Dr Tristan Bantock is presenting a talk for the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust on Hemiptera (true bugs) for which he is a national expert.
Michael New, the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust's Ecological Officer, has previously been to a couple of Tristan’s presentations and he says that they really get you enthusiastic about this interesting group. Tristan also runs the recording scheme. The meeting is on March 22nd and starts at 7pm. Please can you let Michael know if you are interested in attending and he will send out Zoom meeting details for you. michaeln@wiltshirewildlife.org 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: Debbie Carter
Following Tom Morath's talk in April about the Hawk Conservancy Trust's history, we visited the trust near Andover. The Trust does exciting work with species worldwide but also has a number of research and conservation projects focused on kestrels and tawny owls - whose populations are now 'of concern' - and barn owls and the impact of declining prey populations such as rabbits, almost wiped out by mixomatosis. More encouragingly, banning organochlorine pesticides seems to be helping recovery. Andrew took over the late David Rear's responsibility for monitoring butterflies in the Oddford Vale and also monitors elsewhere in Wiltshire, he's been doing weekly counts of birds in his garden for several years and last summer extended this to using a trap provided by Butterfly Conservation to monitor moths in his garden as well - hence the stunning photographs posted on this website.
We are hoping to recruit volunteers to help us monitor the population of swifts in Tisbury, after the new nest boxes are installed in April. We already know of a number of nest sites that have been used until last year and it is vital that we check whether they are again this year. For more about wildlife recording, go to that page. Well, some of us were brought up on King Henry 1 having died of a 'surfeit of lampreys', but I doubt anyone thought they (if they had any idea what 'they' were) could be found in our very own Nadder. However, it was Henry who probably 'defined' Clarendon Park, just the other side of Salisbury, and built the Hunting Lodge there - apparently out of Tisbury stone. So maybe it was Nadder lampreys he died of! This was a great opportunity to see the myriad forms of life that exist in our local river - including, as it turned out, lampreys - under the expert leadership of David Holroyd who is Membership Secretary Teffont Fishing Club and River Monitoring Coordinator for Salisbury and District Angling Club. As with our Harvest Mice Nest survey, there was a serious side to this. David explains that river quality and wildlife is deteriorating at an accelerating rate. This is particularly so in Wiltshire and Hampshire where 95% of the planet’s ‘Chalk stream habitat’ is located - strictly speaking the Nadder isn't itself a chalk stream although very similar. Because of the threat of continued deterioration and its unique nature and biodiversity, the whole of the River Avon and its four tributaries are designated a SSSI and subject to the status of being a ‘Special Area for Conservation’. David led members including Izzy Fry and other members of our Young Nature Watch group, to a favourite stretch of river, just outside Teffont Evias, where he collected samples from the river and brought them it to the bank for examination close-up in a sampling tray. As well as the lampreys and a number of insects, there were also brown trout, grayling, chub, dace and minnow. David says that the Nadder is currently in good health and being monitored throughout its length. This is especially important as the Nadder is also a key spawning habitat for the Avon Salmon, which is particularly endangered - and indeed, excitingly, salmon parr were also found. David's full account and list of sightings is here and there's an excellent account of the life-cycle of salmon here.
Andrew Graham said how fascinating – and surprising – it was to discover the wide variety of insects that give life to our rivers. He added, 'I have never seen a lamprey before and it opened my eyes to how much is going on in the Nadder, which to my ill-informed eyes, has always looked a bit uninteresting going through the village...' Certainly, to judge by these photos, a great time seems to have been had, as they say, by all. Great weather, too. We often see bats at dusk, flying above our gardens and streets, but most of their lives are hidden away. (This photo of an unidentified bat was taken in Taiwan, but I think it's rather sweet, as bats go - Ed.) Recently ‘bat detectors’ have revolutionised what we know about the distribution of different species, where they feed and what they get up to. Bat detectors pick up the echo-location signals from bats and from the particular frequency can tell most of the species apart. Gareth Harris (who is Wiltshire’s Mammal Recorder) positioned a detector on a tree near the river at Wallmead Farm for a month. The results were astounding! There was so much data that Gareth could only analyse a small sample but 10 species were identified with another three broken down to genus only. The list below refers to the number of passes recorded by each species so indicated activity and not necessarily abundance. It shows that there are many species of bats locally some of which are rare (highlighted in red) and there must therefore also be plenty of a whole range of insects for them to eat, especially down by the river, as different species of bats most likely specialise on different insects. Greater horseshoe 2 Lesser horseshoe - 4 Whiskered/Brandt's bat - 1 Daubenton's bat - 119 Natterer's bat - 7 Myotis sp. -2145 Noctule bat - 15 Leisler's bat - 9 Nyctalus sp. - 2 Serotine bat - 7 Common pipistrelle - 1572 Soprano pipistrelle - 1324 Plecotus sp. - 190 Grand Total - 5297 (NB these are passes, not individual bats) Gareth now plans to coordinate a farmer cluster group meeting on bats here soon and draw on these results. Dick Budden, our Treasurer, has sent this update to all our members - but if you're not already a member, please join! It's only £10 a year. Dick wrote:
