Francis’s thoughts – Page 2

February 12, 2020

Back in the Raspberry Fields

I know that I have been casting my mind back a lot more recently and this has been down to the constant number of reports I have read in the last few months that tell of the decline of many species that were common when I was a child in the 70s and the 80s. This fact really hit me hard the other day after watching the small flock of 21 Linnets on the Lammas fields in Godalming. The other factor is that I’m getting old!

After seeing these Linnets, I suddenly thought about when I was a child; part of my school summer holidays were spent in Raspberry fields. I was already supposed to be helping my mother pick the soft fruits but spent most of the time wondering about playing with the other kids there in the fields. There was a wheat field at the bottom of the raspberry lines. Often there were small birds feeding on the field edge and they would fly into the lines of raspberries when disturbed by noisy children. Often whilst walking along the lines you could hear a loud twittering, buzzing, whistling and trilling song of the Linnet. I distantly remember nests being found in the Raspberry bushes and remember seeing eggs and young in the nest. I also remember how efforts were made to steer a few bushes clear ‘of the nest site to try and let them carry on undisturbed. As I got older and starting venturing further afield in the Kentish country I realised that Linnets were relatively common birds of grasslands, farmland, hedgerows, coastal salt marshes, sand dunes and a few other habitats that can provide a good supply of seeds of both wildflower and agricultural type. Typical of the finch family, Linnets rely on a good supply of seeds to see them through the winter. The field near me does have a good supply of wildflower seeds and this is the logical reason why I have seen this little flock

Now I have to be honest and say my recent sightings haven’t given me the best views as it was in poor light and the birds were quite restless just before roosting. Linnets are members of the finch family and around 14cm in length that look quite slim in appearance. Their winter plumage sees brown streaks on chest and flanks with a white belly and a greyish head and brown flecks across brown wings with a medium length tail with a small notch. Male birds have a pinky buff colouration on the chest but the sexes are much easier to distinguish during the breeding season when the males have a bright pink chest with a flash of pinky red just above the bill in the grey head that all beautifully contrast with chestnut brown wings, a pinkish rump and white belly. Females are typically subtler and lack the pink colours but are beautifully streaked with browns and greys. The habitats that they breed in has to have thick cover for nest building and they like to build in thick hedges, Gorse and Bramble bushes to name a few. Here in Surrey they are often found breeding in stands of Gorse found on the heathland areas. Like other seed eating species, they change their diet during the breeding a bit to incorporate insects that they will feed to their young for vital proteins.

Linnets breed across Europe to north Africa and eastwards to central Russia. Birds that breed in northern and eastern Europe will migrate south and west during the winter months and some of these birds will spend the winter in the UK. In the past I have seen, in the early spring, migrant birds on the east coast heading north possibly on their way to Scandinavia or Russia.

The status of Linnet in the UK has been declining steadily since changes in agricultural practices have occurred since the end of the second world war. With the mass use of herbicide and pesticides and the ‘ cleaning up’ of agricultural land that has occurred in this time, many species of our native wildlife have badly suffered. Like many small seed eating bird species, Linnets have suffered with the loss of winter stubble fields that used commonly occur throughout our countryside. This habitat was a vital winter food source to this and many other species and good fields would often provide food throughout the winter. Linnets scientific name is Lineria cannabina which shows how long their association with seed supply has been observed, for Hemp used to be commonly grown as an agricultural type crop across Europe. Strangely enough back in 2000 a number of experimental Hemp crops were grown around Guildford and in the autumn, I observed a flock of about 150 Linnets along with various other finch species and House Sparrows all feeding on the hemp seed. I think this was one of the last stubble fields I have seen in Surrey. Interestingly enough from the mid 1980s the population decline steadied and levelled until further declines were noted from the mid 1990s and the reason being for this was probably due to the increased planting of Oilseed Rape crops that provided a vital seed supply for the Linnets. This point shows us how birds will adapt to new food supplies and on another level, this shows how government agricultural policy can affect the wildlife in that area but unfortunately most polices seem to have harmed our wildlife rather than helped it. Interestingly enough, of all of the local breeding Linnets I know of, are all in conservation areas and not on agricultural land. Proves the point really. I’m sure there are a few pairs on some farms locally but probably not as many as there used to be.

