Wildlife Durham: Spring 2022

The member magazine for Durham Wildlife Trust

WWW.DURHAMWT.COM

Spring 2022

News Meet the new face of The Wildlife Trusts!

Plans for a fabulous 50th

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Campaigning Will you join #TeamWilder?

SPRING ISSUE 2022 @durhamwildlife

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Conservation

@durhamwildlifetrust

Keeping an eye on the bog SeaScapes Healing Nature The River Wear plastics project

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Reserves Reserves round up

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National Marine review Splatters matter Bugs Matter survey Spring wildlife gardening

@durhamwildlife

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If you would like to opt in to receiving a digital copy of Wildlife Durham instead of your printed copy, please email mail@durhamwt.co.uk with your name and membership number and we will update your preferences.

his spring feels particularly significant.

It looks like the worst of Covid is behind us and a sense of normality is returning. Our two-year hibernation is (everything crossed) finally coming to an end and we can all look forward to enjoying some spring sunshine and summer to come.

There is also a spring-like feeling across the Wildlife Trusts movement, and Durham Wildlife Trust is looking forward to playing its part to help the movement grow and change. Over the last year or more, the Wildlife Trusts have been looking at what we all need to do to restore nature across the UK - not conserve wildlife and stop the ongoing decline - but rather reverse the trend of decades.

A shift from nature conservation to wildlife restoration.

To achieve that change, a lot of talking and planning has been going on in the background that has helped a new consensus emerge across the Wildlife Trusts. There are new strategies which you will see slowly rolled out.

VISITOR CENTRES

Two things from this new approach stand out for me – 30% of land and sea being managed for nature, and 25% of people playing an active role. The new #TeamWilder approach will help achieve the latter, and the Durham Wildlife Trust team is working hard, as always, to create more space for nature.

Rainton Meadows Nature Reserve Chilton Moor, Houghton-le-Spring, Tyne & Wear, DH4 6PU. Tel: 0191 584 3112

The Meadows Coffee Shop

There is also a new logo which will be introduced gradually. Money isn’t going to be diverted away from work on the ground to replace signage and equipment – when things need replacing, the new logo will be added.

Angela Watson and Team. Tel: 0191 512 8940

Low Barns Nature Reserve Witton-le-Wear, Bishop Auckland, County Durham, DL14 0AG. Tel: 01388 488 728

Low Barns Coffee Shop

Look out, this summer, for more news on all the changes.

Angela Watson and Team. Tel: 01388 488 729

Jim Cokill Director

Charity number: 501038 Paper: FSC accredited, 100% recycled uncoated

Printed by: North Wolds Printers

Design: Edmundson Design www.edmundsondesign.com

Cover Image: ‘Spring is in the air’ by George Rockett

Many thanks to all our corporate members for their ongoing support

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Gold Members

Silver Members

Bronze Members

Northumbrian Water Northern Gas Networks Vine House Farm Thomas Swan & Co. Ltd.

Wienerberger GlaxoSmithKline Fusion for Business

Simon Berry Optometrists Spincraft Holidaycottages.co.uk Airedale Forestry Ltd

Wildlife Durham | Spring 2022

Partners ACM Environmental

NEWS

Meet the new friendly face of The Wildlife Trusts!

Help shape nature’s recovery from Tees to Tyne. Become a Trustee at Durham Wildlife Trust Trustees are the people who oversee the work of the Trust, setting the strategy and making sure the organisation fulfils its legal duties and delivers its charitable aims.

Trustees are drawn from the Trust’s membership, and work together as members of the charity’s Board. Trustees need to have a passion for the work of Durham Wildlife Trust, and the skills and knowledge needed to help the organisation grow.

The Wildlife Trusts are wild about inclusion, and that means truly valuing the principles of equality, diversity and inclusion to bring about a stronger Wildlife Trust movement. Everyone should have the opportunity to experience the joy of wildlife in their daily lives.

Eagle-eyed readers may have noticed a refreshed logo on the front of this magazine. The Wildlife Trusts’ badger has evolved.

For more than 100 years, Wildlife Trusts have been standing up for wildlife. The name and logo may have changed over the years, but our mission – to bring about land and seas rich in wildlife – remains the same.

Anyone who can support the development of a growing charity is encouraged to apply to become a Trustee.

