Somerset Wildlife Autumn/Winter 2023

Somerset Wildlife Trust’s Members’ Magazine SLUG

Autumn/Winter 2023

Talking tipping points …the s oc ones ial

SPECIES FOCUS

Super Furry Animals Meeting our mini mammals; mice, voles, shrews and the fluffy things in between THE STATE OF SOMERSET’S NATURE: Wildlife | Summer 2022 WhereSomerset are we now?

1

ADAPTATION:

Climate change is here. How can people adapt and survive?

Come & celebrate a successful year for Somerset Wildlife Trust

The AGM in the morning from 11am until 1pm is just for current members of Somerset Wildlife Trust and is free to attend in person or online. The members’ day consisting of the AGM, buffet lunch, panel talks and afternoon tea is £15 (includes booking fee). You are also very welcome to invite a guest who is interested in our work to the afternoon talks that start at 2pm. The price for your guest to join us in person which includes afternoon tea is £15 (excludes booking fee).

59th AGM & y a D ’ s r e b m e M Saturday 18th November 2023 Somerset County Cricket Club, St James Street, Taunton, TA1 1JT

For more information and to book your place to attend this year’s AGM and/or Members’ Day, please visit somersetwildlife.org/AGM2023 or phone 01823 652429.

If you cannot join us on the day, you can still vote by completing the online proxy voting form or returning by post the paper proxy voting form, part of the AGM insert, ensuring we receive it no later than 11am on 16th November 2023.

GUEST SPEAKERS For an update on guest speakers, the agenda for the day, and the online proxy voting form, please visit somersetwildlife.org/AGM2023.

MEMBERS’ DAY

It is vital we understand what is happening to wildlife on a county and local scale both in terms of the biodiversity and bioabundance of species. Without an understanding of the health, distribution and location of habitats and species, we cannot make the best decisions for nature’s recovery or deliver the

right natural solutions for climate change and people. If we do not notice wildlife declines, we run the risk of losing species forever.

Our 2023 Members’ Day will tell the story of nature’s recovery in Somerset and beyond and explore the right actions to take for a clear baseline for nature and natural processes. Drawing on

our own experiences and with the help of our panel of experts, we will explore community science initiatives and people’s connection to nature and pro-environmental behaviours, how to monitor the effectiveness of natural solutions and the informed delivery of the Nature Recovery Network.

BARN OWL: RUSSELL SAVORY

Somerset State of Nature – Telling Somerset’s story

elcome to our Autumn/Winter issue of Somerset Wildlife.

I usually prefer to look forwards at things we can change, rather than backwards at things we can’t. But for some reason, before I started writing this, I broke that habit to look back on my Welcome in last year’s Autumn/Winter issue. I talked then of hope that a new Prime Minister would recognise that action for nature and climate needed to be at the top of the priority list. One year on, I hoped I’d be reporting an acceleration of government action to support meeting our national biodiversity and climate targets.

Whilst there has been the occasional glimmer of hope - the sunset clause of the Retained EU Law Bill was removed, and we have successfully campaigned, with partners, for a ban on retail peat (though it’s unlikely the 2024 target will be met) - it doesn’t feel that we have quite seen the urgent action needed.

Since 2022, we’ve seen unprecedented global weather events, the government approving a new coal mine, then banning them, then reversing the ban almost immediately. The amount of sewage being put into our waterways seems to have got worse, with likely moves from government to weaken environmental protections, making nutrient neutrality voluntary.

This will have a significant impact on Somerset’s waterways, particularly on the Levels and Moors, where all the SSSIs are in unfavourable condition due to high levels of phosphates.

A new UK State of Nature is about to be published, and it’s fair to say it won’t be reporting a rosy picture of recovery. While we have some fantastic nature reserves, the UK remains one of the most naturedepleted countries, due to managing land intensively and the impacts of climate change – the two biggest causes of nature loss.

Our own Somerset State of Nature, developed with Somerset Environmental Records Centre and the

GREYLAKE RESERVE: CHRIS HOOPER

Hello W

Local Nature Partnership, will be released this autumn (page 24). We’ll be using this to inform our approach to delivering Wilder Somerset 2030.

