Grebe The
Cheshire
Cheshire
Spring/Summer 2013
High Speed Rail – on the right track? We assess the risks to local wildlife from the HS2 northern ‘Y’ route
Snakes in the grass
Your guide to discovering our elusive reptiles this spring
Bringing dragons back to Delamere Our ambitious project to return the white-faced darter to Cheshire
Turning over a new leaf
How our Eastwood reserve was transformed by volunteers like you
hire
WELCOME
Welcome Janel Fone Outgoing Chief Executive, Cheshire Wildlife Trust
Cheshire People taking action for wildlife Cheshire Wildlife Trust is the region’s leading independent conservation charity and has been working for wildlife across Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, Halton, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Warrington and Wirral for over 50 years. Cheshire Wildlife Trust receives no direct Government funding and would not exist without the support of you, our members. To add your voice to over 12,000 others and show how much you value Cheshire’s wildlife, give us a call today or visit our website.
Cheshire Ecological Services CES is a member of the Association of Wildlife Trust Consultancies (AWTC) and is the ecological consultancy arm of Cheshire Wildlife Trust, with 20 years of industry experience. All profit revenues generated by CES go directly to supporting the work of Cheshire Wildlife Trust.
As spring finally seems to have arrived after an un-seasonally subzero March, it’s the time of year for new starts and exciting arrivals. So it’s perhaps fitting, but also with some sadness that I write this as my last Foreword for the Grebe Magazine as Chief Executive of Cheshire Wildlife Trust. However, I am delighted that Charlotte Harris, previously Director of Conservation at the Trust, became our new CEO in April. It has been a real privilege to lead the Trust for the past four and a half years as we embraced a landscape-scale approach to our work through Living Landscapes and Living Seas. This will become increasingly important as nature faces threats from many fronts including development and climate change. Much of our land in the Cheshire region is farmland and we will continue to campaign for changes to the Common Agricultural Policy to link all payments to environmental measures such as creating flower-rich field margins for insects and farmland birds. We will also continue to work with farmers and landowners to support them with this work. Farmers have had a tough time with the long, wet and cold winter, which has been a nightmare for both livestock and winter crops. We are acutely aware that TB causes much hardship for farmers and the Trust’s cattle too are also at risk as bovine TB paces northwards. We rely hugely on our own 300-plus head of
Looking to the future, the Trust hopes to secure funding to develop both the volunteering and community engagement aspects of our work, as it is this that will ensure that Cheshire’s natural wonders and wild places are secured for future generations. I would like to finish with a “Thank You” to you all for supporting the work of the Trust. I have really enjoyed working with staff, trustees, local groups, volunteers, partners and members. I am confident that Cheshire Wildlife Trust will go from strength to strength – it is our localness and you, our members and volunteers, which means that we can make a real difference to nature on your doorstep.
Dr. Janel Fone, Outgoing Chief Executive
Grebe The
Cheshire
Cheshire
For this edition and for the first time ever, we asked our supporters
Who are the Wildlife Trusts?
on Facebook and Twitter to choose their favourite out of a stunning basking adder and the winner (left), a white faced darter dragonfly. White faced darters were once a common sight in the High Speed Rail – ? right track on the local wildlife assess the risks to We
‘Y’ route from the HS2 northern
grass es in the Snakour spring elusive reptiles this
g Your guide to discoverin
mere back to edDela ing dragons darter to Cheshire Bring to return the white-fac Our ambitious project leaf Turning over a new like you How our Eastwood
THE GREBE SPRING 2013
The Trust was very disappointed with the Government’s announcement in January that just 31 Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs) would be designated of the 127 recommended, although we were relieved to see the Hilbre Island Group has been recommended. The Trust will continue to put pressure on the Government to honour its commitment to put a “coherent ecological network” of MCZs in place.
On the cover Spring/Summer 2013
There are 47 Wildlife Trusts across the UK, the Isle of Man and Alderney. With over 800,000 members, we are the largest UK voluntary organisation dedicated to conserving the full range of the UK’s habitats and species.
cattle to graze our nature reserves, but we are well-placed in Cheshire to help create a firewall to prevent the spread of bovine TB and we strongly believe that vaccinating badgers is an important part of this. Thank you to everyone who donated to our badger vaccination appeal – this will enable us to continue to develop our badger vaccination programme within our region.
ed by volunteers
reserve was transform
mosses of Delamere Forest but haven’t been seen there since 2003. This summer though, we’ll be bringing them back thanks to only the third dragonfly reintroduction project ever in the UK, led by the Trust. Read more on page 16. Photograph: Jack A. Bailey / Ardea
In this issue 2 UK News & Comment
14 Local News
A round-up from the Wildlife Trusts UK network, with news of exciting land purchases, the safeguarding of Chat Moss in Lancashire and expansion of badger vaccination across the country. Stephanie Hilborne OBE, our UK Chief Executive gives her regular views too.
4 Petition Fish makes a splash As the Government’s consultation on Marine Conservation Zones closes, we take a look back at two years of campaigning, and how just some of the 250,000 signatures that swamped Westminster were collected.
6 Marine Conservation Zones – where now We take a tour of the UK to see where MCZs could make a difference and the wildlife that makes a home there with Joan Edwards from our Living Seas team.
8 Going with the flow The nation’s rivers are the lifeblood of many of our Living Landscape schemes, including those here in Cheshire. We look at some of the projects across the country restoring these watery arteries in our countryside.
12 HS2 – are the plans on track? The planned HS2 High Speed Rail ‘Y’ route is set to go through the heart of the Cheshire region, so we assess the wildlife sites and species at risk, as the initial preferred route is announced. The £33bn project has already sparked debate across the North West, with some areas welcoming the plans and others opposed to the rural impacts.
It’s been a busy winter and we look back at a boom time for bitterns near Northwich, how our naturegrazed meat is going from strength to strength and a big thank you for our successful badger appeal.
16 Bringing back dragons This summer the Trust embarks on only the third ever reintroduction project for dragonflies in the UK, with white-faced darters in Delamere Forest. We look at what’s involved in this ambitious project.
18 Down on the farm
26 Eye spy on our nature reserves We have over 40 nature reserves, but do we really know what lives there? Sue Tatman shows the astonishing results of some recent surveys, and explains how you can get involved.
28 If you go down to the woods today… This summer sees us kick off our first ever series of Forest Schools, an innovative way of getting youngsters back outdoors and exploring wildlife and wild places. Nick Rowles, Forest School leader tells us more.
As a new trail opens at the Trust’s headquarters at Bickley Hall, we take a look at eight years of wildlife-friendly farming in South Cheshire and the difference it’s made for nature.
20 Snakes in the grass Spring is a great time to go and seek out the region’s reptiles; from adders to grass snakes and even lizards, all on your doorstep. Our guide will show you what to look out for!
30 Making wildlife your business Support from businesses large and small across the region provides a huge boost to the Trust in all sorts of different ways, our new Fundraising Manager Anna O’Sullivan explains how your company could make a difference.
22 When a plan comes together… A year ago, our Eastwood nature reserve was in the doldrums. Now it has a new lease of life and exciting trails thanks to a crack team of volunteers. We look back at how they did it – in the wettest summer on record.
33 A wild word with…Nick Baker
25 Wildlife in trust
We take five minutes with Nick to talk teenage wildlife-watching, the ones that got away and how to get ahead in conservation.
Keeping us on track with our work across the region are our trustees. Our chair Chris Koral introduces the team and talks about why we’d like to welcome some new faces.
Your Magazine The next edition of The Grebe magazine will be published in September 2013. We welcome letters, comments, photographs and contributions to The Grebe. Please write to the editor at the address below or e-mail: tmarshall@cheshirewt.org.uk All contributions including events to be featured in the Events Diary should reach the editor no later than 01 July 2013. Events listings in the Autumn edition will run from October 2013 to January 2014. The views expressed in The Grebe are not necessarily those of Cheshire Wildlife Trust.
Contents © Cheshire Wildlife Trust 2013. No part of this publication shall be reproduced without prior written consent. Advertising in The Grebe We invite enquiries for advertising in The Grebe magazine, with various packages available. Please contact the editor for our current rate card or an informal discussion. Allowing advertising in The Grebe lets us cover some of the costs of producing our members magazine, meaning we can spend more on conservation projects.
The Grebe Editor Tom Marshall, Communications Officer
Cheshire Wildlife Trust, Bickley Hall Farm, Malpas, Cheshire SY14 8EF
Patron The Duke of Westminster KG DL
Tel: 01948 820728
President Felicity Goodey CBE DL
email: info@cheshirewt.org.uk
Chairman Chris Koral
web: www.cheshirewildlifetrust.org.uk Registered Charity No: 214927 A company Limited by Guarantee in England No: 736693
Chief Executive Charlotte Harris
@cheshirewt
Designed and Produced by Orchard Corporate Ltd
Cheshire Wildlife Trust CheshireWT Cheshirewildlifetrust
SPRING 2013 THE GREBE 1
UK NEWS
Help us save places like this New website section features appeals to safeguard crucial wildlife sites
This fabulous saltmarsh could link two existing Norfolk Wildlife Trust reserves. More at wtru.st/cleyappeal
How will ash dieback affect reserves?
Shropshire and Cheshire Wildlife Trusts are taking practical steps to address bTB
Ash dieback disease has now been found in more than 160 mature woodland sites, including some Wildlife Trust reserves. The main affected areas are East Anglia, Kent and the south west. The Government’s national control strategy is to promote genetic resistance so that ash woodlands can naturally regenerate over time. All our woodlands remain open to visitors. Find out more about ash dieback on wildlifetrusts.org/ashdieback TOM MARSHALL
More Trusts start badger vaccination
COLIN VARNDELL
While the Government plans two large-scale badger culls this summer, The Wildlife Trusts continue to demonstrate alternative ways to tackle bovine TB. Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust began a badger vaccination programme in 2011. Last year it was joined by Trusts in Cheshire, Shropshire, Somerset and Warwickshire. Other Trusts are raising money for their own vaccine deployment projects. There’s still time to convince the Government to abandon the cull and tackle bTB through vaccination. You can help via wtru.st/helpbadgers
AROUND THE WILDLIFE TRUSTS GLOS WT
HERTS WT
LEICS & RUT
LONDON WT
NORFOLK WT
N’LAND WT
The Trust has joined a local cheese maker to launch a wildlifefriendly single Gloucester cheese. It’s made from the milk of cattle used for conservation grazing at Greystones Farm nature reserve. wtru.st/GWTcheese
A survey of Balls Wood, saved by the Trust in 2009, has found evidence of dormice breeding. It will be the first site in Herts registered with the National Dormouse Monitoring Programme. wtru.st/ballsdormice
There’s a new book by Tim Mackrill on the Rutland Osprey Project, which is re-establishing the species in England. Sales support osprey conservation at Rutland Water. wtru.st/ rutlandosprey
A large, rare spider, Meta bourneti, has been recorded for the first time in London by Trust staff – deep in tombs at Highgate Cemetery. It’s an orb-weaving cave spider, adapted to living in darkness. wtru.st/tombspider
Nature Iraq, the leading wildlife conservation NGO in Iraq, has given $1,000 to the Trust’s Cley Marshes appeal (above), as an act of global support for the protection of marshes. wtru.st/cleyiraq
The Living Waterways team is improving habitats on wetlands and watercourses in North Tyneside and Northumberland, thanks to grants from the Local Environment Action Fund and Carillion. wtru.st/nthwater
2 THE GREBE SPRING 2013
The Wildlife Trusts’ national website has a new section showing local appeals to buy land for wildlife. We hope that global publicity will bring in extra donations and help push forward our mission to create Living Landscapes. Trusts are appealing to save marshes, hills, islands – even Charles Darwin’s garden and Laurie Lee’s wood. Some of these places and the funds needed are:
■E ycott Hill, a wildlife-rich upland site in Cumbria, £968,000; ■P art of Skokholm Island, a crucial site for seabirds off South Wales, £250,000; ■A xemouth Undercliff, a stretch of jungly Jurassic Coast in Devon, £50,000; ■T rantershill Wood, Gloucestershire, owned by author Laurie Lee, £35,000;
UK-wLatest an ide new wildld issues: s if org/netrusts. ews
Norfolk Wildlife Trust needs to raise £1m to buy 143 acres (main picture) adjoining Cley Marshes. This would expand Cley – the first reserve owned by a local Trust – by a third and create a five-mile strip of coastal wildlife sites. So far it’s raised £300,000. If you can donate to help us save this and other special places, visit wildlifetrusts.org/appeals. Thank you.
