SHROPSHIRE
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SEND IT BY OWL Hidden in a drawer in almost every house is a defunct mobile phone. Why not turn it into cash to help wildlife? By sending it off in a special barn owl envelope supplied by Shropshire Wildlife Trust you will earn up to £10 for the Trust. Contact us stating how many envelopes you would like and please remember to tick the Shropshire box on the back of the envelope. |
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WILDLIFE WEEK (A TRIPLE BILL)
Visit a farm rich in wildlife, find out about birds of the Montgomery canal or discover the flowers of Oswestry racecourse during this year's Wildlife Week (triple bill) 29 May - 21 June 2008. A special Monsters in your Garden event for families will be held in Shropshire Wildlife Trust's garden in Shrewsbury. Events are being arranged by Wildlife Trusts all over the UK to encourage people to go out and explore their local wild places over the summer. There are also opportunities to help out on nature reserves and learn wild plant identification skills. "This is also great time of year to visit a Wildlife Trust nature reserve. Wildflower meadows and hedgerows are ablaze with colour and bird numbers are boosted by the arrival of summer migrants like chiffchaffs and blackcaps, who visit the UK to breed. You could also see many of the UK's species of butterfly, dragonfly and damselfly. A nature reserve in early summer really is a fantastic day out," said Jan Mckelvey, conservation manager. Simon King, vice-president of The Wildlife Trusts, added: "When I was a kid, going to school in the late 70s and 80s, I did so on foot. The route took me through a patch of woodland in Bristol, surrounded by the city. Every morning I would wake at dawn and set off to ramble in the woods; looking for birds' nests, climbing trees, searching for water voles in the stream and sitting in meadows, sweet with buttercups. "Each morning I would reach the school gates with green knees, torn cuffs and hair filled with pine needles. It was the foundation of my passion for the natural world and I was enormously lucky to have been able to indulge it then. "I would urge families to get involved with nature in some way and The Wildlife Trusts' Wildlife Week (triple bill) is one of the best ways to start." 
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Thursday 29 May Saturday 31 May Monday 2 June Sunday 8 June Wednesday 11 June Saturday 14 June |
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CLOUD-SPOTTING Everyone should take a couple of minutes in the day to look up at the sky and watch the clouds. That is the message Gavin Pretor-Pinney gave to Shropshire Wildlife Trust's Sara Bellis when she interviewed him for a podcast this month, available now from www.woodlanereserve.co.uk. Gavin is the author of the bestselling Cloud Spotter's Guide and founder of the Cloud Appreciation Society. The beauty of clouds, he says, is that you don't have to live in an area of outstanding natural beauty to experience them, "they are the last wilderness" and free for everyone to enjoy. He talks about the different kinds of clouds found in different places and also the pleasure in simply watching them drift overhead. 
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PODCASTS Podcasts about local wildlife and wild places are released every month via the Wood Lane Nature Reserve website: www.woodlanereserve.co.uk. Other podcasts currently available include an informal interview with TV vet and wildlife presenter Steve Leonard and news from Wood Lane, Shropshire Wildlife Trust's wetland nature reserve near Ellesmere. The podcasts are produced by John Harding with interviews by Jo Darlington. Podcasts can be downloaded to your computer and saved, so you can listen to them when you want to, just as you can certain radio programmes, either on your computer, on an MP3 player or on an ipod. You can either download podcasts directly from the iTunes website or from here. If you don't want to download them on to your computer click here for an alternative way to listen. |
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NOW IS THE PERFECT TIME TO SEE BLUEBELLS You can see them on our nature reserves at Earl's Hill, Pontesford; Bushmoor Coppice (north of Craven Arms); Hope Valley, Minsterley or The Ercall, Wellington. Look out too for wood sanicle, early purple orchids and vast coverings of wild garlic with its spherical heads of starry flowers. |
