I spent a week in North Norfolk during the autumn birding in the numerous nature reserves along the coast. During the autumn migration one never knows what is going to turn up and the number of birders out and about every day means that many rarities and less common birds get picked up and reported. I was reflecting on how things had changed since I made a similar trip in the late 1970s. Back then, as well as binos and telescope, unless you knew the area and were a real expert, one had to lug around maps and field guides in pockets or a backpack. Now all you need is your phone and, depending on your interests, a handful of apps. The OS app gives you all the maps you want at a range of scales. Most reserves have a map board at the car park; a quick photo of that on arrival and you can navigate around the paths and hides with ease – rather than relying on memory as in the past.

One of the more frequent autumn migrant rarities is the Yellow Browed Warbler and there was a scattering of them along the coast on my recent visit. Like many warblers, this bird can be hard to pick out as its olive plumage and small size means you often only get a glimpse as it flits through the foliage. Now though you can prepare for your search by “swatting up” with an app. I use the Collins Bird Guide – like having the book version on your phone but with the advantage that it can play recordings of the bird’s calls and song. This is so much more useful than the somewhat bewildering verbal descriptions in the book. Telling the difference between two species on the basis of the one calls “hu-itt” and the other “hweet”? Hmmm. But after repeatedly listening to the recording on the app I found the Yellow Browed Warbler easy to identify when I heard it in the field. And after spotting it in the bushes I could then confirm my identification with another phone app – Merlin. This records birdsong and calls around you and identifies the species. It is not infallible but, with sufficient understanding of what you are expecting to see, it can be really useful to clinch sightings.

Other apps such as Obsidentify and Picture This are available which help you identify plants and other species of animals from a photo and in most cases to report where you found it. Similarly for birds, Birdtrack run by the British Trust for Ornithology allows you to record what you are seeing while in the field and then submit the results when you get home. Other apps are available for other groups or species. Ideally, we want to be able to report our sightings of wildlife and so enlarge our knowledge of its distribution and health, so these apps are a real boon.

Even if you don’t have an appropriate app, a photo can later be shared with local experts – often in area or species focussed WhatsApp Groups or forums – who may be able to identify what you have snapped.

So, the combination of all these phone apps and GPS which allows data loggers to track where you are at all times has really changed looking for and recording wildlife. With ever advancing AI one does wonder whether we will soon be able to wander through an area, scanning what we can see and hear through the phone, and this will instantly convert into geographically positioned and dated species lists. Which, although great from the point of view of getting good records, rather removes the sense of achievement from seeking things out and identifying them. We’ll see, but a phone is much lighter than loads of guidebooks, so I know which my back prefers.

​Andrew Graham

We are so fortunate to live in this beautiful part of the world but also, we are incredibly lucky that so many people with expertise and interest in our natural environment live here too and are willing to share their knowledge with us too. On Thursday November 28th Dr Jolyon Medlock, Head of Medical Entomology, Porton Down, UK Health Security Agency talked to us about Ticks, mosquitoes and diseases.

An uneasy but fascinating listen for many of us, Jolyon took us on a tour of the world of ticks and then of mosquitoes and the diseases that they carry and transmit to us and other creatures.

Ticks are arachnids and metamorphose. They lurk on plant stems as nymphs where they “quest” for a suitable host to feed from their blood. They latch onto their host – they do not run or jump or fly. They have two key requirements: a moist microclimate or high humidity for survival away from a host and available hosts for blood-feeding.

They are found in habitats with suitable microclimates and hosts e.g. woodlands, heathland, grassland, parks and gardens. They are most active between March and July. The significant diseases they carry are Lyme borrelliosis, tick-borne encephalitis, babesiosis, anaplasmosis, rickettsial disease (spotted fever), relapsing
fever and Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever.

Jolyon’s message is – be aware, check yourself and your children’s and pets’ skin after being outdoors. Seek medical advice if you get a fever, rash or feel unwell after a tick bite.

Mosquitoes are insects. There are 36 species in the UK. Some species cause nuisance biting. Most are associated with wetlands. Some are only in tree holes.

Some species are very common in urban areas. They can fly approximately two hundred metres and so they are being transported in cars, trains, lorries and planes to reach further away from their origins.

Jolyon and his team are surveying for ticks and mosquitoes to enable governments to prepare for future contingency plans as climate change warms our world giving better environments for ticks and mosquitoes to survive and thrive and as we travel further and faster taking these unpleasant companions with us.

Mosquitoes are a food supply for many birds, fish and other creatures but ticks have no purpose but to make a pleasant day out turn into a potential medical emergency. You have been warned!

​Emma Procter

We recently had a talk by Robin Leech on monitoring rivers (particularly, the Wylye). Robin is an ecologist employed by the Wylye farmer cluster and he spoke about some of the work he does with his farmers, involving monitoring river pollution (chemical and sedimentary) and also re-naturalisation. A lot of what he spoke about theoretically applies to our river, the Nadder.

Many of us who are interested in river pollution (to stop it!) have all probably heard by now a lot on eutrophication, nitrates and phosphates, and there was some debate at the talk on the representativity of these indicators of the extent of the chemical pollution in rivers and also on the randomness of establishing a “safe” level of pollution.