My recent observations have made me happy to know that there are still in the area and I will try to keep a closer eye on the situation this year and hopefully find a few pairs of breeding Linnet in the loyalty and look forward to hearing their amazing song in the spring being sung by a pinkie brown male bird in a Gorse bush. Keep your eyes and ears open for them when you’re out and about and you will see and hear what I’m talking about. Good luck!

News Update

At least 48 birds were observed going to roost the following evening. There’s a few more about than I realised which is good to see

January 23, 2020

A little bit is worth a lot.

When I am out and about looking for wildlife I always look at the habitat I’m in to guide me to think about the potential species that may be encountered. If you visit an area with any regularity you will see certain species in certain areas and can therefore gain knowledge about the species and what requirements they like and need within that habitat. I regularly visit the river and fields here in Godalming and within these habitats there are micro – habitats that look to the untrained eye, untidy or messy. I am referring in particular to one micro habitat that anyone who takes time to walk in the country or has a garden will probably be familiar with and that is the bramble patch.

The Bramble or Blackberry is a very common plant found throughout the UK in a variety of habitats from woodland to moorland. It can grow in soils that are acidic and low in nutrients which leaves very few areas that you will not find a bramble patch. Brambles are very familiar to most people from the fact they are found everywhere and most of us have picked Blackberries in late summer at one time or another in our lives. Humanity has been doing this for a very long time as there are records of blackberry seeds being found in the stomachs of Neolithic ancestors. If humans and our relatives have been eating Blackberries for so long you can guarantee that the wildlife has been doing the same and this week whilst looking at a bramble patches near home, not only was I inspired to write this piece but was inspired to write this because of observations of wildlife involving brambles.

Why is the Bramble such a good species for a whole host of other wildlife? There are some pretty obvious examples of their importance with the Blackberry its self being the most obvious example as many species will feed on Blackberries. They form a vital food source for resident and migrating birds and gives birds energy that are vital for growing and undertaking migration. I remember when I was bird ringing years ago that when we caught birds in August / September they would leave us with a purple blackberry dropping showing us what they had been feeding on and showing the importance of Blackberries in the food chain. They are regularly eaten by Badgers and foxes and I saw Pine Martins eating them whilst I lived in County Fermanagh and a host of insect will find use for them and so from this range of species you start to understand the importance of this species.

Before the fruit appears the white or pinky white flowers provide a valuable nectar source for Honey Bees, Bumblebees, Butterflies and Hoverflies

I have often enjoyed good views of a variety of butterfly species feeding on blackberry flowers including species like Purple Hairstreak which can be lured away from their usual tree top habitat to feed on bramble flowers. Even the leaves of the plant are eaten by some moth species caterpillars and grazed by Roe Deer.

If Brambles are left alone they can grow into quite large patches and these larger patches of Bramble then offer species a place to nest, rest, hide and roost. You probably know from your blackberry picking experiences how sharp the thorns on brambles are and when bramble patches get established they are like a mini fortress that some predators would find difficult to gain access to. Many UK song birds will nest in established bramble patches and over the years I have observed many different species in this habitat. Many Sylvia warblers that migrate to the UK each spring will nest in brambles and this includes Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, Garden Warbler and Blackcap. These scrubland warblers find Brambles perfect for their requirements with good nesting sites, good food4 availability, protection and warmth. All in all, this nightmare of the gardeners, this plant that I have heard people describe as messy is a very valuable part to the UK countryside.
And so, the inspiration for this piece came on two near dusk visits in the last week where in my mind I was meant to be looking for Barn Owl but was distracted by the activity around a bramble patch. I was watching a flock of tits when I saw several birds fly into the bramble patch and whilst searching through the patch I saw3 Blue Titsa Dunnock a couple of Wrens and then a Goldcrest and then another Goldcrest and this turned into at least 4 Goldcrest possibly more hiding in the Bramble fortress. As if this wasn’t interesting enough as I was trying to get a view of the Goldcrest when a small flock of Linnet suddenly flew in and settled in the bramble patch. I knew that there was a more than usual number of Linnets than I have observed here before.