■C harles Darwin’s childhood garden in Shrewsbury, £75,000.
NORFOLK WT
Welsh webcam osprey dies in Senegal
Lancashire’s Chat Moss saved
Ceulan, the Welsh-born osprey chick whose struggle to survive weeks of cold and rain was followed by more than 10,000 people last year, has died in a fishing net. His death, in Senegal’s Diawel River, was accidental. You can follow the fortunes of this year’s Cors Dyfi ospreys on dyfiospreyproject.com. There are many other webcam projects run by Wildlife Trusts on wildlifetrusts.org/webcams.
Last November the Government refused permission for further extraction of peat at Chat Moss, a lowland raised bog near Manchester. Extraction had been planned to continue for 15 years. The announcement follows a long-running campaign by Lancashire Wildlife Trust. The Trust now expects the peat extraction company, William Sinclair Horticulture Ltd, to take responsibility for restoring the site to lowland raised bog. More at wtru.st/chatmosssaved
Ceulan’s winter migration ended in disaster, but his parents should breed again in 2013
N WALES WT
SCOTTISH WT
SHEFFIELD WT SUSSEX WT
A new film showcases the wildlife, conservation and education work at Cemlyn nature reserve on Anglesey, home to Wales’ largest population of sandwich terns. Watch it at wtru.st/cemlynfilm
Five marine sites have been proposed as Special Areas of Conservation, pending approval by the EU. One, Hatton Bank, would be the largest marine protected area in Europe. wtru.st/scotSACs
A survey at the Trust’s Centenary Riverside wetland and flood alleviation scheme has found a healthy population of small mammals and flowering plants despite flooding four times last year. wtru.st/centfloods
A new project is encouraging neighbours to help wildlife thrive in their gardens. ‘Nature Street’ aims to help local communities to interlink garden habitats and create Living Landscapes. wtru.st/natstreet
EMYR EVANS
MATTHEW ROBERTS
Chat Moss has been stripped bare, but could eventually recover
ULSTER WT
YORKS WT
Funding from the Department of the Environment NI is transforming two green spaces in Bangor. Access to Balloo Wetland and Woodland will be improved and habitats restored. wtru.st/ballooboost
Thanks to SITA the Trust is recreating water vole habitat at Westwinds, near Ackworth. It aims to reconnect isolated populations, so the voles can disperse and recolonise more easily. wtru.st/wentvoles
SPRING 2013 THE GREBE 3
UK NEWS
Huge support for real marine protection
Chris Packham signed a scale with Cheshire Wildlife Trust on a visit to Chester last year. Stephen Mosley MP (below left) signs at Blue Planet Aquarium.
250,000 people have shown support for a network of 127 marine reserves. But so far just 31 candidate sites have got a green light Despite huge public support for a network of marine reserves around the UK, the Government has only approved up to 31 of the 127 Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs) put forward by stakeholders in England. The Defra decision will have disappointed the quarter of a million people who ‘signed a scale’ in our Petition Fish campaign to support the proposed network in English and offshore Welsh waters. The Wildlife Trusts delivered those signatures to Natural Environment Minister Richard Benyon in January (see right). Nevertheless, the designation of these sites frees an area the size of Cornwall from harmful activities. It is the biggest step forward ever taken to protect and manage our seas. The Government wants more evidence to show that the rest of the sites are worthy of protection. We are working hard to gather that evidence. Meanwhile we are urging the Government to designate all 31 initially proposed sites this year, and bring in appropriate management as soon as possible.
WHAT YOU CAN DO Become a friend of some (or all!) of the sites which might be designated in the future via wildlifetrusts.org/MCZmap.
AROUND THE WILDLIFE TRUSTS SCOTTISH WT
AVON WT
BCN WT
BBOWT
S & W WALES
CORNWALL
The Trust and RSPB Scotland have presented a plan for a National Ecological Network to the Scottish Government. They argue it should be part of Scotland’s new National Planning Framework. wtru.st/scotnetwork
The Trust’s ‘Feed Bristol’ community gardening project won an award at the Bristol In Bloom Awards. It aims to bring people closer to nature through wildlife-friendly food growing. wtru.st/feedbristol
Irthlingborough Lakes and Meadows in the heart of the Nene Valley has been saved thanks to a local appeal which raised £49,000. The Trust will improve visitor access and restore wildlife habitat. wtru.st/irthbro
Woodlands, hedgerows and wildflower meadows on five reserves in Bernwood Forest are being restored thanks to a WREN Biodiversity Action Fund grant of £222,000. wtru.st/bernwood
Skokholm has two new wardens. Richard Brown and Giselle Eagle will live on the island and monitor its breeding seabird population, maintain its facilities and be the public face of the reserve for visitors. wtru.st SkokholmWardens
With Cornwall Bird Watching and Preservation Society, the Trust has bought over 19 acres of wet grassland at Amble Marshes SSSI near Wadebridge. It’s an important site for wintering birds. wtru.st/ambmarsh
4 THE GREBE SPRING 2013
Than who ks to all signe T prothee fight t d o will cct our se ontin as ue!
Your support is vital We have never needed the support of our members more than we do now. So thank you very much for joining and for staying with us, in what are difficult times for the natural world as well as for society. We continue to look after some of the most precious and beautiful places near you, to introduce millions of children to nature, and to work with local authorities and businesses to promote wildlife. There is so much more we could and need to do, given funding cuts to both central and local government. We are fortunate to have the contribution of our many volunteers but your legacies and support for appeals such as those on p4-5 are vital.
Stephanie Hilborne hands over your signatures to Natural Environment Minister Richard Benyon at Westminster
Although a recession traditionally means less pressure from development, this one seems to break all the normal rules. The Government’s obsession with reviving damaging road building schemes ignores lessons from the 1990s, when the need for a more environmentally responsible approach to transport planning was established. We must dispel the myth that nature is a barrier to the economy – a myth underpinning the Government’s recent efforts to repatriate powers for environmental regulation to the UK from Europe. To quote Tony Juniper’s new book What has nature ever done for us?: How can nature be holding back the economy when without a healthy natural environment, society (and so its trading system the economy) would not exist? Watching the Government behaving like this is like watching someone disappearing further into sinking sands as they flail about. “Stop!” you shout. “Stay still! Or you will sink further.”
DERBYS WT
DEVON WT
DORSET WT
ESSEX WT
Volunteers planted 2,000 trees at parks across Derbyshire as part of the Trust’s Value in Trees project. The project is helping to safeguard the future of veteran trees in the county. wtru.st/valuetrees
The Trust has achieved the Investing in Volunteers Quality Standard, recognising the work it does with more than 300 volunteers who regularly take part in conservation tasks. wtru.st/VQSdevon
127 square miles of reef habitat from Portland to Studland is now a European Special Area of Conservation. Hundreds of volunteer divers have recorded the species and habitats there. wtru.st/DorsetSAC
The Council for Learning Outside the Classroom has awarded the Trust the High Quality Education Badge. The Trust works with 500 schools and 32,000 children a year. wtru.st/EWTedu
Stephanie Hilborne OBE Chief Executive of The Wildlife Trusts
There are 47 Wildlife Trusts. With more than 800,000 members, we are the largest UK voluntary organisation dedicated to conserving all the UK’s habitats and species.
SPRING 2013 THE GREBE 5
We need more MCZs
PAUL NAYLOR
LIVING SEAS
After a 15-year campaign and evidence provided by more than a million people, the Government has agreed to set up 31 marine reserves. That’s good – but it’s not enough As we report on p2, Defra has proposed that just 31 Marine Conservation Zones should be designated around England and offshore waters of Wales in 2013. That’s not the full 127 MCZs we hoped for but, as the map here shows, it’s a start. A recent poll has found that 89% of people believe protecting our marine life is more important than commercial activities such as dredging or industrial fishing. We intend to keep up the pressure on the Government to ensure they take into account all available evidence for the remaining sites. We want them to commit to an ambitious timetable for their designation too.
Joan Edwards is Head of Living Seas for The Wildlife Trusts
POSSIBLE DESIGNATION
1 The Canyons 200 miles south-west of Land’s End, this site ranges widely in depth from 130m to over 2000m. As the name suggests, there are two deepwater canyons making the seabed more complex here than at many other sites. Its shape creates an up-welling of nutrient-rich water, leading to higher than average sightings of seabirds and cetaceans, including the Risso’s dolphin (above). It also contains the only known living coldwater coral reefs in English waters.
6 THE GREBE SPRING 2013
4 Sefton Coast This is a shoreline area extending from Formby Point to Crosby Beach. Its exposed peat and clay beds provide homes for burrowing clams, crabs, mussels (above), winkles and worms. These in turn are important food for other species. This site is also archaeologically important: the peat and clay contain preserved human and animal footprints which date back to the Stone Age!
ROB SPRAY
NIKI CLEAR
PAUL NAYLOR
Meanwhile, here are four of the soon-to-be designated sites, and four whose designation is still on hold. Learn more about the proposed network of MCZs, and let the Government know your views, on wildlifetrusts.org/haveyoursay.
ON HOLD
ON HOLD
POSSIBLE DESIGNATION
ideford to 2B Foreland Point
orth of Celtic 3N Deep
Stretching from Lynton to Bideford is a coastline of cliffs, rocky shores, small sandy inlets, and sandy Bideford Bay. European eel, native oyster, peacock’s tail seaweed and the aptly named hedgehog sponge (above) can be found here. Reefbuilding ross and honeycomb worms provide additional habitat. In the shallows are the fragile pink sea fan, as well as scarlet and gold star coral, Devonshire cup coral and shortsnouted seahorse. The area is also important for foraging seabirds and cetaceans. This site was originally recommended as an MCZ by the local community.