But Robin also spoke about something a bit novel: colourimetric analysis to find out where the sediments in the river come from, to target sediment run-off at source. Colourimetric analysis involves taking samples of sediment from the river, putting them in an oven to burn the organic matter and dry the grains and then put the dry remaining sample in a machine that analyses the colour - this allows to compare it with a reference collection of sediment samples from the surrounding areas of a river. 

He also spoke about their new project to restore the natural floodplains in some of the Wylye and the renaturalisation of the river system, which is something that will hopefully occupy many conservation organisations in the future. The straightened courses of rivers, with high banks, not only is detrimental to wildlife (for example, water voles) but also, in heavy rain, sends high quantities of water downstream, producing flooding in towns, and also sediments due to the erosion of the banks. Restoring the natural course of rivers not only will promote wildlife and natural processes and reduce sedimentary pollution, but it will also have the added benefit of reducing flooding in sensitive areas (the flooding needs to happen whether we want it or not, but if the river is allowed to flood a floodplain, then it won’t flood a town further down!).

​Inés López-Dóriga

This month we are fortunate to have a second talk and look forward to hearing from Dr Jolyon Medlock who will be telling us all about 'Ticks, Mosquitoes and their diseases' at 7.30pm in the Victoria Hall.

Jolyon has 25 years extensive field experience of infectious disease ecology in UK, Europe, Africa and the Caribbean. He first worked in Africa on malaria control and lymphatic filariasis and since 2002 has been at Porton Down working for UK government health agencies.

Jolyon leads the Medical Entomology group advising UK government on vector-borne disease risk and managing the UK-wide vector surveillance systems for diseases such as Lyme borreliosis, rickettsiosis, West Nile virus, Zika, chikungunya and dengue. With over 100 peer reviewed papers and book chapters, Jolyon's research includes focus on the impacts of environmental and climatic change and habitat management for the changing status of vector-borne disease.

Everyone is welcome. The talk is free for members and £2 for visitors over 21. Doors and the bar will open at 7pm.

​The Society meeting this November will be one of the rare occasions when I actually know something of the topic we shall hear about. A little over a year ago I paid a visit to a stretch of riverbank in the Wylye Valley to hear all about work being done by local farmers. They were  running a programme of soil sampling and trials, with the aim of reducing levels of nitrate, phosphate and sediment run-off reaching the river and groundwater. 
 
The man I heard speak a year ago, Robin Leech, is coming to talk to us on the topic of Wylye Valley Farmer Cluster: monitoring rivers, at 7:30pm on Thursday 14th November (in the Victoria Hall on Tisbury High Street).
 
​Robin is a passionate naturalist, skilled in bird and invertebrate identification, who is making ecology into a career. He is employed by a local farmer and landowner and acts as co-ordinator for the group of farmers involved in this project work.

We shall hear how the project is going, one year on from my visit. And we shall also hear, I am sure, about the Landscape Recovery Project initiated this year for the wider Wylye Valley, involving both the Wessex Rivers Trust and Wiltshire Wildlife Trust, that aims to restore the river to a more natural state and reconnect it to the floodplain.

All of which should have huge benefits for biodiversity, alongside improving water quality and sequestering carbon.

Dick Budden

Come along to the film this Thursday 7th November for the viewing at 6pm of "Six inches of soil". Doors and bar open at 5:30. Free for members or £2 for guests.​

This is a story of courage, vision and hope; an inspiring story of three young farmers on the first year of their journey to heal the soil and help transform the food system. Working with communities, small businesses, chefs and entrepreneurs, they, and others like them, are leading the way to transform how our food is produced and consumed. 

As the trio strive to adopt regenerative practices and create viable businesses, they meet seasoned mentors who help them on their journey. They are joined by other experts providing wisdom and solutions from a growing movement of people dedicated to changing the trajectory for food, farming and the planet.

Mainstream “industrial” farming practices significantly contribute to soil degradation, biodiversity loss and climate change. Regenerative farming practices promote healthier soils, provide healthier, affordable food, restore biodiversity and sequester carbon.

Regenerative farming techniques work in harmony with, rather than against nature. They keep carbon in the ground and create resilient systems in the face of climate uncertainty. Together with a focus on local food systems, shorter supply chains, the advantages are numerous. We get to know who is growing our food and how, farmers get paid a fair price and have the satisfaction of producing healthy food in a healthy environment. 

​Dick Budden

At this time of year hedges are looking at their best, as far as fruit is concerned. The winter storms and hedge cutting haven’t bashed it away, and the birds and animals haven’t started in earnest.

Following this summer’s wetter than normal weather, there is a good crop of rosehips, crab apples, and berries on blackthorn, spindle, hawthorn, wayfaring tree, guelder rose, rowan, elder and buckthorn. This (incomplete) list shows how important it is to plant a whole range of species when planting a hedge. Ancient hedges can have many more species than more recently planted ones, where the predominant species is often hawthorn, as it is cheap to buy and stock proof.