Applications are particularly welcomed from those who are currently underrepresented on our board, including people from minority ethnic backgrounds, people with disabilities, and those under 25 years old. The Trust is also seeking to increase Board level skills and knowledge relating to the agricultural, land agency and marketing sectors.

Durham Wildlife Trust is committed to providing the right support to enable every trustee on our board to fulfil their role and have a rewarding experience.

A trustee recruitment pack can be found at durhamwt.com/volunteering-opportunities and to arrange an informal conversation about becoming a trustee, please email the Chair of the Board at chair@durhamwt.co.uk

A gift in your Will protects the wild places you love Every legacy is valuable, helping to care for nature reserves so wildlife can thrive.

Protecting them for the future.

To find out more about how your legacy can make a difference and for information about Will writing please look at our website or contact Anne Gladwin by email agladwin@durhamwt.co.uk

www.durhamwt.com/legacy

Wildlife Durham | Spring 2022

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NEWS

Plans for a fabulous 50th

his July, Durham Wildlife Trust’s 50th Anniversary year will come to a close. To help us celebrate our 50th, albeit delayed as a result of Covid, the Trust is planning something a little bit different. Join Theatre Space North East and Durham Wildlife Trust in a specially created performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream - as you have never seen it before.

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With five actors, a trunk full of props, and a little bit of madness, Theatre Space will tell you a story of lovers on the run, fairy kingdoms at war, and a group of workers trying to put on a play – all in 30 minutes! The performance will be in the very appropriate and seasonal surroundings of a meadow at Rainton Meadows Nature Reserve, guaranteed to bring the whole story to life.

This performance is suitable for all the family – adults and children alike. A perfect bit of summer fun to celebrate all that Durham Wildlife Trust has achieved over the last 50 years.

There will be three performances, all held on Saturday 25th June, 2022, at Rainton Meadows Nature Reserve.

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Wildlife Durham | Spring 2022

Performance times are: 11.30am, 1.30pm & 3.30pm Tickets are available at durhamwt.com/fifty priced: ■ ■

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£10 per adult £5 per child age 5 – 16 (under 16s must be accompanied by an adult) £2 per child under 5

Babes in arms (under 18 months) free

Tickets are for standing views or picnic spots, you need to bring your own picnic blanket or camping chair.

Make it extra special and book a takeaway afternoon tea from The Meadows Coffee Shop on site, to enjoy while you watch the show. Pre-booking for afternoon teas is essential - call 0191 512 8940.

Penny Dixie

Paul Harris/2020VISION

Penny Dixie

CAMPAIGNING

Will you join #TeamWilder?

You will soon hear Durham Wildlife Trust begin to talk about #TeamWilder, and you may even meet our new #TeamWilder Officer.

But what is #TeamWilder? This is a new, Wildlife Trusts’ movement-wide concept about empowering and enabling people to take meaningful action to bring about nature’s recovery on land and at sea.

Our movement shares a vision of ‘a wilder future’ – a world that is rich in nature and wild spaces, which benefits both people and wildlife. To achieve a wilder future we need to give nature space to recover, and we want to see 30% of our land and seas in recovery by 2030.

Wildlife Trusts are already working to deliver nature’s recovery across the places we care for and within the communities we work with, but we know that the scale of the challenge is enormous; we can’t do this alone.

Everyone needs to understand the need for change, now, and to recognise their own role in making that change happen. #TeamWilder forms a central strand of The Wildlife Trusts’ 2030 Strategy:■

People are taking action for nature and the climate, resulting in better decision making for the environment at both the local level and across the UK, and

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Inspiring community organising and mobilising, especially amongst young people.

This is the chance for Wildlife Trusts to support everyone who is motivated to make a change – from landowners and farmers, to businesses, schools and faith groups, from families to book clubs, virtual communities, and wider. It’s in our own interests to help bring nature back and we all have a role to play to make that happen.

By working together we can help Durham’s #TeamWilder do incredible things for wildlife across our patch. To find out more about #TeamWilder, and how you can get involved, visit: durhamwt.com/teamwilder

Gateshead Green Connections Thanks to generous funding from SUEZ, Durham Wildlife Trust will be able to provide more support to communities and volunteers in Gateshead. A grant of £35,000 will see a specialist officer employed to engage and train local communities to look after their local Durham Wildlife Trust nature reserves – that person will be helping to spread the #TeamWilder message. This is a big step forward in securing the long-term sustainable management of these special wildlife sites, and will provide local groups and residents with the mentoring and skills they seek, as they look to be part of nature’s recovery from the Beamish Burn to the Tyne.

