of harvest mice has been linked to intensive farming practices.
LEFT Intensive
farming has depleted soils and wildlife.
BELOW LEFT
Michael Gove's proposals could be good news for tree sparrows.
STEVE AYLWARD
Much of Britain is overcrowded and its high quality green space is valued economically by the leisure and tourist industries and increasingly for its ability to promote health and nature. A growing number in our large population put a premium on better quality food with a trustworthy provenance. Yet farmers are encouraged to grow commodity crops, which are easily bought from overseas where production costs are often lower. A switch to respond to these market realities could result in a more productive industry requiring less land to farm. This may also suit a nation whose cities are growing larger and denser. They need land which can defend them against elements such as occasional flooding or poor air quality and their inhabitants need to understand that those managing this land should be paid for providing these services. This paints a picture of a new British countryside with more high value farming on fewer acres while the rest are primarily managed for their non-food potential. Another layer however, to any future policy should be increased investment in technologies which deliver greater productivity from our farming. We need to understand how we start to restore our soils whilst producing better yields and using far fewer synthetic inputs.
MICHAEL GORE FLPA
STEVE AYLWARD
HIGH VALUE FARMING AND HIGH VALUE WILDLIFE
SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE AS THE NEXT INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION In other words we need to understand how to farm sustainably. We should support those looking for better, more efficient sources of protein. I am involved in the world’s most advanced fly farm, which is pioneering this technology to reduce the pressure on our fish stocks for fish meal for aquaculture. I often visit an enormous salad farm in the heart of New York which grows delicious leaves containing known quantities of vital nutrients and using a fraction of the labour and water necessary in a more conventional system. These new technologies are the vanguard of a very large wave of development. Some people call this sustainable agriculture the next industrial revolution. If they are right then we could see a future global population of 9 billion healthily fed at the same time as millions of acres of land of very marginal agricultural value being retired from production. These would be earmarked for equally important uses. The promotion of wildlife, human and general planetary health.
A COMING TOGETHER
WILLIAM KENDALL is a businessman and landowner and President of Suffolk Wildlife Trust.
It may be that a visionary new farming and countryside policy in the UK will serve the purpose of uniting Brexiteers and Remainers. At least in one important area. Britain cannot solve the problems of the entire world but we may be able to offer some intelligent leadership which influences other nations to change their attitude to managing the often conflicting uses for our land. Perhaps I am being too optimistic but it really is very difficult to imagine a system any worse than the one which our farmers currently have to work with. n
SUFFOLK WILDLIFE
17
LIVING LANDSCAPES SPECIES SPOTLIGHT
A VIEW INTO A HIDDEN WORLD Even so, the variety inside the trap is impressive. Against its hardboard walls and amongst the egg cartons, which provide somewhere for the captured moths to shelter, are splashes of coppery green, dusty brown and burnished bronze, vanilla-flecked creams and milky white. It’s a miniature monster’s ball of fur stoles, hairy chests, hunched backs and wings held closed or stiffly open – patterned with spots, stripes and jagged, wood-shaving swirls. Mike points to a birch twig hunkered at the bottom of the trap. A twig with legs. It’s a Buff‑tip, whose fluffed‑up blow‑dried face looks exactly like the uneven surface of snapped wood. Next to it with broad, green, leaf‑like wings held open in a butterfly pose is a Large Emerald. I’ve never seen anything like it before. It stands stock‑still, letting me photograph it in detail. It reminds me of a Spiderman villain. I ask Mike if it’s rare. He shakes his head, smiling. “Oh no, all of these are common, they are all around us, but we don’t generally see them unless we accidentally disturb where they’re resting in the day.” Still, I can’t help but feel ridiculously excited. There is something fantastical Large emerald. about moth trapping. “It’s like finding fairies in your garden,” I say to Mike, “a real glimpse of a hidden world.”