Linnet is one of those unfortunate species that has declined dramatically due to changes in agricultural management. Normally a couple of pairs breed in this area each spring and they are maintaining a foothold but I was unaware that they were roosting there. I was also slightly frustrated as I wasn’t sure how many were actually in there as it was by then getting dark and the birds were in the bramble calling away. I returned the next day at the same time and saw a flock of 13 Linnets!

Yet again I felt a strong sense of irony as I stood and watched these fascinating aspects of wildlife on my righthand side for over the river on my left-hand side was a busy noisy super market carpark. If I think about all the wildlife I have seen standing on the path by the river there I am amazed how tolerant the wildlife has become of the urbanisation of this area.

Have a good look at a bramble patch next time you are out and about and you never know what may be lurking in there. Looks can be deceiving and because of the way older bramble patches may look in the obsessive neat and tidy world we live in. As I have hopefully shown you, Blackberry / Bramble is a very important species for a whole host of other species and should be left to grow where ever suitable habitats are available.

I’m well aware of how much gardeners hate Bramble as if unchecked it can take over areas but it can be cut and managed and you can still get the benefits of this familiar plant that I have discussed.

January 23, 2020

January blues?

So, it’s a new year with our new government and as I find a little time today to do some work in the garden I realise that the problems in our environment are ongoing and from looking at the reserve/garden today I see that it is having an effect on us here in Surrey, all over the country and the whole world.
For a few weeks I had been looking at the amount of green vegetation that was still growing and obviously not dead despite it allegedly being the middle of winter.

Now , I’m fully aware that I write about the weather in pretty much most of the articles I have written here but Im sure you all understand the importance that our weather plays in the natural world and the un-natural world that humanity has created. For all ages of people who read this, there have been have been significant changes within their lifetimes. The statistics are ever changing with temperature and rainfall records being broken on a regular basis.

And if you take a look around the world at this precise time we see Australia burning, Delhi experiencing record low temperatures and Jakarta flooding to name a few examples of the extreme weather conditions that are now occurring around our globe with more regularity. I won’t repeat myself but looking at the reserve garden I can see the effects of climate change here, where we live.

When I was out the back looking at the plants I could see that some species had set their seed and had died off normally possibly caught by the couple of hard frosts that we have had in early December.

For these species the chances of seed production should be good and hopefully ready to start growing in the spring. I noted that many species were still growing new basal leaves, and the usual suspect, Creeping Buttercup were actually invading ground that I had cleared ready for the spring and were starting to undo some of the work I’d already done. I spent 20 minutes digging a few hundred of them out but there is every chance they will regrow if the weather stays mild.

Looking at this I thought about the articles I have read about how climate change is now confusing many of our species about when to breed or flower. I can see this on the reserve and along with the vegetation some of the local resident birds were in full song and behaving in a territorial manner and although Mistle and Song Thrushes routinely sing and hold territories during the winter months I was slightly surprised to hear Blackbirds in full song just before Christmas. We are living in some rapidly changing times and we are still not totally sure of what the results of this will be and how it will affect the environment and humanity its self.

Well despite all of this the natural world will keep on trying to survive and as I said the resident birds are starting to prepare for the breeding season and along with the already mentioned species I am also hearing Nuthatches, Great, Blue and Coal Tits, and Dunnocks, Wren and Robins on most days.

This winter I have put very little bird food this winter as it’s been so mild and I don’t want a rat invasion again but I have noticed regular Wood Pigeons, Robin, Dunnock and was delighted the other day to see 6 House Sparrow feeding on plants in the reserve and I’m fairly sure these sparrows were feeding on poppy seeds that I had left to go to seed. The plan is coming together and various local species of various wildlife groups are using the area. The regular badger motorway cafe is established and I spotted one the other night on the road out the front the flats on her/his way to search for the next meal. I’m looking forward to see what other species of wildlife I can see in 2020 and will continue, in my own little way, to improve habitats for the local wildlife and see what I can attract to the area. As I’ve said before if people made their gardens more wildlife friendly, we could all help the dwindling wildlife populations and apologies for repeating myself about it but we can all help by doing our bit

December 9, 2019

What is going on?

