Photo: Sulphut tuft - Andrew Graham
Thursday, 17 December 2020
Anna Lewington: Birch trees world-wide and in history
Anna Lewington: Birch trees world-wide and in history
Brzoza_nadrzeczna_Betula_utilis_var_jacquemontii_RB3 - author Radomil
Bothanic Garden, Poznań
Anna's talk was based on her book Birch (full details on our Reading List page) - it was delightful, and Anna's understandable enthusiasm carried us through amazing fact after amazing fact and observations of its historic, social and ecological significance. I'm sure I'm not alone in saying how impressed I was at the tree's zillion different uses and role in many different cultures. The photographs Anna used were all quite lovely and effectively illustrated the points she was making.
(A timely page feature on 'Choosing the whitest birch' in the January issue of RHS's The Garden recommends this betula utilis subsp.jacquemontii 'Grayswood Ghost' - something like the one in this photo.)
The publisher's summary of the book's content is better than any summary I could myself provide, of this excellent end to our monthly series of autumn/winter talks for 2020, which we managed to sustain against all odds - and with the support of our tech-savvy membership:
'Elegant and beautiful, rich in history and supremely useful, birches have played an extraordinary yet largely unrecognized part in shaping both our natural environment and the material culture and beliefs of millions of people around the world.
'For thousands of years they have given people of the northern forests and beyond raw materials in the form of leaves, twigs, branches and bark, as well as wood and sap, not simply to survive but to flourish and express their identity in practical and spiritual ways. Tough, waterproof and flexible, birch bark has been used for everything from basketry and clothing to housing and transport, musical instruments and medicines, as well as a means to communicate and record sacred beliefs: some of our most ancient Buddhist texts and other historic documents are written on birch bark. Birches have not only shaped regional cultures – creating, for example, the Native American wigwam and the birch bark canoe – but continue to supply raw materials of global economic importance today.
'Birch explores the multiple uses of these versatile trees as well as the ancient beliefs and folklore with which they are associated. Richly illustrated, this book presents a fascinating overview of their cultural and ecological significance, from botany to literature and art, as Anna Lewington looks both at the history of birches and what the future may hold in store for them.'
(A timely page feature on 'Choosing the whitest birch' in the January issue of RHS's The Garden recommends this betula utilis subsp.jacquemontii 'Grayswood Ghost' - something like the one in this photo.)
The publisher's summary of the book's content is better than any summary I could myself provide, of this excellent end to our monthly series of autumn/winter talks for 2020, which we managed to sustain against all odds - and with the support of our tech-savvy membership:
'Elegant and beautiful, rich in history and supremely useful, birches have played an extraordinary yet largely unrecognized part in shaping both our natural environment and the material culture and beliefs of millions of people around the world.
'For thousands of years they have given people of the northern forests and beyond raw materials in the form of leaves, twigs, branches and bark, as well as wood and sap, not simply to survive but to flourish and express their identity in practical and spiritual ways. Tough, waterproof and flexible, birch bark has been used for everything from basketry and clothing to housing and transport, musical instruments and medicines, as well as a means to communicate and record sacred beliefs: some of our most ancient Buddhist texts and other historic documents are written on birch bark. Birches have not only shaped regional cultures – creating, for example, the Native American wigwam and the birch bark canoe – but continue to supply raw materials of global economic importance today.
'Birch explores the multiple uses of these versatile trees as well as the ancient beliefs and folklore with which they are associated. Richly illustrated, this book presents a fascinating overview of their cultural and ecological significance, from botany to literature and art, as Anna Lewington looks both at the history of birches and what the future may hold in store for them.'
Thursday, 19 November 2020
Peter Thompson, Game & Wildlife Conservancy Council
Can wildlife and modern farming co-exist?
Peter Thompson, Game & Wildlife Conservancy Council
Can wildlife and modern farming co-exist?
Peter has very kindly made available here the slides he used for his talk, which include all the photographs that so clearly demonstrated that the answer is a resounding 'yes!'
