Wild Magazine Autumn 2021

Discover Wildlife Explore Nature in Essex

Page 40

Pledging

for wildlife protection Page 44

The magazine for Essex Wildlife Trust members Issue 116 | Autumn 2021

What’s on this autumn

TAKING ACTION FOR

Page 20

Insects

Essex Wildlife Trust’s innovative projects to reverse the decline of insects

How nature’s recovery is essential for tackling the climate crisis Page 34

Opening AUTUMN 2021 Opening AUTUMN 2021 Opening AUTUMN 2021

Happy, healthy and hungry to learn.

Welcome to the Nature Nursery. We offer quality

childcare for 2-5 year-olds based on learning through nature.

Set in the grounds of Abbotts Hall Nature Discovery Park near Colchester, where children can enjoy both freedom and security, our outdoor nursery is run by early learning experts at Essex Wildlife Trust, the most experienced provider of outdoor education in the county.

Launching AUTUMN 2021, Register your interest now at:

www.naturenursery.org.uk

Nature Nursery is part of:

Photos: Eleanor Church / Lark Rise Pictures

Registered Charity Number 210065

Welcome

Issue 116 | Autumn 2021

‘Nature is fundamental to our daily lives, but it’s also essential to our future’

Welcome

W

ith the UK hosting the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow this autumn, it’s a real opportunity for the UK Government to prove that commitments on paper, actually translate to tangible and meaningful action on the ground. After all, you don’t lead the world by signing a piece of paper first; you lead by delivering innovative solutions to real issues.

At Essex Wildlife Trust, we have proven that natural interventions can provide solutions and opportunities, with multiple benefits for both wildlife and people. Our coastal realignment projects have provided flood risk mitigation and fish spawning sites; our saltmarsh restoration has sequestered carbon and delivered improved coastal defences; our campaigns to protect places of wonder provides vital green space for communities and connects wildlife, allowing populations to recover via a network of habitats.

Discover us and join the conversation: Essex Wildlife Trust @essexwildlifetrust @EssexWildlife EssexWildlife @essexwildlifetrust Essex Wildlife Trust www.essexwt.org.uk

We need

your

The climate crisis is inextricably linked to the ecological crisis and therefore we cannot consider one without the other. Nature is fundamental to our daily lives, but it’s also essential to our future.

The Trust has shown that with passion and commitment, you can deliver real benefits and the challenge is now to get decision makers, companies and individuals throughout the county to step up and take action for nature.

help!

Fundraise for the Trust

Become a Wild Warrior by downloading our new fundraising toolkit on our website at www.essexwt.org.uk/fundraise.

Dr. Andrew Impey

Toad watch

Front cover photo: Painted Lady - Jon Hawkins - Surrey Hills Photography

Chief Executive Officer

WILD is the magazine of Essex Wildlife Trust and is published four times a year: Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter.

The Trust is a corporate member of The Wildlife Trusts

MEET THE WILD TEAM

The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the Trustees of Essex Wildlife Trust.

Editor-in-Chief Emily McParland

No. 116 Autumn 2021 ISSN 2756-0066

We are the county’s leading conservation charity, committed to protecting wildlife and inspiring a lifelong love of nature.

All enquiries to: Essex Wildlife Trust, Abbotts Hall Farm, Great Wigborough, Colchester, Essex, CO5 7RZ T 01621 862960 E enquiries@essexwt.org.uk www.essexwt.org.uk Reg Charity No. 210065 VAT Reg No. 945745977 Company Reg No. 638666 England

We manage nature reserves and discovery parks across the county, providing outstanding outdoor learning and preserving places of wonder.

Founded in 1959 by volunteers, we protect over 8,400 acres of land across 87 sites and are supported by 39,000 members.

Our climate is in crisis and nature needs our help. Together we can protect the future. Join us.

We are one of the largest trusts that work together throughout the British Isles as The Wildlife Trusts.

Executive Editor Rich Yates Editorial Assistant Lily Chambers Art Director Nathan Bishop Designer Lottie Hall Advertising Sophie Hennessey To advertise in WILD magazine contact Sophie on sophieh@essexwt.org.uk Printing The DS Group WILD magazine includes adverts from third-parties. However, services offered by advertisers are not specifically endorsed by Essex Wildlife Trust.

The income from advertisements goes towards the cost of printing and postage. This means that more of your membership donation goes directly towards conservation. Adverts must conform to the British Code of Advertising Practice.

Copyright © Essex Wildlife Trust 2021

Did you find any toads, toadlets or toad crossings this spring or summer? Please help us continue to track toads in Essex by logging your sightings at www.essexwt.org.uk/ essex-toads.

Volunteer with us

The Trust relies on an incredible team of volunteers to help us do more for wildlife in Essex. See what opportunities are available at www.essexwt.org.uk/volunteeringopportunities.

Become a Wilder Essex campaigner

Join our campaigns mailing list to keep up to date on all Trust campaigns and find out how you can get involved. Sign up at www.essexwt.org.uk/get-involved/campaign.

We really hope you enjoy receiving your magazine.

If, however, you would prefer to convert to our digital-only Green Membership, please contact the Membership Office on 01621 862964 or by email at members@essexwt.org.uk. We will be delighted to help you manage how we communicate with you.

WILD Autumn 2021

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Section title here

Page 34 If damaged ecosystems are restored, nature will help the UK reach its target of net zero by 2050. Better yet, it can help us improve coastal and flood defences, increase natural resilience and create healthier lives. In this edition, we look at the Trust’s key nature-based solutions projects that are helping nature to recover.

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WILD Autumn 2021

6 YOUR WILD ESSEX A stunning selection of photos of wild Essex at its best, submitted by supporters of the Trust.

Short-eared owl photo: Fergus Gill/2020VISION

WHAT’S INSIDE

14 Under the spotlight:

8 TRUST NEWS

Thameside Nature Discovery Park

Updates from throughout the Trust on our work to protect wildlife and inspire a lifelong love of nature.

This expansive reserve on the Thames Estuary has undergone an incredible transformation. The centre provides fantastic panoramic views, while ongoing conservation management ensures this reserve will continue to grow into an established haven for wildlife.

32 HOW YOU CAN HELP WILDLIFE

42 TIME TUNNEL

We take a look back at the year 2001 to see what was happening at the Trust.

44 WHAT’S ON

Buff-tailed bumble bee photo: Chris Gomersall/2020VISION

Autumn is a fantastic time to sow wildflower seeds, ready for an eruption of colour next spring.

Section title here

THIS AUTUMN

The heat is subsiding and the colours of the natural world are changing, let’s discover the best of autumnal Essex.

20 Taking Action for Insects

The Trust is working to stop the decline of insects in the county – gathering data, creating perfect habitats, encouraging local action and lobbying Government to ensure insects can thrive again.

46 WHAT’S ON

THIS September

Summer birds leave our shores, while far-travelling winter birds arrive in their place.

THIS October

Tawny owls hoot, garden spiders weave intricate designs and fungi erupts around us.

50 WHAT’S ON

European hare photo: Bertie Gregory/2020VISION

48 WHAT’S ON

THIS November

Wildfowl swell, starlings dance in the sky and hedgehogs tuck themselves away for the colder months.

58 WILDLIFE QUIZ TIME Test your knowledge on the wonderful wildlife and wild places in Essex.

Abbotts Hall Farm photo: Terry Whittaker/2020VISION

40 Remember a charity

A few of the Trust’s fantastic pledgers share their stories about why they have chosen to support the wildlife and wild places in Essex for the future.

Your Wild Essex

The wildlife in Essex never fails to amaze. Here is a fabulous collection of the rich variety of species you can see in our wonderful county, captured by our members and supporters over the last few months.

A crab spider lies in wait for its next meal by Sean Marah.

A fluffy tawny owl chick peers down from the treetops by Rosie Barrett, @rosiebwild.

Ssssssspot the grass snake by Samantha Moorcraft Photography.

If you would like to feature in our winter edition of WILD, please email your Essex wildlife pictures to magazine@essexwt.org.uk or tag Essex Wildlife Trust on social media.

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WILD Autumn 2021

Your Wild Essex

#essexwildlifetrust

A hare takes a pause in the morning dew

by Simon Tassell, @blackstagphotography.

A wood ant doing its best balancing act at our Pound Wood nature reserve by Trevor Hockey.

When two become one. An attentive adult swallow captured feeding its chick by Trevor Hardy.

A red fox gives us its best glare from the bluebells by Sebastien Clark, @sebjclark.

An iconic bee orchid showing off its distinctive flower by Julia Perry.

Exploring one of the many pathways at our Fingringhoe Wick Nature Discovery Park by Berenice Tregenna.

WILD Autumn 2021

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Trust news

Stories and news from throughout the Trust on our work to protect wildlife and inspire a lifelong love of nature throughout Essex.

Written by our staff, volunteers and members of our Local Groups.

Photo: ENORI

Native oysters

Native oyster restoration and outreach in action Rachel Langley Living Seas Coordinator and Anna Gordon Community Engagement and Education Advisor Essex Wildlife Trust is a partner of the Essex Native Oyster Restoration Initiative (ENORI), who have made great strides with their native oyster restoration and outreach efforts this year. Following a successful trial in 2019, this spring ENORI undertook the mammoth task of deploying approximately 700 tonnes of cultch (stone and broken shell) into the Blackwater Restoration Box in the Blackwater, Crouch, Roach and Colne Marine Conservation Zone. The cultch added this year provides vital new native oyster habitat (approximately 3.5 thousand m2 of it) that will be ready for settlement

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WILD Autumn 2021

next year; an important step to help recover this vital and rare species and habitat.

Meanwhile, Essex Wildlife Trust’s Outdoor Learning team have been busy developing a new sensory shoresearch session and inviting school groups with special educational needs and disabilities to explore their local coast and learn about native oysters, the restoration project and coastal wildlife. The aim is to reach 360 people through this scheme in 2021.

These activities are generously funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the Environment Agency.

Trust news

New tree guard recycling scheme Katie Goldsbrough Abberton Ranger

Over the last decade, we have planted over 80,000 trees across the Abberton nature reserve and the wider reservoir.

With help from our partners Essex and Suffolk Water, here at Abberton we have joined a plastic tree guard recycling scheme for our old plastic Tubex tree guards across the reserve.

This means at the end of their time protecting the tree from browsing animals and damage, these tree guards will be taken to be cleaned and recycled. Over the last five years we have been using various biodegradable tree guards for our tree planting on site. Moving forward for any future tree planting across the reserve, we will trial other various non-plastic alternatives. A positive move in the right direction for more sustainable tree planting!

The Wildlife Explorer podcast Zoe Kent Marketing & Communications Assistant As an antidote to the screen fatigue epidemic that was sweeping the nation during lockdowns, The Wildlife Explorer podcast was born. Our aim is to give people the chance to get their nature fix whilst on the go – be that on a daily walk or doing the washing up!

Wave of Hope Bailey Marchant Campaigns Officer As the UK prepared to host the G7 Summit, The Wildlife Trusts joined forces with over 70 organisations to form the Crack the Crisis Coalition. We called for decision makers to come together to tackle the four crises of Covid-19, injustice, climate change and nature loss.

These crises are four of the biggest problems our world is facing. They require a collaborative and connected response.