When we watch and observe wildlife, there are two questions that generally come into our heads (well they do in my head anyway!) and they are what is it and what is it doing. The identification of species can be extremely easy and extremely difficult depending on the species in question. I know I have spent many hours trying to find out the identification of a whole host of UK Wildlife and have learnt a great deal over the years. After identification is established you start to look at what is this species doing and why have I found it here. With these thoughts you are starting to enter the science of behaviour.

The behaviour of our wildlife can be studied on all sorts of levels from casual observations to full blown PhD studies. For us humans who have an interest in the wildlife around us and take a bit of time to observe it, there is nearly always something to see and understand.

When I try to think of the thousands of occasions I have observed wildlife during the course of my life, I realise that I have been very fortunate to see these things, but I have witnessed a lot of wildlife species and a lot of behaviour.

One thing I have realised is that you can never stop learning about the behaviour of wildlife and often you see them do things that you weren’t expecting. The behaviour of a species can depend on many different factors like where they are, when they are observed, the age of individual and the weather to name a few of the many factors and I find it fascinating how individual species can behave differently in different habitats. I recently observed this with two very familiar bird species that are commonly found in a variety of different habitats. Birds in general are one of our most observed wildlife groups and my observation also has a common factor that they involve food, a very important area of a bird existence and all other species in reality. The food in question was provided by other humans as well.

A few weeks ago, I had to attend a hospital appointment and the clinic I was attending was in an outbuilding that had some bird feeders outside the window. I naturally gravitated to a seat close by and watched the comings and goings at the feeding station. I was quite amused to see up to see up to six rabbits grazing on the grass area around the feeding station which was being visited by a good array of species with Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Blue Tit, Coal Tit, Great Tit, Robin and Dunnock all being noted. There was also a Carrion Crow

and a Wood Pigeon

on the ground collecting all the bits that had been dropped. The behaviour of these two species caught my eye and made me ask myself a few questions about this vast subject.

Both these species are familiar and are commonly seen in a variety of habitats which indicates their adaptability and both species have been reasonably well studied and their behaviour is well known. The crow family are known to be highly intelligent and capable of problem solving generally in order to obtain that all important food. Over the years I’ve watched Carrion Crows, feeding on afterbirth of newly born lambs, dodging cars on motorways to eat the run over pheasants, grabbing sandwiches out of bins, catch a live eel and seen their close relative, the Hooded Crow, drop shells on roads to crack them open to show some examples of their ingenuity.

All this behaviour shows a distinct intelligence and shows why the crows are generally doing well in the UK.
Now the other species I mentioned, the Wood Pigeon, is also a familiar sight in a variety of habitats and in recent times has spread into urban areas and is now a familiar sight in many UK towns. I have observed many Wood Pigeons over the years and watched flocks of 1000s feeding on winter fields, seen them stuffing down acorns, watched migrant birds arriving from the continent and in more recent times they are regularly attracted to bird feeding stations. Wood Pigeons seem to be mainly interested in two things; food and sex. The food issue seems to be relentless in their daily lives apart from when their having sex! So, as I sat and watched the bird feeding station at the hospital, the Wood Pigeon was busily hoovering up all the left overs but seemed to get quite agitated when the Carrion Crow arrived. The Crow was typically flying in and grabbing a few beakfulls of food before flying off. I thought this was quite normal behaviour knowing how wary they are when so close to humans. After a few minutes I watched the crow repeat this procedure but this time was what I can only describe as ‘attacked ‘ by the seemly enraged Wood Pigeon. It seemed a little strange to me as I assumed, the Carrion Crow with its hefty bill and ability and intelligence to defend itself against a Wood Pigeon. The Pigeon repeated this manoeuvre on a number of occasions as I waited for my appointment, all with the same result.

Why was this happening? Did the Wood Pigeon see the crow as a threat to its food supply? Was it an inbuilt mobbing reaction to the crow knowing that Carrion Crows will regularly eat Wood Pigeons eggs and young or was it something else? I was a little puzzled and even more so a few days later as I stood in my partners house and watched the birds in the back garden busily feeding on the delights that had been put out for them. It wasn’t long before a couple of Wood Pigeons appeared below the feeders. They started to feed but were quickly dive bombed by one of resident Carrion Crows who chased them out of the garden as quickly as possible. My mind instantly went back to my hospital visit! I continued to watch for 20 minutes and saw the same behaviour on 3 more occasions. These resident crows had often been observed chasing Magpies, Collared Doves as well as Wood Pigeons