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WELLIES FOR WILDLIFE WEEK Would you like to wear your wellies, have fun and raise a few pounds for wildlife? Well now's your chance as Wellies for Wildlife Week is approaching! For one day, you simply ask everyone to come along to work or school in their wellies (nice, shiny clean ones!) and pay a set amount for joining in. Or you could ask people to sponsor you to do this on an individual basis. You might like to organise a welly wanging contest or a lunch-time splash in puddles. If you'd like an information pack about Wellies for Wildlife Week please email |
JohnH@ShropshireWildlifeTrust.org.uk |
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DAWN CHORUS - THE ULTIMATE MALE VOICE CHOIR Birds with the biggest eyes sing earliest (they're better equipped to spot hungry owls) and those that sing longest are likeliest to attract a mate. The mysteries of the dawn chorus have long invited the curiosity and debate of scientists, but beyond question is its loveliness. Join us at an event Sunday 4th May Sunday 11th May Wednesday 14th May |
... Or you can listen to this recording of birdsong by Shropshire's renowned recorder of birdsong Heather Myers by clicking on the play button below. It was recorded at East Wretham, Norfolk in 1986 and includes blackcap, pheasant, blackbird, willow warbler, wood pigeon and turtle dove. |
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SHROPSHIRE ROOKERIES SURVEY County rookeries were last surveyed in 1975 when 455 sites were reported containing 12,004 nests. So, more than three decades on, are those sites still active and are they the same size? Where are the new ones and has the overall population changed? The March/April 2008 survey gives you a chance to help answer the questions. There is a very simple form to fill in - just send details of who you are and where and how big each rookery is. These and other details about the survey can be found at www.lanius.org.uk You can look for 1975 rookeries on an aerial photograph by following the links to GoogleEarth. You might like to cover your parish, which might include three to five rookeries. Your help will be acknowledged in the final report. |
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OPENCAST COAL MINE THREAT Shropshire Wildlife Trust has formally objected to UK Coal's application to operate an open cast mine near the village of New Works in the Parish of Little Wenlock, Telford. The Trust considers this to be a wholly inappropriate development in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. We have the following particular concerns:
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NEST BANK FOR KINGFISHERS Volunteers with Shropshire Wildlife Trust have made a kingfisher bank at Wood Lane Nature Reserve, near Colemere. "Kingfishers are regularly seen fishing the pools at Wood Lane, but don't actually have anywhere to breed here," said John Powell, reserves officer for the Trust. "They normally make use of holes in river banks, so what we're doing here is constructing something that resembles that - a bank about 13' x 3' - with drainage pipes inserted for nesting holes." Kingfishers had a rotten breeding year last summer as many of their riverbank nest holes were flooded because of exceptionally high rainfall. The Wood Lane nesting bank will give them an ideal breeding site. "As we arrived on site to start making the nesting bank a kingfisher was perched on a post," said John. "We're very hopeful the bank will be used in the coming spring." |
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TELFORD YOUTH PROJECT Young volunteers in the Telford area, aged 16-25, are being encouraged to develop ideas on how to protect and improve their local environment - and put them into practice. The young volunteers will have their work recognised through the John Muir Award scheme. This encourages awareness and responsibility for the natural environment, in a spirit of fun, adventure and exploration. If you are aged between 16 and 25 and want to put something back into your community, wherever you live, contact Stuart Jones via the contacts form on this website, selecting the Volunteering option. This project will bring together a group of young people to develop their involvement in the environment both through practical conservation work, arranging events and through recording their experiences on film, via a blog and podcasts. They will have the opportunity to meet people from other Veolia youth projects and share what they've learnt. 