'So - July did indeed turn out to be an eventful month for the society and we managed to start making things happen again. 'The moth survey, went down really well. This was our first meeting aimed specifically at engaging young people with the natural world. Over thirty people turned up, roughly a third of them youngsters, and we gained a number of new members for the society and for the mailing list. 'Ines has put together a whole programme of further events aimed at children and young adults: next up is a butterfly walk on Saturday 22nd August. Please encourage any young people you know to read about it here or via our Facebook page, and sign up for emailing at youngtnhs@gmail.com. 'Also on Facebook you’ll find a picture of jubilant volunteers celebrating the last ragwort being pulled from the community field. It took two sessions, but it was worth it: ragwort is poisonous to animals so it was vital to remove it to permit the annual hay cut without which the wildflowers we sowed a year ago will not flourish. 'And the members guided walk around Home Farm Teffont Evias also went really well (though sadly a few were forced to drop out when it was deferred by a day to avoid heavy rain). The 23 who came walked in socially distanced groups of five or six with our excellent guides, Jasper Bacon, Peter and Martin Shallcross (and the last two made the journey twice) and came away knowing far more about the geology, topography, history and natural history of the village and its surrounding countryside. 'Earlier the committee had been thinking about what we can do in the absence of indoor meetings to revive the society’s events programme, and this trip to Teffont seems to provide a template for the foreseeable future. So, in the first instance we are aiming to revive the Field Trip to Oysters Coppice and Gutch Common, starting at Semley that was postponed from earlier in the year, in a fortnight’s time. 'If you are interested and would like to join, please email treasurer.tisnathist@gmail.com and tell me which date and time you would be able to come: Field Trip to Oysters Coppice and Gutch Common, starting from Semley: Saturday 15th August, a.m./p.m./either and/or Sunday 16th August , a.m./ p.m./either 'I hasten to add that it is unclear at present how many guides we have available to lead groups of 5 or 6 on this walk. And there’s a chicken and egg riddle here; the number we need depends entirely on the response. If you think you could take this on (with advice from Peter, Ines, Debbie etc.) do please let me know. 'I should also mention that Lizzy Paylan has left the committee, and we thank her for all her help, but that we’re delighted to welcome three new members; Laura Downer, Steve Flowerday and Ines López-Dóriga. 'Keep well.' I asked Andrew Graham what brought him to set up his moth trap, which has given us the photos of those beautiful creatures. In response, Andrew says:
'So much of what we know about our wildlife relies upon volunteers recording what they see in their gardens and local area. Combined with the sightings of numerous other recorders across the country, this gives scientists data with which to assess which species are declining or increasing in number. It will also show up how species respond to weather - for example a hot summer, or an especially cold or wet winter - as well as long-term trends like climate or land use change. I have been doing weekly counts of birds in my garden for several years now, and undertake butterfly recording at Tuckingmill and elsewhere in south west Wiltshire. It was natural to extend this to moths, although I could recognise relatively few of the day-flying ones. 'Just before lockdown, I saw that Butterfly Conservation, the wildlife charity that promotes the conservation of butterflies and moths, was promoting a relatively cheap and simple moth trap. Even better, they benefited through a donation from the vendor for each trap sold. I bought one and have been using it on appropriate nights since. The bright light attracts the moths which hide in the box below it, sheltering beneath the egg boxes placed there until I come to open it in the morning. I only do it every few nights as it gives the moths a chance to feed and mate, and I go out and check the trap early in the morning so they are trapped for as short a time as possible. 'Very few were attracted to the light earlier in spring but as the nights have become a bit warmer there have been good numbers for me to sort through with my identification guides. I photograph them as that gives me the chance to really examine the markings and compare them with the guidebook without distressing the insect which can be released. There is a useful Wiltshire Butterflies and Moths Facebook group where people with much more expertise can give advice and help with identification. It's great to see and hear what people elsewhere are seeing, to get a picture of how the season is developing across the county and whether what we are seeing in and around Tisbury is representative of what is going on elsewhere.' The purpose of this survey is to record locations of swift nest sites around the UK. This information can then be used by local authority planners, architects, ecologists and developers to find out where swift hotspots are located around the country and therefore mitigate to protect breeding swifts during building development. This conservation planning tool plays an important role in reversing the decline of this charismatic migrant bird.
Please note, swift records submitted to the swift survey during previous years have been retained and are making a difference for swift conservation. The RHS is calling all gardeners! The beneficial Yellow Cellar Slug, which only eats dead material, is facing extinction due to the invasive Green Cellar Slug and they need your help (this is not 1 April!). Join the springtime slug hunt to help them understand how to encourage and protect these little creatures. Go to the Cellar Slug Hunt web page for full information.
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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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