In my mind these Carrion Crows were defending a food source that they used regularly and by chasing the Wood Pigeons and other species mentioned away they were protecting a valuable food source and were prepared to aggressively defend this valuable food source. So, the behaviour of these two species appeared to be completely different at these two locations and looking at some of the reasons I’ve explored here I feel it’s safe to say that the aggression shown by both species was about protecting food but am still questioning the apparent reversal of aggression shown at the t wo different sites. As I said earlier there are potentially many reasons why these species behaved in the ways I observed them and I could waffle on about possible theories but in an ideal world I could spend time at both sites observing the behaviour to try and uncover more evidence to aid my understanding. This is starting to sound like a PhD study! I’m not that intelligent and unfortunately have real life to contend with as well but what I have tried to show you with my simple observations is an introduction of what you can observe yourself if you take a little time to watch our wildlife. As I said earlier there are always several factors that influence how species behave and the more observation, the more knowledge gained which in turn may lead you to more understanding.
Next time you are out looking at wildlife I suggest you take a few moments longer when you see a species and see if you can note any behaviour patterns, you never know where it may take you and the species in question. Go and see what you can discover!

November 21, 2019

Will Things Change?

The environment, the natural world, wildlife decreases, climate change and various other environmental issues under a variety names have never been in the general media as much as they are currently. Every newspaper will have a story somewhere about the perils that the natural world and humanity faces in the time we live in. Personally, I am pleased that more awareness to these serious issues is being made more public and also the fact that many more young people are challenging the way we live and the affects humanity has on the world environment, these are all moves in the right direction. I am slowly starting to feel that public pressure is working and was encouraged to see and hear people at the Extinction Rebellion demo in London the other week and to see how many people had gone out to let politicians know that it’s not just few hippies that are worried about the environment. I met and talked with many different people on the day I went up and in general felt encouraged that 1000s of people are willing to talk about the issues and hopefully make a difference.
We are, as always, are in the hands of government and as you have probably gathered from some of my previous articles I have, in the past, had little or no faith in politicians when it concerns the environment and so you can imagine my joy to find out that we were having another General Election on December 12th. Its obvious that the public pressure about environmental issues is starting to have an effect on the various political parties that will be standing at this next election. Good job as its about 50 years or more too late.

With this added political madness of an election I have been trying to keep tabs on what the various parties are saying about environmental issues and what they propose to try and do to halt the destruction of our country and planet.
There have been a few interesting things said already but I’m still feeling sceptical about some of these big claims
So, we currently have all the political parties claiming that they will make a significant change in policy, trying to halt the environmental crisis. Whoever wins next month has a lot of big promises to live up to and despite my scepticism and fears I also feel quite intrigued to see what actually happens and as always, cling to the hope that serious change will happen. We shall see …..

Before any serious change in the UK starts, we the voters have our own personal decisions to make about who we may vote for and we have to ask ourselves what are the most important issues that this country faces. I read an article last week saying that despite the pressure from many people and despite all the scientific data that has been accumulated about environmental issues, the environment in general is only the 4th most important point that a poll of UK voters named. I find this an equally worrying statistic despite many of the points I raised earlier about being in the news on a daily basis, the British voter still needs to wake up more and think more about the state of the planet we all live on. Unsurprisingly the number one reason given in the above-mentioned poll was Brexit, which in my nature conservationist mind has been a very dangerous distraction from the environment crisis.

I ask all readers of this site to think of environmental issues before you vote and I’m certainly not going to talk political viewpoints or make suggestions on how/who you should vote but if you genuinely care about our planet and its wildlife you will be thoughtful about where you put your mark.

October 17, 2019

Connections

I realised the other day that it had been quite a long while since I had written about the progress of my wildlife garden/ reserve. As I thought about this, the news of the latest report on the state of the UKs wildlife was being reported by the mainstream media and although the two different points, my reserve and the state of the country’s wildlife may seem very different, there are connections between the two and some hope to be found. So, with this piece I write a “two in one” , information on my back yard and some of the points raised in the latest report on our wildlife.