I know I don’t have to tell you, members of Somerset Wildlife Trust, about the importance of a healthy natural world for it’s own sake, but also for ours. You’ll see in this issue some fantastic examples of people taking action for nature. There’s much more we need to do and that’s why Team Wilder is so important, supporting and enabling individuals, communities and businesses to take action.

Locally, there are many examples of positive change to be welcomed. All four Somerset district councils had declared climate and ecological emergencies as they headed into becoming one unitary authority.

Our work with many bore fruit, with mowing regimes being adjusted and constructive discussions being had around all manner of environmental matters, including climate adaptation (page 30).

Through the Local Nature Partnership, we have been working closely with the new Somerset Council to develop the Local Nature Recovery Strategy – a joint approach to recovering nature in the county. We are creating more opportunities for access to nature, and taking advantage of the many benefits that a greener economy brings to all sectors of our society.

The seasons continue to change, and we continue on our journey to a Wilder Somerset 2030, with you, our loyal members, beside us. Please don’t ever think we take your support for granted and be assured, everything that you do to take action for nature really does make a difference.

Wrap up and embrace the autumn colours that nature brings and we’ll see you on the other side!

Georgia Stokes Chief Executive Officer

How to support Somerset Wildlife Trust

COVER: ALAMY

£

Donate Every donation large or small makes a difference. somersetwildlife. org/support-us/donate

Join Team Wilder and take action for nature! somersetwildlife.org/getinvolved/team-wilder

Volunteer Find something that’s right for you. somersetwildlife.org/getinvolved/volunteering

Leave a legacy A different kind of inheritance. somersetwildlife.org/ support-us/give-in-your-will

Shop Find a gift for the wildlife lover in your life. somersetwildlife.org/shop

Stay up to date Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook and check out our website Somerset Wildlife | Autumn/Winter 2023

3

THIS SEASON

Contents This season 3 6

Welcome A warm welcome from CEO, Georgia Stokes.

The big picture Wordsworth’s ‘ethereal minstrel’ and Shelley’s ‘blithe spirit’, we spotlight the skylark.

8

Somerset’s Highlights News on our work and highlights from around the county.

In detail 14

Super Furry Animals No, we’re not talking about the rock band but our cute little mammals; mice, voles, shrews and the fluffy things in between.

20

Annual Review We look back on another busy year and say thank you to YOU for all your help.

24

The State of Somerset’s nature Following on from the national survey done several years ago, what is the real state of nature here in Somerset? We look at the real facts and stats of the quality of our habitats and the trends and changes in the wildlife that call them home.

30

Four healthy owlets were ringed in our Blackdown Hills barn owl box. p. 13

4

Somerset Wildlife | Autumn/Winter 2023

Adaptation The impacts of climate change are here.

How can people and wildlife adapt and survive?

BARN OWL: JON HAWKINS/SURREY HILLS PHOTOGRAPHY

TERRY WHITTAKER/2020VISION

14

CONTENTS

8 Somerset Wildlife Autumn/Winter 2023 Somerset Wildlife is produced

by Somerset Wildlife Trust

GUY EDWARDES/2020VISION

34 Wellington Road, Taunton, Somerset TA1 5AW

30

43

enquiries@somersetwildlife.org somersetwildlife.org 01823 652400 Editor Kirby Everett kirby.everett@somersetwildlife.org For any queries about the magazine or advertising, please contact the editor.

Features writers Ed Drewitt and Kirby Everett Design Tina Hobson tinahobson.com Got a question about your membership?

Discover more 38

Team Wilder It’s all about YOU and the amazing things you have done and can do for wildlife in your local patch!

44

Go Wild Put your feet up and tackle our wordsearch or hit the kitchen with our wild recipe.

ANNA GUTHRIE

JANET PACKHAM

For any query about your membership, donations or support, please email membership@somersetwildlife.org or call 01823 652429

46

Last Word Tying in with our super furry mammals feature we catch up with Charlotte Wiles from the Somerset Mammal Group.

Somerset Wildlife Trust Our vision is for a Somerset wide Nature Recovery Network creating more space for wildlife benefitting everyone, and playing its part in helping reverse biodiversity loss and tackle the climate crisis. We are the county’s largest independent conservation organisation and a charity dependent upon over 22,000 members.