The Wildlife Explorer gives people the opportunity to learn all about our Essex wildlife; from the weird to the wonderful, as well as what we are doing to help nature thrive on our reserves and beyond.

Our experts from across the Trust are here to take you on a magical journey throughout Essex.

Immerse yourself in the sounds of the dawn chorus, find out why bats and moths have developed super-powers, learn about the secret lives of badgers and join in with a five minute guided meditation.

Our first episode shot up the charts to number four on Apple’s ‘Best Nature Podcasts’ and we’re about to release episode nine.

To encourage world leaders to come together, the coalition launched the Wave of Hope campaign. We asked you to create your own ‘wave’ by drawing or making a hand, paw or claw print filled with messages of hope to show support for the cause. Thousands of people took part.

These messages were delivered to world leaders at their London embassies and displayed at the G7 Summit.

It isn’t over yet, these messages will be displayed at COP26 this October, so there is still time to get involved and have your message heard, visit www.wildlifetrusts. org/crack-crises.

WILD Autumn 2021

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Trust news

Accessibility AT our nature reserves Kelly Osborne Volunteering Development Manager

Essex Wildlife Trust’s Inclusion group have been conducting a survey on the accessibility of all of our sites. Through this work, we hope to provide more information to visitors about our sites before visiting.

June Lambert has been taking part in the surveys: “Hanningfield has provided a hide screen with viewing windows at different heights, and as a wheelchair user this is wonderful for me. Paths have been upgraded giving wheelchair access to the hide”. At Wrabness, small adjustments will mean there will be a long and a short circular walk with two accessible hides. Information boards regarding the length of walks, picnic tables and benches to rest on will also be available.

Dormouse photo: Danny Green/2020VISION

Our wild June

Lily Chambers Communications Assistant More than 4,000 individuals, families, care homes, schools and businesses across Essex carried out their daily ‘random acts of wildness’ this June for 30 Days Wild. They spent the month bird watching, planting wildflower seeds, eating outdoors and even litter picking for their health, wellbeing, for wildlife and for the planet.

Thank you to those who got involved with 30 Days Wild this year to film a video, tag us in a social media post or if you helped us to spread the word, encouraging more people to connect with nature.

NEW RECORDS OF DORMICE

Tell us about your 30 Days Wild journey and we will share on our website at www.essexwt.org.uk/blog/your-30-days-wild.

Nicky Payne

Landscape Conservation Area Assistant A small group of our north-west volunteer team made 350 dormouse tubes for our reserves. Six sites were selected, with 50 tubes installed at each location. We have been monitoring the tubes on a monthly basis, with the main aim being to establish presence or absence of this secretive species and to help us determine future management of sites to optimise prime dormouse habitat.

By using ArcGIS software, this scratchy, prickly and sometimes unenviable task was made considerably easier. The effort from all has been made so worthwhile though – we found dormice occupying boxes, alongside evidence of solitary bees, blue tits and many invertebrates also occupying some of the boxes.

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WILD Autumn 2021

Barn owl photo: Danny Green/2020VISION

The WILD summer raffle Michelle Shepherd Supporter Development Officer

A big thank you to everyone who took part in our first ever digital summer raffle! We would like to congratulate our four lucky winners – Matthew Fagg, Russell Lee, Michael Nicholson and Andrew Butcher. If you didn’t have a chance to take part, make sure you keep an eye out for details on our winter raffle – online and in our winter edition of WILD. There will be loads more wonderful prizes up for grabs, and don’t forget that every ticket you buy will be helping us to continue our vital conservation efforts, protecting Essex’s wildlife and wild places.

Trust news

Adders return to Chafford Gorges Dean Williams Chafford Gorges Ranger This year we spotted our first adders at Chafford Gorges Nature Discovery Park in years. This is the result of many weeks spent restoring the meadow over the last five years – it has been great to see the hard work paying off.

Successful charity golf day Karen Dixon Corporate Coordinator

Adder photo: Danny Green/2020VISION

News from the Uttlesford Local Group Tony Morton Chair of Uttlesford

The annual Corporate Charity Golf Day held at The Warren Estate in Danbury was able to go ahead this year, with 18 teams of four turning out to support the Trust, with not a drop of rain on the day to hold up play, despite bad forecasts. The day was a great success, raising over £6,000 for the Trust, with auction donations from Wilkin & Sons, EOL IT Services, Strix Editions and many more helping to raise this fantastic amount of funds for wildlife in what has been a difficult year for everyone.

Mike Cable, our long trusty scorer for the competition, who has freely given his time over the years, totalled the scores for Guardian Display and VITA Golf & Business Networking who was presented the winning trophy by our CEO Andrew Impey. A great day was had by all and we look forward to next year’s competition.

Local Group

The Local Group work party has continued in reduced form due to restrictions, but over this season we mostly leave the nature reserves to the wildlife that depends upon them. We have managed to do the little that is required to keep them presentable.

News from the Maldon and South Woodham Ferrers Local Group

The weather pattern this year seems to have been good for wildflowers, but not for migratory birds which were late in arriving. Your Local Group chair found a dead bat in the middle of the lawn one morning, intact, very lightweight and looking as though it had fallen from the sky. Many bat recorders have found animals underweight and short of insect food due to the cool and dry conditions of April. A change to wetter and milder conditions since then must have been of benefit to them.

Despite restrictions leading to uncertainties on when our indoor meetings will restart, wildlife continues to cheer us up – Chair Mike Sandison had a significant birding first – a buzzard in the garden!

The top pond at the Aubrey Buxton nature reserve has seen a gradual increase in the number of tadpoles, so we hope to find more frogs in the coming years. Summer work at this reserve involves removing the invasive Himalayan balsam, where we seem to be getting the upper hand.

Anita Sanderson Secretary of Maldon & South Woodham Ferrers Local Group

Buzzard photo: Amy Lewis

News about three people who have been especially important to the Local Group; Phil Luke, who is now a nonagenarian, has decided to retire. At some date in the past, the Trust started the idea of Local Groups based on Local Council areas, hence the Maldon Group was born. Phil was the first Secretary, followed by Chairman, and then, in the early 2000s, Vice Chairman. Phil also arranged the Group’s speaker programme. He was served first as Voluntary Warden at Stow Maries, then, since the early 1980s, at Chigborough Lakes nature reserve. His experience and wisdom will be missed and he has our sincere thanks and best wishes for the future.

Diana and John Rogers, long term supporters of the Local Group fundraising through the famous ‘Soup Lunches’ at Maldon Little Ship Club, have also decided to retire. Members will miss the delicious soups and cakes, as well as the fundraising!

WILD Autumn 2021

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Trust news

Update from Havering Local Group Joy Emerson Secretary of Havering Local Group We have enjoyed some walks during the summer where plenty of birds, plants and insects were identified. We hope to carry on with the walks and restart our monthly indoor meetings (restrictions permitting) at Ingrebourne Nature Discovery Centre on 13 September at 1.45pm.

Upcoming walks and talks can be found on www.essexwt.org.uk/ events or by phoning Joy Emerson on 01708 440297.

News from the Brentwood and Billericay Local Group Graham Clegg Chair & David Threadgold Secretary The AGMs for 2019 & 2020 were successfully held via Zoom on 17 June. Many local members enjoyed our visit to Chafford Gorges on 25 June, when we saw a colourful display of orchids and other plants in this unique environment. Our restoration of the Butterfly Meadow in Shenfield, in partnership with the local Parish Council and the charity Our Grieving Hearts, continues apace. Work originally started in the summer of 2019 clearing the site of rubbish, brambles and other invasive plants. The willow arches have been restored and meadows sown with wildflowers. The site has now been fully restored and an ongoing maintenance programme put in place, with monthly work parties when possible.

Dates for the diary: 16 September (Talk about The Naze), 22 September (Walk at The Naze), 21 October (Talk on Historic Essex Gardens) and 24 November (Walk at Elmley Marshes), details of which are available on the website at www.essexwt.org.uk/events.

News from the Colchester Local Group Dianne Cattermole Chair of Colchester Local Group On Saturday 19 June, some of the Colchester Local Group Committee went along to West Bergholt to meet with Claire Rodie, founder of the West Bergholt Swift Conservation Project. We had been invited by Claire to see the swift boxes in situ – some of which had been funded by the Colchester Local Group – and to meet some of the residents of the village who are participating in this fantastic initiative.

The project started two years ago and this is the first year to see successful breeding in one of the boxes, with the addition of one chick. We were taken to see boxes along with accompanying caller systems which had been placed on Orpen Village Hall and Heath Primary School, as well as ones installed in the eaves and on the walls of private houses.

The first thing that strikes you is how sensitively they have been installed and how well they blend into the buildings that host them.

The villagers we spoke to were all very enthusiastic and happy to be involved and told us how thrilled they were that the project is finally paying dividends. From our point of view, it was an absolute pleasure to see conservation in action and to know that both the Colchester Local Group’s donations and efforts are paying off for the benefit of wildlife.

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WILD Autumn 2021

Our Annual Members Survey Cassie Reilly Membership Manager

Last autumn we introduced a digital Annual Members Survey. Our thanks to all of you who completed the survey.

A snapshot of your feedback: • 65% of you said that your main reason for becoming a member was your love of wildlife.

• 60% said that support of conservation was the most significant benefit of membership.

• 44% of you cited loss of wildlife as your main concern for the future, followed by 28% who are most concerned about climate change.

• Over 2/3 of you felt that conservation should be the Trust’s priority, over education and campaigning for change.

• On how well we’re doing in tackling your main concerns, we received an average overall score of 3.99 out of 5 – which is good, but there’s room for improvement!

What’s changed since? The majority of you wanted us to increase the amount of wildlife information and conservation projects within our magazine. We feel that our newly launched WILD magazine is heading in the right direction. Over 50% would prefer to receive correspondence digitally. We since launched a ‘Green Membership’ option, whereby all correspondence, including the magazine, are sent digitally. We’re working towards sending other correspondence digitally to non-green members too.

What next? We hope that by running the survey annually, we’ll achieve an even greater understanding of you, our members, enabling us to continue working together to create a Wilder Essex.

The 2021 Annual Members Survey is now live, if you could spare 5 minutes of your time, please go to www.essexwt.org.uk/ Members-Survey-2021.

The Big Bear Cider Mill is delighted to become an Essex Wildlife Trust Investor In Wildlife Silver Member and to help support their important work.

We at The Big Bear feel strongly that sustainability, particularly nature conservation, protecting wildlife and encouraging biodiversity, is one of the biggest issues our generation faces.

Our apple trees are grown without using pesticides: we deal with any unwanted insects using natural, traditional methods. Birds and ladybirds love aphids!

The result – Wonderful Essex Cider

www.thebigbearcider.co.uk

5.4% ALC | 1.8 UNITS | 330ML drinkaware.co.uk

Nest Box & Feeder Camera System • 2 in 1 system for all-year round camera use • Watch from the comfort of your home • Create your own wildlife TV channel • Pre-assembled for easy plug ‘n’ play use

To find out more, visit www.gardenature.co.uk or call 01255 429931

Section title Thameside Nature here Discovery Park

When Thameside Nature Discovery Park was officially opened in 2013, Sir David Attenborough described it as a ‘miracle for us all’. What was once one of the largest landfill sites in western Europe is now unrecognisable as a peaceful sprawling nature haven at the mouth of the Thames Estuary.

