[14/06/2011]
Earlswood Wildlife Partnership
Newsletter 4
Annual General Meeting
The Annual General Meeting was held at Earlswood Village Hall on Monday 16th May. Chairman Ron Hill reported on the workshops (mammals / butterflies and moths / wildflower), walks (dawn chorus / autumn / bluebell) and the activity nights (moths and bats) which have taken place since the last AGM and which were well attended - 23 at the last bat night which was enjoyed by all! He also reported on the progress made with the tern raft project and the installation of 70+ bat boxes.
A presentation was given by Chris Redstall of Keep Britain Tidy (Waterside Care Project Officer) who spoke about the urgent need to clean up the lake feeder streams and remove the invasive Himalayan Balsam. If you would be prepared to help in this project please let us know and working parties can then be arranged in conjunction with Chris and the Residents Association.
Moth Traps
As you may know EWP have 5 Moth Traps and identification books, supplied from the funding secured for us by Izumi Segawa of Warwickshire Wildlife Trust.
These traps have been loaned out to members since March this year and have provided a fascinating insight into the moths that can be found in the Earlswood area. Cheryl and I have run the trap overnight in our garden on 8 occasions and have identified over 30 different species to date (see photos below). Identifying some of the species has been at times challenging but fascinating and Izumi is always willing to help!
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| Sallow Kitten |
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| Peppered Moth |
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| Elephant Hawk Moth |
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| White Ermine |
If you would be interested in the loan of a moth trap in the future please get in touch and let us know. They are easy to set up and all you need is a suitable electric point (we run an extension lead through the cat flap!) - as always we can be contacted at ewp2010@btinternet.com.
Forthcoming Events
Saturday 18th June 11am – 5 pm – Visit Notcutts Meadow
Sunday 19th June 11am – 4pm - Visit Notcutts Meadow
A chance to visit an orchid filled ancient meadow.
Entrance at the rear of Notcutts Garden Centre
(No charge but donations to WWT welcome)
Saturday 2nd July 8:30pm until 1:00am - Moth Night in Clowes Woods
(No charge but donations to WWT welcome) meet at Wood Lane car park
Sunday 10th July at 10am to 1pm – “Balsam Bashing” at Clowes Wood
Meet at Wood Lane car park.
Please wear working clothes, boots or wellies and gloves.
Bob
(Bob Roberts – Membership Secretary)
[05/03/2011]
Earlswood Wildlife Partnership
NEWSLETTER 3
First of all we have some great news – Thanks to some excellent work by Izumi we were successful with a grant application that will provide funding for a number of projects. The grant will be administered by the Warwickshire Wildlife Trust and will go towards education and training and allow us to buy much of the materials and equipment we need.
We have an outline plan for the year as follows:-
Activity | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
Wildlife Gardening | Grow plants in gardens | Workshop | Enjoy garden | Collect seeds | Workshop | |||||||
Building tern rafts | Workshop | Terns arrive in the UK | ||||||||||
Bat | Workshop | Build &Install boxes | Survey | Bat survey | Records collection | |||||||
Bird | Workshop | Build &Install boxes | Records collection | |||||||||
Moth | Workshop | Run moth traps in gardens | Workshop | Run moths traps in gardens | Records collection | |||||||
Butterfly | Workshop | Survey | Records collection | |||||||||
Hedgerow | Workshop | Survey | Records collection | |||||||||
Watervole & mink | Workshop | Survey | Workshop | Survey | Records collection | |||||||
Otters | Workshop | Survey | Workshop | Survey | Records collection | |||||||
Dates we have so far are:- (all starting at 10am)
Saturday 26th March Butterfly and Moth Survey workshop
Saturday 2nd April Water Vole, Otter and Mink Survey workshop
Sunday 3rd April Install Bat Boxes (*see Paul’s report below)
Saturday 9th April Hedgerow and Wildflower Survey workshop
But we need your help! - Please let us know if you want to take part as we need to know how many people to expect. You can contact us on ewp2010@btinternet.com and I will get back to you with further details.
We have already made progress on the tern raft with some prefabrication work completed and we have a “launch” date of Sunday 13th March.
Wild flowers
Ron has grown lots of wild flowers from seed but will soon have to find some more room for all of the growing plants. We will be looking for people willing to ‘baby sit’ some plants until they are ready to be taken to their final site. There is no need for a green house just some sheltered spot in the garden or on your patio will do, so let us know if you are willing to help.
Paul Wilkinson – Bat report
“ Last year’s bat surveys were a real success, with Earlswood Lakes being one of the most active British Waterways Reservoirs in the West Midlands for bats.
The most numerous species of bat recorded during 2010 was by far the Soprano Pipistrelle, followed by the Daubenton’s Bat and Common Pipistrelle.
The Common Pipistrelle can be distinguished from the Soprano Pipistrelle quite easily using a bat detector as the Common Pipistrelle calls at a main frequency of 45khz whilst the Soprano Pipistrelle peaks at 55khz. The other species encountered included our largest bat, the Noctule Bat and a recording of what was probably the Nathusius Pipistrelle, a rare species in the UK.
For 2011, we shall be carrying out some more surveys and we have a very exciting bat box project to start! We shall be installing 100 bat boxes to form a very important bat -monitoring programme for Earlswood Lakes and Clowes Wood.