Bordering the territorial waters of Wales and the Republic of Ireland, this is the most southerly site in the Irish Sea. Deep water sediments support abundant populations of marine invertebrates such as worms, clams and lobsters (above). The highly productive waters make it important for seabirds such as gannet, Manx shearwater and puffin, and create excellent feeding grounds for whales and dolphins.
1
ROB SPRAY
n Possible designation 2013 (31 sites) Govt consultation pending n On hold (93 sites) Future designation uncertain n Designation refused (3 sites) Not being considered currently NB: Proposals for protected areas in Scottish, Welsh and NI waters are still awaited
PETER TINSLEY
Key to MCZ areas
POSSIBLE DESIGNATION
ON HOLD
5 Swallow Sand
romer Chalk 6C Shoal
Sixty miles off the Berwickshire coast, Swallow Sand’s 50-150m depth range makes it one of the deepest sites in the North Sea. It is also one of the largest MCZs put forward, covering more than 1800 square miles. Its gravel, sand and mud seabed is home to burrowing peacock worms (above) and bivalve mussels. The western side contains Swallow Hole, a glacial tunnel valley supporting high numbers of commercial fish including sprat and mackerel.
PAUL NAYLOR
4
PAUL NAYLOR
5
Just 200 metres off the Norfolk coast is a 20-mile reef of chalk, thought to be Europe’s largest. Three-metre chalk arches tower above the seabed, providing a home for attached sponges and red seaweeds, whilst shoaling horse mackerel fly through the water like silvery darts. Marine wildlife is abundant: from blue mussel beds and 30+ species of sea slug to harbour porpoise, grey and common seals. There are large communities of crustaceans, burrowing piddocks, sponges (including a new species found in 2011), sea squirts and anemones.
6 3
2 8 7
89% of people believe protecting marine life matters more than destructive activities ICM poll, 2012
POSSIBLE DESIGNATION
ON HOLD
olkestone 7F Pomerania
8 Utopia
Five miles off the coast between Folkestone and Dover the seabed drops into an area of huge, boulder-strewn bowls, with exposed greensand forming craggy ridges around the sides. Lobsters and crabs (above) shelter under deep ridges whilst ballan and goldsinny wrasse swim amongst the branching sponges, soft corals and colonies of seabeard and hornwrack. Further out is soft muddy seabed, consolidated by sandy tubes constructed by honeycomb and ross worms. This mix of both types of tubeworms living together is rare.
Just off the east coast of the Isle of Wight, this site is named after the tope shark which uses it as an important pupping ground. Rocky reef and boulder outcrops create a habitat for sponges, corals and anemones which otherwise would not be found here. Utopia was not initially proposed as an MCZ due to a lack of evidence. However, Hampshire & IOW WT then submitted detailed data proving this feature exists, including photographs, video footage, seabed imagery and species lists.
SPRING 2013 THE GREBE 7
LIVING LANDSCAPE
Everyone loves wild rivers
JACK PERKS
And the good news is, restoring rivers’ natural features and rebuilding their biodiversity can also reduce flooding and erosion, and cut the cost of water treatment. Helen Perkins reports Bringing a river back into good health after many decades of pollution and modification is never easy. But it’s worth doing, not just to restore scarce plants and animals, but for the knock-on effects it has for the rest of us. A clean, varied, wildlife-rich river with natural bankside features is a more beautiful place to be. It can also protect people and wildlife from the impacts of pollution, flooding and drought.
and Stort river catchments and in Birmingham the Trust is leading work on the River Tame. For 2013, the Agency plans to extend this approach to every river catchment in England.
Across the country Wildlife Trusts are working to restore rivers and bring them back up to the standards required by the European Water Framework Directive – standards that mean rivers will once again support an abundance of native wildlife, such as brown trout, water vole and white-clawed crayfish.
On the ground, Trusts are working to deliver the actions needed to bring our rivers back into good health – for example by re-naturalising modified rivers, reconnecting rivers with floodplains, removing invasive non-native species and putting natural features back into the river channel.
This is a massive undertaking. Industrial activity, housing, roads and abstraction for drinking water have all altered water quality and the shape of our rivers. In England and Wales, only one in four rivers is in ‘Good Ecological Status’. So over the last year, the Environment Agency (EA) has worked with The Wildlife Trusts and others to begin restoring entire river catchments in England. For example, Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust is coordinating work in the Beame-Mimram
Defra has funded The Wildlife Trusts to deliver a series of such projects, all designed to benefit wildlife and people. Three of them are over the page.
8 THE GREBE SPRING 2013
Helen Perkins is Living Landscape Development Manager for The Wildlife Trusts
This is just the start of the hard work needed to restore our river catchments. We hope Government will use the law to halt future damage and promote the value of natural rivers and wetlands.
Love your river! Every drop of water we use means less for the natural environment. The Love Your River Campaign, supported by The Wildlife Trusts, aims to help people understand and value their local rivers, and thus look after them better. Olympic rower James Cracknell (below, with Environment Minister Richard Benyon) is a big supporter: defra.gov.uk/loveyourriver
An inquisitive chub checks out the camera in Fairham Brook, a Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust reserve
SPRING 2013 THE GREBE 9
LIVING LANDSCAPE
ANDREW WALMSLEY
Hockenhull Platts Cheshire Wildlife Trust
WHAT’S IT ABOUT? Reinstating part of the original course of the river Gowy, creating backwaters and wetlands that have been lost through straightening of the channel. Providing additional feeding and shelter areas for species including water voles in times of flood. Hockenhull Platts near Waverton is a reserve of wet meadows, ponds and reedbed adjacent to the Gowy, a tributary of the Mersey. The Trust already manages the wet meadows here through
conservation grazing with Dexter cattle, however the river has been straightened and the freshwater connection with the ponds on site has been lost – a feature that would have been present according to historical maps. In 2011 the Trust used a specialist excavator – with a minimal ground impact – to create a 50m stretch of shallow pools following the original course of the river under the ‘Roman bridges’ and connecting to existing ponds. A manually operated sluice gate can control the water levels to the new wetland.
Regular ‘flushing’ of the wetland when the river is in flood has helped to increase oxygen levels in the new and existing pools and dragonflies and amphibians have already moved in. Signs of water voles were discovered last year and it’s hoped the wetlands provided a refuge for these and other species during the 2012 floods. Stage two of the project will see an additional section reinstated creating a full ‘loop’ through the reserve and completing the original layout of the river across the natural floodplain.
River dwellers
WATER SHREW Using a home range of just 60-80m2, water shrews feed entirely on invertebrates. They need clean, well-vegetated waterways
KINGFISHER Britain’s most colourful bird hunts for small fish over clear water. It also needs high, natural riverbanks in which to excavate its nest tunnels
LAURIE CAMPBELL
DAVID CHAPMAN
10 THE GREBE SPRING 2013
PAUL HOBSON
LAURIE CAMPBELL
OTTER A top predator in river systems, the otter declined dramatically due to dioxin poisoning in the 1950s and 60s. Today it’s recovering strongly
SALMON This iconic fish needs an open route upstream to reach spawning grounds and clean, well-oxygenated water to aid the development of its eggs and fry
River Perry Shropshire Wildlife Trust WHAT’S IT ABOUT? Improving the river’s poor ecological health and reducing overmodification of the channel while meeting the needs of farmers
SHROPSHIRE WT
Tree planting helps cool the water
Shawford Shallows Hants & IOW Wildlife Trust WHAT’S IT ABOUT? Improving the wildlife of a chalk stream in a way that local people will enjoy and value more and more as the years pass
Faggots help plants establish, and vary water speed
“The work complements other projects along the Itchen Navigation,” says Project Manager Ali Morse. “We hope the cumulative effect will take the Itchen Navigation from ‘Poor’ to ‘Good’ status. We’ll have a river richer in wildlife for local people to enjoy. And that will achieve a greater sense of ownership of this beautiful place by local communities.”
SCARCE CHASER A big, powerful dragonfly that patrols wellvegetated, slow-flowing waters such as lowland floodplains, lakes and large ponds
MAYFLY An important food source for a huge number of river species, the mayfly spends much of its life as an aquatic nymph. The adult only lives a few days
DAVID CHAPMAN
DAVID CHAPMAN
DOUG MERRICK
JACK PERKS
GRAYLING Very sensitive to water-borne pollutants, grayling are less common in the southeast. They need fine gravel beds and free-flowing water to spawn
HANTS & IOW WT
The wetlands at Hockenhull are part of the Gowy & Mersey Washlands Living Landscape corridor which also includes natural riverbank reinforcement and otter holds further downstream
Shawford Shallows is in the Itchen Navigation, itself part of a chalk river needing restoration along much of its length. Heavy tree growth had badly silted the channel, and a downstream lock prevented it from being scoured clean. When Lottery and EA funding enabled the lock to be bypassed the Trust reduced tree cover and added woody debris, brushwood faggots, and planted locally grown rush, reed sweetgrass, bur-reed, yellow flag iris and purple loosestrife.
Flowing south to meet the River Severn above Shrewsbury, the Perry falls within the ‘River Severn Source to Sea’ Living Landscape and ‘Meres and Mosses’ Nature Improvement Area. Intensive farming had reduced it to little more than a drain, but improvements had to address local concerns about drainage and flooding. The Trust gathered several partners and consulted widely before agreeing a plan. Buffer strips reduced farmland runoff, and troughs kept cattle out of the river. More sensitive channel management lessened silt build-up and improved fish habitat. Bankside planting of 600 trees will lessen erosion, and create shade for spawning salmon. “It’s about understanding what help landowners need to develop affordable solutions,” says Pete Lambert, Project Manager. “We want to extend this work across the Severn catchment”.
WATER CROWFOOT A fineleaved submerged plant of shallow rivers. It thrives in buffer zones where cattle are prevented from trampling the river bed
SPRING 2013 THE GREBE 11
HIGH SPEED RAIL Greate
r Ma nch
es
te
r W
et
MANCHESTER la
nd
s
In January, the Government announced their initial preferred route for the northern ‘Y’ section of the High Speed Rail (HS2) project linking London to the North West. But at what cost to the region’s wildlife? We look into the sites and species at risk.
WARRINGTON Bo
Saltsc
llin
Va
l l ey
Riv
er
Co
rri
do
High Speed
r
After months of debate and controversy over Phase 1 of the Government’s £32b HS2 route, earlier this year the team behind the rail plans announced the muchanticipated indicative ‘Y’ route through the North West, linking Birmingham to Manchester and Leeds, amongst other local hubs.
ape
Within days, the Trust had overlaid the line onto detailed maps and began to assess the potential impacts on the local environment, from species at risk, to designated sites and recognised areas of nature conservation interest.