The views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the Trust Council.

SWT Honorary officers Patron: Simon King OBE President: Stephen Moss Chair: Graeme Mitchell Hon Treasurer: Richard Atkin

Registered Charity No: 238372 Registered Company No: 818162 Printed by Stable Print on FSC® certified paper stableprint.net

Make a delicious blackberry and apple crumble p. 45

Somerset Wildlife | Autumn/Winter 2023

5

THE BIG PICTURE

Ode to the Skylark

W

ordsworth’s ‘ethereal minstrel’ and Shelley’s ‘blithe spirit’, the skylark, and its beautiful, almost transcendental song has inspired many a poet over the course of time. It’s complex symphony of trills, warbles and whistles soar and fall with the bird itself seen usually as just a distant speck in the sky. If you are lucky enough to see one up close, you’ll ponder how well its somewhat diminutive size and unremarkable colour conceal its mesmerising musical talent. Hearing one in full song is one of the greatest experiences of the British countryside.

As a bird mostly connected with warm summer grasslands and arable fields you might wonder why it has made it into our Autumn Big Picture.

As well as wanting to hold onto the distant memories of summer for as long as possible, its populations - and decline of - are very much still topical as we look at the bigger picture of Somerset’s State of Nature (see our feature on pages 24-29) Changes in agriculture and farming have led to skylark populations crashing. In the UK, the population halved during the 1990s, and is still declining. Reasons for their decline are wideranging; general habitat reduction, intensification of agriculture, changes in seasonal management regimes, increased use of pesticides, climate change and a widespread shift from spring to autumnsown cereals, have all brought about changes in their preferred habitat and food supply, and shrunk the windows for breeding and nesting, which has resulted in a dramatic reduction in the number of chicks raised each year. This iconic bird is very much at risk of disappearing.

Investment in nature A new report this year by the Wildlife Trusts, RSPB and National trust An assessment of the financial resources needed for environmental land management in the UK, UK and devolved governments must invest at least £4.4bn a year in nature and climate-friendly farming to meet environmental commitments

Simon Clarke, Head of Nature Recovery comments:

“

Encouraging and enabling farmers to farm in a more nature-friendly way, is one of the most critical things we can do to improve the fortunes of skylarks and other farmland bird species.

We want to support the many farmers who are working hard to feed us, not just now but into the future too. They need certainty that the necessary policies and financial support from government are in place if they’re to produce healthy food whilst adapting their farming methods to help to reverse wildlife declines, build healthy soils and restore the environment. The new Environmental Land Management schemes that have come into play go part way to moving things forward but not at the pace needed.

6

”

Somerset Wildlife | Autumn/Winter 2023

Everyone’s a winner Farming at the sweet spot, a report published this year by the Nature Friendly Farming Network and The Wildlife Trusts found up to 45% increase in commercial return for nature-friendly farms

The skylark is one of

19 SPECIES

that make up the UK Farmland Bird Indicator. As a group, these species are amongst our most declining birds.

23.15km² Agriculture now takes up

of Somerset’s land cover.

201.94km² Somerset has lost

of grassland in 25 years, a 5.74% change - the district with the most drastic decline has been Mendip, where it has seen a 11.50% decline in grassland.

15%

The UK breeding population has seen

WANT TO FIND OUT MORE? Sign up for our Wilder Matters: Nature-Friendly Farming event on Tuesday 28th November through our What’s On page on our website!

FERGUS GILL/2020VISION

decrease (1995–2020) (BTO)

Somerset Highlights

GUY EDWARDES/2020VISION

Our work | Events | Species | Facts | Your Somerset

View towards Westhay from Walton Hill.

Restoring Westhay’s precious peat

8

project which will see the removal of some of the trees, scrub and other nonpeatland plants that are drying out our precious reserve, and undertaking work to capture as much rainfall as possible and slow the flow of water inside the peat.

We will be using an innovative technique called cell bunding which, whilst it looks a little destructive, will in time help provide the best conditions suited for the specialist communities that live on peat bogs, allowing them to not only survive, but really thrive. These wetter conditions will also be less hospitable for the scrub, and in time should reduce the amount of time staff and volunteers spend removing non-peatland species. A similar approach has been undertaken at Shapwick and has seen some really positive results in a short space of time.

