A few stunning species encountered this week

This is such a wonderful time of year and yet I do get frustrated sometimes, as June is always such a ridiculously busy time for me! This week I have visited the counties of Herefordshire, Somerset, and Oxfordshire, whilst also attending the “Cereals” show near Royston in Hertfordshire.

This all means that I spend for too many hours behind the steering wheel, however, when I arrive in these different parts of the country, the distinct local character of each county is amazing and the range of people, habitats and wildlife that I come across, reminds me just how lucky I am! 

Last weekend, in amongst all this charging around the countryside, I snuck a couple of days away from work to indulge myself in June, joined by my good friend and all round naturalist Neil Harris, who came down to Hampshire from his home in Worcestershire to stay with me. Each year we spend a weekend “pootling” around, visiting great places in search of species that, shall we say, “are not your everyday stuff” and attempt to photograph them. The word “attempt” applies to me, but certainly not to Neil, as he used to be a professional photographer before joining Natural England as a farmland adviser.

Amongst the huge array of species that we saw, we were lucky enough to find the rare day flying Dew moth on the Hampshire coast, whose larvae feed on Lichen that grows amongst the shingle – now that’s a niche requirement if ever there was one! In the same place we also encountered the striking Cream-spot Tiger moth – don’t ever let it be said that moths are rather non-descript and boring! Nearby we watched elegant Little Terns hovering liked Kestrels, before diving into the water with an audible plop, to collect some unwary small fish or sand eel.

I took Neil to see Forester moths as he had never before come across these green, day flying moths with their large black antennae. It is always a bit of a risk to tell someone that you will show them a new species, as all wildlife retain the wonderful ability to go “missing” for no apparent reason, but on this occasion these delightful little moths obliged us with their presence!!

My visit to a farm in Somerset delivered yet another day flying moth, the superbly named Chimney sweeper moth, which as you might imagine is sooty black save for the outer edges of the wing, which are white. Also here, there is a small colony of the beautiful, yet declining Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary (SPBF).

The upper wings of this butterfly are a rich pattern of orangey yellow and black, but it is the underside that you need to take a look at to differentiate this butterfly from its close relative the Pearl-bordered Fritillary, as the patterns here determine which species you are observing. The SPBF has seven silver “pearls” round the hind-wing border, six or seven more within the wing, while the rest of the underneath is a contrasting mosaic of pale yellow and red-brown outlined with black. What a cracking butterfly!!

These are just a small sample of some of the more unusual species that I have seen in the last week. So don’t miss out – there will be wonderful creatures showing near you – get out there and see what you can find!

The rare Dew moth

The spectacular Cream-spot Tiger moth

Dew moth habitat

A Forester moth

The wonderfully named "Chimney Sweeper" moth

The underside of the Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

What a stunner - a Small Pearl-bordered from above. 

What makes a national conservation winner?

Ashley receiving the trophy from the Duke of Westminster 

Last week I went to Norfolk to attend the 37th FWAG Silver Lapwing awards, which this year was held at the Raveningham estate near Norwich, and is the home of Sir Nicholas Bacon.  This lovely estate has been in the Bacon family since 1735 and is managed to a very high standard by Jake Fiennes, who has planted flower rich margins everywhere, grows large areas of wild bird seed mixes for his beloved Grey partridge, and also looks after a wonderful marsh that is currently teeming with wader chicks.

The award celebrates the environmental achievements of farmers, and is aimed at those in particular who show outstanding commitment to good environmental practice. The award is sponsored by Waitrose, a business that leads the field, certainly amongst the Supermarkets chains, for its green credentials.

The winner of this national award was Ashley Cooper from Hill farm, Gestingthorpe in Essex. The 280 hectare (692 acres) farm is predominantly in arable cropping and the judges commented on the high quality of the crops alongside the protection and enhancement of habitats and species on the farm. Ashley is particularly keen to show school children around the farm, demonstrating the process of growing food while carefully looking after the countryside at the same time.