18
SUFFOLK WILDLIFE
For a reasonable price, or – if you’re feeling handy – an afternoon’s labour, you can get your own moth trap. It’s something I’ve always intended to do but somehow have never got round to. I suspect part of it (and it’s really not a good reason) has just been because of how little I know.
FROM DINGY FOOTMAN TO MAIDEN’S BLUSH After all, the extent of the world of moths really is breath-taking. While there are 58 day-flying butterflies in the UK, there are around 2,500 species of moths. These are commonly divided into macro moths (the bigger species) of which there are around 900 and micro moths, which are smaller and generally harder to identify. But like the distinction between butterfly and moth within the order of Lepidoptera, the distinction is somewhat artificial: one of convenience rather than hard science. Mike has been trapping for about 15 years, mostly for pleasure but also to introduce people to moths. He encourages me to try and ID some myself, but explains that even some of the larger macro moths can be difficult to name. Pointing at a group of bronze moths huddled into one of the cartons, he says, “They are either rustics or uncertains.” I raise a questioning eyebrow. “Uncertains?” He grins, “The clue’s in the name.” I’ve always loved moth’s names. While some of them are “does what it says on the tin” jobs: the descriptive Bright‑line Brown‑eye, the Brown‑line Bright‑eye, the Yellow‑tail, the Brown‑tail, others are wonderfully creative, monikers that reek of the dusty studies of Victorian gents. The Dingy Footman, whose appearance was thought similar to 20th century servants, the
There is something fantastical about moth trapping. It’s like finding fairies in your garden IAN REDDING ALAMY STOCK PHOTOS
T
he trap was set last night. Baited with light, a false moon to lure in the mysterious soft‑winged creatures of the dark. The moth. Mike Andrews, a visitor officer at Lackford Lakes, is now inspecting the finds. As he removes the plastic sheets, which funnel the insects away from the battery‑powered bulb, a few flutter out, already warmed by the sun. Mike tuts. “There’s not as many as there should be.”
Moth magic As darkness falls, the night fliers take to the wing. Matt Gaw investigates the weird and wonderful world of Suffolk’s moths.
Large Emerald. ABOVE LEFT
Poplar Hawkmoth.
SUFFOLK WILDLIFE
19
LIVING LANDSCAPES SPECIES SPOTLIGHT
Clouded Buff (male).
Clouded Border.
THE UK HAS
GER BOSMA ALAMY
2,500 If insects were to vanish, the environment would collapse into chaos sooty black Chimney Sweeper, the pinched cheek rouge of the Maiden’s Blush and the furry finery of the regal‑looking White Ermine moth. Mike even has his own name for some of the moths. He points out a clouded border, its flattened wings swirled with Friesian shapes of black on white. “I call it the cow moth.” He has other favourites too. A big teddy bear of a moth, its chest coated in fur, is trying to crawl deeper into one of the cardboard crevices. He looks grumpy. Hungover. “This is The Drinker”, Mike says. The moths’ name comes from the caterpillar, which has been seen drinking dew from the grass stems it feeds on. But as an adult it also flies as if under the influence. “It’s certainly not a great flier. You often see them outside the trap as if they couldn’t quite make it inside.” I look again at the moth, imagining him hiccupping up against the front door, resting his beery bulk on the frame as his key scratches in vain for the lock.
BELOW Buff‑tip moth can be mistaken for a twig!
ECOLOGICAL APOCALYPSE But it is the number of moths that haven’t made it into the trap that is clearly bothering Mike. As we walk to another trap on the other side of the reserve, he explains how fewer and fewer moths are being seen. “The numbers are going down every summer; the insect population in general just seems to have crashed. You call it a hidden world,” Mike says, “but I fear it’s a disappearing world”.
20 SUFFOLK WILDLIFE
Evening primrose is a good nectar provider for moths.
58
Moths and butterflies are all Lepidoptera. Unlike butterlies, most moths are nocturnal, wrap their pupa in a silk cocoon, have a
SPECIES OF MOTHS SPECIES OF DAY-FLYING BUTTERFLIES
frenulum linking the front and hind wings giving them a more fluttery flight, and have furry or tapering antennae.
