The calendar for field trips is now listed on the Field Trips page if you want to pencil them in your diaries. The Committee is just finalising the detailed programme document with all the meet up postcodes, what to wear and bring, plus a short description of each trip.
This programme document will be uploaded to the website next month, when we'll let you know about how to book your places. On Thursday 1st of February at 6pm, we will be screening a series of short films on the theme of ocean plastics at the New Vic (Victoria Hall) in Tisbury. Doors and bar open at 5.45 pm. All welcome...it's £1 per ticket for members and non-members. Free for the Under 21s.
With a total duration of about 1 hour, we will be showing a diversity of documentaries and animated films. The focus will be on how the plastic we use makes it into the oceans, the impact of our consumption activities on the health of the aquatic ecosystems around the world, and what all of us can do about it. It’s not all gloom and doom, the films are sad and uplifting in equal measures, giving us clues as to what we can do to help understand and alleviate the plastic problem. The short films are informative, cinematographically innovative and thought-provoking, and some have been filmed in remote beautiful locations such as Bali. We will start with four animated films, ‘The Beauty’ (2019), ‘Are you eating plastic for dinner?’ (2019), ‘Shelfish’ (2019) and ‘Plastic is everywhere’ (2023). We will continue with a series of short documentaries, including ‘If you give a beach a bottle’ (2022) and ‘Voice above water’ (2021), both winners of multiple Film Festival awards. Finally, we will end with three documentaries by Ed Scott-Clarke, film director and producer, who will be available at the end of the screenings for a Q&A. First, a longer documentary ‘Plastic Shores’ (2012) followed by two short documentaries produced for the CNN. Rob Farrington, Wilder Dorset Project Manager at Dorset Wildlife Trust, came to give us a talk about the development of the Wild Woodbury community rewilding project, from land acquired by Dorset Wildlife Trust at Bere Regis in 2021.
It used to be an intensive arable farm, with some square areas of woodland, but was very difficult to farm due to excessive water which prevented access to farm machinery during great part of the year. Huge drainage ditches had been historically installed to try to alleviate the situation. Since its acquisition, the management practices by DWT have consisted in the restoration of natural processes, with inspiration from the rewilding movement and the Wicken Fen project. For example, the natural hydrology of the site is in process of being restored by removing ditches and drains, artificial fertilisation has stopped and extensive grazing by cows and ponies at low stocking levels has been implemented… Pigs will be introduced at a later stage. According to Rob, the rate of change has been enormous and unexpected processes have been observed, such as the creation of spoil heaps from mice and voles. The site has a very varied geology, which makes the changes very interesting. We were shown pictures of before and after to demonstrate the changes. Biological surveys have shown that the numbers of invertebrates have increased (for example, butterflies have increased 62%), and therefore the number of predators of invertebrates (for example, harvest mice and birds such as nightjars and short-eared owls). The colonisation of the former arable land by heathland and acid grassland species suggests that the site may revert into a wet heath. The river leaving the site used to be brown with run-off; now it is clear, the site retains a lot of water which prevents flooding in the surrounding roads. We are looking forward to our visit of the site when we resume our outings this spring. In the meantime, you can follow the news on Dorset Wildlife Trust website’s blog: www.dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk/blog/tag/wild-woodbury Inés López-Dóriga Between 11 am and 1 pm on Saturday the 3rd of February, we shall be hedgelaying in the Community Field, below the Nadder Centre. All helpers gratefully welcomed! No prior experience necessary.
In January 2024, our Young Nature Watch activity took on a different guise: we set a competition for our members, to photograph a flower, au naturel between 30th December and 2nd January. This was in conjunction with the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland’s annual flower hunt.
We were delighted to receive several entries from around the area. These were collated and submitted to BSBI as a group entry. The winner of the under 10’s competition was Rose McLean for her super photo of some catkins, trembling in the breeze and shedding their pollen. Well done, Rose and thank you to all those who entered. Emma Procter On Thursday 11th January at 7:30pm in the Victoria Hall on Tisbury High Street, we shall be hearing from Rob Farrington, who has been managing the Wild Woodbury Project from the outset. Rob will describe the work carried out to date, and discuss the prospects for the future and lessons to be drawn from this project for the countryside more widely. As always, our events are free if you’re a member of the Society or under 21, and you’ll be very welcome to come as a guest visitor for the payment of £2. Towards the end of November, walking the footpath northwest towards Weaveland Farm, I noticed a bright red poppy in bloom in the stubbles of the adjacent field. Scanning the area, I realised that there were hundreds of them blooming throughout the field.