Thameside Nature Discovery Park

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WILD Autumn 2021

Thameside Nature Section Discovery title Park here

What to look out for this

autumn atThameside Short-eared owl

The bright yellow stare of the short-eared owl hunting over the grassland is one to behold.

Shrill carder bee The UK’s rarest bumblebee, with its greyish-green body, dull orange tail and black bands across its thorax can be found here.

Shrill carder bee photo: Gabrielle Horup

Skylark photo: David Tipling/2020VISION

Skylark

Despite national declines, Thameside is home to a good population of skylarks, which can be seen darting up vertically in the air whilst singing.

Waders

As the weather begins to chill, large flocks of avocet, knot and dunlin will begin to gather on the banks of the Thames Estuary.

Billie’s facts Avocet photo: Luke Massey/2020VISION

Thameside Nature Discovery Park photo: Drone Downwell Group

Short-eared owl photo: Fergus Gill/2020VISION

Thameside nature Discovery park

Size: 97 hectares, eventually 342 hectares.

Address: Mucking Wharf Road, Stanford-le-Hope, SS17 0RN. Access: Open daily from 8.30am-5pm, the centre is open daily from 10am-5pm.

There are different trails around the reserve, with paths accessible from Crown Green Cottage, Mucking Creek Sluice Gate and the main car park, which has space for 80 cars. The centre has an accessible roof with panoramic views across the reserve and over the Thames Estuary.

Dogs: Permitted under effective control, but must be kept on leads during the summer breeding season.

WILD Autumn 2021

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Thameside Nature Discovery Park

Thameside Nature Discovery Park photo: Matthew Roberts

Photo: Enovert

‘In 2012, Essex Wildlife Trust embarked on one of its largest restoration projects, transforming a landfill site into a nature haven.’

I

n 2012, Essex Wildlife Trust embarked on one of its largest restoration projects, transforming a landfill site into a nature haven. This partnership with Enovert, the landfill operator, will eventually see 342 hectares of land returned to nature and the community – that’s double the size of Regent’s Park.

Thameside Nature Discovery Park, situated on the north bank of the Thames Estuary, has been occupied since Stone Age times. At one point, 230 Saxon dwellings were situated here. In the early 1920s, the site became a quarry, providing building materials to the growing capital. The works closed in the 1950s, then the waste from six London boroughs was brought back here to be dumped as landfill, with an estimated 660,000 tonnes of rubbish brought here each year at its peak.

The landfill site stopped accepting waste in 2010 and work began on capping off different sections, allowing what Sir David Attenborough described as “the next chapter” to begin in the site’s history. Restoration materials laid to cap the landfill are varied on the site; from chalks, to clays which in places have been overlain with waste materials such as Pulverised Fuel Ash (PFA) from neighbouring power stations, to provide a diverse mosaic of habitats for wildlife.

In just one decade, a visit to Thameside Nature Discovery Park will now grant you with views of expansive grassland and flowers swaying in the breeze, singing skylarks, the buzz of rare invertebrates and hundreds of wading birds gathering in the coastal marshes over the colder months.

This huge brownfield site on the shores of the iconic Thames will continue to develop over time through careful management.

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WILD autumn 2021

Some of the waste materials used on the site, including PFA, are most valuable for the Thames Terrace invertebrate assemblage found here. This aggregate is a harsh landscape for many plants to grow, but results in an open habitat that can be colonised by specialist flowering herbs and leaves warm open patches; ideal habitat for rare insects such as the black mining bee. Essex Ecology Services (EECOS) carried out surveys in 2018, recording 297 invertebrate species, 44 of which had been assigned a national conservation status.

The addition of a Coronation Meadow, using seeds from Essex Wildlife Trust’s Langdon Nature Discovery Park has seen meadow plant diversity increase from 48 to 91 species, with bee orchid, yellow rattle and bird’s-foot trefoil all new additions to the site. The meadow is managed by an annual hay cut, taken after the flora has seeded in late August.

The meadow is then grazed with a small number of cattle.

The way cattle graze, by pulling from the base and tearing it out of the ground creates bare patches, ideal for the next season’s flowers and incidentally creates perfect ground nesting space for farmland birds, including skylarks.

The lake, a result of the past gravel works, is a hidden gem at the park and of regional importance for its wildlife.

During spring and summer you may spot a hobby hunting for dragonflies or an unaware sand martin. Over autumn and winter, flocks of diving ducks gather, including pochard, tufted and goldeneye. It is along the path to the lake that the keen eyed could spot a shy adder warming up in the early morning sun. There is a good population of reptiles, also including common lizard, slow worm and grass snakes at Thameside. Dotted around the site are a number of hibernacula, man-made refuges we’ve created for these cold blooded creatures to safely shelter.

Thameside Nature Discovery Park

Landfill operator and our wonderful partner at Thameside.

Thameside Nature Discovery

Park photo: Matthew Robe

rts

Across Thameside there is a network of paths, bridleways and cycle routes to explore. A short stroll down from the centre takes you to our bird hide, overlooking Mucking Mudflats and Stanford Wharf. These intertidal habitats are crucial for birds throughout the year. As we enter into autumn, migrants including dunlin, redshank, avocet and wigeon will gather. If you’re after a longer walk, the Thameside Hares Trail is our permanent 1.5km walking loop, with beautifully themed painted hare silhouettes hopping along its length. A £1 map purchased from the centre guides you along the route, while providing facts and activities to do along the way.

nsson

At the top of the site sits our Nature Discovery Centre – shaped like a fort and held in place by hydraulic jacks to adjust over time. The accessible rooftop allows everyone to have panoramic views across the nature reserve and out to the mouth of the estuary. From the comfort of the Skylark Café you can witness a fascinating slice of river life, with the tiniest of fishing dinghies to huge cruise liners passing by, while wading birds flock, a seal may haul out on the mudflats, or if you’re very lucky, a harbour porpoise may swim by.

Essex Wildlife Trust not only protects the habitat for wildlife, but educational events and activities allow the local community to engage with this oasis and the wildlife that calls it home. Our yurt forms the base for many of our Nature Tots and Home Education groups. These popular sessions follow Forest School principles, allowing children to explore and lead their own activities under the guidance of our educational leaders. As the October Half Term Holiday approaches, we will have an array of fun family activities and events to book on to. Keep an eye on our website at www.essexwt.org.uk/events to book your place.

Skylark photo: Stefan Joha

Scrub builds up naturally over time as the site undergoes succession, and this habitat provides a safe nesting site for birds as well as regular food for an array of birds and butterflies. Earlier this year we began a regime of scrub management, using a drone to map each years’ cut, which is conducted out of nesting season. By flailing scrub it promotes new growth, which results in more nesting opportunities for birds and creates ideal basking areas for reptiles.

Thameside Nature Discovery Park play area photo: Peter Bowden

‘Essex Wildlife Trust not only protects the habitat for wildlife, but educational events and activities allow the local community to engage with this oasis and the wildlife that calls it home.’

WILD Autumn autumn 2021

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In Memory

Sue & Steve with the brand-new bee planter that is helping to support the county’s bee population thanks to generous donations in memory of their daughter, Abbie.

Essex Wildlife Trust are hugely honoured by all the special donations we receive, no matter what the size. Here is how some recent donations have been helping wildlife in Essex.

Abbie Roach

Abbie was a wonderful young lady who had a passion for bees. She truly appreciated wildlife and volunteered at our Bedfords Park Nature Discovery Centre every Saturday for four years before university, always greeting visitors with a friendly smile. She later went on to assist with our Outdoor Learning team, helping to inspire the next generation about all things wild, especially bees!

Education, conservation and nature were a huge part of Abbie’s life therefore when her life was suddenly taken away by illness, her parents Sue and Steve asked family and friends to donate to charities in lieu of flowers – Essex Wildlife Trust being one. Through the heartfelt generosity of donators and her employer, Beaverbrooks, the funds raised are now to be invested at our Bedfords Park Nature Discovery Centre. Recently we invited Sue and Steve to help install a beautiful bee planter complete with bee-friendly flowers outside the education room. As well as providing nectar and pollen for bees, the planter also provides a home for solitary bees as it contains wood and holes for them to burrow into and nest. We are delighted to report that it is already thriving!

Francis Lecomber

Last August, Francis, who worked as a scientist and had studied at UCL, passed away. He had a great sense of humour and a deep love for wildlife and nature. His family kindly nominated Essex Wildlife Trust to receive the special donations in memory to be used on a meaningful and engaging project that makes a difference.

They loved the idea of helping to fund the final touches of the wildlife garden at Fingringhoe Wick Nature Discovery Park. We recently invited his mum, Deborah and his brother, Rowan to help Alex the Ranger plant the wildlife pond, create an area for a mini-wildflower meadow and herb garden amongst other things. The aim is to engage young children and families to inspire them to create simple wildlife havens in their own gardens thanks to the kind-heartedness of Francis’ family and friends.

Francis’ brother, Rowan, getting stuck in with Alex, the Ranger, to create special areas for wildlife at our Fingringhoe Wick Nature Discovery Park.

It is always a privilege for the Trust to be given donations in memory of a loved one. These are a lasting and meaningful way of honouring memories for the benefit of wildlife in the community.

If you would like to find out more about in memory donations, please visit www.essexwt.org.uk/in-memory or email inmemory@essexwt.org.uk. Thank you.

WILD Autumn 2021

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Taking action for insects

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WILD Autumn 2021

Buff-tailed bumble bee photo: Chris Gomersall/2020VISION

Taking action for insects

Ta kin g action for

insects

M

ost of life on Earth depends on insects in some way. They pollinate our plants, disperse seeds, cycle nutrients, maintain soil structure, predate certain organisms and provide a major food source for many species. They are key to a healthy ecosystem, but the rate at which insects are declining in the UK and globally is increasingly worrying. Insects have suffered from substantial loss and fragmentation of habitat, pesticide use and the impacts of climate change.

WILD Autumn 2021

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Burnet moth caterpillar photo: Vicky Nall

Taking action for insects

Stag beetle

n Bridges

tterfly photo: Joh

Painted lady bu

Common

darter dr

A

agonfly

photo: Ro

ss Hoddi

nott/202

0VISION

To reverse this decline, The Wildlife Trusts launched Action for Insects, a national campaign focusing on targeted actions that will make a positive difference for insects. Essex is of particular importance to insects, with many special sites, including some of Essex Wildlife Trust’s nature reserves that are protected at a national level for many different invertebrates.

Action for Insects in Essex focuses on several specific strands: creating and enhancing habitat on our nature reserves; citizen science projects to increase our baseline data on insect abundance; increasing habitat connectivity across the Essex landscape and influencing others to take insect-friendly actions.

From the magical transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly to the complex behaviour of a parasitic wasp, the windowesque wings of a dragonfly to the mammoth antlers of a stag beetle. Insects are not just vital, but their intricate forms and vivid colours are beautiful, their life cycles are fascinating and they are a joy to observe over the changing seasons. Helping these wonderful creatures is possibly the most important act you can take locally to help biodiversity, whether that be through providing patches of habitat in your garden, taking part in a survey or simply sharing your passion for insects with others, to inspire them to take note and to take action.

Here we delve into some of the many ways Essex Wildlife Trust have been taking action to help insects this year and show you different opportunities to get involved.