Peter began by comparing British farming in previous decades with what's happening now. Most farms used to rotate arable with dairy, beef, sheep or pig rearing and that was highly beneficial to wildlife. But now the country is broadly divided into vertical strips down its length, with purely arable mainly on the eastern side and animal farming increasing to the west. (More rain so more grass, maybe?) A particular problem has been autumn ploughing, which has left the land bare through the winter with no stubble to prevent soil erosion in heavy rain and resulting pollution of waterways with fertilisers and pesticides.
What is required to help wildlife recover is year round care – nesting habitats, summer food for the young and food throughout the winter. And it can be done. On Peter's own farm, wildlife was declining like others but within five years populations were back up to levels of the 1960s.
Peter trained as agronomist so can now talk about getting best of both worlds. Pesticide use is still very important but caring for the soil as much or more so, and this has been largely ignored until recently. Darwin is mostly known for his Origin of species, but his last publication was on the subject of earthworms and the vital role they can play, now known to restore carbon from plant growth back into the soil. For that to happen, new methods of rearing animals are needed, such as 'mob grazing' (described in the film, Kiss the ground). Indeed, Darwin said, 'It may be doubted if there are any other animals which have played such an important part in the history of the world as these lowly organized creatures.'
Controlling insects with pesticides can still be necessary, but better still to choose flowers which attract insects that will eat aphids you don't want - 'Marmalade fly' hoverflies especially are very good at that, along with ladybirds and lacewings (as every gardener now knows). And for pollinators, bumblebees will fly even in poor conditions but they do need tussicky grass in field margins to overwinter, often in small mammal holes.
Peter began by comparing British farming in previous decades with what's happening now. Most farms used to rotate arable with dairy, beef, sheep or pig rearing and that was highly beneficial to wildlife. But now the country is broadly divided into vertical strips down its length, with purely arable mainly on the eastern side and animal farming increasing to the west. (More rain so more grass, maybe?) A particular problem has been autumn ploughing, which has left the land bare through the winter with no stubble to prevent soil erosion in heavy rain and resulting pollution of waterways with fertilisers and pesticides.
What is required to help wildlife recover is year round care – nesting habitats, summer food for the young and food throughout the winter. And it can be done. On Peter's own farm, wildlife was declining like others but within five years populations were back up to levels of the 1960s.
Peter trained as agronomist so can now talk about getting best of both worlds. Pesticide use is still very important but caring for the soil as much or more so, and this has been largely ignored until recently. Darwin is mostly known for his Origin of species, but his last publication was on the subject of earthworms and the vital role they can play, now known to restore carbon from plant growth back into the soil. For that to happen, new methods of rearing animals are needed, such as 'mob grazing' (described in the film, Kiss the ground). Indeed, Darwin said, 'It may be doubted if there are any other animals which have played such an important part in the history of the world as these lowly organized creatures.'
Controlling insects with pesticides can still be necessary, but better still to choose flowers which attract insects that will eat aphids you don't want - 'Marmalade fly' hoverflies especially are very good at that, along with ladybirds and lacewings (as every gardener now knows). And for pollinators, bumblebees will fly even in poor conditions but they do need tussicky grass in field margins to overwinter, often in small mammal holes.
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To make a difference, such changes need to be on a 'landscape' scale, hence the 'farm clusters' now established throughout the UK and notably in our own backyard in the Chalke Valley, southward round Martin Down on Cranborne Chase and in our own Nadder Valley, where Peter Shallcross now leads the new Farmers Group.
We can be encouraged by the work done, for which Payments out of Government (ie taxpayers') funds are almost always one of the four essentials along with People, Planning and Passion. |
The latter three are definitely not in short supply so let us hope the first can withstand the assault of COVID and BREXIT. (This video is of the famous 'jangling keys' song of the corn bunting, now on its way back in this area thanks no doubt to our Farm Clusters.)