Certainly, there are plenty of anecdotes that support Mike’s account: memories of windscreens and windows that once were coated in insect life. TV presenter and naturalist Chris Packham recently suggested the lack of moths and craneflies he found in his room after sleeping with the windows open was a sign of “an ecological apocalypse”. The statistics certainly suggest that flying insects are in serious trouble. Research in Germany, published in the journal Plos One in 2017, found that the abundance of flying insects (on a nature reserve!) has plunged by 75% over the past 25 years. UK studies show that three-quarters of butterfly species, such as the painted lady and Glanville fritillary, have recorded significant declines while bees, such as great yellow bumblebee and solitary potter flower bees, have also seen numbers fall sharply. Moths too are clearly being affected. According to Butterfly Conservation’s most up‑to‑date report, The State of Britain’s Larger Moths 2013, the total abundance of larger moths has declined by 28% in Britain from 1968 to 2007. The situation seems worse in the south, with a 40% decline in the same period, perhaps caused by species moving north due to climate
VERENA MATTHEW ALAMY
10 BE NIGHT ST -TI NECTA ME PROVI R DERS
Honeysuckle
SAY IT WITH FLOWERS
Planting flowers that release their scent in the evening are a big draw for moths and bats, and are a great way of attracting them to your garden. They also give us the pleasure of sweet perfume, striking silhouettes and luminous glow. Ten best night-time nectar providers:
change. Two‑thirds of 337 species of common and widespread larger moths declined, with 37% of those species decreasing by at least 50%. In addition to 62 moth species (macro and micro‑moths) that became extinct in Britain during the twentieth century, a further four species may now be extinct here (Orange Upperwing, Bordered Gothic, Brighton Wainscot and, possibly, Stout Dart). Creatures that are both pollinators and prey, occupying a crucial place at the cornerstone of the wildlife food chain are falling victim to habitat destruction, pesticides and man-made climate change. As the American biologist and author Edward O Wilson has warned: “If all mankind were to disappear, the world would regenerate back to the rich state of equilibrium that existed ten thousand years ago. If insects were to vanish, the environment would collapse into chaos.”
THE VALUE OF MOTH TRAPPING While inspecting moth traps is undoubtedly fun – even the most hardened of lepidopterists has their heart set aflutter by new species – it is also a vital way of understanding the presence and absence of certain species. Regular counts, with records passed to the county recorder, when collated with national data can
JOHN FERGUSSON / ALAMY
STEVE AYLWARD
The caterpillar of the Drinker moth.
1 Buddleia white profusion 2 Caryopteris 3 Eryngium silver ghost 4 Evening primrose 5 Flowering tobacco 6 Globe artichoke 7 Hebe great orme 8 Honeysuckle 9 Jasmine 10 Verbena
Creatures that are both pollinators and prey are victim to habitat destruction, pesticides and climate change ABOVE TOP
Mike Andrews Lackford Lakes Visitor Officer and moth enthusiast.
MATT GAW is Suffolk Wildlife Trust's Media Manager and Editor of Suffolk Wildlife. He is a freelance writer.
provide a picture of seasonal change and variations over the years. Mike gets out his notebook as he inspects the new trap, left overnight in a copse of silver birch. The pickings inside are slim. Again, there are no hawkmoths and the large specimens that we saw earlier in the morning are nowhere to be seen. But as Mike gently sorts and records, there is one moth that makes him smile. He points carefully to a small dollop of white, specked with yellow and black. No bigger than a fingernail, it looks eerily like a bird dropping. “That’s right” he says, “it’s the Chinese Character, it’s learnt that no one will eat you if you look like poo.”n
FIND OUT MORE For more information about Suffolk’s moths or recording moths visit www.suffolkmoths.org.uk The county recorder is Tony Prichard countyrecorder@ suffolkmothgroup.org.uk
SUFFOLK WILDLIFE
21
UK NEWS
Campaign begins for Nature’s recovery We all need the future to be more wild as an urgent priority. Please help us build momentum for a Nature Recovery Network.