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Viva Veolia is a new project funded by The Veolia Environmental Trust (VET) through the Landfill Communities Fund, and v, the youth volunteering charity, which will see £500,000 spent at eight local project sites across England over the next two years. This will enable eight Wildlife Trusts across the UK to support young volunteers as they help to improve their local environment. Executive director of The Veolia Environmental Trust, Margaret Cobbold, said: Terry Ryall, chief executive officer of v, said:
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THE HOLLIES APPEAL A grant from the Tubney Trust towards Shropshire Wildlife Trust's purchase of The Hollies on the Stiperstones, means that the appeal target of £250,000 has now been reached and the purchase can go ahead. It has been the Trust's most successful appeal ever with more than 600 people contributing a total of £35,000. A substantial Heritage Lottery Fund grant, awarded in December, helped make our target achievable. "The Hollies has struck a chord with everyone who has visited it," said John Hughes, development manager for the Trust. "And people who have never seen it before have sought it out as the result of the publicity. We're absolutely delighted to have reached the target and would like to thank everyone who has contributed so generously." |
The Trust is aiming to complete the purchase in April.
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THE QUEEN'S SPEECH 2007: The Wildlife Trusts today said the focus of The Queen's Speech appears to prioritise and promote economic growth at all costs - and relegate the natural environment. Hazel Phillips, head of public affairs, said: "This is a disappointing bag of measures for the natural environment and wildlife. At a time when we are already seeing the effects of climate change we should be making decisions which enable it - and us - to survive. "The Planning Bill is promoting changes which push the planning system away from valuing the natural environment. The latest round of planning reforms has been fast-tracked through the system. The proposals started to emerge from the Barker Review - reported less than a year ago. A White Paper followed this May. No draft Bill. Yet today, there's a promise of a Bill. "By contrast, a much needed Marine Bill is slow-tracked. Year after year, we have been tantalisingly close to getting a Bill in each Queen's Speech. A Bill was a commitment in |
the 2005 Labour manifesto. Since then we have had two consultations. Now we only have a reference to a draft Bill with no guarantee of it reaching the statute book. This Queen's Speech gives the Marine Bill a low priority. With only 0.001% of our sea protected, we urgently need to improve the protection and management of our marine environment. "One kernel of hope is the Climate Change Bill. It should provide some focus for enabling government across the board to consider how we adapt to climate change. For our natural environment and wildlife, many decisions taken by government could help or hinder our natural environment to adapt. But will the other powers in The Queen's Speech undermine the Bill's carbon reduction targets?"
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TEN YEARS OF SCIENCE SWEPT AWAY Sir David King's report on bovine TB in cattle and badgers sweeps away 10 years of science, say The Wildlife Trusts. Stephanie Hilborne, chief executive of The Wildlife Trusts, said: "It is a clear attempt to bring culling back on the agenda and flies in the face of science, public opinion and common sense. The Independent Scientific Group (ISG) has already given us the definitive scientific view that badger culling provides 'no meaningful contribution' and is 'not cost effective' as a control measure for combating bovine tuberculosis (bTB)." The Wildlife Trusts accept TB in cattle is a significant problem for farming in the UK and that urgent action is required to combat the disease. We particularly recognise the important role the livestock industry can play in the environmentally-sensitive management of the countryside and the serious disruption and anxiety caused to farmers experiencing a herd breakdown. However, The Wildlife Trusts believe the report produced by Sir David King does not provide any new data to inform the scientific debate on badgers and bovine TB. It ignores issues such as the cost effectiveness or practicality of any action and does not provide a balanced view of the issue. It also fails to consider the efficacy of cattle controls which are important mechanisms for controlling the spread of the disease. We do not believe Government should use this report as the basis for future policy on bovine TB. With no background or terms of reference, this report has been developed behind closed doors despite the significant public interest. We are therefore concerned that it is more about political expediency than science, particularly in the face of overwhelming evidence provided by the ISG in June. The ISG report represents 10 years of science, millions of pounds of research and the involvement of tens of scientists. It concluded: "Badger culling can make no meaningful contribution to cattle TB control in Britain. |