Firstly, the back yard.
The weather over the summer was quite variable, there was no long weeks of sunshine this year and there were quite a few days of overcast and rainy weather. Even with this variable weather the temperatures overall were warm again with some record temperatures being recorded in July. The reserve has shown progress in the variety of flowers that have come in to bloom with over 50 species now being recorded and with these flowers there seemed to be an increase in the variety of insects that have been noted in the area.

This increase in insects has obviously come from the increase in flowering plants which as we know are vital food sources for many insect groups and not just the obvious groups like bees and butterflies with hoverflies, Hairy Shield-Bug and Bristle Thighed Beetle all being noted.

After all these points I’ve made about the insects and the flowers in the reserve I’ve realised that I have not mentioned that the reserve is only getting about 2 hours of direct sunlight each day which will have an effect on how the plants grow and which insects may occur.

I noted that butterfly activity is at its peak in the sunny couple of hours in the morning and would become less so when the area when shaded. It never seemed to bother Large and Small Whites much and they were ever present from July to September with a few still about in early October.

In nature this is common and environments will adapt to availability to the suns and its movement.

As I look at the site now I am making plans for some winter work to increase the sunlight in the area.
Two bird species have increased in breeding numbers quite dramatically over the last 20 years and one of them, the Red Kite, can now be described as common in many parts of the country, including here in Surrey. The reintroduction of this species has led to 1200 breeding pairs present in 2018. They have been greatly aided by various conservation organisations and have even become tourist attractions as some people have started feeding them. The other species I saw had increased was the Bittern, a heron species that needs large reedbeds to breed in but can be found in smaller reedbeds when on wintering grounds. In 1997 there were only 11 calling males heard during the breeding season and the
the Bittern faced extinction for a second time. Conservationists started a scheme to protect, enhance and create habitats that were suitable for breeding Bittern. 20 years on and the UK has its largest Bittern population it has ever recorded with 188 booming male birds being recorded from over 70 different locations nationwide last year and there have been a few locations around Surrey where birds have wintered so how long will it before there’s a big enough reedbed for them to breed in? There’s the clear evidence that if humanity helps our natural world and its inhabitants nature can recover which takes me back round to my reserve/ garden where 18 months ago there was an area of rank overgrown grassland full of old rubbish and now there are many species of wildlife using the area to feed, breed and prosper. If this was done by more people over larger areas of our country and world-wide we may have a chance to repair some the damage that humanity has caused.
Let’s do what we can and see if people worldwide can make a difference politically and physically.

August 14, 2019

Never Seen That Before…..

Over the many years of observing wildlife I’ve heard the phrase ‘never seen that before ‘ uttered many times either by myself or my friends with me. To me, this is one of the joys of studying wildlife and I always know that I will never be bored because there so many facts concerning the wildlife that is around us and without the best memory of our own observations or having so much time to continually observe wildlife we can never know everything about all the species that are present around us. The chance of observing something new is always a strong possibility whenever you go out to look for wildlife and if you see something new it often means you will learn something new as well.

After saying all that, sometimes you get to see things by people telling you of their observations. Over my many years of observing wildlife I have often looked at wildlife that others have told me about. The well-known grapevines amongst birdwatchers have existed for many years and have spread to many other groups of wildlife enthusiasts such as butterflies, dragonflies and moths. These days with internet, mobiles, pagers and various other modern communications; news of wildlife sightings can be shared with potentially thousands of people. However sometimes the old-fashioned way of people actually talking to each other still works and the other day this proved the case when my partners daughter returned home to inform me of loads of large moths in a tunnel by the playing fields in the village. After harassing me for a while, I walked down to the village with her to be directed to said tunnel. I jumped down into the nearly dried out stream and entered the tunnel and turned on the torch on my phone and was amazed to see a large number of Old Lady moths roosting on what you would call the roof of the tunnel.

My first word was ‘ wow ‘ quickly followed by ‘ I never seen that before ‘. Previously I had only ever seen single individuals and was unaware that they roosted communally in tunnels near water. I have learnt quite a bit about this species since I observed this roost the other day and the information that was given was by a teenager has also amazed me! It all goes to show that you can never be sure of what you can see out there and its sometimes worth investigating information that people give you as you could see something new or different.