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WILD Autumn 2021

‘Helping these wonderful creatures is possibly the most important act you can take locally to help biodiversity.’

Taking action for insects

Gathering data on insect abundance

Photo: Two Tree Island nature reserve

Enhancing habitats on our nature reserves

Two Tree Island nature reserve, near Leigh-on-Sea, was once a landfill site that over many years has been developed into a mosaic of scrub grassland habitat that connects to the adjoining intertidal mudflats and saltmarsh. This nature reserve is an important habitat for Thames Terrace invertebrates, one of the most important and threatened invertebrate assemblages in Britain. The site is also home to rare species like the shrill carder bee and the brownbanded carder bee.

Research has shown that bare ground, or partially vegetated ground is required by many burrowing and basking invertebrate species, in particular bees, wasps and beetles.

A nearby study conducted at Canvey Wick & Hadleigh Marshes several years ago also revealed that creating large sand banks is beneficial for a range of species.

In order to enhance Two Tree Island for insects, this summer Essex Wildlife Trust embarked on creating new insect habitat on this special site. The Trust’s Landscape Conservation team constructed six sand banks, each consisting of 40 tonnes of locally sourced Thanet Sand.

The banks are located to face south, ensuring they can heat up, an essential feature for many insects.

In our spring edition of WILD, we asked you take part in our new citizen science survey, Bugs Matter. This user-friendly smart phone app asks you to hold up the ‘splatometer’ grid to your licence plate after a car journey, and log the number of insect ‘splats’ after each journey. This survey methodology is based on the ‘windscreen phenomenon’ – a term given to the observation that people tend to find fewer insects squashed on the windscreens of their cars now, compared to several decades ago. Each data entry will allow us to better understand how our insect populations are faring throughout the county by gathering vital evidence.

This year’s survey season ran from 1 June – 31 August.

Hopefully many of you downloaded the free app and logged your records to contribute to the survey effort. The project received thousands of data entries, with data now being analysed by our partners Kent Wildlife Trust for the whole of England. In the coming months we will receive the raw data and a county level report, detailing the results of the survey for Essex.

The data from 2021 will establish a new baseline for Essex and we will be able to compare with a 2004 survey completed by the RSPB. The more evidence we continue to collect, the more we can understand any patterns. Just as climatologists monitor weather patterns over many years to reveal weather trends, we must monitor insect numbers each year to reveal their trends. So please keep the app ready for next year’s survey, or download it if you haven’t already.

We know populations of many species are in decline but this data will be able to tell us more – gathering evidence will demonstrate the need for urgent action. This data will help support the case for changes to policy and practice, to reverse declines and restore invertebrate populations.

The Bugs Matter survey in Essex was kindly sponsored this summer by our Investors in Wildlife member Ground Control, who encouraged their staff to take part in the survey.

We have chosen several different locations on the reserve for these sand banks. The sand banks closer to saltmarsh will provide potential nesting habitat for the rare sea aster mining bee. Sea aster, the food plant of the bee, can be found on the adjacent saltmarsh. Having sand banks located by areas of grassland with a higher percentage of flowering plants, including knapweed, clover and bird’s-foot trefoil will be an essential location for foraging bees. Several of the sand banks are in quiet locations to ensure they are left undisturbed, but we have also placed several close to footpaths to enable visitors the opportunity to observe the bees and wasps up close.

The project, kindly funded by the Ida Davis Foundation, with invaluable practical support from Leigh Marina is already showing early signs of success. The banks were quickly colonised by mining bees and wasps. Visit Two Tree Island nature reserve on a warm sunny day and take some time to watch these wonderful insects busying around the sand banks.

WILD Autumn 2021

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Taking action for insects Long hoverfly on cornflower photo: James Adler

e on hawkweed photo: Guy

Elephant hawkmoth on foxglove photo: Tom Marshall

Thick-legged flower beetl Edwardes/2020VISION

Increasing connectivity across Essex Bees, butterflies, moths, beetles, hoverflies and more are all important pollinators. They visit flowers to feed on the sweet nectar and pollen produced by the plant. In return, they provide the essential service of pollination, enabling plants to reproduce.

Without pollination, ecosystems would collapse and we would not be able to grow many of the fruit and vegetable crops that we rely on for our diets today. To stop this decline, pollinating insects need more habitat and food plants.

To combat this, Essex Wildlife Trust have invested in sourcing a local and native wildflower seed mix that is irresistible to pollinators. The mix contains a wide range of plants, both annual and perennial species, that will grow in varying conditions, providing flowers for insects to feed on from early spring through to autumn. The mixture includes common knapweed, red campion, corn marigold, cowslip, yellow rattle, cornflower, wild carrot, musk mallow and many more – a profusion of colours and smells to attract every insect.

We have trialled the mixture outside many of our Nature Discovery Centres this summer, which resulted in an eruption of beautiful wildflowers. Now, we want to increase the connectivity of our habitats and create wildflower corridors throughout the county.

To do this we’ve launched the Big Wild Seed Sow. We have packed the wildflower seed mix into small packets with instructions on how to sow and we will be handing out the packets free to visitors at our Nature Discovery Centres from the end of August, through to the middle of September. Thanks to funding from one of our Investors in Wildlife members, New Holland Tractor Plant, we have over 5,000 seed packets to give to members of the public, which could see millions of new wildflowers in Essex bloom next year.

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WILD Autumn 2021

We want to ensure everyone is able to help wildlife in their gardens – whether that be on a windowsill flowerpot, a front garden border, a wild margin or on an allotment.

September to early October is the ideal time to sow this mixture (follow our instructions on Page 32 to learn how to sow wildflower seeds) and you will be able to watch them grow, flower and attract pollinators from next spring onwards.

After planting the free wildflower seeds, we’re asking people to plot their wildflower patch on our online Essex map, so we can see where the new habitats have been created across the county. We’re also asking people to share photos of their new plot and when they bloom on social media, using #BigWildSeedSow. By sowing this wildflower mix, you will be helping to provide food for insects across the greater landscape and the more people that plant this mix, the greater the benefits will be to our declining insect population.

This is only the first year of the Big Wild Seed Sow, we want to grow it annually and give more people the opportunity to plant wildflowers in the county – from children attending our events, to schools, businesses and community groups, we want to give people the tools to help them create a Wilder Essex.

Taking action for insects

Can you help us?

Wildflower meadow photo: Paul Hobson

Every donation to our Big Wild Seed Sow appeal will go towards delivering more wildflower seed mixes to people in Essex – giving them the opportunity to sow seeds to a better future for insects.

By raising £10,000, we will be able to give every family who attends our events and activities a packet of our native wildflower mix in the coming year. If 500 supporters donate £20, you will help us reach this goal.

Help make Essex bloom for pollinators by donating to our appeal today:

TEXT

flower 20

Haverhill Sudbury

to 70450 to donate £20

flower 15 to 70450 to donate £15

flower 10 to 70450 to donate £10

Harwich

Colchester

Braintree Bishops Stortford

Walton-on-the-Naze

Witham

Clacton-on-Sea

Harlow

Chelmsford

Maldon

Epping

Loughton Brentwood

Basildon

Havering

Canvey Island Grays

Southend -on-Sea

Or donate your chosen amount and look at the map of where the seeds have been planted on our website at www.essexwt.org.uk/big-wild-seed-sow.

Texts cost the value of your donation plus one standard rate message and you’ll be opting in to hear more about our work and fundraising via telephone and SMS. If you’d like to donate but do not wish to receive marketing communications, text FLOWERNOINFO with your donation amount to 70450.

WILD Autumn 2021

| 25

Taking action for insects

Identify these 1. Ivy bee

5

insects

(Colletes hederae)

One of nine species of Colletes bees found in the UK, this is the newest arrival to the UK having been first recorded in 2001. As the name suggests, ivy is the main plant used by this bee for pollen, so is it the last solitary bee to emerge each year, in synchronicity with the flowering of ivy. Ivy bees nest in loose, light or sandy soil on southern-facing banks and cliffs, with ivy nearby for foraging. Although they are solitary bees, when conditions are suitable there may be thousands of nests in the same area. You can help these bees by keeping your ivy lively and not cutting it back this autumn. ndy Carter

3. Wasp spider

4. Southern wood ant

(Formica rufa)

The southern wood ant is the UK’s largest ant species, reaching up to 12mm in length. It is reddish-brown in colour, with a black head and abdomen. Wood ants are fascinating insects which perform a number of important roles in our woodlands, from helping tree growth and distributing seeds to providing a ‘parasite removal service’ and food for birds. Southern wood ants build large nests out of soil, twigs, leaves and pine needles, which can be found in sunny spots of the woodland floor.

Some colonies can have up to half a million individual ants Southern wood ant: Vaughn Matthews within them!

Wasp spider photo: Jon Hawkins - Surrey Hills Photogr aphy

Often confused for butterflies, these attractive black and red moths can often be seen flying in the daytime. Their black and yellow striped caterpillars can be found feeding on ragwort; feeding on the plants poisonous leaves makes the caterpillars poisonous to foraging predators. Most likely to be found in habitats with short grass such as rabbit grazed sites, the cinnabar is a widespread moth. However, studies have shown that due to the persecution of their foodplant, the numbers have declined dramatically across the UK.

5. Small tortoiseshell

(Aglais urticae)

The small tortoiseshell is largely reddish-orange with black and yellow markings and a ring of blue spots around the edge of its wings. It is a familiar garden visitor that can be seen feeding on flowers all year-round during warm spells.

Male tortoiseshells are territorial, chasing each other, other butterflies and anything else that appears in their space.

They court females by ‘drumming’ their antennae on the females’ hindwings. Overwintering adults can often be found sheltering in sheds, garages or even houses so be careful moving items in the colder months. This medium-sized butterfly has a wingspan of between 4.5-6.2cm and is on the wing throughout the year, having two or three broods and overwintering as an adult. The caterpillars feed on common nettle, while the adults need nectar-rich borders and flowers such as buddleia.

Learn more about UK invertebrates on our website at

www.essexwt.org.uk/wildlife-explorer/invertebrates 26 |

WILD Autumn 2021

Gabrielle Horup

(Tyria Jacobaeae)

Cinnabar moth photo: Richa

rd Burkmar

2. Cinnabar moth

(Argiope bruennichi) The wasp spider is a great mimic, looking just like a common wasp to keep it safe from predators, even though it’s not dangerous itself.

The female has yellow, black and white stripes, with stripy legs.

The male is smaller and pale brown. This large, colourful spider is a recent arrival in the UK from the continent. They have spread over the south of England and can be found over much of Essex. Wasp spiders build large orb webs in grassland and heathland and attach their silk egg-sacs to grasses. The web has a wide, white zig-zag running down the middle, known as a ‘stabilimentum’.

photo: Small tortoiseshell

Ivy bee photo: We

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Community Gardening

Community

Gardening Come together with your community to make more space for nature.

Add bird boxes and bee hotels Help wildlife move into your shared garden, by providing homes! Find that DIY expert in your community and get building.

Set up a community compost heap These work really well, helping to reduce waste sent to landfill as well as provide a home for wildlife and compost for mulching.

Plant native trees Many parks and shared spaces have room for a few trees - these needs to be the right species in the right location. Talk to your local authorities and set up a crowdfunder with your neighbours to buy a few.