Through the project we also hope to improve the number and diversity of specialist peatland plants, especially

Somerset Wildlife | Autumn/Winter 2023

the number of peat forming species.

This will include the re-introduction of certain types of sphagnum moss, which will help to make the peat we do still have more resilient to climate change, whilst protecting the ancient stores of carbon locked away beneath the ground. In the fullness of time, we hope that the site will re-start the peat forming process.

We’ll be keeping you up to date on this project on our website.

MARK HAMBLIN/2020VISION

E

ach year our reserves team and dedicated volunteers battle scrub, bracken and brambles at our Westhay Moor Reserve. Historic land use and drainage create the dry conditions which allows the presence and persistence of this type of vegetation. Transpiration from the scrub and small trees then exacerbate this further, acting as water pumps, further drying the peat soil. The result is a struggling peat bog that emits carbon and threatens the presence of the amazing, rare species we have there like the roundleaved sundew, the microplume moth and the large marsh grasshopper.

This autumn and winter we’re embarking on an important phase of peatland restoration work at this very special reserve. Funded through the Nature for Climate Peatland Grant Scheme, we are beginning a two-year

Did you know? Sphagn um moss can hold up to 20 times its own weight in wat er!

THIS SEASON

BIG NUMBERS

JON HAWKINS

Our Wilder Fundraisers this summer have together ran, swam, cycled, abseiled and walked a whopping 1,350 km raising

£7,159

CITIZEN SCIENCE

Big Count comes back in big style!

Slow worms were among the species recorded in our annual citizen science initiative, The Big Count.

Last year, we launched The Big Count an annual initiative encouraging people to unleash their inner citizen scientist, and record a special group of wildlife species over a period of 10 days, using the iNaturalist app on their mobile devices.

The key aim is to get more people to connect with nature and to share what they see, helping increase our species records. Collecting data means we can monitor changes in the abundance and distribution of species we have across the county and support the habitats they

call home - particularly when they are coming under increasing pressure from changes in our climate. Thanks to you and the nearly 1,500 people who downloaded our free Big Count pack this year, we were able to collect an AMAZING 1,183 records! Thank you SO much! For more information about how to get more involved in citizen science, visit our website.

“Taking part has got me into iNaturalist and recording things is becoming part of my every day enjoyment of the natural world” (a participant).

PROJECT

SURVEY

Wilder Somerset 30 x 30

Shoresearch is a sure winner

Wilder Somerset 30x30 is an exciting new Somerset Wildlife Trust project.

Generously supported by National Lottery players through a £249,971 grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund this threeyear project will inspire actions for wildlife along three vital nature recovery corridors in Somerset. From Glastonbury to Frome, Somerton to Yeovil, and the Charltons to Castle Cary, 30x30 will work with individuals and communities, helping those less connected with nature, creating more space for wildlife, delivering training, advice and loads of fun events and activities to shape a Wilder Somerset by 2030.

Volunteers are 2023 is the 20th monitoring topshells, year of the Wildlife which are climate Trust movement’s change indicators.

Shoresearch project.

In Somerset, enthusiastic volunteers of all ages and skills have been doing surveys since 2019, regularly monitoring intertidal species and getting survey method and species training along the way. Arthur Blackwood, an undergraduate from UWE, has just written a report explaining the data we have found. Other volunteers are running projects on individual species such as topshells (climate change indicators) and invasive Pacific Oysters.

To see the report and to find out more visit our Shoresearch web page.

of vital funds to protect and restore our wildlife and wild places.

23,000

We now have

individual members! All those amazing people standing up for wildlife in the county!

Special thanks to Jess and her father Adam, who Walked for Wildlife over 15 miles of the challenging Exmoor Perambulation and raised an amazing P LIGHTFOOT

BRUCE SHORTLAND

Here are some of our most recent achievements.

£618.75

3,500 for Somerset Wildlife Trust.

people signed up to be a hedgehog hero in our Homes for Hedgehogs campaign! (You can still help a hog by taking part on our Walk Like a Hedgehog fundraiser - see page 11)

Somerset Wildlife | Autumn/Winter 2023

9

THIS SEASON

REINTRODUCTIONS

MARK HAMBLIN

It’s a Green Match for co-existence

Pine martens could return to Somerset’s woodlands.