Indeed, some policies under consideration are likely to make matters worse rather than better." And that badger culling is not a 'cost-effective' control mechanism. The Wildlife Trusts believe the following cattle-based control measures must be rigorously enforced to control bovine TB:
We also accept that bovine TB is in the badger population and that badgers, along with other native mammals, may act as a reservoir for the disease and a source of bovine TB infection in cattle. We believe that research to reduce potential re-infection from wildlife populations should be progressed, specifically looking at demographic trends behind the perturbation effect and the development of an effective vaccine for badgers. |
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OSWESTRY'S GREEN NETWORK A report published by Shropshire Wildllife Trust, Oswestry's Green Network, details the rich variety of wildlife living in and around the town, and calls for safeguards to be put in place to prevent wild space being lost to development. Lapwings nest on farmland within a mile of the town centre, bluebells wash the slopes of the hill fort misty blue in spring and otters swim silently along the Morda brook, to the west. Within the town itself however, wildlife has continuously been edged out as ground has disappeared under tarmac and concrete. Oswestry's network of green spaces and wildlife corridors has fragmented and shrunk significantly since the Trust's last survey in 1992. The losses incurred over the last 15 years make it all the more crucial that surviving wild areas and green corridors be given recognition within the Local Development Framework (LDF). Shropshire Wildlife Trust is calling for specific actions to protect the green heart of the town and its immediate environs. These are:
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Information for the Oswestry Green Network report was collected by volunteers taking part in the Oswestry Green Network Survey, co-ordinated by the Oswestry Branch of Shropshire Wildlife Trust. The report is downloadable in pdf format here. |
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TELLING NATURE'S STORIES Shropshire Wildlife Trust has produced its first audio trail. Fittingly, this is for our very first nature reserve - Earls Hill. Here you can listen to stories of life around Earl's Hill past and present, discover the world within an anthill and find out how to tell a hazelnut nibbled by a dormouse from one broken open by any other mammal. You can find out what birds sing here at different times of the year and hear how Earl's Hill was described in Mary Webb's novel, Gone To Earth. Producing this guide would have been impossible without the help of two vital volunteers - John Harding and Jo Darlington. John provided the technical skills of recording and editing, and Jo narrates the guide. |
The audio trail is available in MP3 format here. To download directly to your computer, right click the link and select "save target as". Please note this file is very large (20MB) and only recommended for download via a broadband connection. |
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BERNARD THE GURNARD JOINS THE CALL FOR A MARINE BILL The Wildlife Trusts are scaling up their Petition Fish campaign with the introduction of Bernard the Gurnard, an animated online petition. The Petition Fish campaign, launched in June at the House of Commons, aims to demonstrate public support for a Marine Bill. You can sign the petition HERE A Petition Fish is also on display at Shropshire Wildlife Trust's HQ in Shrewsbury and across the UK thousands of people have already signed their names on gold and silver scales and attached them to the fish. The campaign will reach a climax on Wednesday 10 October when 200 Petition Fish will return to Westminster for an event with MPs. The following week, the petition will be delivered to Downing Street, in a final bid to keep the Marine Bill afloat. Marine development manager, Lisa Browning, said: "The Wildlife Trusts have been campaigning for many years for new laws to protect marine wildlife. The Government promised a Marine Bill in 2005 but we're still waiting for it. There have been two major consultations but, in spite of all the work that has gone into it, the Government's enthusiasm for a Marine Bill seems to be waning. The Bill wasn't even in Gordon Brown's list of priorities for the coming year. "That's why the Petition Fish campaign is calling for the Marine Bill to be included in the Queen's Speech in November - which would show a renewed commitment from the Government to improve the protection and management of the UK's marine environment." |
About Bernard... Bernard is a red gurnard, a bottom-feeding fish which lives in sandy areas around the UK coast. Gurnards have two unusual features: they can walk (using slender 'fingers' - actually fin spines - to creep along the seabed) and they can 'talk' (they grunt and croak, perhaps to communicate with each other). |