Last winter, no hedges, except those by the roadside, were cut on Wallmead Farm, because it was too wet to get any tractors into the fields without creating mud and ruts for months and the damage would be too much to remedy easily. 

Over the years, I have learnt that cutting should be as late as possible, and certainly not before Christmas, to let the birds and animals have time to eat their fill. Conservation subsidies help with the cost of hedge cutting if it is only done every second or third year, so that is what I have done too. The reason for this is that the flowering and therefore the fruit only happens on growth that is older than a year old. Yearly cutting results in no fruit at all.

When a tall and wide hedge is cut back, the result can look awful! With a flail (which all hedge cutters are) large stems are torn with a jagged edge and the hedge looks as if it has been mauled, a sight which I am sure is familiar to you all. The hedge does recover when spring comes and new shoots appear.

Before hedge cutters (going back 50 years or more), most hedges would have been laid on a rotation of about 15 years; hedges were radically thinned, and the remaining stems were cut at the base halfway through and bent to about 45 degrees to form an impenetrable barrier. 

This essentially is the advice to follow from The People’s Trust for Endangered Species, who have done research on this subject: to cut each two or three years gently, so it increases in height and width slowly, and then to lay it once every 15-20 years. There is a subsidy to help pay for this very slow and expensive job. 

​Peter Shallcross

A large crowd gathered for the first evening talk of the 2024/25 programme of events by Tisbury and District Natural History Society and, unusually, after the notices and a welcome to our speaker had been given, an audience member told an anecdote related to the subject. Many years ago, in a terraced house in London, Mike awoke in the middle of the night to find a hedgehog snuffling around his pillow! How did it get there? Mike hoped that Abi might enlighten him!

Dr Abi Gazzard has spent many years studying hedgehogs in Earley, Reading as the subject of her Masters and PHD. She now works for the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust. Abi’s talk was divided into four sections:

The hedgehog family
Research: garden use
Research: nest box studies
Hedgehogs: research and you!

Hedgehogs are members of the erinaceidae family. This makes them close relatives of moles and shrews. They are NOT rodents. Not all hedgehogs are spiny and there are nineteen types of hedgehog known today – the most recent was identified as recently as December 2023. Hedgehogs are: nocturnal, solitary, not territorial, weigh between 500g and 1500g, primarily insectivorous, build nests under cover and hibernate during the winter.

Citizen science surveys have shown a steep and rapid decline in population sizes over the past twenty years in rural areas however, in urban areas, the population numbers appear to be stable. There is limited knowledge about the answers to why numbers are decreasing in rural areas or stabilising in urban areas.

Abi’s research area was in Earley, Reading, a suburban area with mixed, high density housing and no badgers (badgers are the major predators of hedgehogs).

She used GPS and radio tags to track the hedgehogs in the area. The surveys were nocturnal and also relied heavily on community engagement. Abi observed twenty-eight hedgehogs over nine nights each. A male hedgehog visited three front gardens and nine back gardens and covered a distance of 3.5 hectares per night while the female hedgehogs visited an average of five front gardens and seven back gardens and covered 0.7 hectares per night. Both sexes preferred the garden of terraced houses. Amenity grassland was less preferred to gardens.

The factors which affected the time spent in gardens negatively were a lack of access between the front and back garden, foxes, rainfall and plentiful other gardens nearby.

The positive factors were shorter nights (summer), supplementary feeding and compost heaps. Abi posed the question, does supplementary feeding result in the thriving urban population? We do not know the answer. More research is needed.

Abi then turned to the question, what makes a good nest box?

There were over five thousand responses to a hedgehog housing census. The use of hedgehog houses was found to be linked to garden factors, nest box placement and resource providing. A good hedgehog house depends on the design and also microclimates.

There are significant research gaps in:- nest box efficiency, supplementary feeding, population parameters, urban hazards and rural hedgehogs.

What can you do to help?
If you are a garden owner you could consider any hazards, the connectivity between gardens, providing food and shelter; you could log sightings; look out for sick and injured hedgehogs and take them to a hedgehog rescue; take part in a questionnaire, survey and other citizen science project.

Spread the message!

​Emma Procter

Wiltshire & Swindon Biological Records Centre (WSBRC) have chosen Tisbury for their inaugural Wiltshire Recorders Forum, to be held at The Victoria Hall on Sunday 13th October. 

Peter Shallcross and Inés López-Dóriga will be giving presentations alongside others from local groups, organisations and individuals with an interest in biological recording and monitoring wildlife in Wiltshire. This event is free and you will find the programme on the eventbrite link below when you reserve your place.

80 spaces available, please book here:
www.eventbrite.com/e/wsbrc-wiltshire-recorders-forum-tickets-1027878380907

Date: Sunday 13th October, 10-4pm
Venue: The Victoria Hall in Tisbury, 5a High Street, Tisbury SP3 6HD
Free Parking at: Nadder Close, Tisbury SP3 6JJ
Alternative Parking at Tisbury Station and around the village.
Refreshments and a light lunch will be provided.

Dr Abbi Gazzard will be with us at at the Victoria Hall on Tisbury High Street on Thursday 10th October at 7:30pm (doors, and the bar will be open from 7:00).