For more information about these Farm Clusters, go to their website: it's a fascinating read.
For more information about these Farm Clusters, go to their website: it's a fascinating read.
Thursday, 15 October
David Waters The Great Bustard Project
David Waters The Great Bustard Project
A bustard running - NB not taking off - see story. Photo: Sabine Maesky
David Waters' talk about the Great Bustard Project was a wonderfully cheering way to spend a dark October evening. The last Great Bustards were shot in Wiltshire in the 1873 but over the last 30 years David's almost single-handed determination has brought the British population back to stability with over 100 birds now settled on Salisbury Plain. As David said in his talk, people travel thousands of miles to Antarctica, but right here on our doorstep are some of the most amazing and handsome birds on earth.
Bustards do fly – back in 2011 I relayed a report in I think Focus, that one had been seen over the Fonthill Lake and was thoroughly ridiculed for it. But although they are the heaviest of flying birds, they didn't think twice about heading off to Toulouse when they were doing their winter 'dispersal', which some of the hand-reared young did in the early days of the project. Because they have very long and strong legs, they don't need a 'runway' but pretty well do a 'vertical take-off'. Something that makes them welcome in our county is that they do virtually no damage to farmland or crops.
Bustard chicks rely on Mother to be fed – for the first seven days, every hour - and how to keep them wild when they're being hand-reared is a challenge. They can be fed by a puppet with a Mother Bustard head but disguising the human who cleans out the pen is more of a problem – leading to the design of what bears an uncomfortable resemblance to what we now know as PPE. Once chicks hatch successfully, they stay with their mothers longer than usual, often till the following January.
The collective noun for Bustards is a 'drove', and the first drove arrived in 2004. The survival rate for the first two years was 20%. But in 2007 the first eggs were found, with two females incubating a total of 8 eggs although none of them hatched. Almost certainly they were infertile because the females were too young, ie only 2-3 years old when they really need to be four or five years old to breed successfully.
Because of problems evolving with the original source of eggs in Russia, research was undertaken to identify which of the other Bustard populations from right across Asia and southern Europe would be as or more suitable for the UK project. DNA samples were taken from the original British bustards, now stuffed (ie, taxidermied!) and in private house collections – there is of course one in the South Wiltshire Museum in Salisbury – and it was found that the Spanish population was nearly identical, where the largest population is north of Madrid in Castile-Leon.
Eggs are taken very early in the season, so that the birds can lay a second clutch – which they often have to do as a result of natural predation. Finding a nest is incredibly difficult because the females lie so 'close' – they are virtually the same colour as the soil and almost flatten themselves into it. So finding them visually proved extremely difficult and in the end dogs were found to be most effective at sniffing them out.
The collective noun for Bustards is a 'drove', and the first drove arrived in 2004. The survival rate for the first two years was 20%. But in 2007 the first eggs were found, with two females incubating a total of 8 eggs although none of them hatched. Almost certainly they were infertile because the females were too young, ie only 2-3 years old when they really need to be four or five years old to breed successfully.
Because of problems evolving with the original source of eggs in Russia, research was undertaken to identify which of the other Bustard populations from right across Asia and southern Europe would be as or more suitable for the UK project. DNA samples were taken from the original British bustards, now stuffed (ie, taxidermied!) and in private house collections – there is of course one in the South Wiltshire Museum in Salisbury – and it was found that the Spanish population was nearly identical, where the largest population is north of Madrid in Castile-Leon.
Eggs are taken very early in the season, so that the birds can lay a second clutch – which they often have to do as a result of natural predation. Finding a nest is incredibly difficult because the females lie so 'close' – they are virtually the same colour as the soil and almost flatten themselves into it. So finding them visually proved extremely difficult and in the end dogs were found to be most effective at sniffing them out.
The first chicks to arrive of course had to be hand-reared, but it seemed this had the effect of making them disperse over quite long distances over the winter – one was traced as far as Toulouse in France, but sadly nothing was heard of that one again. Now the chicks are reared naturally by their mothers, this winter dispersal no longer happens.