Wildlife Durham | Spring 2022

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CONSERVATION

Keeping an eye on the bog n 2021, Durham Wildlife Trust started work with Trusts and other partners in Cumbria, Lancashire, Yorkshire and Northumberland to restore a huge swathe of peat bog across the north of England. The project, funded by players of People’s Postcode Lottery, aims to put more than 4,000 hectares of upland peatland under restoration management, with estimated annual savings in carbon emissions of at least 8,590 tonnes of carbon dioxide per hectare, per year.

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Julia Quiñonez was employed by Durham Wildlife Trust as the ‘Eyes on the Bog Officer’ as part of this project.

Working with partners across Cumbria, Durham and Northumberland to install long-term peat monitoring stations that will allow the capture of data on upland peatland sites, informing habitat restoration and capturing the benefits of this important work.

Julia is continuing her work with volunteer citizen scientists, who are central to this simple monitoring technique on peatland sites.

If you are interested in finding out more, please get in touch: mail@durhamwt.co.uk

Naturally Native

By Kelly Hollings Naturally Native Project Manager

Naturally Native is a partnership project, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, comprising Durham Wildlife Trust, Tees Valley Wildlife Trust, and Northumberland Wildlife Trust, all working together to re-establish our much-loved water voles.

The project team would like to say a huge thankyou to its volunteers who help with a variety of tasks, and without whom the project would not be achieving the same success.

In recent months, the focus for the team has been on engagement and the roll out of the Young Rangers offer, a bespoke traineeship available to young people between the ages of 14-18.

Another very important deliverable of our project is to work with partners in areas where water voles exist but need a helping hand due to habitat degradation, or in areas where water voles are close by and habitat improvement works will help their populations expand.

Please do get in touch for more information about any aspect of our project. naturallynative@durhamwt.co.uk.

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Wildlife Durham | Spring 2022

CONSERVATION

SeaScapes

By Dorinda Kealoha Intertidal Interactive Officer

While winter has been fairly wild and windy, we’ve had plenty of SeaScapes events and activities happening, from seal talks to shorebird walks.

Our volunteers have been very busy, with the SeaWatch Observers wrapping up and popping out when conditions have been calm, to complete more than 30 hours of surveying – recording bottlenose dolphin and harbour porpoise sightings along our Tyne to Tees coastline.

What an amazing effort!

The Intertidal volunteers have been learning all about the coastal species we may discover on our rocky shores when we start our Shoresearch surveys in April. Shoresearch is The Wildlife Trusts’ national citizen science survey of the intertidal shore, where the sea meets the land.

The data collected by this project helps us to monitor our fragile sea life and better understand the effects of pollution, climate change, and invasive alien species.

If you would like to find out how you can get involved, please email Dorinda at dkealoha@durhamwt.co.uk Explore SeaScapes

@tynetotees

@tynetotees

Healing Nature

By Phill Catton

Healing Nature Project Manager

By the time you read this, the Healing Nature project should be all wrapped up. It’s hard to believe that this time last year we were just starting in our efforts to deliver habitat management and community engagement work across 20 Local Wildlife Sites. It has been an intense 15 months, and this winter has been especially packed with woodland creation, hedgerow planting and laying, woodland diversification, grassland restoration, fencing operations, and a busy programme of events and education delivery. None of it would have been possible without our dedicated group of volunteers, who have been with us every step of the way. Thank you, we hope you have enjoyed it as much as we have! A review of the project will likely feature in a future edition of this magazine, but not before everyone involved has taken a well-deserved holiday.

Thanks also go to our funders and partners at Gateshead, Sunderland, and South Tyneside Councils. Healing Nature was funded by the Green Recovery Challenge Fund.

Wildlife Durham | Spring 2022

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CONSERVATION

The River Wear

Plastics Project

By Rachel Richards

Durham Wildlife Trust and Teesside University have been carrying out a pilot study looking at micro and macroplastics in the River Wear. his work, funded through the Living Uplands project, set out to answer a number of questions.

Firstly, are there microplastics in the River Wear, and, if so, at what sort of levels, and how do these levels vary, moving downstream?