PARTNERSHIP

Two Moors partnership We are really delighted to be able to say that we have joined the roster of brilliant partners on the Two Moors pine marten project, as a supporting partner. The South West has been identified as the highest priority region for exploring potential pine marten reintroduction, according to the long-term strategic recovery plan for pine martens in Britain (2021), published by Vincent Wildlife Trust, with the support of Natural England and NatureScot.

Led by Devon Wildlife Trust, and in collaboration with the Woodland Trust, National Trust, Dartmoor and Exmoor National Park Authority authorities, the project aims to restore self-sustaining populations of pine

martens to their rightful place within our woodland ecosystems, helping to maintain the balance between species, and playing their essential part in the recovery of our wild woodlands.

An initial feasibility study carried out by the Vincent Wildlife Trust identified several suitable release areas, including parts of Exmoor and Dartmoor. It suggested pine martens are likely to thrive if reintroduced, followed by research into how a reintroduction would work in practice.

We’ll be providing expert support and advice to the project and hope to share more with you as the project progresses. Watch this space!

FUNDRAISING

A Moonlit Meadow Run!

10

Somerset Wildlife | Autumn/Winter 2023

Sat 25th November Join Team Wilder for a flat 5k or 10k super friendly night run in Longrun Meadow, Taunton and help raise vital funds for wildlife.

FREE charity places available!

A participant said of the event, “Being completely new to running, I challenged myself to improve my fitness with the help of the NHS Couch to 5K app, with the goal of running my first 5k!

It’s a fantastically supportive event for new runners (and flat!), and I raised over £150 for Somerset Wildlife Trust.”

Sign up here: somersetwildlife. org/moonlit-meadow-run

Bringing back certain native species to our landscapes is becoming recognised as part of the solution to help mend our broken ecosystems and tackle the ecological and climate emergencies.

Key to helping any native species return is supporting communities and landowners to live alongside them and understand the benefits they can bring - and how they can play a positive role in welcoming them back. But, whilst we have some amazing wildlife and landscapes, there are whole communities that have become disconnected from nature.

Which is why we were overwhelmed by the amazing generosity you and other supporters showed in supporting our Big Give Green Match Fund appeal. This year we were able to raise the £31,500 online to match the fund donated by generous pledger to achieve the overall target of £63,000 target in just one week.

This year funds will be going to support an existing new role for the Trust - a Human-Wildlife Co-existence Officer.

This role will be working with communities across the county to create positive conversations around returning species such as beavers, pine martens (look left!) and white-tailed eagles. It’s the first step on the Trust’s journey to exploring this exciting area of its nature recovery work.

LAND ADVICE

Grassland for good We’ve been working with Somerset West and Taunton District Council to produce its grassland strategy and to deliver training seminars to its land management team on nature friendly grassland management. This was a significant bit of work, enabling wildflower growth and providing enhanced and more biodiverse spaces for pollinators, birds, mammals and of course people across the whole of the district. Residents and communities have really valued and noticed this change in the council’s approach.

THIS SEASON

FUNDRAISING

Join our Hedgehog Heroes this autumn and get sponsored to Walk like a Hedgehog!

Despite their popularity, numbers of the humble hedgehog have been in decline since the 1950s. Back then, there was an estimated 30 million of our prickly friends in the UK, now there are less than 900,000.

They need our help more than ever before. Can you take on our challenge to give our hogs a helping hand?

All you need to do is walk 3km a day between 23rd and 29th October (the distance a hedgehog can walk in a night), nominate three friends, and help us raise vital funds to make Somerset a better place for hedgehogs and all the wildlife that calls Somerset home.

Be a Hedgehog Hero and sign up today at somersetwildlife.org/walk-like-a-hedgehog NATURE RECOVERY

Adaptation is key!

We’re so pleased to have been able to send Town and Parish Councils across Somerset our new Adapting the Level’s Climate Adaptation Toolkit.

Using the Toolkit, communities can develop their own, locally tailored adaptation plan in response to climate change. The toolkit is also available online from adaptingthelevels. com Ask your council what they’re planning to do on your patch!

RECORDING

Going wild for recording on Somerset’s Coast!