Grow plants for bees Make a small pond A source of water is really important for wildlife, for drinking and bathing. People will be drawn there too if you pop in a bench.

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WILD Autumn 2021

Everyone knows bees are in trouble and want to help them. Grow herbs like lavender, oregano, rosemary and chives.

Community Gardening

Twice a year, I meet up with other members of my local community to plant up and tidy the planters on my local high street. While we work we chat, discuss planting methods and the best plants for bees. Some of us take clippings home to compost. Many of us end up in the pub afterwards. It’s a lovely thing to do, both for the community, the local wildlife and ourselves.

Thanks to Covid we missed a session last year, but we have a date in the diary for summer and I’m looking forward to getting back to work.

Community gardens and gardening help bring communities together. They can be on virtually any patch of land, from large planters on a main road like the ones I tend, to a park or church grounds (or a section of them) — I’ve even seen community gardens set up in raised beds on a little corner of pavement. The space doesn’t matter, it’s what you do with it that counts. Whether you grow veg, flowers

or focus on wildlife gardening there’s plenty of reward to reap from your efforts. You’ll learn more about planting for nature, and can then pass this knowledge on to other members of your community, young and old. As a result, you’ll bring more nature to your and others’ doorsteps.

If you want to start gardening with your local community then start with your local park. There may already be a ‘Friends of’ group set up that you can join, but if there isn’t then set one up yourself — other ‘Friends of’ groups should be able to help you. You’ll be amazed how many people in your community want to come out and help improve the area, and you’ll make new friends, too!

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

For more tips on how to make green spaces wilder, visit: wildlifetrusts.org/take-action-insects

Grow vegetables Many people want to grow veg but lack the confidence. Start with courgettes, beans and strawberries. Teach people how to sow seeds and raise crops themselves.

Garden organically Use a combination of companion planting and wildlife gardening to move away from using chemicals, helping your community to learn how to garden in a wildlife-friendly way.

Create mini habitats Make log, leaf and stick piles for wildlife to live in, and leave seedheads and long grass over winter. Children will love making (and exploring!) homes for wildlife.

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How to help wildlife

Your step-by-step guide

to growing wildflowers.

Bumblebee photo: Chris Gom

ersall/2020VISION

Allowing our green spaces to become a little wilder will greatly benefit our pollinators. Planting wildflowers will provide food for bees, butterflies and many other insects as well as adding colour to brighten up any area. Here we show you how to introduce wildflowers from seed, but you can also introduce wildflower plugs or lay wildflower turf. You can try this on your lawn, along a garden border, in plant pots, at your allotment or even in window boxes.

What will you need: • Native wildflower seed mix • rake • spade • water

Step 1

Choose a sunny location to introduce your wildflower seeds.

Step 2

Clear the ground of any vegetation to create an area of bare soil then rake the surface.

Step 3

Scatter your native seeds evenly, around 5g of seed per square metre.

Wildflowers

thrive in nutrient-poor soils so avoid using compost or fertiliser, and even consider reducing the fertility of the soil before planting your seeds, so the conditions are optimum.

Step 4

Rake the area lightly then apply pressure to the seeds in the soil and water thoroughly and regularly.

Step 5

Your flowers should start to bloom the following spring!

We’d love to see pictures of the wildflowers in your garden, send your photos along with any other images of how you’re helping wildlife to thrive where you live to magazine@essexwt.org.uk.

32 |

WILD Autumn 2021

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Let Nature Help

WILD Autumn 2021

34 |

...for tackling the climate crisis.

How nature’s recovery is essential...

Nature

Let

Let Nature Help

Photo: Guy Edwardes/2020VISION

WILD Autumn 2021

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Let Nature Help

T

he climate emergency is now a standing item on the agenda of most countries around the world and the UK government has joined many other nations in setting targets in law to tackle the climate crisis. However, what’s less well documented is the undeniable links between the climate crisis and the ongoing ecological crisis. They are so inextricably linked and therefore we cannot consider one without the other.

Essex has a wealth of different habitats and many of them can actively help to tackle the impending climate catastrophe. From our woodlands to our saltmarshes, from our intertidal habitats to our marine seagrass beds, our natural landscapes in Essex are perfectly placed to sequester carbon and provide a suite of mitigation options and solutions.

Photo: Getty Images

In order to help stabilise our climate, we mustn’t just focus on the cause, we must place equal effort in the solutions and that requires action to fix our broken ecosystems. We must restore wild places, revive species richness and embrace the intrinsic value that the natural world provides.

For decades, ecologists have been arguing for the Government to acknowledge the ‘natural capital’ that is staring us in the face, but jobs and wealth creation have always been the trump card. However, now the Government’s own economists are saying that nature must be at the heart of decision making, if we are serious about a sustainable future. If we are truly serious about tackling the climate crisis, then we have to be equally serious about restoring our landscapes and delivering nature’s recovery.

Essex Wildlife Trust has over 60 years of experience delivering nature-based solutions locally and at scale. Together with communities, landowners, and public and private partners, we have been restoring natural processes and recovering wild places for decades. Our projects ensure they are delivered in a joined up way – with the ultimate aim of securing 30% of land and sea for nature’s recovery.

Together, we can make it happen. We have the skills and knowledge to create thriving, connected wild places that support abundant wildlife, lock up carbon naturally, and provide other benefits including: • Cleaner air and water, with fewer pollutants such as nitrates, phosphates and particulate matter; • Cost-effective natural flood management and coastal defences; • Delivery of biodiversity ‘net gain’ where losses arise following development; • Connecting people and nature, for the benefit of their health, wellbeing and enjoyment of life.

This summer, a raft of new nature-based projects led by The Wildlife Trusts are able to move forward thanks to almost £2 million in funding raised by players of People’s Postcode Lottery. The 12 schemes across the UK include pioneering collaboration to improve huge tracts of fragmented wetlands, restoring precious peatland habitats, planting seagrass habitats, connecting fragmented woodlands and developing saltmarsh restoration.

36 |

WILD Autumn 2021

Photo: Peter Cairns/2020Vision Photo: Rupert Paul

Let Nature Help

Essex Project

Managed realignments

Essex Wildlife Trust is taking action to bring nature back across the county.

Here are just a few of the Essex-based projects leading the way:

Managed realignments

By breaching historic seawalls and letting the tide in, we have created thriving intertidal habitats, including saltmarsh. Over 70 hectares of intertidal habitat now sequesters carbon, reduces flood risk and supports an abundance of wildlife, from feeding and breeding wading and wetland birds, to the creeks supporting fish nurseries.

Essex Project

Saltmarsh Restoration

Saltmarsh restoration

Coastal marshes have been eroded by up to 60% in the last 20 years.

We are exploring experimental and low-cost approaches to habitat restoration, by installing coir roll structures in saltmarsh channels.

This encourages sediment accretion and recolonisation of saltmarsh plants, capturing carbon and reducing the risk of erosion. Thanks to funding raised by players of People’s Postcode Lottery we are now quantifying the success of a cost-effective and easily replicable restoration technique to restore and protect the UK’s saltmarshes.

Natural flood management

The installation of leaky wooden dams helps to release water more gradually during flash floods, protecting flood prone villages. Going one step further, beavers have been released to measure the impact these rodents have compared to man made structures. In less than two years, the beavers are already transforming the landscape, providing water security and increasing biodiversity in the area.

Essex Project

Natural flood Management

Fish migratory roadmap

Working with the Environment Agency and the Thames Estuary Partnership we have mapped all the barriers to upstream movement of fish in our rivers – identifying over 400 barriers and creating The Essex Fish Migration Roadmap. We are now working to remove each and every barrier, to ensure our rivers are free-flowing again.

Essex Project The UK has a target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

Restoring nature can make a significant contribution to achieving this, while aiding flood protection, coastal defences, natural resilience and creating healthier lives. Read more about Essex Wildlife Trust’s nature-based solution projects and our Let Nature Help report online: www.essexwt.org.uk/nature-based-solutions.

Fish migratory roadmap

Thank you for being a member of the Trust – your support helps us to make a real and lasting difference in the county and make nature’s recovery a reality.

WILD Autumn 2021

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BY APPOINTMENT TO HER MAJESTY QUEEN ELIZABETH II SWAROVSKI OPTIK SUPPLIER OF BINOCULARS

CL POCKET NATURE IN YOUR POCKET SEE THE UNSEEN

My WILD life – Moths, Biodiversity and Planning

My WILD life

Moths, Biodiversity and Planning When I were a lad, I didn’t sneak a torch to read under the bed covers: I pulled back the curtains, opened the windows wide and, with the light on, the moths came pouring in. I’d spend much of the night identifying them and next day struggle to keep awake at school. These days I use a more conventional moth trap, but the catches are very low in comparison. Indeed, moths have declined by over 75% in the intervening years. The author Michael McCarthy documents the decline in his engaging book “The Moth Snowstorm” (1).

When the property speculator Gladman described Tye Field in Lawford as of poor biodiversity and ideal for building 110 houses I had to challenge that because I had run the moth trap there throughout the year and recorded over 200 species of moths. Tendring District Council, to their credit, refused Gladman’s Planning Application but, undeterred, the developer, which targets Councils with weak Local Plans, lodged an Appeal and the case went to Public Inquiry. This is a very familiar tale across Essex where developers are driven by large financial rewards and by the UK target to build 300,000 new houses per year. So, we formed a Local Action Group with massive support from the Lawford community and entered the fray which culminated in a 6-day Public Inquiry in front of barristers and a Planning Inspector. We were not against house building per se: we were against building houses in the wrong place.

Rural Communities Act 2006 are important, as are habitats protected under the Habitats Regulations (2). The developer tried to argue that their proposals would deliver ‘net biodiversity gain’ – a term which is used inadvisably in national planning guidance. The Inspector, to her credit, was having none of this and dismissed the developer’s Appeal on three grounds: loss of landscape character, harm to archaeology and harm to biodiversity – a landmark case.

Gladman had the audacity to take the Inspector’s decision to the High Court – where her decision was upheld.

Finally, I can justify those hours of sleep I lost as a lad.

These planning battles over good biodiversity sites are raging across the UK and there will be no let up under the Government’s “Build, Build, Build”, particularly if the proposed reforms to the Planning System go through Parliament. The result of the recent Chesham and Amersham by-election won by the Lib Dems will, I hope, make Government think hard about removing local people’s ability to comment on planning applications.

I hope planning reforms will ensure new houses are not built on good biodiversity sites, and if houses are to be built, they meet the local communities’ needs and are built to high sustainable standards.

And the lesson for those interested in wildlife and biodiversity is record what wildlife you see and send those records in to Biological Records Centres like Essex Wildlife Trust. Your records can and will save an important habitat near you.

Often biodiversity is cited in objections to planning applications but seldom are there sufficient good biological records. Without compelling evidence, the Planning Inspector approves the applications.

Not so in this case – the detailed surveys of moths and other wildlife demonstrated that Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) species which receive protection under Section 41 of the Natural Environment and Ghost moth photo: Vaughn Matthews

McCARTHY, M. (2015) The Moth Snowstorm – Nature and Joy. John Murray Publishers HALL, J. M. & GIBSON C. (2020) An Essex Case Study: Lawford Tye – species records add weight to planning decisions. Essex Naturalist (New Series) 37: 55 -74

John Hall was CEO of Essex Wildlife Trust for 28 years.