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After an initial desk study to look at work already done on plastics in rivers, it was decided to look for microplastics in both the water channel and in accumulated river sediment. In addition, the project also wanted to look at plastic pollution on the banksides, and worked with local schools to deliver this part of the project.

Main photo: Wearhead Primary School children carrying out a litter survey, September 2021

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Wildlife Durham | Spring 2022

Microplastic sampling at Wearhead, August 2021 The microplastic sampling was carried out during August and September 2021 by Teesside University and Durham Wildlife Trust staff. The sampling was done using a very fine meshed plankton net which was held in the middle of the water channel – a similar method to other microplastics studies.

At each of our five sample locations (Wearhead, Frosterley, Bishop Auckland, Durham and Chester-le-Street), both water and sediment samples were taken, collecting upstream and downstream of water treatment plant outflows at each location and taking great care to avoid contamination of samples.

CONSERVATION

Results so far Though all the lab work has not yet been completed, the findings so far are interesting and, as is often the case, not entirely what we were expecting.

School children from Chester-le-Street’s Park View Academy Eco club, assisting with a litter survey

School children at Wearhead Primary, Wolsingham School, and Parkview Academy, all assisted with litter surveys.

Rather than a simple litter pick, we followed a similar methodology to the Marine Conservation Society’s Litter Survey, in recording and categorising all litter collected, depending on its origin and components. The schools then wrote up the survey results, with the primary school children producing graphs and charts, and the secondary school eco clubs presenting results in the format of a scientific paper.

Microplastics were found in the water samples collected at all sample sites, from Wearhead upstream (WHU) to Chester-le-Street downstream (CD). A gradual increase in the amounts found can be seen from Wearhead to Durham, but surprisingly, results are lower at Chesterle-Street. Results do not show a consistent increase in plastics in water samples in relation to water treatment works locations.

At Chester-le-Street and Bishop Auckland, wipes were a large component of the litter found caught in bankside vegetation. Despite the packaging on some wipes suggesting they can be flushed, that’s not the case. Please always bin your wipes!

Wet wipes are the biggest causes of blockages and sewer flooding, and we really need your help.

You can make a massive difference by making one easy change: Bin the Wipe.

The data above, on microplastics in river sediment, does not show an increase in plastics as we move down the river. There does appear to be higher levels downstream of water treatment plants in comparison with upstream sites, though this may not be statistically significant.

Teesside University is analysing the litter survey material with the help of some of its students, looking at the types of macroplastics found, their possible sources, and if there is any correlation with the microplastics found.

These are preliminary results, provided to give a taste of what this work has revealed so far. A full scientific paper will be produced once analysis has been completed. As is often the case, this preliminary study is raising more questions, and the hope is that this work will pave the way for a more in-depth investigation into the presence and possible impacts of plastics in the River Wear.

The ‘Source to Sea’ free education pack for Key Stages 1 and 2 provides a topic plan and learning materials in three modules: ‘Our Amazing Oceans’, ‘The River Wear’ and ‘Plastics in the Environment’. Packs are also available for the topics ‘Black Grouse’ and ‘Curlew’.

Find out more: durhamwt.com/living-uplands

Wildlife Durham | Spring 2022

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RESERVES

By Mark Dinning

Reserves Round Up

Head of Conservation

Since the last Durham Wildlife Trust members’ magazine, there have been two major weather events which have kept staff and volunteers busy over the winter months, on top of all their other tasks.

lmost 250 years to the day of the Great Storm of 1771, Storm Arwen arrived to leave a trail of destruction across the North of England and Scotland.

Thankfully, Arwen didn’t see a repeat of the floods brought by the Great Storm of 1771 when flood waters reshaped the landscape of the River Wear, including where the Low Barns Nature Reserve is now situated.

However, Arwen’s strong winds did see trees at Low Barns and other reserves suffer substantial damage.

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December was a month of clean-ups across Durham Wildlife Trust’s woodland reserves, and then January brought Storm Malik, creating further problems. Dangerous fallen trees resulted in the second closure of the Low Barns site, and substantial damage was caused to trees at the Trust’s Milkwellburn Wood Nature Reserve.

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Wildlife Durham | Spring 2022

While the weather has done its best to bring trees down, volunteers have been doing their best to outpace the storm damage by planting native broadleaves at Milkwellburn Wood to increase the diversity of the wood. The volunteers have also been contributing towards the planting efforts of the Healing Nature project, and helping to deliver the first new woodland sites to be created as part of the new North East Community Forest.