For me, the highlight of the day was Ashley’s speech, which was excellent. Firstly it was short! Secondly, you could immediately tell that he spoke from the heart and had great passion for the little piece of England that he looks after. In fact he became quite emotional – such a huge plus in my eyes. Lastly, he spoke about how important advice had been throughout his journey, particularly from his FWAG adviser Rebecca Inman, who he thanked profusely.
  

Rebecca has worked for FWAG since 1998 and I have probably known her for most of that time, always rating her as a top notch conservation adviser, who is greatly respected by the farmers in her “patch”.

So, what in my opinion makes a national winner of a competition such as this? Well, the ingredients were laid out right in front of us, for all to see  – passion coupled with great advice.

Well done Ashley and Rebecca – the award is richly deserved.

   

Just for the record - are you a "Twitcher"?

First for Hampshire - a Beautiful Marbled

 Keeping records is an important part of monitoring wildlife and I do try to play my part. Bird watchers, especially men, can often be quite obsessed with their lists – World lists, UK lists, County lists and lists comprising the “most seen in a day” or totals from a certain “favoured patch” and some will go to great lengths to add a new “tick” to the list – which is known as “twitching”.

I admit that I have jumped into the car to go and see a rare bird locally, but twitching does not really seem to be in my genes. I prefer to have real purpose behind the recording that I do, so that it hopefully adds to our greater understanding of a habitat or species. I must admit that I do usually keep a record of species seen on a foreign birding holiday, but that is about it.

During the year I do however carry out organised surveys, such as walking transects or monitoring a particular kilometre square of countryside, for both the British Trust for Ornithology and the GWCT, the results being sent in as part of national recording scheme or a research project. I also try to send in the records of the moths that turn up in my moth trap or interesting species that I happen to come across when out in the countryside.

In England, each county has a Biodiversity Information Centre (BIC) where all these records, sent in by a wide range of people, are collected together so that we have a reasonable handle on what exists where within the county! To any land manager, whatever their particular interest may be, these BICs are an invaluable resource. If you have to give advice on the management of a block of woodland or some farmland, it is vital that you know what species are present or likely to be there, BEFORE you go charging in with your “expert” advice. Many a species (or opportunity to improve a habitat) has been lost through well intended actions, because the adviser did not know what was present.

As important as these centres are, they have felt the Government’s axe recently and most are now running on a much reduced staffing level. If Government is truly serious about the well being of the British countryside, then in my opinion it is absolutely vital that these BICs are properly funded. Apart from anything else, what on earth is the point of all these volunteers (me included!) beavering away to collect important data, if it is not accessible to those who can then use it in a meaningful way?

Having told you that I don’t keep lists, I do keep a few notes however – but that does not mean you can call me a Twitcher! Here are 3 “firsts” for my garden!

On the 31^st of July 2004 I caught a Beautiful Marbled (Eublemma purpurina) moth in my garden which turned out to be only the second record for the UK and the first for Hampshire.

Last Saturday I walked into my garden and was immediately greeted by the rambling, scratchy song of a Sedge warbler – the first record for my garden since I moved here in 2000, which just goes to show that you never quite know what might turn up.

Also last Saturday, I saw my first Humming bird hawk moth of the year, an insect that will have crossed the channel from France to nectar on the pink Valerian in my garden that I grow specifically to attract them.  

First for this year - Humming Bird Hawkmoth 

First for my garden - a Sedge Warbler

Retracting what I said about Fox's claws!

"We don't have retractable claws - OK!

In my latest species of the month (see tab), I wrote a piece about foxes in which I stated that "Foxes are capable of retracting their claws like cats do", a fact that I have read on numerous occasions over the years, both in books and on the internet and so believed it to be true - big mistake!!