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FIGHT FUTURE FLOODING BY WORKING WITH NATURE As the nation now analyses the flood devastation suffered over recent days, The Wildlife Trusts urge Gordon Brown and his new government to make the environment the top priority and work with nature in dealing with the impacts of climate change. This current crisis stems from years of building on flood plains, our over-reliance on man-made flood defences, and the removal of wetlands which can act as natural sponges, soaking up water and slowing it down in times of flooding. The Government can now react in one of two ways; by creating hard large-scale flood defences or take a different approach to flood management and work with nature. The Wildlife Trusts believe working with nature is vital. We need to revise our policies on water, agriculture, planning and regeneration. We need to restore ecosystems on a landscape scale. We need to re-create wetlands and manage our uplands to slow down run-off into rivers and streams. And we need to ensure that, when we do need to build, that this is in the right place and done in the right way. The River Severn has once again burst its banks in Shropshire and beyond, causing floods and wreaking havoc. If the flood plains around the Severn Vyrnwy were managed as wetlands, to soak up rainfall from the Welsh hills, the tide of water would be slowed down and the problem eased. "In the face of climate change we must restore our ecosystems and natural processes at a speed and on a scale we once would have thought impossible. We need to restore |
and create 'living' landscapes to allow people and wildlife the room to adapt to climate change. Gordon Brown's government can lead a revolution in our approach to the natural environment through serious investment in habitat restoration and re-creation." The Wildlife Trusts' report, A Living Landscape, demonstrates how we are working at a landscape scale to prepare people and wildlife for climate change. The report has a four-point plan which calls for urgent Government action in addressing climate change and restoring the UK's battered ecosystems across our towns and countryside. For further information please contact Colin Preston, Director of Shropshire Wildlife Trust, 01743 284286. |
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SAFEGUARDS NEEDED FOR TELFORD'S GREEN NETWORK The continuous loss of Telford's green space to development is bad news not just for the town's wildlife, but also for the people who live there and even the town's economy. Enormous pressure is being put on the area as Telford has been targeted as one of the main growth areas for the West Midlands. It is anticipated that 1000 new houses each year will be built up until 2021. As well as housing, this will inevitably entail further development in the way of roads and other associated infrastructure. Telford New Town's extraordinarily imaginative development plan integrated wild landscapes into a new town as never before in the UK- or perhaps since. Its intricate, spacious green network is not just an environmental asset, it's an economic one too, providing tranquil and pleasant surroundings to live and work in and 45 miles 
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of footpaths to enjoy among fields, hedgerows, canals, ponds, heathland and woods. And it's singing with wildlife. "The green network is a defining characteristic of the town," said John Hughes Shropshire Wildlife Trust's Development Manager. "It gives the town an especially attractive quality, setting it apart from many other urban areas. "The challenge that lies ahead is to plan carefully where development can take place and where it must not. Green space is treasured because it brings people in touch with wildlife and wild places on a daily basis where they live and is also recognized as economically valuable, as a pleasant environment helps attracts business to the area. We have to be very careful that this special characteristic is not destroyed in the rush to meet development targets," argued John Hughes. Shropshire Wildlife Trust recommends that:
More information can be found here. |
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SHROPSHIRE POND PROJECT A project has been launched by Shropshire Wildlife Trust to find out about the county's ponds and what lives in them. It is estimated that there are around 10,000 field ponds in the county, but surprisingly little is known about what creatures and plants inhabit them and what state they are in. The Trust is now appealing for anyone with an interest in ponds, frogs, water beetles, dragonflies, newts or aquatic plantlife to join us in this project. No prior knowledge is needed, just enthusiasm and curiosity to know more. The project is looking for people to do basic surveys of their local ponds (not including garden ponds) and also providing opportunities for those wishing to learn more about particular areas of aquatic life. The co-operation of landowners will be sought before any surveys are carried out. Training courses will run to support the project, given by national experts via the |
Biodiversity Training Project funded by Heritage Lottery Fund and Preston Montford Field Studies Centre. With knowledge of the different kinds of plant and animal life in Shropshire's ponds it will be possible to make recommendations about how they can best be protected and looked after in the future. If you'd like to know more, please contact Frances Riding, co-ordinator of the project (01978 710408). |
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Shropshire Wildlife Trust, 193 Abbey Foregate, Shrewsbury SY2 6AH. Tel: 01743 284280. | |||