NORTHWICH
D a n e Va ll
MIDDLEWICH
WINSFORD
ey
Li
vi
ng
La
nd
sc
ap
e
A key concern from early analysis was the proximity of the line to our Holcroft Moss nature reserve near Warrington, the last intact lowland raised mire in Cheshire. Initial indications showed that the line would come within 20-30 metres of the site. An overpass of the adjacent M62 motorway also looks set to be a key part of construction, just metres from the woodland and peat bog nature reserve, recognised with a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) status.
Impact Zones CREWE
NANTWICH
es an Mer
d Mosses Natu
re Im
prov ement
Area
Wildlife Trust nature reserves Ramsar or SAC, and SSSI designated sites SSSI designated sites Local Nature Reserves Ancient woodlands Local Wildlife Sites River corridors HS2 Phase 2 route
12 THE GREBE SPRING 2013
In assessing the possible risk to sites along the route, the Wildlife Trusts have considered two ‘zones of impact’, one extending for 50 metres either side of the centre of the line, and a second within a wider 500m area. We believe that sites and wildlife within this first zone are at risk from ‘direct impact’; such as actual loss of habitat or fundamental disturbance to normal species behaviours. In the wider second zone, indirect affects could be to hydrology, habitat continuity/intensity, disturbance through construction or long-term effects on transient species like bats and migratory birds through breaks in the landscape, or noise and vibration. These latter concerns are particularly crucial when considering the Trust’s long-standing mission to create ‘Living Landscapes’ – interconnected, high-quality areas of wildlife habitats within our countryside.
Rail – on the right track? At present, the ‘Y’ route looks set to pass through landscape-scale conservation schemes in the Dane Valley and Nature Improvement Areas (NIAs) in Greater Manchester Wetlands and the Meres & Mosses of the Marches – the latter areas only being recognised for the first time in 2012. In addition, the Saltscape project recently earmarked by Cheshire West & Chester Council for a £1m natural and cultural heritage investment will also be affected. Away from large-scale projects, the local impact of the route looks set to hit habitats such as species-rich grasslands, ponds and ancient woodlands hardest, many of which are recognised as Local Wildlife Sites (LWS). Ancient woodlands – those which are generally more than 400 years old – could be affected at a number of points on the ‘Y’ route in Cheshire, from bisection of existing sites by bridges and overpasses to loss of habitat at their fringes. This risk to woodland remains a major concern in a county where woodland cover is at its lowest anywhere in the UK, standing at just 6.4% compared to a UK average of nearer 10%.
14 32 £33b 9 Local Wildlife Sites directly impacted
Local Wildlife Sites within 500m of the route
Estimated cost of the ‘Y’ route
Wildlife Trusts affected by the HS2 ‘Y’ route
Best deal for wildlife
With so many areas potentially at risk, the Trust has been in early dialogue with HS2 Ltd and DfT and, with other Wildlife Trusts along the route, we have been sharing evidence and information about what the possible impacts of the ‘Y’ route might be for wildlife. Our aim will be to work closely with HS2 Ltd throughout the process to ensure that wherever possible, mitigation and compensation is effective, and above all identify opportunities where biodiversity could even gain from this major scheme. The Government may have identified HS2 as being the best deal for the North West economy, and now with your support, we want to ensure we get the best deal for local wildlife too.
WHAT YOU CAN DO... • Keep an eye on our website, twitter and Facebook for updates • Check the High Speed 2 website regularly www.hs2.org.uk: this has detailed maps of the proposed route through Cheshire and Greater Manchester • Between now and the end of the year we expect that High Speed 2 Ltd will set up “community forums” along the proposed route: look for news of these in the local press, radio and TV, and on our social media, attend, and make your views known.
What’s at risk? Holcroft Moss nature reserve (CWT reserve) The last remaining intact lowland raised mire in Cheshire, home to breeding birds like the yellowhammer, snipe and plants including Sphagnum moss and cottongrass - restricted to the unique habitats found in peat bog habitats. We’re concerned about the proximity of the line to the site (within 50 metres), and the expected construction of an adjacent overpass of the M62 motorway.
Ancient woodlands Winnington & Peas Wood, Long Wood, Hancock’s Bank and Leonards & Smoker Woods (all Local Wildlife Sites) are set to be affected through direct loss of habitat, bisection of the existing woodlands or through construction of overpasses. Disturbance to species such as bats and breeding birds during construction and operation also seems likely. All of these sites carry a component of at least 400 year-old ancient woodland.
Silver Lane Pools, Eleven Acre Common, Fox Covert, Sean Hawkins Meadow (CWT reserve) hese grassland and wetland sites T have been home to breeding longeared owls, feeding barn owls and farmland birds such as skylarks and yellowhammers in recent years, but look set to be bisected by the proposed route. They also support a wide variety of butterfly species.
Rostherne Mere National Nature Reserve The line looks set to curve around the northern fringes of this longestablished and extensive wetland with a rich history of migratory bird study, coming within 40 metres at some points. The reserve is both a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and EU designated Ramar site. HS2 have assessed the impacts based on the Habitats Regulations, however an additional proposed road development close to the site may raise questions over more cumulative impacts of both projects.
SPRING 2013 THE GREBE 13
LOCAL NEWS
Boom time for Marbury bitterns The reserve went through a transformation last year, with a new long-lasting recycled plastic boardwalk, improved trails, picnic area and refreshed information signs thanks to WREN (Waste Recycling Environmental) and support from Barclays and Bentley volunteers. Despite concerns that the habitat works might affect the use of the reedbed by the bitterns, the regular sightings seem to show they have become wellaccustomed to their new surroundings. The Trust cuts segments of the reedbed in late summer each year in preparation for the winter return of the bitterns, to create suitable feeding areas. The reedbed also holds a substantial early winter starling roost and kingfishers, bats and lesser spotted woodpeckers are all seen regularly.
MIKE ROBERTS
The Trust was thrilled in December when reports of up to three bitterns came through from local birdwatchers at our Marbury Reedbed nature reserve.
GET INVOLVED See our Events Guide for guided walks and when you can join our Wildlife Information Officer at the reserve this summer.
Bird report is out
Feeling horse? Keep it local
The Cheshire & Wirral Bird Report is now available for 2011. There are 160 pages packed with 78 maps, graphs and tables and 12 illustrations from a range of top local artists capturing another busy ornithological year in review. The cover features the stunning yellow wagtail, and 19 further plates feature additional highlights. Articles include a celebration of a quarter of a century of black-necked grebes at Woolston Eyes, plus the red-flanked bluetail and its 15 minutes of fame on Hilbre Island.
The processed beef and horsemeat scandal earlier in the year highlighted how complicated and international our meat trade has become. The Trust has been managing cattle and sheep since 2006, and in recent years we’ve been working with local butchers, retailers and restaurants to bring our nature-grazed, conservation beef and lamb to Cheshire dinner tables. By providing meat to the local consumer market, we can create an income for our conservation-grazing project ensuring its future – and in turn the careful management of nature reserves for wildlife across the North West.
The Bird Report is free to CAWOS members (ordinary membership costs £12), otherwise it costs £7.50 + £2.00 p&p and copies are available from: David Cogger, 113 Nantwich Road, Middlewich, Cheshire, CW10 9HD Tel: 01606 832517 Email: davidcogger@cawos.org
14 THE GREBE SPRING 2013
GET INVOLVED See our Events Guide for where you can catch up with our Wild About Conservation Meat team this summer – including how to become a volunteer ‘stockwatcher’, or visit www.cheshirewildlifetrust.org.uk/wildmeat to see your nearest stockists.
VICKY NALL
STEVEN DUGDALE
ELLIOTT NEPP
Get the picture
Badger vaccination – a big thank you! The Trust has been overwhelmed by the huge support for our badger vaccination appeal which, to date has raised more than £18,300. We’re also pleased to announce that at least four further locations have been added to this year’s vaccination programme, with farmers, vets and other landowners working alongside the Trust to administer the BCG vaccine at sites including our own Bickley Hall Farm. As part of the spring/summer deployment in May and June, we also hope to vaccinate badger cubs, bringing additional benefits to creating herd immunity in local badger populations. The Government has now confirmed that its own trial ‘free-shoot’ culls in Gloucestershire, Somerset, and if required, a reserve site in Devon will progress in 2013, despite strong opposition from around 150 MPs and a 160,000-signature public petition signed last autumn.
GET INVOLVED Have you ever seen a badger? We’re hosting a number of badger watching events this summer, with partners including the Badger Trust, so please see our Events Guide to join these fascinating opportunities.
Our new Flickr photo-sharing group was launched in the New Year and already boasts over 30 members. The group is a great place to post your images of Cheshire’s wildlife and wild places, see what others are photographing and get tips on places to get the best shots. We’re keen to showcase as much of your work as we can, and group members have already seen their photographs used on the Trust’s homepage banners and in our publications. You can also see a rotating gallery of the very latest images on the Trust’s website. If you’re still struggling for inspiration, then why not grab a copy of our vice president Ben Hall’s new book The Wildlife Photography Workshop with fellow photographer Ross Hoddinott. Full of tips and breathtaking images, the book covers everything PETER JONES from the challenge of flight to capturing the tiniest details on the woodland floor.
BRIAN GORT
Wild art on the Wirral The hugely popular annual National Exhibition of Wildlife Art (NEWA) event has reached 20 years of age, and to mark this special occasion they will be holding a wildlife art auction on Thursday 18th July, 7pm at Gordale Garden Centre in aid of Cheshire Wildlife Trust, Chester Zoo and TUSK. Much of the artwork available to buy usually goes direct to private collections. The auction marks the start of the annual exhibition with wildlife art demonstrations which run from the 19th July to the 4th August. A detailed catalogue and further information about the auction can be found on their website www.newa-uk.com
New book shines a light on Cheshire’s wildlife edited by David Norman
e’s Wildlife
Fifty Years of Cheshir
Fifty Years of Cheshire’s Wildlife
Following on from our photographic book Cheshire’s Favourite Wildlife, former Trust chairman and author David Norman has now compiled perhaps the most in-depth look at the region’s wildlife for many years in Fifty years of Cheshire’s Wildlife. Over 260 pages along with images, illustrations and graphics chart the ups and downs of species from those we’ve lost to new arrivals, and how nature has adapted to our changing cultures and industrial heritage in the last half century.
edited by David Norman
Priced at £25.00 in a limited edition hardback, the book features an exclusive design by contemporary Wales-based wildlife artist Kim Atkinson. We’re also delighted that Kim has allowed us to auction the original cover artwork in two generous 50cm x 40cm pieces in aid of the Trust. Cheshire
Cheshire
’s Wildlife Fifty Years of Cheshire of our wildlife reviews the general state by local in a series of texts written many stunning experts, accompanied by on photographs. There are chapters the agriculture – which occupies and the majority of the county – next largest wildlife of urban areas, the covers the land-use. The marine chapter fauna of the often-forgotten flora and by chapters underwater world, followed the meres and on freshwater habitats of The final four mosses, rivers and ponds. of Cheshire’s chapters assess the status damselflies, lichens, dragonflies and mammals and birds. last fifty This book emphasises the habitats years, during which some species have changed greatly, and or range have increased in numbers even decreased, while others have are to local extinction. The reasons changes in often complex, including nt, drainage and land-use and manageme pesticides, water abstraction, climate, species, alien of on pollution, introducti pressures. development and other human
HOW TO BUY Visit our online shop or call us on 01948 820728 to buy a copy of the book and keep an eye out on our website and social media channels for the auction of Kim’s original artwork this summer.