A
s we stand on the brink of the biggest ever shakeup of environmental rules, The Wildlife Trusts are calling for politicians to introduce new laws to build a wilder, better Britain. Central to this would be a requirement for Local Authorities to produce local Nature Recovery Maps, showing where the remaining wildlife is and how it can be reconnected and expanded. These maps, produced with wide local consultation, would join up to form a national Nature Recovery Network. For the first time our
landscapes would be farmed and developed in an integrated way that benefits people and wildlife. The campaign for a Network kicked off with a presentation at Westminster in May. Forty eight MPs heard The Wildlife Trusts explain the need to rebuild nature after decades of destructive practices. “We know from research across the globe that a healthy, wildlife-rich natural world is essential for our wellbeing and prosperity,” said Nigel Doar, Director of
Nature needs to recover – for everything it brings us
6
5 3 7
1
NIK POLLARD
4
22 SUFFOLK WILDLIFE
Strategy at The Wildlife Trusts. “Nature needs to recover – for the sake of wild plants and animals, and for everything it brings us: better health, climate control, flood management, enjoyment, employment and more.” The Westminster Government recently consulted on future English planning policies and public payments to farmers. As part of their campaign for a Nature Recovery Network, The Wildlife Trusts lobbied strongly for the planning system to protect Local Wildlife Sites, and for government payments to farmers that help them create and look after places for wildlife.
ROOT FOR WORMS OUR VISION FOR THE FUTURE Children have trees to climb, fields to explore and ponds to investigate.
2 GREEN DEVELOPMENTS All housing and other development creates a net gain for wildlife.
3 WILDER CITIES
Green roofs, green walls, pocket parks and trees are common.
4 BUZZING COUNTRYSIDE Farmland is crisscrossed by colourful habitat for wild pollinators.
5 LONG-TERM FISHERIES All fishing is sustainable and jobs are secure.
RUPERT PAUL, NIALL BENVIE
1 NATURE IS NORMAL
Good enough to eat – if you’re a worm.
6 RECOVERING SEAS
Sightings of whales and other sea creatures are increasing.
7 FERTILE SOILS
Nutrients are staying locked in soils rather than eroding and blowing away.
The Wildlife Trusts have launched their wildlife gardening campaign with the RHS. This year, we’re encouraging everyone to go wild for worms, nature’s engineers, by helping them in your garden: try making a compost heap for starters!
8 RESTORED UPLANDS
Instead of just close-grazed grasslands, the trees and peat bogs are back, reducing flooding and locking up CO2 from the air.
THOUSANDS BACK WAVE OF SUPPORT FOR 41 PROPOSED NEW MARINE CONSERVATION ZONES
DEREK HASLAM
8
More than 22,000 people completed The Wildlife Trust’s online action, which urged Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, to designate 41 new Marine Conservation Zones in the seas around England – including Orford Inshore, which is off the coast of Suffolk. Between 8 June and 20 July, the Government ran a public consultation on whether to create 41 new Marine Conservation Zones – a type of protected area at sea. Without these proposed Marine Conservation Zones some of our most precious wildlife – from seahorses to
2
Read the report and join our campaign on wtru.st/natnet
living reefs – would have no protection. We warmly welcomed this ambition as a step in the right direction and launched a campaign asking everyone who loves the sea to give their Wave of Support, calling for each of the zones to be designated. We want to say a huge thank you to each and every one of you that took the time to respond. We know from past consultations that the level of public support really does make a difference – and 22,000 responses in just 6 weeks is highly impressive! The consultation has now closed and all of the responses we received have been sent to the Government alongside our own detailed response. The Government will now consider the consultation responses they received and make a decision on which of the 41 proposed Marine Conservation Zones they will formally create. The Government has to complete this process within 12 months, but we hope to hear an announcement from them in early 2019.