Away from the wind, November and December saw a new structure installed at Low Barns, situated overlooking Marsden Lake, only a few strides from the visitor centre.

The new glass-fronted timber building offers fantastic views across the lake and is open for visitors to use, but its main purpose is to act as a base for Wildlife Watch, Young Rangers, and school groups on site.

To complement this new addition, the viewing tower at the centre is being improved with a range of bird boxes installed to show how we can all make a difference for wildlife at home. Thanks to Weardale AAP for supporting the new education hide and tower improvements.

The end of the year also marked the completion of the earth works that form the new reedbed at Rainton Meadows, funded by Biffa Award, with volunteers and staff getting the muddiest they have been in a long time, planting out the reeds that will be the main component species of this new area of habitat on site.

Did You Know?

Durham Wildlife Trust manages more than 1000 acres of woodland.

A large amount of this is ancient woodland. This spring is a great opportunity to get out and about to see the Trust’s woodlands in all their glory. For the best shows of ancient woodland flora, why not plan a trip, this May, to Durham Wildlife Trust reserves at Baal Hill Wood, Edmondsley Wood, Hawthorn Dene, Ousbrough Wood, or our project partners Deepdale Woods? As well as seeing the fruits of our volunteers’ labour, you’ll be treated to spectacular displays of woodland flowers.

NATIONAL

UK UPDATE

The weird, wonderful & worrying

Wally the Walrus made a surprise visit to our shores in 2021

WALLY THE WALRUS © JOE PENDER

OUR 2021 MARINE REVIEW

etaceans take centre stage in our round-up of marine news from the last 12 months, with success stories, tragic tales, and strange sightings.

There was hope for humpback whales, with strong numbers recorded around the southwest and further sightings in Scotland. One individual, named Pi, delighted whale watchers on the Isles of Scilly for over two months. The surge in sightings in recent years reflects populations recovering after bans on commercial whaling.

It wasn’t all good news though, with large numbers of seals and cetaceans reported stranded across the UK, including a minke whale calf that tragically had to be put down after stranding in the Thames.

In Cornwall alone, over 170 cetaceans and 247 seals were stranded, with a further 51 cetaceans recorded stranding in Devon.

Many of these animals showed signs of injury from fishing gear or propellers, including a humpback whale off Looe Island that was caught in fishing lines.

One of the stranded animals in Cornwall was a striped dolphin, which are common in the Mediterranean but seldom seen around the UK. This wasn’t the only surprising cetacean sighting in the south of the UK. Two orcas from the Hebrides made a scenestealing appearance off the cliff-top Minnack Theatre in Cornwall — the most southerly sighting of members of this group of killer whales in over 50 years — and white-beaked dolphins, usually found in subarctic waters, were seen in Essex for the first time since 2000.

Whales and dolphins weren’t alone in popping up in unexpected places. 2021 saw two walruses recorded in the UK, with one, nicknamed Wally, spending weeks in south Wales and then the Isles of Scilly; and a second (known as Freya) briefly visiting Northumberland before being spotted in Shetland. There was also a pufferfish found washed up on a Cornish beach, which is an oceanic species that rarely comes this far north.

These unusual sightings provide further evidence of the impacts of climate change on our seas. Temperature changes can cause disruption to feeding habits and breeding cycles, driving animals to move out of their usual range. Some species are shifting their distribution completely.

The ringneck blenny, a small fish normally found in the Eastern Atlantic or Mediterranean, has become common in Cornwall’s Fal estuary, with further signs of breeding in the English Channel.

Our marine life faces many threats in addition to climate change, including disturbance from recreational activities.

Cornwall Wildlife Trust reported that disturbances of marine wildlife have tripled since 2014, with an increase of jet skis and motorboats a major cause for concern. Elsewhere, The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales witnessed a seal pup being abandoned after people got too close to it. Surveys by Dorset Wildlife Trust recorded damage to the seabed caused by the anchors of large cruise ships, moored off the coast due to the pandemic.

But there was also plenty to celebrate last year, with good news for kelp forests, seagrass meadows, oyster beds and many

more habitats and species. In March, a new byelaw was passed to stop damaging fishing practices off the Sussex coast. To speed up the area’s recovery, the Sussex Kelp Restoration Project will restore a vast 200km² of kelp forest, providing feeding and nursery grounds for molluscs, shrimp, and cuttlefish.