This year, because spring was extremely wet followed by the very dry weather, no nests were found in the usual nesting area – but then eight were found in nearby lucerne. Because this has to be cut for silage, the eggs had to be removed and incubated and the mothers did then lay a second clutch in their usual breeding area.
This year, because spring was extremely wet followed by the very dry weather, no nests were found in the usual nesting area – but then eight were found in nearby lucerne. Because this has to be cut for silage, the eggs had to be removed and incubated and the mothers did then lay a second clutch in their usual breeding area.
Handsome is as handsome does - a well-preened male bustard showing off to his rivals.
Bustards have some unique characteristics including that they have three forward-facing toes and they don't have a 'preening gland' - when preening for their mating-season 'displays' from late January onward, the males instead use 'powder down' which is UV sensitive so the plumage fades during the day.
COVID has meant that the Great Bustard Project needs financial support more than ever, but this can be anything from just £10 to sponsor a chick and receive updates on its progress over the year, up to Life Membership at £600.
Go to www.greatbustard.org for details.
COVID has meant that the Great Bustard Project needs financial support more than ever, but this can be anything from just £10 to sponsor a chick and receive updates on its progress over the year, up to Life Membership at £600.
Go to www.greatbustard.org for details.
Thursday, 17 September
Alex Deacon, Catchment Partnership Manager at the Wessex Rivers Trust
We were very pleased to be able to hold this Talk.
Alex is a Tisbury resident and an environmental scientist by training who well understands the complex environmental challenges that face our rivers. He joined the Trust after a spell in the North West as an ecological consultant, carrying out impact assessments for a wide range of infrastructure and restoration projects. Before that he worked for the Environment Agency monitoring fisheries and the environment in the Thames region.
Alex Deacon, Catchment Partnership Manager at the Wessex Rivers Trust
We were very pleased to be able to hold this Talk.
Alex is a Tisbury resident and an environmental scientist by training who well understands the complex environmental challenges that face our rivers. He joined the Trust after a spell in the North West as an ecological consultant, carrying out impact assessments for a wide range of infrastructure and restoration projects. Before that he worked for the Environment Agency monitoring fisheries and the environment in the Thames region.
Tuesday 18 February 2010
Marilyn Boyd-Korkis of the Wiltshire Wildlife Hospital gave a fascinating and entertaining talk - from which we also learned a lot of do's and don'ts - about their work at Newton Tony, where they provide a 24-hour rescue and advice service for Wiltshire’s sick or injured wildlife.
Marilyn and Mike are helped by many volunteers to care for and prepare for release back to the wild in and around the Wiltshire area any wild animal that is rescued - mammals, birds and reptiles. At any one time there may be over 250 hedgehogs as well as foxes, herons, seagulls - you name it it's probably being cared for, even on one occasion a missing leucistic (white) pet skunk! All with donations! All animals admitted are given the same care and attention, regardless of species.
Marilyn Boyd-Korkis of the Wiltshire Wildlife Hospital gave a fascinating and entertaining talk - from which we also learned a lot of do's and don'ts - about their work at Newton Tony, where they provide a 24-hour rescue and advice service for Wiltshire’s sick or injured wildlife.
Marilyn and Mike are helped by many volunteers to care for and prepare for release back to the wild in and around the Wiltshire area any wild animal that is rescued - mammals, birds and reptiles. At any one time there may be over 250 hedgehogs as well as foxes, herons, seagulls - you name it it's probably being cared for, even on one occasion a missing leucistic (white) pet skunk! All with donations! All animals admitted are given the same care and attention, regardless of species.
21 January 2020
The first indoor meeting of 2020 was given by Ashley White of Wiltshire Wildlife Trust about two nature reserves near Tisbury. Ashley is the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust manager for the South Wilts reserves and has overseen the extension of two local sites in the last two years - both depend heavily on volunteers for a lot of very valuable work.