ABOVE
Corking wrasse.
SUFFOLK WILDLIFE 23
PEOPLE & WILDLIFE
Fancy a paddle? Britain drips with water, observes Matt Gaw, who has canoed on rivers all over Britain. But he wonders whether we have lost our connection with our watery past. watery past. 24 SUFFOLK WILDLIFE
A
lthough the river is straight, almost canalised, in the morning light it is beautiful. Sun scalds the surface, the ripples reflecting gold pencil lines onto the bank. Two buzzards lope into the air, circling and mewing. There are teal, the wobbling gas flame of kingfisher and, from over the fields, lapwing. This Suffolk river, the Lark, bubbles
through chalk at its source near Bradfield Combust before travelling slowly through the Brecks to reach the flatlands of the Fens. A couple of miles downstream it meets The Great Ouse, whose name so neatly captures its sluggish demeanour. It is part of a network of 42,700 watery miles that spread like blue veins under the nation’s skin. Britain drips with water: rivers, streams, bogs, marshes, lakes, canals,
Who wouldn’t want to be here? Suffolk’s River Stour is greatly changed, but it’s still beautiful.
ditches and ponds. Nearly all have been shaped by humans in some way, bent to our purpose and needs. The path rivers take depends on the lie of the land and the underlying geology. Water wells up from springs, or gathers as rain, snowmelt, mist and dew, before streaming downhill. In the uplands, the water cheesewires into the earth, forming v-shaped valleys, or follows paths gouged by long-
Water gathers as rain, dew or snowmelt gone glaciers. Later the streams converge to create a river, which meanders through the landscape. The flow forms shingle bars and sparkling braids, chuckling over riffles as it pulses towards the sea over clay, sand, gravel and rock – shaping the land as it goes, cutting, carrying and depositing silt.
Few rivers in England and Wales still possess fully-functioning natural processes. Over the centuries, as development and agriculture advanced, rivers were modified. Water was impounded for mills, abstracted for farming, drinking and industry. The channels were straightened and deepened for transport and drainage. The relationship between the water and the floodplains fractured. It’s hard to imagine how the Lark used
SUFFOLK WILDLIFE 25
PEOPLE & WILDLIFE to look. In prehistoric times it was part of a delta, a wild landscape of sluggish rivers, meres and reed swamp fanning out over the land. Ribbons of grey silt called ‘rhodons’ can still be seen from the air, cutting across the arable expanse: a ghost river tracking across the black earth. While the decline of industry and more effective regulations have
Restoring rivers will deliver multiple benefits in the future improved water quality, pollutants still make their way into our rivers. Topsoil washed by heavy rain from fields brings phosphates, nitrates, herbicides and pesticides. Sewage and wastewater bring microplastics and pharmaceuticals. In 2016, 16 British waterways were tested for neonicotinoids, a powerful insecticide. The Waveney in Suffolk was the most contaminated, the acute
LINDA PITKIN
The River Itchen, with blunt-fruited waterstarwort below the surface and Itchen Stoke Mill above.
26 SUFFOLK WILDLIFE
harm level exceeded for a whole month. The River Tame at Denton, Greater Manchester has the worst microplastic pollution in the world, with levels even greater than South Korea and Hong Kong. It is easy to feel gloomy. I have canoed all across the UK, and for every stretch of bucolic beauty there is also abuse and neglect. But there is also hope. There are catchment-scale partnerships now in every part of the country and The Wildlife Trusts are part of 96% of them – advising, Matt’s canoe, The Pipe, on the Waveney.
The Tame has the world’s worst microplastic pollution supporting and directly managing nearly 12,000 miles of waterway. Plans typically focus on reducing pollution and restoring a more natural state: re-instating meanders, allowing woody debris to be left and removing barriers to migrating fish. The otter, pushed to the brink by a toxic cocktail of pesticides and persecution, has now returned to every county in England. Nevertheless, many of our freshwater bodies are not faring well against targets set by the the EU Water Framework Directive. Less than a fifth of England’s rivers and lakes are in a good enough condition to support species that should be present. Part of this is due to the sheer extent of the issues: it is a landscape-scale problem.
