The first of our series of autumn talks was given by Dr. Tom Lewis, Conservation and Research Manager at Longleat, who came to speak to us about his conservation work on 11 September. This followed on from our excursion to see the beaver territory at the estate earlier this year.
 
Most of us living locally will know of Longleat as a Safari Park, where they also do a popular light display over the Christmas period. What most of us don’t know is that there is more at Longleat than that! And thanks to Tom we gained a better understanding of what is going on there, and the role that large estates like this can play in local nature conservation.
 
Tom started to become interested in conservation by joining bird ringing groups and witnessing the disappearance of willow tits. He then spent some years abroad working in conservation projects in exotic locations, and saving species from extinction. Back in the UK, after two years at Longleat, he has witnessed the re-occurrence of two key native species which have been virtually absent for centuries: beavers and pine martens!
 
None of these two species were released by the Longleat estate. They either made their way there from other locations where they have been reintroduced, or were unofficially released by unknown persons. But the important thing for us is that they are welcome there and thriving, and perhaps we will have them soon established in our immediate area too (if we don’t already!).
 
Tom showed us some stunning aerial footage and told us how every 200 metres of waterway at Longleat now has evidence of beavers. Beavers have transformed small streams of barely 1 m width, fast flowing in winter but which used to dry up in summer, into wetlands with bodies of water of about 20 m wide and which retain water throughout the year. The slow moving waters now support minnows, toads and newts for example, and the species that feed on them.
 
One of Tom’s jobs was to find out how healthy the beaver population is, so he set up trail cameras to try to find out how many beavers were actually living there. Although his first attempts were not very successful at recording beavers, many other interesting species were recorded. The birds included: kingfishers, herons, grey wagtails, egrets, canada geese, marsh tits, jays, crossbills, sparrowhawks, spotted flycatchers… The mammals, foxes and otters. We saw beautiful footage of all these creatures displaying natural behaviours and were finally rewarded with the beavers and their kits, 4 babies in 2024! 4 babies is the upper range of beaver litters, and Tom attributes the high number to the quality of the habitat. It seems this year only 3 beaver kits were born, and one was sadly found dead.
 
Next, Tom told us about his pine marten work. Pine martens were discovered in the estate through some unusual poo, and this was later confirmed by trail camera footage. Tom has since been trying to establish how many are present and he showed us some interesting footage of 2 playful pine martens having a romp this year. Recently, a pine marten with a tracker from Exmoor (the Two Moors Pine Marten Project) has been found in the New Forest by Wild New Forest, showing how large distance movement is possible.
 
Tom mentioned future plans in his work, including analysis of bib patterns (the white marks on the chest of pine martens, unique to each individual) and DNA of scats. He fleetingly mentioned dormice footprint tunnel surveys, bat surveys, wild boar and bird counts. We are happy to hear all this is happening at Longleat and would like to hear more in due course. There is other information on their conservation projects in their website: https://www.longleat.co.uk/things-to-do/animals/conservation/uk

Inés López-Dóriga

On the 3rd September, a group of about 15 members visited Rachel Hall at Gutchpool Farm, Gillingham.

After an introduction to the farm’s history and the management changes that Rachel had carried out since taking charge, about 10 years ago, we were taken on a walk to see for ourselves.

The first thing that is striking is the variety of habitats that have been created. Firstly, a beautiful stream, lined with alders and willows is crossed, leading to a newly created wetland corridor in a grassy field. The corridor has been re-created using old maps and LIDAR remote sensing so that instead of water run off from the top of the farm rushing through large drains into the river, it now gently meanders its way above ground, getting caught up in woody obstacles and long grass until it eventually emerges into a small pond. Only then is it allowed into the stream, without causing a flood.

In the next field, Rachel has planted wide rows of trees in lines separated from each other by wide strips of grass. This agro-forestry benefits the sheep that Rachel farms, giving them shade and leaves to eat, in addition to the usual grass. Rachel explained how the tree leaves have medicinal properties and help keep the sheep healthy by natural means.

Just beyond was a spring-sown ‘herbal ley’, which is a planted mixture of grasses and herbs such as plantain, chicory, birds-foot trefoil and several clovers. Despite the drought, and very little rain since sowing, the herbage was growing really well.

The contrast between the arable farming just 10 years ago and Rachel’s regenerative methods of farming is transformative for the soil. The sown herbs are deep rooted, helping drainage and leading to the build-up of organic material.

Next, we walked through a surviving part of the ‘Park Pale’; a bank and ditch enclosure surrounding what used to be the royal deer park of Kings Court. This remarkable survivor features rare flowers and many old and veteran trees, a brilliant corridor for wildlife.