Seagrass habitats also got a much needed boost. Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust transplanted seeds and plants to areas where seagrass has previously flourished, whereas Manx Wildlife Trust discovered a new seagrass meadow, Cornwall Wildlife Trust mapped seagrass regrowth in areas where moorings had been removed, and Cumbria Wildlife Trust carried out the first surveys of seagrass on mudflats off Walney Island for over 20 years.

There are even more sea success stories in our full round-up, which you can read at: wildlifetrusts.org/marine-review-21

Ocean oddities Adders took to the surf as snakes were seen paddling in the waves on Wembury Beach, Dorset and off the coast of Anglesey, North Wales.

Devon Wildlife Trust reported a surge of compass jellyfish, believed to be caused by the July heatwave.

Scottish Wildlife Trust rangers were wowed by a white puffin on Handa Island. The pale puffin lacks pigmentation in its feathers, due to a genetic condition called leucism.

Wildlife Durham | Spring 2022

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NATIONAL UK UPDATE

Splatters matter The latest results from the Bugs Matter Survey show that significantly fewer insects were recorded nationally in 2021 than 17 years ago. These results add to the growing evidence that insect populations are declining across the world, with potentially catastrophic consequences for wildlife, wild places, and people.

The Bugs Matter Survey, initially developed by the RSPB in 2004 is based on the ‘windscreen phenomenon’, originating from the observation that people find fewer insects squashed on the windscreens of their cars compared to several decades ago. The survey was revitalised and made more accessible in 2021, when Kent Wildlife Trust created the Bugs Matter App in partnership with Gwent, Somerset, and Essex Wildlife Trusts, and Buglife. The app makes it easy

UK HIGHLIGHTS Discover how The Wildlife Trusts are helping wildlife across the UK

Seabird power

for anyone with a smartphone or tablet to record the insects on their car, bringing meaningful citizen science to the pockets of thousands. Last year there were nearly 5,000 journeys logged, helping scientists monitor the alarming declines in our insects. Find out more on the next page.

The Scottish Wildlife Trust has joined forces with alternative rock band Sea Power to raise awareness of the urgent need to tackle the nature and climate crises. The Wildlife Trust worked with the band to create a new video for their classic track “The Great Skua,” featuring footage of seabirds on Handa Island Wildlife Reserve. wtru.st/seapower

Failing farmland wildlife lot of the right rhetoric, but still lacks any clear details or urgency. The published documents failed to provide details on eligibility, the determination of priorities, or how Government will ensure these schemes achieve target outcomes.

Read more at wtru.st/farm-reform

Welcome to the team!

The Wildlife Trusts are delighted to announce that GP and TV presenter Dr Amir Khan, and naturalist, TV presenter and author Iolo Williams, have become vice presidents of the charity. We also warmly welcome award-winning TV presenter Maddie Moate, and The Vamps’ lead guitarist, James McVey (pictured), as wildlife ambassadors. The nature enthusiasts will use their voices, influence and audiences to help The Wildlife Trusts shine a spotlight on the urgent need for nature’s recovery in the UK. Meet our new vice presidents and ambassadors at wtru.st/new-voices 12

Wildlife Durham | Spring 2022

A city sanctuary Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust welcomed plans for a new ‘Green Heart’ in Nottingham city centre, after putting forward a bold ambition to transform a derelict former shopping centre into wildlife-rich greenspace. The vision is billed as a blueprint for sustainable city centres in a post-COVID world. wtru.st/green-heart

Wild in Wales Radnorshire Wildlife Trust has purchased a 164-acre farm in midWales, with plans to transform it into a haven for wildlife. Initial steps to bring nature back to the former livestock farm will include scrub development, to provide shelter for wildlife. The Wildlife Trust will work with neighbours, local farmers and landowners to create more space for nature in the region. wtru.st/mid-wales-farm

GREAT SKUA © PETER CAIRNS/2020VISION; HOVERFLY © CHRIS LAWRENCE

This January, the Government announced new schemes to reward farmers in England for supporting nature’s recovery. Farmland accounts for a huge proportion of our land use, so it’s imperative that we have policies that support farmers to help nature.