I was very happy and grateful to observe these Old Lady moths and it re reminds me that you never know what you can see in the natural world. Keep your eyes and ears open and you never know what could happen out there.

July 25, 2019

Bucking The Trend

As we have now actually experienced some typical mid-summer weather in the last couple of weeks, I made the most of my not enough spare time and got out for a few expeditions and at four of the sites I visited, one species seemed ever present and that was the Marbled White butterfly.

This striking butterfly has been a joy to watch on areas of unimproved grassland and open chalk downland areas along the Hogs Back. I saw my first ever Marbled Whites over 30 years ago at a chalk site called Folkestone Warren in Kent and remembered being impressed with this eye-catching yet subtle at times species. I’ve had the pleasure to work at a number of sites where they occurred and have always been impressed by their colours and behaviour.

In my recent wanderings I have been really pleased with the numbers of individuals that were on the wing and at one site along Hogs Back well over 150 were present and we also saw them on the grass verges along the A31 as we went home. The visit to Broadstreet Common near Guildford was nothing short of spectacular with 100s being present. It was almost an idyllic image of high summer in an English flower meadow; idyllic apart from the roar of the busy main road only a few 100 meters away!

Me and Steve who was with me, remarked on the good numbers present. I recalled a paper I had read recently saying unlike many butterfly species, Marbled White is a species that is spreading and increasing in numbers in this country.

Before we look at why this species is doing well in the UK it’s probably worth pointing out a few facts about this eye-catching species. Its name for a start is misleading although understandable as Marbled Whites are not even in the same family as Large, Small and Green Veined Whites which belong to the family called Pieridae. Marbled Whites belong to the family called Satyridae which contains mainly brown species including Meadow Browns, Gatekeepers and Ringlets which are species that are often seen alongside Marbled Whites. There habitat preferences are similar to with unimproved grasslands often being popular for all of these ‘brown’ butterflies. All of the species just mentioned lay their eggs on various grass species and the Marbled White prefers Red Fescue and Sheep’s Fescue although has been recorded on other grass species. These fine leaved grasses provide the caterpillars with all the food necessary to reach a size to pupate. Marbled Whites over winter as caterpillars and are at a very vulnerable at this part of their lifecycle as disturbance of sites can be life threatening during cold winter weather. They normally bury themselves in grass tussocks in cold weather. If they survive the winter they begin to feed on new grass growth in the spring. They enter pupation late May and early June and can be seen as adults from late June through to August.

So, what has happened in the UK over the last 40 years to create the spread and explosion in numbers in recent years. When I was a teenager and first started taking a real interest in butterflies, I associated Marbled Whites with chalk downland and read that it also occurred in Limestone and sand areas as habitats of preference. Since those days this species has spread into new habitats like the previously mentioned unimproved grass land areas. Broadstreet Common near Guildford is a site I have known of for nearly 30 years and it is only in the last 10 years that Marbled Whites have occurred there. So why is this happening? The answer is a very familiar one and probably won’t shock you to find out the biggest reason for the spread of the Marbled White in the UK over the last 40 years is the heating up of our planet. This is the key reason why there are more about nowadays and to a smaller part their colonisation of different habitats as Broadstreet Common shows driven by the warmer temperature we have been experiencing in recent times. Butterflies across the world are feeling the effects of global warming already as the Marbled White and several other species in the UK are already showing. I feel caught between a rock and hard place over this issue as watching the Marbled Whites has been a brilliant experience and to have seen many so close that you could see the slight variations in the markings between the male and females’ butterflies, the male being smaller and darker than the larger females with their brown/orange hues on the undersides of the wing being noted.

Only in the future will we see how far the effects of global warming can affect our insect populations. I do advise you to go and have a look at some Marbled Whites if you get the chance for they are beautiful butterflies and should be on the wing for a short while yet for you to find them and it’s worth checking the grasslands near you to see if any are about. Good luck and enjoy

July 1, 2019

Have a Close Look

A couple of weeks ago I was looking at bees in the reserve and one caught my eye. I instantly knew it was a species I was unfamiliar was and after a little research and help it was identified as a Tree Bumblebee. I was pleased as it was a new species to me and helped to add more information in my quest to learn about bee identification and their habits and requirements. They are very handsome bees with a unique colour formation amongst the UKs Bumblebees. They have a very gingery fury thorax and its very eye-catching and was the feature that drew my attention to it originally. So far, my observations have all been made of individuals feeding on flowers in the reserve and I have seen them seen them feeding on 7 different flowers so far.