He was awarded an MBE for services to wildlife and the environment, appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Essex and Honorary Fellow of University of Essex. Since retirement his family have built their Ecohouse in Lawford near Manningtree and John has helped to found the local moth group called The Mothketeers and the local community group PACE Manningtree (Practical Actions for Climate and the Environment).

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Will You Protect Wildlife on your doorstep?

Will you

protect wildlife

on your doorstep?

A few of our fantastic pledgers share their stories with us about why they generously want to support the wildlife and wild places in Essex for the future.

Lisa and Philip

“We adore Fingringhoe Wick; the nightingales there are heart-lifting and glorious, we love Hanningfield (especially at bluebell time) and the Trust’s Blue House Farm nature reserve in winter has an unmatched desolate beauty as well as gorgeous wintering brent geese.”

“My name is Lisa and I have always been interested in the natural world. My mother and grandma always noticed birds and an old Observers Book of Birds was well-thumbed by me as a girl. Also, my dad would take us on visits to the rugged North York Moors, in my native Yorkshire. As often happens, ‘life’ then intervened for many years, but about 15 years ago my interest was rekindled by a visit to the Bass Rock. There was no stopping me then and I soon realised how lucky I am to be in Essex, a fabulous place with the most amazing wildlife and habitat diversity. Becoming a member of Essex Wildlife Trust was simply a natural step - and one my husband, Philip, and I have never regretted. We are impressed with the way the organisation conducts itself and, importantly, picks its battles well.

We adore Fingringhoe Wick; the nightingales there are heart-lifting and glorious, we love Hanningfield (especially at bluebell time) and the Trust’s Blue House Farm nature reserve in winter has an unmatched desolate beauty as well as gorgeous wintering brent geese. Spotting a bathing peregrine falcon at Chafford Gorges and a kingfisher at Two Tree Island will always be major highlights for us.

I love reserves, but these isolated jewels alone are not enough. Essex Wildlife Trust’s campaign for a wilder and more connected landscape is just the sort of thing that is needed. I am also concerned about the lack of thought which goes into so many aspects of the world today, for example, building new estates with no thought for wildlife when simple items such as swift bricks and connected gardens can make such a difference.

I believe it is never too early to make a Will; If Covid has taught us anything, it is that we do not know what is around the corner and it is important to me that my money goes to causes that are close to my heart and have brought me enjoyment in life; Essex Wildlife Trust is such cause - in spade-loads!”

Lisa and Philip

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Will You Protect Wildlife on your doorstep?

“I have been a supporter of Essex Wildlife Trust for this long because I fundamentally agree with protecting wild spaces and the work that they do. I am a member of Essex Wildlife Trust and RSPB, as both charities are needed to protect as many places as possible from human beings and their actions.

“I have been a supporter of Essex Wildlife Trust for this long because I fundamentally agree with protecting wild spaces and the work that they do.”

This is also why I have left money in my Will to both organisations (along with other charities), as it simply is the logical and reasonable step to take with whatever money I have left when I die.”

Keith

“Why have I left a gift in my will to Essex Wildlife Trust? Well quite simply, I’m Essex born and bred, it’s my home and I care about its future. There is so much pressure on nature, the relentless scale of development (under governments of all parties) and the uncertainties of the post-pandemic world are a constant concern. I feel the Trust is fighting nature’s corner in this modern world, doing the best possible for Essex’s wonderful wildlife and engaging people of all ages. I hope you’ll keep up the good work!”

Janet

“As I have spent many very enjoyable hours getting involved and volunteering at several Essex Wildlife Trust sites over the years, I felt it would be good to give something back in return.”

“I am a member of various conservation charities but there is something special in supporting an organisation that represents and protects the local area that you have lived in all your life. This is why I have no hesitation in continuing to be a member of Essex Wildlife Trust and why I have regularly donated to special appeals, donated items for recycling or reuse and donated photos for the magazine and website. It is also the reason why leaving a legacy in my Will is so very important to me.”

“As I have spent many very enjoyable hours getting involved and volunteering at several Essex Wildlife Trust sites over the years, I felt it would be good to give something back in return. I aim to continue to contribute to further the cause of conservation and enjoy the sites protected

by Essex Wildlife Trust for as long as I can.”

Anonymous

Richard

Visit www.essexwt.org.uk/gifts-in-wills for more information about leaving a gift in your Will.

6 – 15 September 2021 Remember a Charity Week European hare photo: Bertie Gregory/2020VISION

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Time Tunnel

We travel back to...

2001

...to give you a glimpse of our past and see what was happening at the Trust.

What was happening globally in 2001: • Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was the highest grossing film.

• Italy’s Leaning Tower of Pisa reopened after 11 years spent fortifying the 12th-century tower.

• Wikipedia, a free Wiki content encyclopaedia, goes online.

• September 11 saw aircraft crash into the World Trade Centre & The Pentagon.

• The first draft of the complete human genome was published in Nature.

• The World population reached 6.2 billion while the population of Britain was 58.8 million.

One year after the millennium, Essex Wildlife Trust’s Autumn 2001 magazine focused on a watery world. Lin Wenlock, who at the time was the Chairman of the Trust’s Conservation Committee, unlocked some of the secrets of the wildlife within a garden pond.

Wildlife in ponds Water is the source of life, and it is not until you have a garden pond that you realise what a wildlife oasis it provides.

At the bottom of the pond animal life feeds on a steady flow of dead and waste material from above.

Animals with fascinating names such as the bloodworm, the rat-tailed maggot, and the sludgeworm share in this vital cleaning role.

On the surface of the pond, pond skaters and whirligig beetles, aptly named by the way they move, feed on small flies that fall into the water. Below the surface the great diving beetle has to swim vigorously to stay near the bottom, the air stored beneath its wing cases making it extremely buoyant. It is a bold hunter, often hanging on to water plants with the second pair of legs, leaving the first pair free to catch its prey.

Big or small, ponds for all. Ponds were the focus of Wild About Gardens 2020. Read The Wildlife Trust’s guidance on garden ponds and learn how to create your own at www.wildaboutgardens.org.uk.

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Spending most of the year on land where their skins are dry to touch, the adults must, towards the end of the winter, return to the water to breed. They become adapted to living in water, their skins get thinner and their tails narrower. Males develop a high wavy crest along their backs and another along their tails, which have a broad, iridescent stripe along each side.

Eggs are laid singly on underwater leaves near the water margin. Leaves are folded over and sealed to protect them from predators. Four weeks later the eggs hatch and tadpoles emerge, looking like tiny transparent fish.

Three months after hatching the young newt is ready to leave the water. For the next two to three years newly emerged great crested newts stay away from their birth ponds, returning after this time to breed. In October or November as temperatures start to fall, they hibernate, usually on land, choosing sheltered, damp, frost-free nooks, sometimes underground.

They re-emerge in the spring to start the cycle of events again.

The whole point of a wildlife pond is to attract wildlife to your garden, and many species are only present in the pond for a short time, or on a seasonal basis. As the seasons change so do the pleasures offered by a garden pond.

Great crested newt photo: John Bridges

Above the surface from the end of May to the end of August the dragonflies are on the wing. They are large, heavily built and powerful predators capable of very fast flight and feed on insects, which they catch and often consume while still in flight. In spring, the mating pair crawl to the water to lay their eggs which hatch into predatory nymphs living among the water weed.

The nymph will lie in wait for prey, capturing it with a swift movement of its hinged, strongly clawed mask.

After two years the nymph crawls out of the water on to an emergent plant for the final moult. The larval skin splits down the back enabling the fully developed insect to haul itself free.

Migrating from nearby larger ponds, and looking like a miniature aquatic dragon, the great crested newt can be seen lurking in the warm, weedy shallows. Easily the largest of the three species of British newts, the great crested newt can grow to 16 centimetres long. On top its warty skin is very dark, often black, speckled with tiny white spots. Its belly is usually orange to yellow with irregular black spots.

Wild Thoughts

Cel Spellman @celspellman

ILLUSTRATION: DAWN COOPER. PHOTO: GREAT CRESTED NEWT © SHUTTERSTOCK

Raise your voice I’m proud to be part of an organisation with a rich history of driving change. As a supporter of The Wildlife Trusts, I know I’m part of a community that stands up and uses its collective voice for nature. Together, we’ve achieved huge and crucial changes, from reintroducing wildlife like the beaver, to protecting our seas — a huge carbon store — with the Marine Act. All of this plays a massive part in turning the tide against nature’s loss and climate change and would not have been possible without people coming together and speaking up.

However, a question that often seems to present itself is, ‘Does protesting actually work?’. For me, the answer is simple – a resounding yes! But there are numerous ways to do this. We tend to think of protests as big rallies and marches, which is often the case and can absolutely work. I was privileged to be involved with the Time is Now march in 2019 for urgent climate change action; the hope and positivity in the air was palpable. It’s moments like these that help you feel like you’re not alone and that change can and will come.

The School Climate Strikes also provides a shining example. Young people making their voices, thoughts and feelings clear. For me, these strikes have been one of the biggest reasons we’ve seen a shift in mindset and conversation around climate over the last few years. Young people’s voices are some of the most powerful and they never cease to blow me away with how aware they are, and the absolute drive they have for making the world a better, fairer, greener place.

But marches aren’t the only way to make our voices heard. Signing petitions, sharing something we see online, having those difficult, important conversations with friends, or writing to our MP or a business can also have a huge impact. 10-year-old Skye from Gwynedd is a huge inspiration to me; she campaigned for magazines to stop giving away disposable plastic toys. In response, Waitrose said they’ll no longer sell children’s magazines containing disposable plastic toys, a move single-handedly inspired by Skye, and I’ve no doubt other businesses will follow suit. That is the power of our voice.

We can also protest with our wallets.

Money talks, and by choosing where we spend ours, who we invest in, who we bank with, we can express our beliefs and support businesses or individuals that share them.

It’s about putting pressure on those that need the pressure applying. However this is done, you really can make a difference for the environment, for nature, for our wonderful wildlife and in turn, for ourselves and our future. I’ve no doubt that together we can and will change the world.

To quote Charlie Chaplin in the Great Dictator, ‘You, the people, have the power to make this life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure…’

To tackle the climate and nature emergency we face, our natural world needs advocates on its side. Find out about the big issues at wildlifetrusts.org/emergency

SHOUT FOR WILDLIFE

Join over 100,000 people speaking up with The Wildlife Trusts on everything from better laws for wildlife to banning the sale of peat compost. Together our voices can make a difference. You can sign up to our campaigns mailing list to be the first to hear when new campaigns are launching so that you can take your stand for nature’s recovery. To register, visit wildlifetrusts.org/ campaigns

Cel Spellman is an actor and presenter, an ambassador for The Wildlife Trusts, and an ardent advocate for nature, wildlife and the need to address the climate crisis.

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What’s on this Autumn

What’s on this

Autumn A

utumn is one of the most enchanting seasons to get out and explore; the landscape becomes awash with fiery hues, leaves gently flutter to the ground like nature’s confetti and the county’s hedgerows are brimming with shiny, plump berries.