TOM MARSHALL

Walk like a Hedgehog!

Hedgehog numbers have been in decline since the 1950s.

RESERVES

Wilder Sensing at Honeygar Honeygar, our first ‘wilded’ site is managed very differently to our nature reserves and as such, is an opportunity to pioneer innovative technologies that will help us guide land management decisions on the site through evidence based monitoring and analysis.

At the end of last year, we were excited to install four Song Meter Micro sensors from a company called Wildlife Acoustics. From these, high-quality data is collected and then analysed by another company called Wilder Sensing, helping us to monitor the variety of bird species at Honeygar.

The audio sensors have been hard at work recording bird song at Honeygar almost continuously for seven months.

The audio data was uploaded and processed utilising Wilder Sensing’s innovative Artificial Intelligence analysis, and when set to a 90% confidence interval, have produced a staggering 323,522 records from just four sensors. Notable bird species recorded at Honeygar include cuckoo, snipe, cetti’s warbler, lapwing and kingfishers. We were blown away and hope to install more of the sensors elsewhere.

Lapwings have been recorded at Honeygar.

MARK HAMBLIN/2020VISION

Somerset’s Wilder Coast, funded by HPC Community Fund and the Lottery Climate Action Fund, is continuing to launch new Wilder Communities projects along our coast. iNaturalist Wilder Champion, Elizabeth Atkinson, is supporting all sorts of local groups using the iNaturalist App to record wildlife as part of our West Somerset Wildways Project. Over in Highbridge “the Brue: Green Pathways project” working with ‘Our Highbridge’ community group is raising awareness of green and blue spaces in the town, so we can better protect them. Contact mark.ward@ somersetwildlife.org to find out more.

Somerset Wildlife | Autumn/Winter 2023

11

THIS SEASON

Nature Connections success!

ADRIAN CLARKE

We’re so pleased our successful Somerset Nature Connections project has been able to work with the charity Charis in recent months, offering sessions to asylum seekers based in Somerset. Charis supports refugee families to become settled in the county. We’ve been

able to hold a number of art sessions exploring nature through creativity, and sessions in the Quantock Hills AONB have offered welcome respite from town life - the beauty of the woodland, pleasures of cooking over the fire, sharing food, sunshine and laughter.

The first great white egrets to breed in the UK chose the Somerset Levels as their nest site.

PATRONS

Amazing support from our patrons The support we receive from our patrons enables us to take on new challenges every year and plan for the future. Here’s why Joint Patrons Neil and Sarah Williams joined the scheme, “We had supported Somerset Wildlife Trust as members for many years and were therefore aware of the great work that they do across our region. We felt as though we should and could go further and became patrons because we are in the fortunate position to be able to commit a little more. However, doing so has also brought us closer to the Trust, enabling us to learn much more about their activities and the complex decisions that they often must make. The events that they run for the patrons provide not only great opportunities to learn more about the natural world and its conservation, but they have also allowed us to spend time with the staff, including our CEO, giving us a greater feeling of connectedness and a chance to feed in our views”. Find out more about becoming a patron by visiting somersetwildlife. org/support-us/ become-patron.

12

RINGING

Going from strength to strength Back in 2012, the Somerset Levels were home to the first breeding pair of great white egrets in the UK. Since then, their population has grown dramatically.

This year, an incredible forty-eight nests were found across the Avalon Marshes, with four on our very own Westhay Moor National Nature Reserve.

This was the first year there were more than two nests on Westhay, but with populations increasing, what once was a rare visitor to the UK is becoming a more familiar sight. We need to be able to track these changing populations,

which is why, earlier this year, we were delighted to facilitate qualified bird ringers Alison Morgan and Bob Medland in ringing the chicks. The birds were temporarily removed from their nests and given both metal and colour rings, which allow them to be identified as they spread out into the wider landscape.

Great white egrets are now being sighted all over the UK, including Scotland, the Isle of Wight, and East Anglia — and with Westhay’s chicks successfully ringed, we’ll be able to see just how far they travel.

WELLBEING

Nature wellbeing for people and planet Continuing on the theme of nature for well-being the Somerset Nature Connections team were super delighted to work with the Local Nature Partnership and Here Now Film in producing a short film sharing the benefits of nature connection and green social prescribing.

