Happy Birthday Avon Wildlife Trust

Looking back on a fantastic 25 years and looking forward to the next 25 years following the launch of the Folly Farm Appeal, and the Trust’s Prospectus.

As part of the anniversary celebration we asked well-known members to contribute some thoughts about their favourite local wildlife spot. You’ll find their birthday on this page starting on this page from our Vice-President, Tony Robinson.

from Tony Robinson, actor and TV presenter

“Walking through Leigh Woods, not particularly quietly, I suddenly saw, in a small clearing ahead of me, two cuckoos flying round and round in a circle a few feet above the grass while mating. Nature usually hides such intimate moments away from leaden-footed passers-by, like me, but just occasionally she lays her secrets bare. Such astonishing moments have been among the happiest in my life.”

from Harriet Nimmo, Chief Executive Wildscreen

One of the best things about the region is how close the city of Bristol is to such beautiful countryside. I live in a small village near Keynsham and am very privileged to see all sorts of amazing wildlife around my home – and yet I am still within cycling distance of Wildscreen’s offices on Bristol’s Harbourside. We have badgers on our lawn at night, a grass snake in the compost heap, five species of dragonfly visiting the pond, a tawny owl family in the owl box, a nuthatch on the bird feeders and are being over-run byteasels, cowslips and campion. The highlight has been a pair of barn owls seen from the sitting room window!

from Helen Dunmore, novelist and poet

“The Bristol Channel is full of colour, perhaps because of the mud particles that hang suspended in the water. Sometimes the water is brown, sometimes it has a tint of lilac or purple. More commonly it’s a sheet of silver-grey, patterned by light and cloud and stretching over to the hills of Wales. I love the way the tide sweeps in over sand and mud, and then ebbs away, leaving behind snail tracks of shining water.”

from Don Cameron of Cameron Balloons

“I think my favourite local wildlife spot is my own garden. It is not enormous, but it adjoins some woodland and I have been cultivating it to encourage wildlife for the past twenty years, after being encouraged by the writings of Chris Baines. We frequently see badgers, deer, rabbits, hedgehogs and foxes (who sadly massacred our three hens a few months ago). We have a good population of slow worms and some amphibians. Bird visitors are very numerous with several nesting in the hedges and a good insect and mini-beast population.”

from Chris Vacher, BBC Points West Presenter

“The truth is, I have lots of favourite places! Cycling on the towpath or pottering in a small boat along the Kennet and Avon canal is a real treat. The section between Bathampton and Bradford on Avon is lovely, ranging from wide views across the valley to leafy, overhanging stretches – taking life at the same speed as the ducks is great for offloading the stresses of news broadcasting.”

from Sophie Stafford - Editor, BBC Wildlife Magazine

“My favourite local wild place is Brandon Hill – it may seem a little tame to anyone living in Bristol but this wonderful green bluff hanging above the city provides me with a small, much-needed dose of nature every day on my way to work. The views are fabulous, too.

It is surprisingly empty early in the morning empty of people that is. The bird activity at this time of day can be startling from wheezing greenfinches and furious jays to flocks of peeping tits and, recently, a visiting flock of redwings, dining on the park’s many berry-bearing trees. There were even waxwings this winter, causing a minor twitch among Bristol’s birders.“