Although it may seem like wildlife is slowing down this season, it is still very much at large as species are preparing for the colder months ahead, getting ready to migrate to warmer climates or even arriving to spend the winter in Essex. Berries, fruit and seeds now decorate the foliage waiting to be gorged on, spiders create intricate webs that are lit up in the morning dew and an impressive variety of fungi pushes through the undergrowth.

Autumn is a time for exploring woodlands, witnessing blazing sunsets, collecting chestnuts to roast, crunching through fallen leaves and keeping an eye to the sky to watch out for migrating birds. Over the following pages we highlight some of the species and spectacles to look out for, as well as some of our reserves to visit in the next few months. Make the most out of autumn and get swept away in all that this magical season has to offer.

Find out more for

September, October and November >>> 44 |

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What’s on this Autumn

Species

Red

Hedgehog

fox

Red fox photo: Bertie Gregory/2020VISION

Spectacles

Star mur ling mu r

io n

at

Fly agaric

Fly agaric photo: Guy Edwardes/2020VISION

Hedgehog photo: Tom Marshall

s

Starling murmuration photo: Guy Edwardes/2020VISION

Photo: Andy Bartlett

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What’s on this September

What’s on this

September Spectacles

Nature reserve to visit

Arrivals and departures

Autumn is the time that many birds fly south in pursuit of resources and warmth.

It is also the time of year that many birds arrive from the Arctic for a warmer winter.

This month swallows and house martins will be starting their long journey back to Africa while fieldfares, redwings and many ducks and geese arrive on our shores.

This month, visit our Chigborough Lakes nature reserve in Heybridge. Enjoy a whole variety of habitats and wildlife as you walk the circular path around this peaceful wildlife haven and even witness spectacular sunsets over the ponds and lakes at the end of the day. Don’t forget to bring your binoculars if you have them as 120 species of birds have been recorded at this reserve including the striking kingfisher.

Barking deer

A very small, stocky deer, the muntjac is about the same size as a medium dog.

During September, listen out for their loud, characteristic bark that will echo across the countryside.

Species

Muntjac photo: Don Sutherland

Dark-bellied brent geese

This month we welcome back dark-bellied brent geese who are returning to Essex following an epic journey from the tundra of Siberia where they have spent the summer months. Brent geese gather in large flocks of hundreds of birds and their noisy chatter and movement fills the sky with a tidal wave of sound that is impossible to ignore.

Red fox

As summer begins to draw to a close, juvenile foxes are growing up fast; nearing the same size as their parents and growing thick red coats in preparation for the cold winter months to follow. Competition becomes fierce and can result in a few tussles with rivals chasing each other and rearing up on their hindlegs. Foxes take full advantage of the bountiful hedgerows in late summer and can be seen gorging on blackberries, apples, plums and even pears.

Red fox photo: Steve Jellet

t

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What’s on this September

Barn swallow photo: Alan Price

We welcome back dark-bellied brent geese who are returning to Essex following an epic journey from the tundra of Siberia.

Save yourself a job and

allow vegetation to die back naturally this

month. Leaving seedheads alone, especially on plants such as teasel, thistle and sunflowers provides food and shelter for birds and invertebrates throughout the cold months to follow.

Dark-bellied brent geese photo: David Tipling/2020VISION

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What’s on this October

What’s on this

October Nature reserve to visit This month, visit our Tiptree Heath nature reserve in Tiptree. Known for its impressive displays of blooming heather in the summer, in autumn this reserve comes alive with all sorts of weird and wonderful types of fungi. Go on the hunt this month to see how many you can spot, just don’t forget to check tree trunks as well as searching along the woodland floor.

Species

Tawny owl photo: Margaret Holland

Tawny owl

The tawny owl is one of the most prolific owl species in Essex, yet they are not commonly spotted due to their impressive camouflage that blends into the gnarly bark of the tree hollows they reside in. Young owls who fledged in spring are now searching for territories of their own and causing a bit of friction with already established owl colonies. Listen out for squeals of ‘kee-wick’ and ‘hoo-hoo-ooo’ which is the exchange between males and females. This may give you a better chance of spotting one of these elusive beauties during autumn.

Garden spider

In October, the life-cycle of the common garden spider is coming to an end. After mating in the summer, the female will protect her precious egg sac full of spiderlings until she succumbs to the cold in late autumn. The spiderlings will then hatch in May the following year. In the spider world, the females hold all the power, with males having to tread very carefully to avoid being eaten by her after mating.

Garden orb spider photo: Gillian Day

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What’s on this October

Spectacles Turning leaves

This is the best month to get out and enjoy stunning autumnal woodlands. The gorgeous kaleidoscope of warm colours is due to fewer sunlight hours coupled with cooler temperatures. This causes the chlorophyll in the leaves to break down revealing the familiar orange and yellow hues.

Fungi explosion

Photo: Katrina Martin/2020VISION

Now we’re firmly into autumn, October is the perfect time to marvel at the astonishing fungi species that are growing throughout the county. A few ethereal species to look out for are the shaggy magpie inkcap, the delicate lilac bonnet, the striking fly agaric and the peculiar jelly ear fungus. Please note fungi plays an important role in the ecosystem and many species are poisonous, so look but don’t touch.

October is the perfect time to marvel at the astonishing fungi species that are growing throughout the county.

Jelly ear photo: Chris Lawrence

Get planning your spookiest designs as we will be offering pumpkin carving workshops at several of our Nature Discovery Centres this month. Keep your eyes peeled for upcoming dates on our website at www.essexwt.org.uk/events.

Fly agaric photo: Jon Hawkins - Surrey Hills Photography

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What’s on this November

What’s on this

November November sees a surge in wildfowl numbers as migrants flock to the UK to avoid the harsher winters elsewhere.

Common bonnet mushroom photo: Jon Hawkins - Surrey Hills Photography

Nature reserve to visit This month, visit our Pound Wood nature reserve in Benfleet. Walk among the trees at one of the largest remaining areas of ancient woodland in South East Essex and immerse yourself in blazing autumnal colours.

Make sure to keep an eye out for fungi along the circular gravel paths around this reserve.

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What’s on this November

Hedgehog photo: Tom Marshall

Species Knot

A knot is a small chunky sandpiper bird and a common visitor to our coast in the winter after arriving from its arctic breeding grounds. They have special sensory organs in their bill tips to help them detect buried prey in a similar fashion to the way bats use echolocation. During high tide at our Two Tree Island nature reserve in Leigh-on-Sea you can witness thousands of knots eddy across the saltmarsh in unison.

Hedgehog

One of our most beloved mammals, the spiky hedgehog sniffs and snuffles its way along hedgerows and often pops up in our gardens to say hello. This month, they will be looking to find a safe space to hibernate over the winter months.

Starling murmurations photo: Danny Green/2020VISION

Spectacles Starling murmurations

Most commonly seen throughout November, large masses of starlings can be seen performing impressive inflight displays just before dusk. Truly hypnotic to watch, it is thought the birds create these dark clouds of rolling shapes as they swoop and twist in unison to exchange information, deter predators and keep warm before settling into their roost.

Wildfowl swell

November sees a surge in wildfowl numbers as migrants flock to the UK to avoid the harsher winters elsewhere. Wigeon, teal, pintail and Bewick’s swans are among the species to look out for this month.

Remember, remember before you make embers… If you’re planning a bonfire party on the 5th of this month, don’t forget to check your bonfire pile thoroughly for hedgehogs by using a broom handle to turn over each section. Also, why not consider using silent fireworks to ensure nearby wildlife aren’t frightened?

Wigeon photo: Luke Massey/2020VISION

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30 BY 30: THE DECADE WE SAVE OUR WILDLIFE

30 by 30 The decade we save our wildlife

HEDGEHOG © TOM MARSHALL

W

e know the natural world is in crisis.

Every year we’re overwhelmed with new statistics about the shocking losses in the wildlife around us, like last summer’s news that a quarter of UK mammals face extinction. For decades we’ve worked hard to protect the few wild areas that remain, saving species in nature reserves and even bringing some back from local extinction. But to turn the tide, it’s time we raise our ambitions.

The Wildlife Trusts are calling for at least 30% of our land and sea to be connected and protected for nature’s recovery by 2030. This goal is essential if we are to truly see a recovery in our natural world.

Evidence suggests that at less than 30% cover in a landscape, habitat patches are too small and fragmented. They become isolated and the wildlife

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populations living in them begin to decline. Giving 30% of the UK to nature is the bare minimum that nature needs to survive, but we’re still far short of this goal.

Imagine living in a country where we make space for nature, finding ways to live alongside wildlife rather than clearing it to make room for ourselves.

Restored wildlife-rich fens, resounding with the bugling calls of cranes and the booms of breeding bitterns. Diverse uplands that are a wonderful mosaic of colour and life, where hen harriers soar over carpets of heather, curlews call from boggy pools and pine martens leap between the branches of woodlands.

Towns and cities blossoming with trees and flowers, where hedgehogs roam between parks and gardens bringing nature into all of our daily lives. Together, we can make this a reality.

Hedgehogs have undergone massive longterm declines

Carbon farming,

Wild Peak,

One hectare of peatland can soak up the same amount of CO2 as would be produced by eight car journeys around the world, but huge areas of this vital habitat have been drained to make way for other land uses. Lancashire Wildlife Trust are rewetting and reinvigorating two important areas of peat bog, capturing carbon and helping rare wildlife like sundews and large heath butterflies to thrive. As part of this work, they’re creating a pioneering carbon farm, thought to be the first of its kind in the UK. A carpet of sphagnum mosses will be grown on a former farm field to help soak up carbon and protect the adjacent peatland.

Working across the landscape of the Peak District in a partnership of five Wildlife Trusts, Wild Peak aims to bring these uplands back to life and make them wilder with a mix of restored habitats including woodlands, peat bogs and meadows. There will be more space for rare species like curlews and wood warblers, and eventually lost wildlife like pine martens, red squirrels and golden eagles could make a comeback. By working with partners and local groups, the Wildlife Trusts plan to restore natural processes and wild places so that they become full of life on an unprecedented scale, benefiting local communities, the local economy and, of course, wildlife.

Restoring lost fens,

Bringing wildlife back,

An ambitious plan is underway to restore 50 hectares of farmland to lost peat-fenland, boosting Lincolnshire’s endangered fenland habitats by 30%.

The new wetland will connect two of the Trust’s existing nature reserves, creating a living landscape of reedbeds, marshes, and pools. The new wetlands will help bring iconic species back to the area, like bitterns, swallowtail butterflies and cranes, which last year nested in Lincolnshire for the first time in over 400 years.

Simply protecting the areas already rich in wildlife isn’t enough to reverse wider declines, so Warwickshire Wildlife Trust are changing the way they acquire new nature reserves. They will be prioritising land that currently has little value for wildlife, where they have the potential to make the biggest difference. By protecting and improving these places for nature, they will create space for wildlife where currently there is none.

Thanks to 20 years of ecological surveys, they can see exactly where to focus their efforts to make the biggest difference and connect up existing nature reserves.

Lancashire Wildlife Trust

Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust

Derbyshire, Staffordshire and other Wildlife Trusts

Warwickshire Wildlife Trust

These are just some of the many Wildlife Trust projects working towards 30 by 30.