Ashley described the enormous amount of work required to make the Semley Woods reserve safe for visitors to enjoy - not least the removal of a lot of fly-tipping, one batch of which included one of those delightful long-tailed fieldmice/woodmice, which happily was discovered before it was too late. Oysters Coppice now has more woodland to the west, plus the more open habitat of Gutch Common SSSI to the east.
Coombe Bissett Down NR is another SSSI and now covers 88 acres of superb chalk downland, rich in grassland flora and invertebrates - the butterflies are of special interest and now have a designated bank sown with their food plants. WWT’s own herds of sheep and cattle graze regularly.
The Society arranged a visit to Coombe Bisset Down in June 2019 - for an account of this, see FIELD TRIPS/What you missed - and we have a return visit scheduled for July this year.
There is also a visit scheduled for 2 May to Semley Hill and Gutch Common - go to the Field Trips page for information.
The first indoor meeting of 2020 was given by Ashley White of Wiltshire Wildlife Trust about two nature reserves near Tisbury. Ashley is the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust manager for the South Wilts reserves and has overseen the extension of two local sites in the last two years - both depend heavily on volunteers for a lot of very valuable work.
Ashley described the enormous amount of work required to make the Semley Woods reserve safe for visitors to enjoy - not least the removal of a lot of fly-tipping, one batch of which included one of those delightful long-tailed fieldmice/woodmice, which happily was discovered before it was too late. Oysters Coppice now has more woodland to the west, plus the more open habitat of Gutch Common SSSI to the east.
Coombe Bissett Down NR is another SSSI and now covers 88 acres of superb chalk downland, rich in grassland flora and invertebrates - the butterflies are of special interest and now have a designated bank sown with their food plants. WWT’s own herds of sheep and cattle graze regularly.
The Society arranged a visit to Coombe Bisset Down in June 2019 - for an account of this, see FIELD TRIPS/What you missed - and we have a return visit scheduled for July this year.
There is also a visit scheduled for 2 May to Semley Hill and Gutch Common - go to the Field Trips page for information.
17 December 2019
John Akeroyd, who lives nearby, is a leading botanist, advocate for native wild plants and flowers, author of the ‘Encyclopaedia of Wild Flowers’ and ‘A Guide to Wild Flowers of the British Isles’.
He is a leading expert and author of a definitive guide to the remote Saxon villages of the Southern Transylvania region of Romania, where the countryside presents a remarkable survival of medieval landscape. His talk was about the history of the area, the role of the fortified churches, how villages are evolving and the non-intensive mixed farming which achieves an ecological balance with nature and wildlife, all set amongst old-growth woodland and wildflower-rich hay-meadows. He works there with ADEPT Transylvania Foundation advising the farmers of the region on how best to conserve their heritage.
John Akeroyd, who lives nearby, is a leading botanist, advocate for native wild plants and flowers, author of the ‘Encyclopaedia of Wild Flowers’ and ‘A Guide to Wild Flowers of the British Isles’.
He is a leading expert and author of a definitive guide to the remote Saxon villages of the Southern Transylvania region of Romania, where the countryside presents a remarkable survival of medieval landscape. His talk was about the history of the area, the role of the fortified churches, how villages are evolving and the non-intensive mixed farming which achieves an ecological balance with nature and wildlife, all set amongst old-growth woodland and wildflower-rich hay-meadows. He works there with ADEPT Transylvania Foundation advising the farmers of the region on how best to conserve their heritage.
19 November 2019
Farming & Wildlife Advisory Group
Living as we do in an 'Area of outstanding natural beauty' with farms, forests and and open countryside, we were very pleased that Gary Rumbold, the General Manager for the South West, was willing to come all the way from Wellington to talk to us on a subject which Chairman Peter Shallcross said is 'close to his heart'.