The latest announcement includes a

NATIONAL TAKE PART IN OUR SURVEY

Your splat meter for this year’s Bugs Matter survey

Here’s how to get involved:

Bugs Matter is a national partnership project between Kent Wildlife Trust, Buglife, and a number of other Wildlife Trusts. We need as many people as possible to take part in this summer’s UK-wide survey, which kicks off in June.

By becoming a citizen scientist, you can help us understand more about our insect populations. You will be generating vital evidence to inform conservation action to halt and reverse their declines.

1

Download the free Bugs Matter app and sign up.

2

Cut out the below splatometer, stick it onto some card, and carefully cut out the windows with a sharp knife.

Before making an essential journey in a vehicle, clean the front numberplate.

3

At the end of the journey, place the splatometer over the numberplate and count the bugs you can see in the holes.

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Submit your count along with a photo via the app.

You can find a full tutorial on the app.

Find more information about the Bugs Matter project here: kentwildlifetrust.org.uk/bugs-matter

CUT ALONG THIS LINE

Bugs Holes should be 6cm X 4cm exactly. Please check with a ruler.

4 cm

CUT OUT THIS HOLE

CUT OUT THIS HOLE

CUT OUT THIS HOLE

Holes should be 6cm X 4cm exactly. Please check with a ruler.

Holes should be 6cm X 4cm exactly. Please check with a ruler.

CUT OUT THIS HOLE

CUT OUT THIS HOLE

CUT OUT THIS HOLE

Holes should be 6cm X 4cm exactly. Please check with a ruler.

Holes should be 6cm X 4cm exactly. Please check with a ruler.

Holes should be 6cm X 4cm exactly. Please check with a ruler.

Wildlife Durham | Spring 2022

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NATIONAL

Spring

Wildlife Gardening Our gardens come alive in spring. Ponds fill with mating amphibians, borders buzz with the season’s first bees, and everywhere else, from trees and hedges to fences and roof panels, birds are busy singing to defend territories, mating or feeding young. It’s an exciting time of year.

While all of this goes on around us, there are things we can do to make our gardens even better for wildlife. First, take a look at your borders — in early spring they should be carpeted with flowers such as spring-flowering hellebores,

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Wildlife Durham | Spring 2022

lungwort, primroses and other primulas, and bulbs like crocus and snake’s-head fritillary. Later grape hyacinths, alliums, cranesbills, bugle and cuckooflower take centre stage. The early flowers are the most important as they provide food for pollinators emerging from hibernation — remember that daffodils and tulips are usually ignored

Kate Bradbury is passionate about wildlifefriendly gardening and the author of Wildlife Gardening for Everyone and Everything in association with The Wildlife Trusts.

by bees. Make a note of which flowers you have, and fill gaps with pollinator favourites.

Ponds are full of mating amphibians and invertebrates, so are best left alone now. However, it’s important to check that wildlife can enter and exit your pond safely — add a log or large stone to help wildlife access the water safely. If you don’t have many plants in the pond you can add more now, as long as you don’t disturb the water too much. Aim for a mix of floating, submerged and deepwater plants, with around two-thirds of the surface of the pond covered. Plants absorb nitrates from the water and therefore inhibit the growth of algae.

They also provide hiding places for

tadpoles and other larvae from predators such as diving beetles and dragonfly nymphs. Choose native marginals such as brooklime and water forget-me-not, floating plants such as frogbit, and oxygenators like hornwort and water crowfoot.

Around the pond, think ahead to summer, when froglets and toadlets may be exiting the water for the first time. Let the grass there grow long and grow plants to protect them from predators. Cranesbill geraniums and birds’ foot trefoil work well around ponds, providing plenty of shelter for amphibians big and small.

If you have a meadow then cut it back in early spring and remove clippings, then let it grow until autumn. As well as

providing wildflowers for pollinators, the long grass will provide foodplants for caterpillars and shelter for beetles and other invertebrates, plus amphibians, small mammals and even hedgehogs.

Get more wildlife-friendly gardening tips at wildlifetrusts.org/gardening

Wildlife Durham | Spring 2022

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wild e UK’s #30DaysWild is th nge from month-long challe The Wildlife Trusts D 0,000 people went WIL Last year, more than 75 making time for in June. Join them by 30 days. nature every day for

Scan with your phone camera to sign up

wildlifetrusts.org/30dayswild RUNNING WITH FLOWER CROWN, WALKING WITH SCARF © ELEANOR CHURCH