Cover art by Kim Atkinson inson www.oriel.org.uk/en/a/kim-atk
SPRING 2013 THE GREBE 15
ON YOUR DOORSTEP - MID CHESHIRE
It’s been a decade since the white-faced darter – one of the UK’s rarest dragonflies – was successfully breeding in Cheshire. Now a new project led by the Trust is set to see them return, and you could get involved. Dr Vicky Nall tells us more.
ANDREW WALMSLEY
Here be dragons... we hope! Delamere is now ready to host white-faced darters once again
The Trust is on a quest to reinstate the legend of the elusive white-faced dragon. The dragon in question though is rather smaller than their mythical counterparts - the white-faced darter - a dragonfly just a few centimetres across, with of course, an unmistakeable white face. White-faced darter records in the Delamere area date back as far as 1882, but the last confirmed breeding was in 2003. There haven’t been any sightings since and this diminutive dragonfly is now considered to be extinct in the Cheshire region. Outside the Scottish Highlands, ‘white faces’ are extremely rare, and now have only four English breeding sites: two in Cumbria, one in Shropshire and one in Staffordshire. This fragmentation to just a handful of sites has largely been due to habitat loss as our peat bogs dried out through scrub encroachment and drainage, or have been polluted - causing changes in pH and nutrient levels beyond those tolerated by the dragonflies.
A male white-faced darter
16 THE GREBE SPRING 2013
DAVID KITCHING
This loss of such a valuable peat resource in Delamere has been recognised and from the early 2000s, restorable peat basins were identified and the Forestry Commission, working with Cheshire Wildlife Trust, Natural England and Cheshire West & Chester Council set about widespread restoration work. This included removal of trees and scrub and the blocking of outfalls, increasing potential white-faced darter habitat in the forest. Hot on the heels of these positive steps, the Trust developed a study for reintroducing the white-faced darter back into Delamere Forest. Several peat basins were identified by local ecologist Colin Hayes as possibly being suitable and the best, Doolittle basin, has now undergone the work needed and is ready to host white-faced darters.
Mature larvae on sphagnum
Fact file Name: White-faced darter (Leucorrhinia dubia) Flight period: May to early July Size: A small darter, total body length of less than 8 cm and wing length of 2.5-2.5 cm.
CUMBRIA WILDLIFE TRUST
PHIL CORLEY
Pools like our Black Lake reserve could once again be home to white-faced darters in the fuiture
Larval case or exuvia left after emergence
Distinguishing Features: White frons (face). The male is mainly black with red markings. The females and teneral (not yet mature) males are also black but with yellow markings.
Habitat: Lowland peatbogs often surrounded by open woodland. This habitat provides it with the submerged Sphagnum moss and emergent plants at the edges of acidic bog pools that it needs as a larvae, as well as the surrounding heath and low scrub areas it needs for shelter and hunting as an adult.
DAVID J MORRISS
Similar species: Black darter (Sympetrum danae) although this species flies later in the year
The future…
How you can get involved
With the right habitats likely to be in place, the Trust then set about finding sites with populations strong enough to allow dragonfly ‘donation’. Fenns and Whixall Mosses National Nature Reserve (NNR) in Shropshire and Chartley Moss NNR in Staffordshire, both managed by Natural England, support the only breeding sites within 100km of Delamere Forest and have large, healthy populations. Both site managers have now kindly agreed to donate dragonfly larvae and assist with this exciting project.
As with any reintroduction project it’s important we constantly monitor things to see how the dragonflies are faring – and that’s where you could come in.
As dragonflies can remain in a larval stage for years prior to emerging as an adult, we must commit to a translocation each year for at least three years to have the best chance of establishing a new population in Delamere.
At its simplest, monitoring can be done by counting dragonflies when they emerge, especially as they leave behind their empty larval cases (called exuvia) in the vegetation, which we can locate and collect. But we also want to count the dragonflies as adults too , especially at Delamere to ensure they are happy with their new surroundings. This will be done by counting on ‘transects’ (a pre-defined straight line route) and by spending time spent near the new pool observing and noting their behaviour. So if you think you could spare some time this summer to help us track the fortunes of one of our rarest dragonflies as they make a welcome return to Cheshire, why not get in touch and find out how you can help!
CUMBRIA WILDLFIE TRUST
Translocating the white faced darters is a complex process and won’t actually involve capturing flying adult dragonflies - which would be incredibly challenging and extremely damaging to these delicate insects – but instead relies on the careful process of moving them at their earlier larval stage. At this point in their lifecyle they can be relatively easily transported with minimal disturbance, as long as conditions are kept stable. Fortunately for us, white faced darters have a very distinctive bright green colour at the larval stage, making them easy to distinguish from other species.
We want to keep a close eye on all three white faced darter populations (at Delamere, Chartley and Fens & Whixall) so we can track the progress as we translocate, and hopefully, see the adults emerging to fly for the first time at Delamere.
Collecting larvae ready for translocation to the host po ol
GET INVOLVED Would you like to get involved and help return this species to Cheshire? If so, we will be looking for a team of volunteers to help with the translocation and monitoring tasks at Delamere and the donor sites, particularly in May and June.
For more information on volunteer tasks and how to get involved please contact Dr Vicky Nall or Sarah Bennett at Cheshire Wildlife Trust on: 01948 820728 or vnall@cheshirewt.org.uk or sbennett@cheshirewt.org.uk
SPRING 2013 THE GREBE 17
ON YOUR DOORSTEP - SOUTH CHESHIRE
Trail blazers It’s almost seven years since the Trust took on Bickley Hall Farm in south Cheshire. This year a new trail has opened giving people a chance to see the wildlife that makes a home there for the first time, as a new project shines a light on the landscape surrounding the farm. It’s been one of the wettest winters on record and the fields at Bickley are crying out for the warming rays of spring, as our Longhorn and Dexter cattle, and Hebridean sheep no doubt yearn for a summer of grazing with heathlands, wildflower meadows and grazing marshes under their hooves. There are a lot of mouths to feed here at the farm, but at Bickley the aim is to keep the four-legged guests happy and the wildlife even happier.
18 THE GREBE SPRING 2013
The new trail opening this spring will give visitors to the farm – accessed off the Sandstone Trail – a chance to walk among the mosaic of hedgerows, wildflower margins, ponds, wader scrapes and grasslands that makes Bickley special. Our low-intensity approach means that many birds and other wildlife lost from larger, more commercial farms have managed to hang on, bolstered by the Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) scheme that encourages us to maintain the right habitats that keep the species here. The tree sparrow and yellowhammer, lost from many parts of our countryside are doing well, and encouraged just that little bit closer to the 300-year old farmhouse office with the promise of seed on the bird feeders. However it’s the rich, diverse hedgerows and field margins that keep the birds here all year round, with an abundance of summer insect prey and seeds in the autumn. The same menu means that the hedgerow bottom is alive with mammals; from voles to shrews and even harvest mice.
This bounty of prey does not go unnoticed by those higher up in the food chain, and barn owls, kestrels, buzzards and sparrowhawks all have Bickley on their regular route.
It’s not unusual to measure some of our visiting birds and butterflies in the hundreds The success of this wildlife-friendly approach to farm management is reflected in some astonishing numbers as Neil Friswell, a volunteer and trustee has shown through his regular surveys of the farm. “It’s not unusual to be measuring some of the winter birds and summer butterflies in the hundreds” says Neil, who reckons that the figures are among the highest at a single location in the region. “This winter we’ve already seen flocks of over 300 linnets, 100 Brambling, and 50 Greenfinch, all using the ‘sacrificial’ crops in just one of the fields. Apart from the bramblings – likely visiting due to poor food supplies in northern Europe - these counts are typical of recent years and really demonstrate the value of these crops.”
Bickley Hall Farm is accessed off Bickley Lane from the A41 Chester or A49 Warrington road, around three miles north of Whitchurch (SY14 8EF). You can park along Bickley Lane to get onto the Sandstone Trail and then the Bickley Hall Farm trail. The farm buildings and Trust offices are not open to the public.
HOW TO GET THERE
And as spring turns into summer, the farm comes alive with more than a dozen skylark territories. “With the right management” adds Neil, “the clock can be turned back a bit while still maintaining a profitable farming business.” In high summer, at least 14 species of butterfly take up residence at Bickley. The sheer abundance and diversity of these delicate aerial insects alone would be enough to designate the farm as a Local Wildlife Site (LWS), a status currently shared by many of the farm’s ponds. Although few of the butterflies are rare, they can occur in huge numbers with counts in 2010 including 215 small coppers (around ten times more than most Cheshire counts) and 270 small tortoiseshells.
The clock can be turned back a bit while still maintaining a profitable farming business
It’s this spectacle the Trust is been keen to share with visitors, and the new trail will take in the full range of habitats on the farm in less than an hour’s easy stroll; from hay meadows and wetland scrapes to the open water of Bar Mere and even a spacious hide that allows visitors to observe lapwings and skylarks at close range.
Areas for improvement… The trail has been completed as part of the Nature Improvement Areas (NIA) programme launched in 2012, with the farm sitting within the Meres & Mosses of the Marches NIA - one of the first to be announced in the UK. The new NIA recognises the international importance of the unique landscapes of meres and mosses - the farm’s Bar Mere, soon to feature a wildlife viewing platform, being an excellent example. This special landscape was formed during the last ice age and to this day holds some of the rarest wildlife we have in the UK, like the white-faced darter (see more on page 16).
The long term aspiration of the project – boosted by a £2 million injection across south Cheshire and north Shropshire – is to revive these habitats and bring both people and wildlife back together, with the hope that one day some of our lost species from former generations might return. The project has already had a successful start, with Tilston Primary School near Malpas recently completing the first of many school programmes with outdoor learning based in the NIA, leading to prestigious John Muir Awards for all of the pupils involved and a lively presentation given by the school to both parents and teachers.
Bickley Hall Farm sits within the wider Meres & Mosses Landscape Partnership
GET INVOLVED The Meres & Mosses Landscape Partnership will be holding a packed programme of events during the summer, so visit their website at www.themeresandmosses.co.uk or check out our own Events Guide with this edition of The Grebe.
