An email from Wiltshire Council is urging residents to take part in the consultations about the Climate Strategy and Natural Environment Plan. These are now open, and you can find out more and ask questions by joining one of the following online engagement events.
Don’t miss your chance to have your say. Sign up now! Find out more about the Climate Change consultation here and about the Natural Environment Plan consultation here. We know from the survey undertaken last year further up the Nadder near Weaveland Farm, that this area is phenomenally popular with bats. Then, 5297 passes were recorded from a total of 10 identified species, over a month. This year, Peter G Thompson (who gave us our first Zoom talk last Autumn) placed a static bat monitor on one of the bridges over the Nadder in Dick Budden's patch for five nights in early July. It recorded 10,000 hits, i.e. 2,000 each night on average, with 13 different bat species = 75% of all the species resident in UK! The species were: Barbastelle bat (Barbastella barbastellus) Brandt’s bat (Myotis brandtii) Brown long-eared bat (Plecotus auritus) Common pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pipistrellus) Daubenton’s bat (Myotis daubentonii) Greater horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum) Leisler’s bat (Nyctalus leisleri) Lesser horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus hipposideros) Natterer’s bat (Myotis nattereri) Noctule (Nyctalus noctula) Serotine (Eptesicus serotinus) Soprano pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pygmaeus) Whiskered bat (Myotis mystacinus) The survey on this stretch of the Nadder is part of a programme Peter is working on to map the bat population along the Nadder from Tisbury all the way to Barford St Martin by the end of this summer. Hopefully we’ll get him to share with us the results in due course. Meanwhile, these tiny creatures do sometimes live the most extraordinary lives. The Guardian reported that a Nathusius's Pipistrelle (we have only the Common kind) weighting just 8g (I don't think my scales would even weigh that little), flew 1,200 miles - and ended up being killed by a cat. Life isn't fair, for bats any more than it is for humans. Organiser: Peter Shallcross Re-scheduled from 2020 When we regretfully had to cancel this visit last year, Martin Green told Peter Shallcross:- “We have just had an unprecedented number of raptors on the farm & adjacent this weekend. My neighbours cut an adjacent field for silage last week and since it has been a focal point for feeding - a few hundred corvids at least 7 red kites & 10 buzzards and a marsh harrier - not bad! My friend James Phillips visited and recorded these species around the pond and woodland planting: The highlights were Emperor dragonfly, Azure and Large Red damselfly, Small blue, Common blue, Green hairstreak, Large skipper butterflies, Burnet companion moth plus singing Lesser Whitethroat in the woodland scrub and a pair of Corn bunting and a pair of Yellowhammer on territory around the pond. Other highlights on neighbouring fields were grey partridge on territory calling, 3 pairs of Yellowhammer, a flock of 16 Corn bunting plus 4 pairs on territory, 1 pair of Linnets, 6 singing Skylark and 2 Brown hair with at least 3-4 Red kite over the nearby woodlands towards Wimborne St Giles.” So maybe it was much like that again this year. Susie Blundell sent this wonderfully atmospheric photo, adding, 'We had a lovely field trip hosted by Martin Green. I took this picture by Martin’s latest pond which he is hoping will be an attraction for Turtle Doves. Lots of wild flowers, a glorious sunset, a museum visit and a starry night - it was perfect.' Martin is a great wildlife enthusiast and he’s also a keen archaeologist, with a great deal to share. The landscape here is rich in prehistoric features – the Dorset cursus (a huge linear earthwork that runs for 10 km/6¼ miles and dates from roughly 4,000 years ago) crosses the farm. A cross-section has been excavated so you can see just what it used to look like. There’s a long barrow and several round barrows visible on the slopes, while the Roman road known as the Ackling Dyke also passes through it on its way from Badbury Rings to Old Sarum. Again, where it crosses the road nearby a cross-section has been exposed showing its construction. On top of that, excavations have found shafts that were filled-in as far back as 10,000 years ago, and the remains of ditches and enclosures dating from 4,500 to 2,800 years ago. This was the ideal opportunity to hear all about the excavations and discoveries and to visit Martin and Karen’s private museum. |
Photo: Avocets (Izzy Fry)
The headers display photos taken by our members. Do get in touch via the Contact Form if you'd like to submit a photo for selection.
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