Matt on the banks of the Waveney.
I wonder too if there is a disconnect between people and rivers. Our relationship with the water that shaped life, language and culture has changed dramatically over the years. Although the move away from industry may have resulted in fewer pollutants – no coal dust, no heavy metals or slicks of sewage – it also means our interaction with rivers has declined. Flows that were once worshipped and sacred, full of votive offerings and holy meanings have been
slowly forgotten, neglected. Part of The Wildlife Trusts’ efforts aim to increase awareness and understanding of rivers and wetlands amongst the public and landowners. But we also need a political solution. “We can really benefit our rivers if we can reshape land management policy and agri-environment schemes after we leave the EU,” says Ali Morse, Water and Catchment Officer for The Wildlife Trusts. “It’s a vital opportunity to create a really important role for rivers and wetlands in future.” This means ensuring there is public money for public good – that Government will fund projects that bring benefits for all. And this is something rivers are well placed to do. Not only are these waterways valuable for biodiversity, a network of wild corridors across the land; they are also vital for naturally managing flood risk. Wetland habitats, such as peatland, are also crucial for carbon
storage. That means restoring them will deliver multiple benefits in the future. It’s a lot to think about. I turn my canoe around, and paddle slowly back upstream, towards where the river – with its restored riffles and shingle bars – gurgles and sings again. A place where the Lark, once more, lives up to its name. n MATT GAW is Suffolk Wildlife Trust's Media Manager and Editor of Suffolk Wildlife. He is a freelance writer.
IF YOU LIKE THIS ARTICLE You might enjoy Matt’s book, which chronicles his canoeing travels along many of Britain’s rivers.
RIVER WILDLIFE PIKE
GREY HERON
Stealthy ambush predator, best seen from a bridge or canoe. JK Rowling borrowed its species name Lucius.
Beautiful chalk streams plant, forming clusters of waving feathery fronds and buttercup-shaped flowers.
BEAUTIFUL DEMOISELLE
JON HAWKINS
KINGFISHER
INDA PITKIN/2020VISION
PHOTOS: MATT GAW
WATER CROWFOOT
Listen out for the cronking pterodactyl call of a grey heron. This bird is a totem of British waterways.
Commoner than you might think. Once you hear its squeaky-hinge call and glimpse the darting flash of blue you’ll get your eye in.
ALAMY
Increasingly common in river valleys following the 1984 ban on organochlorine pesticides.
NEIL ALDRIDGE
LUKE MASSEY/2020VISION
BERTIE GREGORY/2020VISION
OTTER
This aptly-named damselfly frequents fast-flowing rivers in the south west between May and August.
SUFFOLK WILDLIFE 27
PEOPLE & WILDLIFE
Stay wild T Nature is good for you – so make the most of your local green space, says Liz Bonnin.
LAND PHOTOS
Liz on Rathlin island, famous for its puffins, off the Northern Irish coast.
28 SUFFOLK WILDLIFE
just last a few days. They might even last a whole year. So, for the rest of 2018, treat your body and mind as often as you can. Go for a long walk, pick the blackberries in the hedgerows, take off your shoes and feel the grass underfoot, and breathe. There are pockets of green everywhere, even in our busiest cities. I live in London and love to cycle around Richmond Park in search of its red deer, or enjoy the majestic oaks.