SPRING 2013 THE GREBE 19
DISCOVER
Hot on the tail – where to see reptiles in Cheshire Cleaver Heath (Wirral) – Cheshire Wildlife Trust, CH60 6SG Try mid-morning in spring for common lizards warming-up along the southfacing sandy paths of this extensive heath on the Wirral, which also boasts beautiful views across the Dee estuary and swathes of purple heather. Danes Moss (Macclesfield) – Cheshire Wildlife Trust, SK11 9QS The sun-heated boardwalks of this peat bog reserve are irresistible to common lizards, with a supporting cast of a dozen species of dragonflies and butterflies if your reptile recce is unsuccessful. Delamere Forest/Hatch Mere – Cheshire Wildlife Trust, WA6 6NY Countless warm, sandy pathways and a myriad pools make Delamere a destination for reptiles, with grass snakes and common lizards possible. Sandstone Trail - Bickerton Hill/Peckforton Adders have been seen along the heather-fringed paths of the upland Sandstone Ridge at Bickerton and Peckforton, try an early morning visit before the masses of feet send any reptiles head for cover. Information on Cheshire Wildlife Trust’s reserves can be found at www.cheshirewildlifetrust.org.uk
ENJOY WITH YOUR EYES All reptiles are protected and should not be handled under any circumstances. Adders are reclusive by nature and will only become aggressive if provoked.
20 THE GREBE SPRING 2013
Watch your step…
There’s something a little unnerving about seeing your first snake, especially when it’s not that warm, you’re wearing a hat and you’re still in the UK. All the classic features are there though; the diamond shaped markings, the forked tongue dancing in front of a pair of blood-red eyes and that slightly increased heart rate that suggests you’re not quite sure what its next move will be. That tension is especially heightened if it’s an adder – our only venomous snake – however, in spring our native reptiles are pretty chilled-out, in every sense of the word. Just a few weeks ago these scaly residents were waking from a wintry slumber, so this time of year presents a perfect opportunity to get some of the best views of reptiles, from adders and slow worms to lizards – yes, we’ve got lizards here too.
TOM MARSHALL
Spending the winter sheltering in their rather grandly-named ‘hibernacula’ – piles of rocks, rubble, compost heaps or anywhere with a steady ambient temperature. As the days grow longer they finally rise with the gradually warming sun and venture out. Adders are often the first to emerge, with the males heading out as early as March and sometimes even in late February, spending the following weeks shedding their dull winter skin in favour of a rich black and green attire by April. Female adders follow soon after, stunningly well concealed when curled-up against the rusty-red brackens of winter.
Venturing out in the cool of the morning, the best place to look for adders and indeed most reptiles, are exposed areas with a south facing aspect and vegetation. This provides a good balance of protective cover to slip into, but opportunities to spread out and maximise exposure to the vital blood-warming spring sunshine.
Hot on the tail of adders are the supporting cast of other British reptiles Cheshire’s upland Sandstone Ridge with its rocky, sandy paths, our meres and mosses, heathlands and parts of Delamere Forest all offer great places to discover reptiles. Hot on the tail of adders are the supporting cast of other British reptiles from the common lizard (often on the adder’s menu) to slow worms and grass snakes - all of which can also be seen in the region. The ‘common’ or viviparous lizard is found further north in Europe than any other, and can often be found patiently lying inches away from your walking boots more often than people realise. The sun-drenched wooden boardwalks at Cheshire Wildlife Trust’s Danes Moss nature reserve near Macclesfield, or the sandy footpaths at the Trust’s Cleaver Heath on the Wirral are both irresistible lizard locations.
JOHN HAWKINS
Colour: Dark green/black (m) and rust-red (f)
Behaviour: Often sit curled with head at the centre for ‘scenting’ within heather, bracken or at the side of footpaths. Occasionally on rocks for additional warmth from the sun.
Common or viviparous lizard (Lacerta Zootoca vivipara) Size: Average, 10-12cm Colour: Variable grey/brown through to green/ pale yellow.
TOM MARSHALL
Snakes, lizards and other reptiles are all found in exotic, sun-drenched locations, right? Not so, says Cheshire Wildlife Trust’s Tom Marshall, and now is the best time to seek them out right here on your doorstep.
Size: Up to 65cm, stocky body.
Behaviour: Regularly basks on sandy paths, boardwalks or rocks/metal. Often returns to favoured areas within a short time.
Grass snake (Natrix natrix) Size: Large, up to 1 metre Colour: Brown/pale green with black markings. JAMIE HALL
scale
Adder (Vipera berus)
Behaviour: More elusive than adders. Feeds on amphibians in garden ponds and often lays eggs in large compost heaps. A strong swimmer.
Slow worm (Anguis fragilis) Size: Up to 40cm (adult), slim in appearance.
AMY LEWIS
Off the
a quick reptile guide
Colour: Brown/grey with thin back stripe, appear shiny.
Behaviour: Slow worms are actually legless lizards. More likely to maintain warmth underneath metal structures or rocks rather than bask in the open for long periods.
SPRING 2013 THE GREBE 21
ON YOUR DOORSTEP - TAMESIDE
‘ ’ TheVteam Just over a year ago, our Eastwood nature reserve near Stalybridge was set to turn over a new leaf, after years blighted by vandalism and access problems. Leading a crack team of local volunteers, project assistant Andy Sheridan set about the task – but did the plan come together? There’s no cigar perched in the corner of his mouth, and Cheshire Wildlife Trust’s pick-up truck is lacking in some red stripes, but Andy Sheridan has the smile of a man who’s leading a great team.
Traditional wooden structures were never going to work at this damp site, so stateof-the-art recycled materials – similar to those being rolled out across the Trust’s nature reserves network – were needed.
“It’s amazing what our volunteers have achieved over what seems like a year-long winter” says Andy, looking out across a series of new paths, bridges and dozens of steps that now snake through the Eastwood reserve. No mean feat it seems, as the inches-deep squelching mud is still in evidence, rippling beside new trails that will in time, do away with muddy boots after an afternoon stroll.
“The recycled plastics we’re using make so much more sense” says Andy, “They could have a shelf life of up to 50 years, have anti-slip textures already built in and are significantly harder to ignite than wood, reducing vandalism. It means we’re reusing plastics that would otherwise be in landfill too, so it’s a win-win.”
“We wanted to give people a chance to experience the heart of the woodland, but the existing infrastructure just wasn’t up to the job” Andy continues. Kick starting the transformation was a £40,000 injection from Biffa Award, however this was not a site where JCBs were going to do the hard work. Step up a team of local volunteers, some of whom have been involved at Eastwood for many years, and group’s from Trained Up, a local training and skills initiative and local businesses – after all, many hands make light work. The list of tasks was long; several new bridges, changes to the flow of the brook to improve its health and quality, dozens of steps, new gates and a new meandering boardwalk through the aptly-named wet woodland.
22 THE GREBE SPRING 2013
“I really hope when people get in and enjoy the trails, they spare a thought for the volunteers who’ve made all this possible, heading down to the reserve rain or shine every week to keep the project on schedule despite Mother Nature’s best efforts to scupper things.”
Achieving the transformation at Eastwood was no mean feat during the second wettest year on record
And so, as the team take a sip from a steaming well-earned cuppa, we look out across a transformed nature reserve, with a multitude of trails that already seem to be blending in with the natural curves and contours of this hidden gem, just a stone’s throw from the town centre. “A little bit of dry weather wouldn’t go amiss now” adds Andy. The paths will need time to bed-in, and the footprints of a year’s hard graft will gradually get taken over by the woodland once again, but this time people will be able to enjoy the sight of a kingfisher or a dipper without taking half the woodland home with them!
ALL PICS ANDY SHERIDAN
The task at Eastwood was not an easy one. The reserve sits in a steep-sided clough woodland with a tumbling brook at its heart, a stunning place to enjoy the dawn chorus or a walk amongst bluebells and ramsons, but getting around this site has often been the problem.
The downside is the weight of the boardwalk panels and 20ft long bridge spans, tonnes of which – quite literally - had to be carried by the team down the precipitous and slippery sides of the reserve.
New bridges and trails were already taking shape by last autumn
The volunteer view spring, early summer “We came together in the late g volunteers, the rest ndin of last year. Some long-sta rt in the local press; adve an to recruited in response .” If there was ever “Come and get your hands dirty an under-statement!
“Eastwood ma kes us feel good about ours elve s”
ately rewarding, as “It has been challenging, yet ultim neglected hidden long a of rth we have seen the rebi sh weather Briti The life. wild for n jewel, a real have It was wet, oh was has been far from co-operative. cold! was it it wet, and when it wasn’t wet do it? Were like“So why have we continued to tely for this iona minded people who care pass special. Believing uely uniq it’s ing environment, know community; but we are doing something for the es us feel good most importantly, Eastwood mak about ourselves.” Catch Nature Fishing (Lower Reservoir)
Steve
N
Lagoon
Pond (Kingfisher Spot)
Trail Boardwalk Bridge Trees Entrance
Bluebells
Stream/Water Wet Woodland
To Mottram Road Main Wet Woodland Habitat To Cheetham Park and Park Street/ Acres lane Park Bridge
A sweeping new boardwalk snakes through the aptly named wet woodland
TOM MARSHALL
To Stalybridge Celtic FC Car Park/ Mottram Road
Improvments to the brook should help birds like the dipper
SPRING 2013 THE GREBE 23
ON YOUR DOORSTEP - MACCLESFIELD & CONGLETON
On the right path at Danes Moss Following in the muddy footsteps of Marbury Reedbed and Eastwood (see page 22), our Danes Moss reserve south of Macclesfield is getting a facelift this summer, thanks to a £27,000 Gift Aid grant. This Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) well-known for its variety of dragonflies and damselflies was extended by purchasing more than 22 hectares last year following an appeal which raised more than £10,000 from our members and local residents alone. With the additional support from WREN (Waste Recycling Environmental), generated by a tax on landfill donated from landfill sites owned by FCC Environment, the reserve will see its trails and boardwalks revitalised, allowing the many walkers and other visitors who head to the original ‘dragon’s den’ to access more areas than ever before.
The boardwalks – constructed of a longlasting, recycled plastic – will help to ensure that people can access the site in all weathers, especially when the delicate habitats are ‘re-wetted’, a process used by conservationists to create the delicate balance of water needed by the reserve’s rare and fragile wildlife.
We’re also keen for the local community to get involved in helping to safeguard the future of the site, and project assistant Andy Sheridan will be holding regular open days where volunteers are encouraged to come along and get stuck in. Andy said: “Danes is one of our most important nature reserves and its recent extension now makes it even more vital that we take good care of it, whilst also giving people the chance to see what makes it special.” The Trust will be holding regular work days where anyone interested in getting hands-on with the project can come along and volunteer.
GET INVOLVED The new access programme will get visitors even closer to wildlife like this black darter dragonfly
Contact Andy on 07792 339488 or asheridan@cheshirewt.org.uk to see how you can lend a hand at Danes Moss this summer.
ON YOUR DOORSTEP - WIRRAL
Help at hand for New Ferry Butterfly Park The region’s butterflies have had a tough time of it during our recent summer deluges, but those at the Trust’s New Ferry Butterfly Park on the Wirral got a helping hand last winter.
each year, the other two thirds being left uncut to flower and bear fruit for wildlife like pollinating insects (including the butterflies!) and winter migrant birds who relish the fruit and berries.