This is exciting as it gives bats a helping hand by providing bat roosts and a chance for people to see bats close up, with the possibility of recording any of the 9 or so regional species (out of the 18 species of bats in the UK).
Bats are very important allies, consuming huge amounts of pest insects that otherwise cause damage to crops and trees and insects that have the potential to spread disease to livestock and people.”
So exciting times ahead – please be part of it!
There will be Bat and Moth walks later in the year – we will bring you up to date in our next newsletter.
Forthcoming events
Sunday May 1st (International Dawn Chorus Day) – Dawn Chorus walk staring at 4:30am
Two “Bluebell Walks” with Ron Hill will take place through Clowes Wood :-
Sunday 15th May at 2.30pm
Saturday 21st May at 10.00am
Meet in Wood Lane car park. Cost £2 (towards upkeep of wood)
Finally - do not forget our AGM Monday 16th May 7.30 at the Village Hall
Come along and see what we have been up to – looking forward to seeing you there.
Bob Roberts (Membership Secretary)
[07/11/2010]
Earlswood Wildlife Partnership
NEWSLETTER 2
Rare plant find at Earlswood Lakes
In September botanist Brian Laney reported the discovery of a number of plants of Northern Yellow Cress (Rorippa islandica) growing on the edge of Earlswood Lakes. This is the first record of this plant in Warwickshire and the furthest east it has ever been found in the UK. Brian’s identification of the plant was later confirmed by Dr Tim Rich of the National Museum of Wales.
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| Northern Yellow Cress on the edge of Earlswood Lakes. |
Paul and Ron on BBC “Midlands Today” programme
You may have seen our very own Paul Wilkinson and Ron Hill interviewed by BBC Midlands Today on Monday 1st November. Our two experts were asked to give their comments on a recent survey carried out by British Waterways of canals, rivers and lakes that shows increased numbers of many wildlife species including kingfishers, newts and toads. “We are all more aware and positive towards the environment” said Paul and explained how, given suitable conditions, kingfishers could increase their numbers rapidly even after such a hard winter as we had last year.
Ron stated that although there was a general decline in the numbers of grass snakes, in our area they seemed to be doing quite well.
Overall the findings of the survey were very positive and it does show that greater environmental awareness and local conservation groups are having a beneficial effect on wildlife populations.
Lets hope Paul and Ron’s new found celebrity status does not go to their heads too much and they can keep their feet firmly on the ground!
Autumn Woodland Walks
The two walks that took place in October were very well attended, in all more than 40 people came along and were fascinated by the amount of fungi that were discovered and the information that Ron gave about them. It is good to see that so many people are interested in the flora and fauna of our local area. If you could not come this time why not join us on future walks to discover more.
Don’t forget!
Illustrated talk “Wild Wonders of Earlswood” by Ron Hill (as seen on TV!)
At Earlswood Village Hall on Monday November 15th at 7:30pm.
Cost £2.50 (including tea and biscuits)
And Finally
Thank you to everyone that responded to the questionnaire; Izumi has drawn up an activities / project planner and once we have more detailed information about the various activities we will contact all of you that offered your services. If you have not yet responded or did not receive a questionnaire and would like to volunteer your services, please contact us at ewp2010@btinternet.com , see me at the talk on 15th November or contact a member of the committee.
Bob Roberts (Membership Secretary)
[11/09/2010]
Earlswood Wildlife Partnership
Dear Member,
Welcome to our first newsletter! We hope to bring you regular news and updates of events.
It was good to see so many interested people at our first meeting and equally gratifying that so many were willing to help form a committee and you will be glad to know that the new constitution has been drawn up and agreed.
The Earlswood Wildlife Partnership (EWP) is a partnership between local residents, British Waterways, Warwickshire Wildlife Trust, Local Authorities and other interested groups. The Partnership Steering Committee will meet regularly to plan how best to achieve its aims and objectives and monitor the results.
The aim of the partnership is to enhance the biodiversity of Earlswood for the benefit of its wildlife and the local and wider community now and in the future.
A full copy of the constitution is available for viewing at Earlswood village hall.
If you know of anyone who is interested in becoming a friend of EWP please pass on a copy of this newsletter. I can be contacted by email at ewp2010@btinternet.com
A project to build a tern raft has now been costed and approved – further details to follow.
A number of other projects have been proposed such as building and setting up nest boxes for birds and bats, planting wild flowers and various surveys, but all of these projects will rely on members’ participation If you are interested in helping could you please take a few minutes to complete and return the attached questionnaire. Once we know what people are prepared to do we can get some of these projects underway.
Forthcoming events
Two “Autumn Woodland Walks” will take place through Clowes Wood:-
Saturday 16th October at 2:00pm
Saturday 23rd October at 10:00am
Meet in Wood Lane car park. Cost £2 (towards upkeep of wood)
Walks are in the company of warden Ron Hill whose extensive knowledge is guaranteed to make these walks very interesting for all who attended.
Ron will also be giving an illustrated talk entitled “Wild Wonders of Earlswood” at the village hall on Monday November 15th at 7:30pm. Cost £2.50 (including tea and biscuits)
Bob Roberts (EWP Membership Secretary)