You can benefit from our natural world Many of the UK’s wilder places have a special place in my heart too: the breathtaking mountains and lakes in Scotland’s Cairngorms National Park; the magical Lundy Island in the Bristol Channel with its colourful puffins and playful seals; the impossibly beautiful coast of Pembrokeshire (and the chance to clamber over rocks and jump into crystal clear waters). One of my favourite experiences is to listen to the echolocation calls of bats at dusk. It’s already quite lovely to watch them darting back and forth in the stillness of the evening as they pick off their prey, but with a bat detector, an entirely different and thrilling scene reveals itself. The bats vocalise with incessant high frequency squeaks and clicks that allow them to manoeuvre at lightning speed without crashing into each other, locating the insects with sublime precision. It’s never been more important to protect our wild places, so that the health of our planet’s ecosystems, and ultimately our health, is safeguarded. Each individual can make a real difference; it’s only through individual actions that we can bring about the change our natural world needs to thrive.
PENNY DIXIE
his June, The Wildlife Trusts asked everyone to notice nature everywhere, every day. Hundreds of thousands of you took part in 30 Days Wild, carrying out literally millions of Random Acts of Wildness. So why not stay wild? Nothing restores you like spending time in nature – the breeze in your face, the fragrance of grasses and flowers warmed by the summer sun, the soft buzz of insects and trills of birdsong. We know nature makes us feel good. But now, there is mounting evidence that it can improve your energy levels and mood, lessen hypertension, respiratory tract and cardiovascular illnesses, and reduce anxiety and depression. Over the past three years, The Wildlife Trusts have also proved that taking part in 30 Days Wild improves health, happiness, and the desire to protect nature. It starts with the beauty of nature, connecting us more deeply to the natural world. As our appreciation increases, so does our happiness. This, in turn, encourages people to do more to help wildlife and take action for nature. The impacts don’t
Will your family stay wild this year?
No matter where you live, you can benefit from our natural world and play a big part in protecting it. The people around you can too, so share your wild experiences with friends and families. Stay wild, stay connected to nature, and have a wonderful year! n Liz Bonnin is a biochemist, wild animal biologist and science and wildlife presenter.
FIVE WAYS TO STAY WILD THIS YEAR 1
Take part in a wildlife survey, monitoring some of our most beautiful wildlife, such as water voles, butterflies or barn owls.
2
Cut down on plastic. Say no to plastic straws, bags, wrapping and bottles. Instead, invest in reusable alternatives.
3
Go on a wild adventure with friends and family. Why not explore a nature reserve you haven't visited before.
4
Enjoy a day at the beach whatever the weather, explore the tideline and look out for majestic seabirds.
5
Look for nature on your doorstep: trees, roadside verges, hedgerows and whole communities of garden birds.
SUFFOLK WILDLIFE 29
PEOPLE & WILDLIFE
For the BBC’s Security Correspondent Frank Gardner, finding a nightjar in Britain last year was a thrilling experience.
30 SUFFOLK WILDLIFE
My first nightjar
I
t’s warm. Unusually warm, even for a summer night in July. Above the peat bogs, heathland and pine copses of Thursley Common a full moon has risen, casting a ghostly glow over this delightful Surrey nature reserve just off the A3. The last of the day visitors have returned to their cars and by 9.30pm I have the place to myself, leaving me alone to pursue a lifelong ambition: to see a nightjar in the wild in Britain. These curious, nocturnal, highly camouflaged birds have long fascinated me and historically, they have attracted legends. One of these is that they feed from the teats of sleeping goats, earning them the old English nickname of ‘goatsucker’.