Find out more and get involved at

wildlifetrusts.org/30-30-30

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COLESHILL POOLS WARWICKSHIRE © JOHN BOOTH; SWALLOWTAIL BUTTERFLY © TERRY WHITTAKER/2020VISION; CURLEW © DAMIAN WATERS; SPHAGNUM MOSS © CHRIS LAWRENCE

30 BY 30: THE DECADE WE SAVE OUR WILDLIFE

UK News

UK NEWS UK UPDATE

The trouble with wind

OFFSHORE TURBINE © ANDY ROUSE/2020VISION

W

habitats where fish, such as sandeel, live, e are facing two inextricably which fuel the food web for other fish, linked crises — nature’s birds, porpoises, whales and dolphins. The loss and climate change. We blades of turbines also pose a collision cannot solve one without risk to many bird species. As a result of tackling the other and therefore, our efforts these impacts, we are already seeing the to make progress must recognise and decline of wildlife in some of our precious reflect their connection, including in our Marine Protected Areas. seas. Healthy seas are critical to tackling The scale of ambition for the both climate change and achieving development of new offshore wind farms nature’s recovery. by 2050 is staggering, with up to 140GW of It is widely supported that dramatically offshore wind power currently projected: reducing our carbon emissions, an incredible 14-fold increase on the 10GW particularly from burning fossil fuels, is of offshore wind we have in place today. a critical step to tackle climate change.

While The Wildlife Trusts recognise that Transitioning to alternative energy offshore wind will contribute to the UK sources, including marine renewables achieving net zero carbon emissions by (renewable energy sources based in 2050, the blinkers must come off if we are to our seas), will be part of this package. avoid industrialisation of our seas at the Offshore wind farms are expense of the marine environment. often put forward as the The marine environment best solution.

Underw ater noise ge has been impacted by human However, in reality nerated during in activities for decades. Given offshore wind farm stallatio n can prevent species s a chance to recover, it can development cannot u ch as harbour porpoise and will play a leading role be considered truly from using im in tackling climate change; green, as it does have a portant feeding a absorbing and locking away damaging impact on the reas huge amounts of carbon from the environment. It can cause atmosphere for centuries and beyond. loss of important marine

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Turbines harness wind for renewable energy, but what is the cost to our wildlife?

Now is the time for balance — solutions to climate change cannot make the ecological crisis worse. We must consider how we can reduce our energy demands so that less offshore wind is required.

The Wildlife Trusts supports the sustainable development of marine renewable energy and is working closely with Government and industry to find solutions to achieve net zero by 2050 and enable nature’s recovery. However, this can only be done by everyone working together to find creative and innovative solutions — this may mean that more research and development work is needed by industry to find new ways of building offshore wind farms that benefit marine ecosystems. If we can put man on the moon, there is certainly hope that we can find sustainable solutions to offshore wind farm development.

Find out more about The Wildlife Trusts’ work on offshore development at wildlifetrusts.org/development-sea

UK News

UK HIGHLIGHTS

UK UPDATE

Flying start to 30 by 30

WATER VOLE © TERRY WHITTAKER/2020VISION, PEAT EXTRACTION © MATTHEW ROBERTS; MARSH FRITILLARY © VAUGHN MATTHEWS

We’ve already raised almost £8 million towards our 30 by 30 ambition to kickstart nature’s recovery across 30% of our land and seas by 2030. These vital funds will support projects to make new homes for wildlife, join up wild places and promote natural solutions to the climate crisis.

This spring, we unveiled ten new projects that will help nature fight back.

The new projects include reviving ice-age

ponds in Norfolk, transforming a 42-acre former Carlisle golf course into an urban bee and butterfly oasis, and quadrupling a Wiltshire nature reserve to help the rare marsh fritillary butterfly thrive.

Of the £8 million total raised so far, over £900,000 has been given by members of the public.

Thank you to everyone who has already supported our campaign to bring nature back.

Find out more and support the campaign at wildlifetrusts.org/30-30-30

Discover how The Wildlife Trusts are helping wildlife across the UK

3

1 Help for kelp

2 1

A new byelaw now makes it illegal to trawl with bottom-towed fishing gear within an area off the Sussex coast. This landmark decision will give Sussex’s important kelp forests the chance to recover, providing a home for a wide range of wildlife. Find out more at wtru.st/help-kelp

2 Fishing friends Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust is working with anglers in the Colne Valley to improve wetlands for wildlife, including the rare water vole. Fisheries look after many lakes and rivers, and by offering training and support, the Wildlife Trust and their partner, the Colne Valley Fisheries Consultative, are helping them further enhance these habitats for wildlife as well as people. For more info go to wtru.st/hmwt-angling

Peat extraction is devastating peatlands across the world, yet many retailers are continuing to sell peat-based products

Promise for Peat The Government has announced plans to phase out the use of peat in horticulture, including a consultation on banning the sale of peat and peat containing products in the amateur sector by the end of this Parliament.

Ten years ago, the Government set a voluntary target for the horticulture sector to end sales to gardeners by 2020. This deadline was missed, and a

recent Wildlife Trust survey revealed that only one of 20 leading garden retailers contacted planned to eliminate peat from its shelves this year. Whilst the Government’s announcement is welcome news, it must be backed by action and lead to a ban of peat sales.

See the announcement in full at wtru.st/gov-speech

3 Seagrass saviours

A new partnership launched by Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust aims to restore the Solent’s seagrass beds. As well as providing a home for wildlife, seagrass protects coasts from erosion and absorbs carbon up to 35 times faster than tropical rainforests.

See more at wtru.st/solent-seagrass

WILD Autumn 2021

| 55

Night Riders

PIPISTRELLE BAT: LAURIE CAMPBELL/NATUREPL.COM

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ummer nights may be shorter, but they’re alive with activity as a host of nocturnal creatures make the most of the hours of darkness. Tawny owls listen for rodents rustling across woodland floors, moths flicker around night-scented flowers, and bats swoop through the air, hunting the insects that swarm in the night.

There are 17 species of bat that breed in the UK, from Natterer’s bats that snatch spiders from their webs, to Daubenton’s bats that fish insects from the surface of lakes and rivers. The most widespread and frequently seen are the common and soprano pipistrelles, zigzagging through the air as they feast on up to 3,000 insects a night. Their nocturnal nature can make bats a challenge to watch, but there are few moments as magical as seeing these shadowy silhouettes sweep across a darkening sky.

56 |

WILD Autumn 2021

Night Riders

Use a bat detector The easiest way to find and identify bats is with the help of a bat detector. This device picks up the high-pitched echolocation calls of bats and makes them audible to humans. Different species echolocate at different frequencies, so we can work out which bat we’re hearing.

Bat detectors come in a range of prices and complexities and may take a bit of practice to use.

Watch the weather It’s harder for bats to hunt on damp or windy nights, so choose a dry, still evening for your bat watching expedition.

A sheltered spot will attract bats if there is a bit of wind.

Bring the bats to you!

Water features are the best bat attractors, but also fill your garden with a variety of insect-tempting flowers to create a banquet for bats. Pale and nightscented flowers are particularly popular with nocturnal pollinators. Bat boxes high on walls or trees can offer a safe space to roost.

Go where the insects are Bats are found in a range of habitats, from farmland to forests to gardens. They can often be seen hunting around features that attract insects, like trees, hedges and woodland edges.

Study the flight Bats have different flight patterns, which can give you an idea of the species you’re watching. Pipistrelles fly erratically, noctules have a direct flight with sudden swoops, and brown longeared bats have a slow, hovering flight.

Arrive before sunset Bats are easiest to spot around dusk, when they emerge to feed and there’s still enough light to see them. Our largest bat, the noctule, is often the first to emerge, sometimes before the sun has set. Children and some adults can often hear these without a detector!

Wait by water Just like other animals, bats need to drink, so they’re often found around waterways. Stretches of sheltered, still or slow-moving water also attract clouds of insects that they can hunt.

You may even see a Daubenton’s bat hunting low across the water.

Discover bats on a Wildlife Trust reserve near you at

wildlifetrusts.org/bat-spots

WILD Autumn 2021

| 57

Wildlife quiz time Answers from Summer 2021: Across: Down 3. Water vole 1. Twelve 4. Nocturnal 2. Bee orchid 5. Chaffinch 6. Heath fritillary 7. Merlin 7. Murder 8. Seagrass 9. Stag 11. Beaver

How is your general knowledge on the wildlife and wild places of our country? Test yourself with our nature crossword.

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Clues Across

Clues down

1 Weighing in at just 2.3-5g, this is the smallest of the UK’s shrew species. (5)

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3 Hedgehog spines are made out of the same material as human fingernails – what is it? (7) 4 With its bright red cap and white spots, this toadstool looks like it belongs in a fairytale. (3,6) 5 Essex Wildlife Trust’s largest inland nature reserve. (7) 7 Trees that keep their leaves throughout the year are called ____. (9) 8 This bird is best known for gathering in large numbers and creating mesmerising murmurations in the sky. (8)

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These birds are referred to as ____ migrants, because they stop off in the UK for a few weeks during spring and autumn to rest and refuel, before they move on to their final destination. (7)

2 What is the collective name for a group of owls? (10) 6 The larger of our two seal species that breed on the UK coastline. (4) 8 In European folklore, this bird is associated with bringing babies to new parents. (5) 9 The largest corvid in the British Isles, with a wingspan of up to 135cm. (5)

The answers will be revealed in our Winter 2021 edition of WILD WILD Autumn 2021

Superbly strong silk

Spider silk is incredibly lightweight; a strand of silk long enough to go all the way around the Earth would weigh less than 500 grams – the same as a bag of sugar! It’s also as strong as Kevlar, the material used to make bulletproof vests.

Vole vs. Food

10 What is the name given to a male swan? (3)

58 |

Spiderweb photo: Andrii Lobur

Crossword A

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Water voles will eat approximately 80% of their body weight every day to survive. A nibbled ‘lawn’ of grass around the entrance of a burrow can be a tell-tale sign of this wonderful mammal.

Water vole photo: Tom Marshall

Tree descenders

Nuthatches are the only bird in the UK that climbs headfirst down tree trunks, holding on with their powerful toes to grip the tree.

Nuthatch photo: Jon Hawkins - Surrey Hills Photography

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Wildflower photo: Guy Edwardes/2020VISIONl

Our pollinators need help. We need to see millions more wildflowers across Essex to give bees, butterflies and beetles the food and habitat they require to thrive.

Can you help us?

Every donation to our Big Wild Seed Sow appeal will go towards delivering more wildflower seed mixes to the community in Essex – giving people the opportunity to sow seeds to create the change needed. By raising £10,000 by 31 October, we will be able to give each family who attends our events a free packet of native wildflower mix over the coming year. If just 500 people donate £20, we will reach our goal, and millions more wildflowers will bloom in Essex.

TEXT

flower 20

to 70450 to donate £20

flower 15

to 70450 to donate £15

flower 10

to 70450 to donate £10

See where the seeds have been planted on our interactive map and find out more about the project by scanning the QR code.

Thank you in advance, even the smallest amount will help pollinators and create new wild spaces in Essex. The more money we can raise, the more wildflowers we will see bloom in Essex next year.

Texts cost the value of your donation plus one standard rate message and you’ll be opting in to hear more about our work and fundraising via telephone and SMS. If you’d like to donate but do not wish to receive marketing communications, text FLOWERNOINFO with your donation amount to 70450.

Love Essex • Love Wildlife Registered Charity No. 210065