The Liverpool John Moores University Conservation Society has recently been resurrected after a gap of several years and the team made three visits last winter with up to 15 students a time heading along to help - doubling the volunteer numbers on the Butterfly Park’s workdays.
The students also scythed acidic grassland, in turn revealing the hidden sheep’s sorrel plant growing under the thatch of grass. With the grass thatch removed, the sorrel can thrive in the spring season, and become more suitable for egg laying by small copper butterflies. At the northern end of the calcareous meadow they have also planted 25 purging buckthorn shrubs to benefit brimstone butterflies who we hope will lay their eggs on the shrubs.
A high priority task on the list was the very labour intensive hedge-trimming by hand, a key part of the annual management regime at the site. Around a third of the park’s hedgerows are trimmed
24 THE GREBE SPRING 2013
We have been glad of their extra help especially with the Imago Project which aims to increase participation at the park. Paul Loughnane Wirral Local Group
DID YOU KNOW You can get involved with practical conservation where you live, to help everything from butterflies to otters. Just get in touch with the Trust or your Local Group, which can be found on our website.
TRUSTEES
Wildlife in trust Could you help us to govern the Trust and achieve our vision of an environment rich in wildlife for everyone? Chair of Trustees Chris Koral explains more.
The Trustee view… Gerald Coates
Cheshire Wildlife Trust is governed by a board of Trustees known as ‘Council’, a group of volunteers responsible for setting our strategic direction and policies, and ensuring we fulfil our charitable objectives. As we move forward and build on our successful 50th anniversary year, we are looking for members who are willing to join the Council and contribute their skills and expertise to help us achieve delivery of our key priorities: developing a sound financial position, driving forward local nature conservation, strengthening community engagement and building our profile and reputation across the Trust’s area. While Council currently has a good overall balance of relevant skills and experience, we would welcome new Trustees with specific expertise in a range of activities including conservation, law, accountancy/financial management, fundraising, community engagement, PR/communications, land management and health and safety. In recruiting new Trustees, we are aiming to develop a succession strategy that will ensure we maintain relevant expertise and an appropriate balance in key skills and diversity as Trustees retire over the next few years. In particular, we are keen to increase our diversity and welcome expressions of interest from all sectors of the Trust’s membership. As the Trust is a registered charity and a limited company, Council members are both Trustees of the charity and Directors of the company, accountable to the Charity Commission and Companies House for ensuring the Trust is governed legally. As a new Trustee you will receive a full induction programme to help you discharge your duties.
Cheshire Ecological Services CES is a consultancy service operated through the Trust as an independent business. The profit revenues generated by CES go directly to supporting Cheshire Wildlife Trust’s conservation work. We currently have a very small board governing CES with individuals due to step down in the near future.
GET INVOLVED If you are interested in becoming a Trustee of Cheshire Wildlife Trust or a new board member of Cheshire Ecological Services (CES), please contact us on 01948 820728 to arrange an informal conversation about either of these roles.
Former CWT chair John Grayling and Helen Brigham ‘Wildlife Champion’ in the early years of HW Coates long association with the Trust
How did you get involved with the Cheshire Wildlife Trust? My company H.W. Coates Ltd joined the Trust as a Corporate Member in 1996. Back then we were keen as a company to demonstrate local community engagement and environmental impact awareness as part of our corporate ‘Responsible Care’ commitments. Since then, our membership has proved to be helpful as a source of advice and guidance in a number of areas. We have undertaken extensive tree planting in and around our Cheshire site (in the region of 4,000 trees), reintroduced hedgerows as wildlife corridors and constructed reedbeds. Now we continually strive to minimise the environmental impact of our operations on the local community. I have always lived in the countryside and have a keen interest in wildlife and rural affairs. We are also family members of the Trust. What do you bring to the Trust as a board member? Having built a successful, privately owned business over the last forty years, I have experience in the areas of financial and business management. I also have enthusiasm for the work and objectives of the Trust. I hope this contribution of experience and enthusiasm can prove to be useful in helping the Council provide guidance, direction and good governance for the Trust going forward. Is it a rewarding role? It’s a very rewarding and challenging role. I enjoy making a difference to the Trust and being part of a charity which I know has a real local focus, engaging communities and helping to look after special places for wildlife on my doorstep and across Cheshire. I have been impressed since joining the Council with the calibre and commitment of the Trust’s staff, who on a daily basis, show a real a desire to move the Trust forward. If I can support the team to deliver improvements to the Living Landscape of Cheshire I’d consider my time spent will have been worthwhile.
SPRING 2013 THE GREBE 25
WHAT’S ON OUR RESERVES
Eye spy You can only create great places for wildlife when you know what’s there – which is why surveying our nature reserves is so important. Sue Tatman tells us more – and how you can help us with our wildlife map of the region.
Cheshire Wildlife Trust’s Estates and Land Management (ELM) team put a huge amount of effort into maintaining and improving our 46 nature reserves – at a collective size of more than 500ha - with help from dozens of regular volunteers. The results of this hard work can be slow to appear: clearing scrub is quick and relatively easy, but the appearance of rejuvenated flora and vegetation in newly cleared areas can take years. A newly planted hedge takes years to reach full size, while restoring damaged peatlands can take decades of careful management to achieve the right conditions that the rare wildlife that makes a home there needs.
With all the effort involved, and the time-scales, it is vitally important we carry out regular surveys of our nature reserves, to detect any changes, and demonstrate they are the wildlife havens we want them to be. In 2011, we began an in-depth programme of survey and monitoring on our nature reserves. This is a long-term commitment, as with some habitats changes can take many years. Much of the work is habitat surveys, looking at the vegetation and comparing it with what we expect to be growing on a particular site. We also use photographic monitoring, and surveys of various animal species.
Photo-monitoring Photo-monitoring involves taking a series of photographs over time from the same viewpoint. This can show large-scale changes in vegetation structure. Photomonitoring surveys were carried out on a number of our reserves in 2000 and 2002, as part of a reserves capital works programme funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund. In 2012 we attempted to repeat this survey: this was not always easy, as in some cases it was impossible to relocate the original viewpoints accurately. However on some reserves the new photos showed dramatic changes.
Black Firs Wood, near Congleton. In 2002, not long after we acquired the reserve, there was very little understory (small young trees and shrubs) and grasses carpeted the ground, limiting the opportunities for woodland wildflowers. By 2012 (right) as a result of planting and natural regeneration a dense shrub layer has formed.
Hunters Wood near Kingsley. In 2000 (left), we had planted hundreds of native tree saplings – some are just visible at the top of the slope. By 2012 they were well established, completely changing the appearance of the site and setting it on its way to becoming a new woodland in the least wooded county in England.
26 THE GREBE SPRING 2013
Pond surveys 2013 In 2013 we will be carrying out surveys of all the ponds and wet ditches on our reserves. Ponds are ecological hot-spots for a wide range of wildlife, from birds to bugs. They are also extremely variable – a shallow pond full of plants in the middle of a field will be home to very different wildlife than a more shaded woodland pool, however all are equally important. This survey will look at several aspects of our ponds, including aquatic plants, birds, amphibians, dragonflies and aquatic invertebrates. This is a huge task, so we are looking for volunteers to help out!
TAKE A DIP INTO PONDS THIS SUMMER
Skills in surveying ponds can be just as important for the region’s miles of field ditches too
In association with respected wetland charity Pond Conservation and as part of their Pond Net scheme, the Trust is offering a number of opportunities to build your skills and knowledge of ponds and the wildlife that lives there this summer. Head to www.cheshirewildlifetrust.org.uk/pondsurveys to find out more.
Butterflies and Dragonflies Our largest and most colourful flying insects, butterflies and dragonflies are relatively easy to see and identify. They’re also thought to be good indicators of the general health of their environment, so they are obvious choices for species monitoring schemes. In 2012 we recruited a team of volunteers to carry out insect surveys, walking a regular route, or ‘transect’ across the reserve, recording all the butterflies and dragonflies they saw. Because of this set transect, the surveys can be repeated over many years, and the results compared. Some of our reserves have had regular insect surveys for many years, but for most part this was the first time they had been systematically surveyed. The results were astounding. Despite the wet weather in 2012, making surveying very difficult, a number of our reserves were shown to be the insect havens we hoped they were. Our Bagmere reserve was found to be home to 15 different butterfly species, including the small pearl-bordered fritillary (right) - probably the only site for this species in Cheshire. Elsewhere, around a dozen butterfly species were found at our Hockenhull Platts, Gowy Meadows and Abbots Moss reserves, with Danes Moss close behind with 10 species, a great find for a site not thought to be abundant in butterflies. The rare variable damselfly was also recorded at Abbots Moss and Hatch Mere.
Variable damselfly
Small pearl-bordered fritillary
GO ON, HAVE A FLUTTER... Would you like to get involved in making a difference to mapping the wildlife where you live? We would like to start regular butterfly and dragonfly surveys at our Rudheath and Dutton Park Farm (Acton Bridge) nature reserves. Surveyors would need to visit the reserve at least once per month between May and September, but previous survey experience isn’t necessary. If you would like to get involved with any of these opportunities then contact Sue Tatman to arrange a chat on statman@cheshirewt.org.uk
SPRING 2013 THE GREBE 27
ON YOUR DOORSTEP - HALTON AND CONGLETON
If you go down to the woods today… This year Cheshire Wildlife Trust launches it’s ‘Wildkids’ Forest School project in Runcorn and Congleton. Helping youngsters to see the wood from the trees will be Nick Rowles, from our People & Wildlife team. According to children’s research body Play England (2007) children today spend significantly less time playing outdoors than their parents did. Just one in five (21%) of children play outside every day, whereas nearly threequarters (71%) of adults did so during their childhood. It also found that in many cases, children have lost an important connection with nature which has affected their wellbeing and their knowledge and understanding of the natural world. These changes have had a detrimental effect on the lives of the children and have led to a rise in what some people call ‘nature deficit disorder’. At Cheshire Wildlife Trust, we hope to change that, with our innovative Wildkids project. Wildkids is an education programme that will use Forest Schools to capture the imagination of local schoolchildren and their families and inspire them about wildlife and the natural world. Forest School was first developed in Scandinavia; as a concept in Sweden during the 1950s and in more detail in Denmark during the 1980s, as a way to get children learning about nature and the natural world in a woodland setting. Based in small groups, children visit woodland sites where they gain an understanding of how to care for the natural world through play, learning how to build dens, light fires, identify plants and animals, play games and develop bushcraft skills. Through constructive outdoor play and investigating different species, children are able to get closer to nature. Forest schools have proven to be an excellent way to engage children from urban communities in particular, and can have a positive impact on their behaviour and learning when they return to the classroom.