GLENN BARTLEY ALAMY STOCK PHOTOS
I keep very still and scan the night sky They also have an unmistakable signature call, known as a ‘churring’, a strange, low vibrating sound that I’m told can still be heard on summer nights like this across the heathlands of Britain. The wooden planks of the boardwalk creak and groan as I trundle across it in my wheelchair. Thursley Common is a National Nature Reserve comprising 325 hectares of peat bog and woodland with winding trails and nearly a mile of raised boardwalk to take you over the otherwise impassible marshes. By day I have had great views of stonechats here, perching on isolated branches. The reserve harbours over 20 species of dragonfly as well as lizards, newts and the occasional rarity like last year’s pectoral sandpiper that was eventually driven off
by a swooping merlin. On local advice, I turn right, still wheeling over the boardwalk and heading for a clump of Scots pines. This seems like a good time to check what I’m supposed to be listening out for. I take out my phone, open up my Collins Bird Guide app and type in ‘European nightjar’ (as opposed to the related Nubian, Egyptian and Red-necked species that occur on the Continent). I click on the audio button and up comes the churring. I memorise it and switch off the phone. And it continues. From somewhere, out there in the darkness, the churring has started up. Yes! I’m in luck. As quietly as possible, I make my way by moonlight towards the pine trees. The noise is loud now; it seems to reverberate all around me, electrifying the night-time atmosphere. I keep very still and scan the night sky where the pine branches lie against the deep purple sky and the silver moon. Suddenly there is a clapping sound followed by the swish of beating wings. There, silhouetted just yards from where I am, a pair of nightjar rears up into the air, chasing moths with their sharp, pointed wings, before vanishing off into the night. And yet the churring continues. I scan the branches and then I see it, halfway up a tree, perfectly silhouetted against the summer moon. I raise my camera for a chance shot but immediately it’s up and off. Yet I’m overwhelmed by a sense of triumph: I have seen my first British nightjar! n
FRANK GARDNER is on Instagram at frankgardner_nature. His latest novel, Ultimatum, is out now.
EXPERIENCE IT FOR YOURSELF by the Trust are also good places to look. Arrive before dusk on a warm, dry evening in June or July and find a spot with open skies. Keep your ears open: you’ll hear the wing clapping and churring before you see them!
FIND OUT MORE Look out for nightjar events in the What's On or on the Trust website: suffolkwildlifetrust.org 2020VISION
To experience the remarkable nightjar on a Trust managed heathland, you need to head to the Sandlings. Blaxhall Common has for many years been one of the most reliable places to hear and often see nightjars. Clearings in Rendlesham Forest managed
SUFFOLK WILDLIFE 31
Inheritance tax ... or a gift to wildlife?
Marian & Tony Coles Trimley Marshes nature reserve, near Felixstowe
I
left my home town of Felixstowe in 1979, a keen birdwatcher and lover of nature, with many happy memories of Suffolk's wild places. I well remember my parents' dismay in the 1980s as the wild areas on the river Orwell were swallowed up by the docks; the loss of Fagbury Mudflats prompted the creation of Trimley Marshes and was the spur for my parents to become Life Members of Suffolk Wildlife Trust. When my father, Tony Coles, died recently, four years after my mother, Marian's, death, he had failed to update his Will and there were no charity bequests. I knew that if he had left 10% of his net estate to charity a reduced rate of inheritance tax would apply*; I also knew that I could vary his Will to include a charity legacy and benefit from this same reduced rate of IHT.
By forfeiting a small portion of my inheritance, the 'charitable variation' would generate a charity donation of over four times that amount. I decided to make the variation in favour of a charity bank; that way I could take my time to decide which charities to donate to once the stress of probate was over. Trimley Marshes was a feature of the period after my father's death; when my sisters and I were clearing the family home we enjoyed many walks there. With the house now sold, I have little reason to return, so in memory of my parents, and as a gift to Suffolk from me, I chose to donate part of the legacy fund to Suffolk Wildlife Trust. Frances Smith
*IHT rate can be reduced from 40% to 36%. Forfeiting £2,000 of your legacy benefit could generate a charity donation of £8,333. Certain steps must be followed; consult a solicitor to discuss how to make a 'post death charitable variation' on a loved one's Will.
To find out more about how a gift in your Will could help Suffolk’s wildlife, please contact Christine Luxton on 01473 890089
Suffolk Wildlife Trust, Brooke House Ashbocking, Ipswich IP6 9JY 01473 890089 info@suffolkwildlifetrust.org suffolkwildlifetrust.org Registered charity no 262777
suffolkwildlifetrust.org
STEVE AYLWARD
Frances Smith explains why she chose to make a charitable variation to her father's Will to commemorate her parents and their love of Suffolk's wildlife.