I was in the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust's (GWCT) HQ in Fordingbridge the other day, making myself a much needed coffee, when Dr. Jonathan Reynolds (A good friend and top research scientist who, amongst many other things, has worked on Fox biology for a long time) wandered into the kitchen. "Hi Pete - enjoyed your Fox piece, but just one thing - Foxes can't actually retract their claws!"

  

My working title for the Trust is "Biodiversity" adviser. The word "biodiversity" is used all the time nowadays and it is basically a term used to describe the “variety of life on earth” – so not much there to advise on then!!

However, I consider myself incredibly fortunate to work for the GWCT, because we have around 60 research scientists working on a wide range of projects across the country, covering most habitat types and also the species that inhabit them, including fish, insects, birds and flora. Much of this research also concentrates on looking at the different ways we choose to manage our countryside, investigating how this in turn affects wildlife, while never shirking from the more thorny issues such as pesticide use or the impacts that predation may or may not have.

As an adviser, I find it incredibly helpful to have such a superb resource backing me up, being able to phone up our GWCT specialists and quiz them in depth on various topics. The fact that we also have our own study farm at Loddington in Leicestershire, where we trial much of our work, fine tuning it before we launch into the public domain, is another  amazing resource which also keeps us all firmly “grounded” in the reality of what is possible.

Finally, being surrounded by all of these experts also keeps me on my toes; If I'm going to talk about fox’s feet – then I need to make sure that I get my facts right!!  

     

No need to worry about them, they are as common as muck!

The "common" Large white or  Cabbage white butterfly

Oh! You don’t need to worry about them – they are as common as muck! Take as many as you like they are everywhere!

We often take for granted things that are plentiful; after all, there have been lots around for as far back as anyone can remember and should there be any sort of problem with their numbers, we would notice straight away – wouldn't we?

The Passenger pigeon was probably the most numerous bird on the planet and was found in the vast forests to the east of the Rocky mountains in North America. Enormous flocks, often up to a mile wide, would literally darken the sky as they flew over, not just for minutes – but for hours! It is estimated that in the nineteenth century their numbers reached 5 billion and comprised some 40% of the total bird population of North America.

The last Passenger Pigeon died in Cincinnati Zoo on September 1st 1914. Their demise was largely due to the vast numbers that were “harvested” at the breeding colonies and shipped to markets all over the world.

As I travel around England with my work, I find that what is considered “common” differs enormously. The Tree Sparrow (similar to the more common – now I'm at it - House sparrow) for instance, is not considered particularly rare in the East Midlands, but has ceased to be a breeding species in my own county of Hampshire, where it was once widespread. The aforementioned House sparrow is doing OK in Milton Keynes, but not in Cockney London or indeed in many other parts of the country. So bad has been its decline that it is now listed as a red data species. The Brown Hare I was recently told, has reached “plague proportions” in parts of Norfolk, is “doing fine” in Hampshire but has been “lost completely” from large areas of Devon and Cornwall.

There is a wonderful old lady who lives in Wiltshire, who looks after a lovely little flower called Cow-wheat, which grows freely and quite naturally in her garden.  It was not until she saw a television programme on “endangered plants” that she realized just how rare it is – only occurring at 3 sites in England! “I just thought it was such a pretty weed” she told the botanist who visited her garden, who nearly fainted on seeing some 7000 Cow-wheat plants!

So what am I trying to say here? Well, just because something is numerous in your local area or even your garden, does not necessarily mean that this is the case elsewhere. Quite often farmers will say to me “this farmland bird decline is a bit over-played don’t you think. Take the Skylark for instance. I reckon that I have one singing in every field on the farm”. My reply is that yes, they are still a common bird, but perhaps you had TWO singing above every field on the farm 20 years ago.

It is probably human nature to pay more attention to the unusual – but have many of us taken much time to stop and study the everyday things that surround us?  Konrad Lorenz wrote in King Solomon’s Ring, “in this state of apparent idleness, one learns essential truths about the macrocosm and microcosm”. Lorenz was referring to gazing into an aquarium. He was awarded a Nobel prize for his insights into mechanisms of animal behaviour that were based on his careful observations of everyday, common animals.