28 THE GREBE SPRING 2013
Forest Schools in Cheshire
A Forest School day
In Cheshire, we have received funding from the Heritage Lottery to deliver a two-year, 25-school programme of Forest School sessions at woodland sites at Wigg Island, Runcorn and Astbury Mere, Congleton, where youngsters can explore the wildlife found there and experience how the woodlands change through the seasons. Games and activities will allow the children to learn about a range of topics linked to the Primary National Curriculum such as life cycles, habitats, food chains and adaptation.
The six week Forest School experience will involve constructive outdoor play in woodlands, learning how to light fires (with one-on-one staff supervision including how to leave an area as they found it), build shelters, investigating plants and animals and exploring the wider nature reserves.
We hope to work with around 12 Key Stage Two (KS2) students from each school, with those chosen for the project likely to get the most from learning outside the classroom in the eyes of their teachers.
■ identifying different trees from their leaves, seeds and berries
Both Wigg Island and Astbury Mere Country Parks were chosen as they offer a wide range of wildlife habitats including broadleaf woodlands, and are close to urban areas where access to nature can be limited. For example, the Trust hopes to deliver Forest Schools at Astbury Mere to schools from the Crewe area.
atever artworks from wh Creating natural odland we find in the wo
A typical forest school day might include: ■ playing games to learn about wildlife such as ‘Bat & Moth’ ■ creating environmental artwork such as natural collages with leaves and berries
■ making a wooden name badge using simple tools ■ creating a tree spirit or Bogart out of clay ■ learning how to light a simple fire safely using natural materials ■ building a shelter or den ■ discovering birds and animals that live in a British woodland ■ making a hot chocolate drink and toasting marshmallows
Toasting marshmallows on a small woodland fire under the watchful eye of our Forest School leaders
Bushcraft skills can include producing crafts like these ‘wo odalion s’
As well as the work with schools, the ‘Wildkids’ project will also deliver family orientated events at both locations to share the Forest School experience with the wider community and to encourage local people to use these important green spaces more often. During the summer we will also be offering Forest Summer Schools for local communities during the long holiday season. We can also provide wild birthday parties for anyone wanting to give their child and their friends an original outdoor birthday experience. Nick Rowles, Forest School leader for the ‘Wildkids’ project said: “I believe that it is vital to get our children playing outside again and learning about nature through exploring and spending as much time as possible in natural places such as woodlands. “I feel that my own love of wildlife and wild places was hugely influenced by spending so much time playing outdoors as a child. It is for this reason I would love to inspire a new generation to care for and protect the natural world through an unforgettable forest school experience”.
one in five children play outside today, nearly three-quarters of adults did so during childhood
EVENTS Forest Summer Schools – FREE Wigg Island, Runcorn - Any half day from Monday 5th – Friday 9th August & Monday 12th – Friday 16th August. Astbury Mere, Congleton - Any half day from Monday 19th – Friday 23rd August
BOOKING ESSENTIAL Contact: Nick Rowles 01948 820728 or nrowles@cheshirewt.org.uk
TOM MARSHALL
9am -12pm
SPRING 2013 THE GREBE 29
WORKING FOR WILDLIFE
Making wildlife your At Cheshire Wildlife Trust we have the support of over 40 local, regional and nationwide businesses that help us out every day, from generously putting their hand in their pocket to getting stuck in on the ground. Our new Fundraising Manager Anna O’Sullivan takes a look at how they’ve made wildlife their business.
Many hands make light work Hundreds of staff from our many Corporate Supporters give their time and energy every year to help transform some very special places for people and wildlife. Until this spring, our Marbury nature reserve hadn’t been accessible from the neighbouring country park meaning that this magical reedbed and woodland haven was often unused by local families and walkers, or those who did venture in endured a muddy expedition! Volunteers from Bentley Motors in Crewe and nearby Barclays gave their time (and muscle) to create a stunning new access boardwalk and bridges from the main footpath so the local community can now enjoy this delightful reserve. Work was also carried out linking Swettenham Meadows and the adjacent Quinta reserve to create an extensive walking loop starting and ending at the Swettenham Arms. Thanks to these dedicated teams it’s now possible to work off a good Sunday roast and enjoy beautiful scenery and wildlife!
30 THE GREBE SPRING 2013
business… Keep on rolling
Sponsorship opportunities in 2013 Right down to the wire…
Our Living Landscape project vision is all about restoring, recreating and reconnecting wildlife-rich spaces to create a corridor where wildlife can thrive. The Trust’s Living Landscape project is ‘Gowy Connect’ along the River Gowy corridor, where high quality habitat is being connected providing space for otters, water voles, barn owls and lapwings to disperse and recolonise.
September
Are you or your company ready to take on the challenge of a lifetime on one of Cheshire’s most iconic landmarks? Your 200 metre zip wire ride will send you whizzing across the River Mersey, starting from the steely aches of the jubilee Runcorn Bridge. Sliding at high speed towards Wigg Island nature reserve will give you the chance to see the area like a hunting peregrine falcon! This white knuckle ride is not for the faint hearted, but an opportunity not to be missed and a great way to raise money for Cheshire Wildlife Trust!
Water company United Utilities made an extremely generous contribution to the project in 2012 by donating a brand new Toyota 4x4, which has already proved invaluable to project officer Ben Gregory during the endless wet weather during the autumn and winter. Not far behind in their muddy tracks, Stockport trailer manufacturer Meredith and Eyre helped us out with a specialist trailer enabling us to carry materials, trees and even a quad bike across the region.
The Zip Wire Challenge will take place on Sunday 15th September. Places are limited so please book early. You can buy this experience as a gift, team building exercise or through sponsorship. If you would like to know more please call Anna on 01948 822 204 or email aosullivan@cheshirewt.org.uk
Get your running shoes on… Set the right tone
Looking to the future
Corporate members SANOFI have demonstrated that raising funds for the Trust doesn’t take a lot of time or energy, in fact it can also be very good for the environment! SANOFI are currently raising funds by recycling their old toner and ink cartridges through Recycle4Charity and we would like as many other businesses and individuals as possible to do the same. It’s free, easy and a great way to support us.
Capenhurst-based, URENCO are giving over 300 children from schools across Cheshire the opportunity to get outdoors and learn about wildlife this year. By funding a vital part of our education programme, the support will allow children from the north of the region to head to our Bickley Hall Farm headquarters deep in rural south Cheshire to learn how to hunt for minibeasts, uncover the secrets of ponds and wildflower meadows and come face-toface with our native-breed livestock.
Simply visit: www.recycle4charity.co.uk once you have collected 25 toner cartridges they can be picked up for free. Alternatively free post bags are available for individual ink cartridges and mobile phones – just get in touch with us!
15
November
2
Would you like to experience the Hellrunner? At the heart of Delamere Forest lies our Black Lake nature reserve and we want teams to race through Delamere Forest on Saturday 2nd November in a 10 mile all terrain challenge, Halloween fancy dress is encouraged! If Hellrunner isn’t for you how July about a 10k or 4k walk/run followed by a BBQ in the grounds of the beautiful Thornbridge Hall near Bakewell on Saturday 6th July. Why not make a family or team weekend of it by camping in the grounds of the hall and join the famous garden party for free the next day.
6
To register your interest for either event contact Anna on 01948 820728 or email: aosullivan@cheshirewt.org.uk
SPRING 2013 THE GREBE 31
Would you like to ensure future generations enjoy the rich beauty and diversity of your local wildlife? Imagine children growing up inspired by the sights and sounds of nature, with wildlife flourishing across Cheshire, Wirral and South Manchester, all in your name. By leaving a gift to Cheshire Wildlife Trust in your Will we can help you to make a lasting difference when you’re gone. When the time is right please consider leaving a gift to us.
Cheshire 32 THE GREBE SPRING 2013
Cheshire
PAUL HARRIS/NATUREPL.COM
For an informal discussion if you are considering leaving us a gift, or if you have already included us in your will please contact Anna on 01948 822 204 or email aosullivan@cheshirewt.org.uk
INTERVIEW I was distracted by girls and rock music, but still mixed it with bird and badger watching
A wild word with…
Nick Baker After his energetic and hilarious evening talking ‘Weird Creatures’ with us in Handforth in March, we joined top naturalist Nick for some quick-fire questions…
A little bird tells us you cut your teeth doing avocet tours on the Exe estuary, is volunteering the best way to get experience in wildlife and conservation? Volunteering is definitely the way to go. You can meet inspiring people, learn new skills, get work experience and generally enrich your life by doing some good - I’ve done loads in my time. My first real experience of conservation was clearing scrub off heathland to create favourable conditions for lowland bog, Dartford warblers and nightjars! We made a big fire afterwards and cooked sausages and marshmallows, who’d have thought that you could connect all these things in one day!
Nick inspects an armadillo, but not the pink fairy variety that still eludes him!
You were big into nature from a young age, did you ever get that blip in your teens or has it always been there?
We know you love your weird creatures and have caught up with many, but is there one that still eludes you?
I’ve always been into nature and it’s always had a really important part in my life. Sure, as an (older) teenager I was distracted by girls, a few drinks and rock music just like anyone, but I still mixed it with bird watching, badger watching and breeding butterflies!
The Pink fairy armadillo is one such creature - I’ve been so close but not actually seen one - I really need to see one of these before I die. I would also love to see a fossa, giant salamander, long-eared jerboa, coelacanth - how long have we got?
You mentioned in your brilliant talk that the world’s less ‘cool’ wildlife often gets overlooked – do you think we need a change in attitudes?
Who’s the weirdest creature on the Springwatch team?! That’s an unfair question to answer! I’ll be diplomatic - they’re all a bit weird in their own way! Anyone who persues a life as a naturalist will always have some odd foibles.
It’s only less cool if you go along with popular opinion - most would say a spider is less appealing than an otter! Why? They both are splendid examples of a creature honed to perfection by the demands their environment has put upon them. If we can just put aside our prejudices and bias then everything is as innately fascinating as everything else and that is the challenge sometimes, to unravel the riddles, find the explanations, the biological back stories.
If we could do one thing this spring, what shouldn’t we miss out there in the UK? Keep an eye open for the first of the solitary bees of the spring - spring just hasn’t sprung until we see at least a few tawny masonry bees hanging around the sunny walls and fence posts also have a look for adders too! (we couldn’t agree more see page 20)
A coelacanth – another weird creature on Nick’s wish list, along with giving a boost to our wild seas here in the UK
You’ve got the keys to number 10 for the day – what’s first on the agenda?
REEFS.COM
It would be to put in place the bare minimum of the 127 Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs) - what our Government are not doing is taking conservation seriously and one aspect that has been ignored for far too long is marine and coastal conservation issues - I would also install some conservation-minded politicians into the Government (I’m not sure that’s possible in a day!) to make sure that all that was recommended was seen through in its original undiluted format. When can we see you back on our screens or airwaves again? Sooner than you might think… You can follow Nick, who is also vice-president of the Wildlife Trusts’ youth arm ‘Wildlife Watch’ on Twitter at @bugboybaker and through www.nickbaker.tv
SPRING 2013 THE GREBE 33