I did some reading up after seeing them on my reserve and discovered a lot of interesting facts about this species.

This attractive Bumblebee has only been recorded in the UK from 2001 when there were first sightings were at a Wiltshire site. Since its arrival it has done something that most other UK bee species are not doing, increasing and spreading rapidly, and is already in southern Scotland and Ireland. It doesn’t seem to be slowing down much in spreading and will probably be seen throughout the UK within a couple of years. I had least 3 feeding the other day out the back on the reserve.
The effects of this species have yet to be studied properly but a positive effect can be seen already with the fact that they will pollinate other plants and flowers. With the drop-in numbers of other bee species, additional plant pollinators are to be welcomed.

Their name comes from their original choice of nest site but now it seems that nest sites can include; bird nest boxes, loft space in houses and even specially built bee nest boxes. They have also been known to use holes in the ground like many of the other bumblebees and this shows that they are an adaptable and opportunistic species. In other parts of their range populations can reach the arctic circle. From the looks of things, and with the continued warming of the climate, it looks like Tree Bumblebees will keep spreading. I’m quite glad as I think they are an attractive and helpful specie to have around in the UK. We shall see what long term affect their presence will have on our countryside.

Keep your eyes open in your gardens and you may well have some around you.

June 12, 2019June 12, 2019

So Far

This morning I was looking at the reserve and assessing the work that I need to do. I noted that there was a total of 15 flowering species out and thought t to myself that none of these species were growing here a year ago. I then remembered the date and realised that it was exactly a year to the day that I started working on the site and it seems a good time to chart the progress of impact my work on the local wildlife.

The aforementioned flowering plants have not only bought colour to the site but have attracted a host of insects to the area. A total of 9 bee species have been recorded at the site so far and in the last week I have noted various species feeding on the flowers that I had planted in last 12 months. Bees were one of the many reasons for creating this site and it has pleased me to see the variety of species present. Hopefully even more species will be seen with further habitat improvements.

Being quite an obvious group of insects, they are quite easily seen and one of my neighbours recently said that he had never seen so many bees in the area as he had in last year. This is the kind of thing I wanted to create and for my neighbour to say this recently means that my habitat improvement is working in a relatively small space of time.

It is a basic understanding that flowers will attract insects and insects will attract more insects which in turn will provide food for larger life forms such as birds.

Again, birdlife has become more obvious since the clearance and replanting began. The clearance of the woodland area has created some space and even though I haven’t had my bird feeders going for a few weeks now there are regular visitors to the cleared area including Jay, Song Thrush, Blackbird, Mistle Thrush occasionally and the local Stock Dove dropped in early one morning recently. There are the regular common species ever present and I have a pair of Wrens in the pile of brash that have been feeding young but sadly the local Robins chicks were killed by cats. Its hardcore out there.
In the management of woodlands, the areas with most biodiversity are the woodland edges and although it is very early days in improving the woodland area there are signs that the local wildlife is reacting and benefitting from the changes I have made. Over the course of next winter more work shall be undertaken to try to improve the area. Birds are similar to bees in the fact that some species are very obvious and again this has been noted by my neighbours and I’m having regular conversations with them about the birds that they have seen out there. As I said earlier when my neighbours are remarking on the wildlife, I know that the big plan is coming together.
As I reflect over the progress over the last year I am starting to put together species list of the different wildlife families that I have seen in and around where I live and its starting to look quite impressive with 47 Macro moths, 11 butterflies, 53 birds, 7 mammals, 3 Hoverflies

and the aforementioned 9 bee species. To me this is just the beginning and I again have a feeling of hope for the well-being of our environment in the future when I looked at what I have achieved over the last year. Now all we need to do is start serious habitat creation on a much larger scale and is a government responsibility. I wonder how much they have been listening in recent months. Us everyday people can start the small-scale change in our gardens, if you have one, as I have been doing. My project is on-going and I still have many hours of work ahead of me but if the improvements in the wildlife keep occurring I’m more than happy to carry on and we shall see what the next year brings.