FWAG was set up just 50 years ago, by farmers working with farmers 'to promote and enhance the conservation of wildlife, the environment and the landscape in relation to modern agricultural needs (see their website, https://www.fwagsw.org.uk/Pages/News/
Amongst the many telling points Gary made was the implication of the fact that 'you can't be green unless you're in the black', ie the conflict between the need to produce at internationally competitive prices and the actual cost of enhancing the environment at the same time, and the role of agricultural subsidies in achieving break-even between the two.
Gary described projects close at hand - working with the Fonthill Estate to reduce nitrate run-off by ensuring fields are not 'bare' in the winter; the Kingfisher project working with young people based at Sutton Mandeville, and the local farming corridor focusing on species such as harvest mice, where farmers had become quite competitive in seeing who could find the most! He also cited the example of Waitrose's strong corporate responsibility ethos, working with farmers and suppliers continually to increase positive impact on the environment.
As news of serious flooding again grabs the headlines, Gary also mentioned the EU's Water Framework Directive, under which few catchment areas in the UK would achieve 'good ecological status' by the deadline but under which much good work was being done by eg FWAG's Natural Flood Management plan to increase water-retention by improving the quality of the soil and the need to use Ferric Phosphate instead of Mataldehyde to control slugs etc.
Also of interest was FWAGs service in the recycling of farm plastics, which was being reviewed in light of the refusal of China and Malaysia to continue receiving this type of waste.
Gary said that the new Environmental Land Management Scheme which would replace the EUs CAP could be really good because it provided a big opportunity for farmers to participate in achieving the required 'public goods' in terms of environmental outcomes, although the end of the Basic Payments which ensured that farmers earned at least the national minimum wage could obviously be problematic for some.
See https://www.fwagsw.org.uk/Pages/News/ for descriptions of the very many projects undertaken by FWAG in the current and previous years.
Farming & Wildlife Advisory Group
Living as we do in an 'Area of outstanding natural beauty' with farms, forests and and open countryside, we were very pleased that Gary Rumbold, the General Manager for the South West, was willing to come all the way from Wellington to talk to us on a subject which Chairman Peter Shallcross said is 'close to his heart'.
FWAG was set up just 50 years ago, by farmers working with farmers 'to promote and enhance the conservation of wildlife, the environment and the landscape in relation to modern agricultural needs (see their website, https://www.fwagsw.org.uk/Pages/News/
Amongst the many telling points Gary made was the implication of the fact that 'you can't be green unless you're in the black', ie the conflict between the need to produce at internationally competitive prices and the actual cost of enhancing the environment at the same time, and the role of agricultural subsidies in achieving break-even between the two.
Gary described projects close at hand - working with the Fonthill Estate to reduce nitrate run-off by ensuring fields are not 'bare' in the winter; the Kingfisher project working with young people based at Sutton Mandeville, and the local farming corridor focusing on species such as harvest mice, where farmers had become quite competitive in seeing who could find the most! He also cited the example of Waitrose's strong corporate responsibility ethos, working with farmers and suppliers continually to increase positive impact on the environment.
As news of serious flooding again grabs the headlines, Gary also mentioned the EU's Water Framework Directive, under which few catchment areas in the UK would achieve 'good ecological status' by the deadline but under which much good work was being done by eg FWAG's Natural Flood Management plan to increase water-retention by improving the quality of the soil and the need to use Ferric Phosphate instead of Mataldehyde to control slugs etc.
Also of interest was FWAGs service in the recycling of farm plastics, which was being reviewed in light of the refusal of China and Malaysia to continue receiving this type of waste.
Gary said that the new Environmental Land Management Scheme which would replace the EUs CAP could be really good because it provided a big opportunity for farmers to participate in achieving the required 'public goods' in terms of environmental outcomes, although the end of the Basic Payments which ensured that farmers earned at least the national minimum wage could obviously be problematic for some.
See https://www.fwagsw.org.uk/Pages/News/ for descriptions of the very many projects undertaken by FWAG in the current and previous years.