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| Features from Wildlife magazine |
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Round the reserves
Month by month, what to look out for...
September
At Walborough and Hellenge Hill the autumn-ladies tresses will
be just finishing their late flowering season. Young hirundines
(swallows, house and sand martins) begin to gather in large flocks,
either to feed on aerial insects or to roost in safety. During
this month these flocks begin to appear at Chew Valley
Lake where
they feed on clouds of insects, enabling young birds to build
up their weight with fat deposits in preparation for their long
flight south. They are, however, also food for the hobby, a fast,
highly manoeuvrable falcon that is well adapted to catch these
nimble birds. Hobbies have also been seen catching young swallows
at Folly Farm and dragonflies at Weston Moor as they in turn
prepare for their journey south to warmer climes.
October
Nestled in the heart of the city of Bristol, Brandon Hill may seem
an unlikely source of interest at this time of year, but every
year it is visited by many migrating insects and birds. The lime
trees near the tower often have small flocks of chiffchaffs calling
from the canopies as they search for aphids, and on occasion there
have been unprecedented numbers of blackbirds squabbling and searching
for food. Many of the late flowering plants attract an array of
insects, and humming bird hawkmoths have been increasingly seen
during recent years. Long-winged coneheads will also be calling
from the areas of long grass – this bush cricket has colonised
the hill within the last two years.
November
A long leafy walk through Priors Wood will awaken your eyes to
the autumn colours of this great woodland. The blues and greens
of summer are replaced with warm subtle brown tones of autumn and
a sunny day will strengthen these colours. The quiet stillness
of this large wood is only broken with the distant call of nuthatches
or the chirping of dark-bush crickets from deep within patches
of bramble. Also look out for signs and tracks of the local wildlife,
from deer slots crossing the path to the empty shells of hazel
nuts littering the ground.
December
If there is a severe cold snap across Europe, thousands of songbird
migrants will arrive from the east. Large numbers of thrushes will
arrive en masse in large falls on the coast and will quickly disperse
throughout the UK, usually reaching the Bristol and the South West
within a few days. Large movements of birds can be seen from any
reserve, and Walborough and Littleton
Brick Pits may see a lot
of activity as the estuary directs the birds along the coast. Towards
the end of the year new life can be seen again as the flower stalks
of butterbur begin to grow at Stephen’s Vale,
and on Tickenham
Ridge look out for the early flowers of spurge laurel.
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| white
admiral © Mike Dimery |
Reserves update
Gains for Goblin Combe
Goblin Combe is a very special place, well known for incredible
views over the combe and the species rich grassland that can
be found there. Unfortunately the grassland on the steep rocky
slopes that provide the views is difficult to manage and not
popular for raising sheep or cattle. There has been a slow decline
in the wildlife interest of the slopes over the years as scrub
has moved in and smothered the grassland.
An annual effort by
volunteers to cut the few remaining pockets of grassland has
kept them open, helped by rabbit grazing. Now, however, thanks
to funding from SITA and the efforts of FWAG and the Avon Biodiversity
Partnership over one kilometre of fencing is being erected. We’ll
then be able to graze the site, which is an essential part of
managing limestone grassland and this will be combined with a
planned sequence of scrub removal. This winter we will be well
on our way to restoring much of the habitat that has been lost
at Goblin Combe.
Butterfly brilliance
Although this has been one of the wettest summers on record there
have been some fantastic butterfly sightings. Top of the list perhaps
is the fact that the small blue butterfly was again recorded at
Dolebury Warren. The small blue caterpillar feeds on kidney vetch
and the adult butterfly uses the same plant as a nectar source
and three years ago a change was made to the grazing which benefited
kidney vetch. Since then the small blue has been recorded on the
site each summer. Small pearl-bordered fritillary was seen at Ashton
Court Meadow, a first for the site and the earliest recording for
the county this year. There have been no records of this species
in this locality for several decades and we’ll watch with
interest to see if there are any sightings in the future. Another
butterfly that is rarely seen is white admiral, a beautiful butterfly
that spends a lot of time feeding on honeydew at the tops of trees.
This year one was spotted for the first time at Willsbridge Mill.
Historic
times
The restoration of the farm buildings for the development of the
Folly Farm Centre is at an exciting stage but no less exciting
is the restoration of the historic landscape of the nature reserve.
Large areas of scrub and young woodland have been cleared to return
the landscape to the way it was when the ferme ornée (the
18th century ornamental farm) was developed. This work also benefits
the wildlife on the site through the large-scale grassland restoration.
Once scrub is cleared weed species are controlled and grazing is
introduced. Over time this will restore the historic grasslands
that were once more widespread at Folly Farm.
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