So, here’s a thought for you to consider. How about taking a little time to observe something really common such a daisy in your lawn or Cabbage white butterfly. You will probably be astounded at its beauty, structure, colour or whatever – and I bet that if you look really closely for a while, you will notice something that you had up until now been completely unaware of. 

Perhaps this time spent in apparent idleness might even lead to you gaining a greater understanding and appreciation of a species, which in turn may not win you a Gong, but might just give this common as muck species, more “value”.

And you know what, that worth and appreciation might well help to stop it going the way of the Passenger pigeon.       

    

A "Bottom-up" approach but with far less crap please!

The Hampshire Avon

Meetings, preparation, planning, developing strategies, production of all encompassing management plans and of course a regular plethora of briefing documents and reports – the world has gone completely mad. Before too long I honestly believe that absolutely nothing will ever get done on the ground and eventually we will all disappear up our proverbial backsides! 

Here is an example.

Yesterday I went to a meeting organised by the relatively newly formed Hampshire Avon Catchment Partnership. The aim of this group is to improve and create a sustainable water environment within the catchment, concentrating on the environmental aspects in particular, but also encompassing social and economic elements as well. Meanwhile, delivery of the European Water Framework Directive will be central to their efforts. So, not an insignificant “ask” to say the least!

The first thing that the newly appointed catchment officer decided to do, quite sensibly I would have thought, was to find out exactly what else was happening within the catchment. Now, here comes the really scary bit – he uncovered 57, yes that is FIFTY SEVEN different management plans and strategies for this one, not particularly large catchment area. 

What on earth has this all cost and how many woods have been felled to create the endless stream (excuse the pun) of agendas, documents and leaflets? Apparently there are 83 catchment areas in England in which Government would like to see a catchment partnership created. If it turns out that the Hampshire Avon is an average kind of place, then the 83 newly appointed officers could be dealing with 4731 different plans and strategies already in place, no doubt fiercely protected by those who set them up as “they were there first”. 

I wonder how many of those circa 4731 different groups, started off their existence by going to the (and including in their steering committees) farmers and land managers, who will, in most cases manage the vast majority of the catchment’s surface area? I also wonder if they discussed with them the issues and improvements that they, the farmers would like to see, alongside the groups own ambitions. I suspect not.

I was rung up recently by a very pleasant chap who told me that he worked for an action group, who spent well over a year putting together their strategy, and now wanted to implement it on the ground. But he then told me in rather a pained voice, that the farming community on which the success of the project would depend seemed totally disinterested. He had heard that I was involved in the Marlborough Downs Nature Improvement Area (MDNIA), where farmers were apparently doing all sorts of brilliant things – how did we get them so involved?

I asked him if he had included farmers from the start. No, he replied. There was not even one on the steering committee. That’s your answer I told him. If you go to the MDNIA website you will see that it was set up by farmers and is led by farmers – it is “owned” by them and they are proud of it. It is a “Bottom-up” project not a “top-down” dictating one.

Personally, I am only interested in results on the ground. Of course there is a need for some meetings, but with strict agendas which result in actions that make a difference. Invited to those meetings should be the local, knowledgeable and trusted advisers and it does not particularly matter in my opinion, for whom they work. If they are good, they are good. Not sure who they are – a sensible start is to ask the land managers as they will have sorted out the wheat from the chaff, don't you worry.

At yesterday’s meeting there were a number of farmers present and what is more, they were actually asked what they thought was needed in the catchment to improve the situation. There were also a useful scattering of advisers who obviously had the respect of these farmers and so key issues started to emerge, with some possible solutions too. 

That is a refreshingly good start and I wish this project success - anything has to be better than 57 various groups bombarding beleaguered land managers with a multitude of different demands.