Climate change is affecting the number of plants that we can expect to see in the winter months. In some cases, a mild autumn will allow plants to flower later into the early winter than is normal; in others, a lack of frost or extended cold spells can encourage spring species to flower early. In 2012, the Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland (BSBI) started promoting an annual hunt for plants in flower during a four-day period over New Year – the New Year Plant Hunt. This has become increasingly popular and, in recent years, over 2500 participants recorded lists of flowering plants from over 1,700 locations across Britain and Ireland. Initially, it was set up as a bit of fun for botanists at a quiet time of the year. Now, a decade on, it is helping to build up a picture of how our flora is responding to changing weather patterns. Between 30th December and 2nd January, participants are asked to count all native and non-native plants in flower seen on a walk of no more than three hours, excluding species obviously planted in gardens. Many of the species most frequently seen are common, well-known ones, such as Daisy, Dandelion, Dead Nettle, Groundsel and Gorse. The BSBI provides Spotter Sheets with pictures of the Top 10 and Top 20 most frequently seen flowers to help identification. You could also take photos and then try to identify the flowers when you get home. Hunters are then asked to enter records of their sightings on the BSBI website where they can also see other records coming in (www.bsbi.org/new-year-plant-hunt). This month, we are collating the results of the plant hunt by our members into a group response and are offering a prize for the best pictures taken from those under 10 and between 10 and 21 years of age. Keep an eye on our online media for an update on this! Naturally, sheltered locations in the south tend to yield more species than exposed ones in the north, but amazingly some hunters have found more than 70 species. Urban areas can provide a “heat island” effect, so it might be easier to find flowers in the walls and alongside paths in the village. Taking part in the hunt is a good excuse to get out for a walk after the festivities, and the results will contribute to the wider nationwide study; it will also be interesting to see the effects of the recent weather. Andrew Graham Photo (c) Wiltshirewildlife.org
We are very proud of our committee member Debbie Carter, who was recently awarded with a Lifetime Achievement Award (jointly with Andrew, her husband) at Wiltshire Wildlife Trust’s volunteer celebration event on the 1st of December 2023. The Committee and Oysters Coppice volunteer group are extremely grateful to Debbie (and Andrew!), for their dedication to nature conservation, protecting our local natural sites and helping others learn about our local wildlife through all these years. You can read more about the awards on Wiltshire's Wildlife Trust website: https://www.wiltshirewildlife.org/news/volunteer-awards-2023. And you can also listen to an interview with Debbie which was broadcasted on BBC Radio Wiltshire's Sue Davis programme. This can be listened as a podcast of the 08 Dec 2023, minute 2:40 (available for 29 days on BBC Sounds): https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0gsw1tf Inés López-Dóriga John Akeroyd, who described himself as a botanist and field taxonomist, has a lifetime's experience of working with plants and a focus for the last 20 years on dry grasslands in Romania. The latter is an example of species-rich temperate grasslands which are extremely important for their diversity, although they are becoming rarer. Thankfully, given a chance, nature will return and flourish and it is the mixed agricultural landscapes which have proven to be the most diverse.
With numerous illustrations and amusing asides, John described how important the plants around us are to our economy, our health and how their flowers and foliage have been absorbed into our cultures. While many of our staple food plants such as wheat, barley, flax, and olive oil derive from plants which spread out from the fertile crescent, others which have gone on to dominate world food trade such as maize, haricot beans, potatoes and squash originate in the Americas. Success or otherwise of crops, and the spread of crop disease has had an impact on history as has the exploitation of crops and people for trade. Plants or their flowers and foliage are often potent symbols of nations or culture for example the Scottish thistle, the English rose, the Irish Shamrock and the Welsh daffodil and leek. At a time when sustainability is key, plants that can be used then recycled such as cork, hessian, or paper are important contributors. Since early times plants have had a vital role in medicines first as herbal remedies or even contraceptives and more recently as sources of compounds providing the inspiration of synthetic drugs. John showed us that while it is easy to take all the plants around us for granted, they play multiple essential roles in our world. Andrew Graham We shall be starting earlier than usual at 6:45pm at the Victoria Hall, Tisbury High Street for mulled wine, mince pies and nibbles before hearing from the world-renowned botanist Dr John Akeroyd. John always loved plants, even before he was taught at school by the famous botanist Oleg Polunin. He graduated from the Universities of St. Andrews and Cambridge, and held fellowships at the Universities of Trinity College, Dublin and Reading, researching European flora. Lecturer, tour guide, writer and editor, he co-founded Plant Talk, the first global magazine for plant conservation.
He has written or edited seventeen books, including the best-selling Collins Wildguide:Flowers and The Encyclopedia of Wildflowers and many articles on plants, people and places. |
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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