Approaching the top of the farm, we stopped to admire the expansive views towards Alfred’s Tower and Silton. The field here is the most difficult to farm, with deep sticky clay, ruined by arable farming, with the topsoil ploughed under. Rachel has had success establishing another herbal ley and already the soil is improving. Future plans include reinstating more hedges to create more wildlife habitat, as well as making it easier to graze the sheep.

As we started to return, we talked about the several ponds which are home to Great-Crested Newts and many other species of birds and animals. Finally, we passed through a path with young trees on either side, which soon become a small copse, creating more wildlife habitat.

As the light faded, we all sat down to tea or coffee and ate home-made cakes Rachel had baked and had a lively discussion about the problems of modern farming and solutions, as demonstrated to us.
Thank you, Rachel, for an engaging and fascinating afternoon.

​Peter Shallcross

​© Fera

This field trip is not suitable for those who are allergic to bees.

We are fortunate to have the opportunity to meet Matt Somerville and fit one more field trip into our calendar. Matt's passion is making beehives, supplying them all over the country to establish colonies of wild bees. This event will cover the ecology of wild bees and their importance as pollinators. Jonathan Thompson has several of Matt's hives on his nature reserve, which is worth visiting in its own right. View the fascinating short film about Matt's way of making the hives here.

Please contact us to book a place and tell us whether you'll meet us at the Nadder Centre, Weavelands Road, Tisbury for car share or meet at the Underhill Nature Reserve. Details below.

Visit to Underhill Nature Reserve. Organised by Peter Shallcross.  
Meet at the Nadder Centre car park for 3:30 pm departure or at Underhill Nature Reserve, East Knoyle, SP3 6BP at 4 o'clock.   What3words //bearable.whispers.echo

Anticipated end time: Concluding at 6:30 to 7.00 pm with return to Nadder Centre by 7:00-7.30 pm. 

Distance, Difficulty and Footwear: There will be less than ½ mile of walking, some of it uphill. The walking could be very uneven and wet. Walking shoes/boots are advised.

Our apology that Focus September magazine has the wrong date. We are going on Sat 27th September! 

Our first indoor meeting for the autumn/winter season of 2025/26 will be on Thursday September 11th at 7.30pm at Victoria Hall, Tisbury. Our speaker will be Dr Tom Lewis, Conservation Manager at the Estate.

Those of us who were lucky enough to go to Longleat and (almost) meet the beavers earlier this year will remember Tom and we are looking forward to hearing what he has to say.

The bar will be open from 7pm and so we look forward to giving you a warm welcome. No need to book! As usual, free for members and £2 for visitors.

This year’s long warm and dry summer has been mostly favourable for dragonflies and damselflies, which together are known as Odonata. In contrast to butterflies, many odonata species have long flight periods. The emergence of adults from their aquatic larval stages is not synchronised so, in the right weather conditions, some species can be seen at any time between March and September. As long as the nights do not get too cold, and there are no long periods of wet weather (when they cannot hunt), the larger dragonflies can keep flying well into the autumn. Warm, dry days and evenings will give them plenty of time to feed and mate. As the males often fight over breeding territories, and dragonflies may be attacked as potential food by the hobby falcon, by late summer they can look so badly damaged and worn out that you wonder how they keep flying. Unlike several species of butterfly, dragonflies and damselflies do not hibernate as adults. Eventually they will become too damaged, or a sharp frost will bring their lives to an end. By then they should have mated, and the females laid their eggs in a suitable water body. The resulting carnivorous larvae will then spend months developing underwater, before emerging as flying adults in the following summer. Unfortunately, extended dry spells such as we have had this year can dry up their breeding habitat and the larvae lost, so the “good” summer is not necessarily all good news for odonata.

At 57 species, the list of odonata recorded in the UK is about the same size as that for our butterflies. A number of these, with very exacting habitat requirements, became extinct last century. However, the list is undergoing a period of unprecedented change as, in recent years, a number of species have been discovered for the first time. Some of these have gone on to become breeding species. This is largely a result of climate change, which is allowing a number of insects to expand their range northwards through Europe and across the channel. Notably, this summer has seen increased numbers of the strikingly marked Jersey Tiger Moth being seen in southern England. Once only plentiful in the Channel Islands, since 1990 this day flying moth has spread north and east from its mainland strongholds in south Devon, and several have been seen in and around Tisbury. It has become sufficiently numerous to be added to the list of target species for the national Big Butterfly Count.

And now, news comes that a species of butterfly from Southern Europe has been spotted in the UK for the first time. The Southern Small White, which even on close inspection doesn’t look that much different to a Small White, a Green Veined White or, er, a small Large White, just makes life more difficult for the butterfly recorder. It’s easy to see why most of us lump them all together as “cabbage whites”.

​Andrew Graham