The interconnected crises we find ourselves in call for a vital response that acts holistically for the benefit of

Somerset Wildlife | Autumn/Winter 2023

wellness for both people and planet.

Whether you live in the city or countryside, regular contact and connection with the natural world can have a meaningful impact on health and wellbeing so it’s vital that we help promote and invest in nature-based approaches to health and social care. You can tune in and watch the film on the Nature and well-being section on our website.

DEREK MOORE

Patrons visit Chancellors Farm

THIS SEASON

20 harvest mouse nests were found on Catcott.

SURVEYS

We need to know more about harvest mice On the Red List for Britain’s Mammals, the harvest mouse is classified as near threatened in Britain. This means that they are at risk of becoming threatened with extinction in the near future. We don’t have a lot of data on how many harvest mice there are in the wild, so we don’t have the true picture of their plight, which makes it difficult to identify with any real certainty as to what sort of conservation actions should be put in

place. So imagine how totally delighted we were to find over 20 nests on Catcott….. alongside four field vole ones.

We were lucky enough to be able to host a nest surveying course run by Clare Fiennes from the Somerset Mammal Group who found the nests with the help of 15 Trust volunteers. And what is more, the majority of the nests were maternity nests which house mums and their cute little babies!

This data will be added to the National Harvest Mouse Survey which the Mammal Group runs, to ensure we are able to ensure we can keep a close eye on their populations. Check out our species feature on p. 14 for more about our small furry mammals. Interested in recording and citizen science? Visit the citizen science page on our website to find out how you can get involved.

MONITORING

VAUGHN MATTHEWS

Blackdown barn owls

CITIZEN SCIENCE

JON HAWKINS

Moth mania A big shout out to RoAM (Recorders of the Avalon Marshes) volunteers who ran a summer mothtrapping event on the mire at Westhay. They managed to collect 124 individuals of 42 species including black arches (pictured) and buff tips. Amazing!

For the past three years, our barn owl box in the Blackdown Hills has been inhabited by barn owls Finn and Trude. Beginning to use the box in late November, their bonding saw the successful laying of their third clutch, with the first owlet hatching in May. Four healthy owlets were ringed in late June by qualified bird ringer Roger Dickey and Somerset Wildlife Trust volunteer and trainee ringer, Mark Winsloe. Their rings have reference codes inscribed into them, allowing that bird to be uniquely identified if it is caught again in the future. Ringing the owlets at this stage is important in understanding population movements and declines.

We are looking forward to seeing Finn and Trude again in the coming months, and hopefully catching glimpses of this year’s owlets as they fledge and find their own hunting grounds on the Blackdown Hills.

Pacific Oysters We will be supporting a Masters student this winter to do a study on this invasive species, so do keep your eyes peeled for any sightings!

PAUL NAYLOR MARINEPHOTO.CO.UK

AMY LEWIS

In brief

WATCH out for community action We have been supporting the WATCH Project to establish new Conservation Community Action Groups in Yeovil, Taunton and Chard. The groups are supporting socially isolated adults by bringing them together to take action in their local communities for wildlife and the environment.

An ELMS Landscape Recovery project We’re so pleased that we have been invited as one of 22 pilot projects in the UK that will be working with farmers/landowners and Defra to deliver landscape-scale environmental and social benefit as part of the new ELMS scheme in the Brue Valley.

The project will be focusing on areas such as rewetting lowland peatlands, restoring water quality, reducing nutrient inputs and connecting the landscape to the wider nature recovery network, as well as helping to build stronger, adaptation positive local economies and developing green infrastructure and wellbeing benefits for locals and visitors alike. It’s hope that the project will provide leadership for the wider Somerset Levels and Moors (SLM), helping plot a course through the climate crisis and economic uncertainties.

Top Moth Spot!

There was a lucky sighting of an alder moth caterpillar in summer on Westhay Moor.

Adult and caterpillar are rarely seen as they are rather scattered. Beautiful caterpillar with really cool ‘club’ hairs.

Somerset Wildlife | Autumn/Winter 2023

13

SPECIES FOCUS

Sometimes, the smallest things

take up the most room in your heart (Winnie the Pooh)

When you see a mouse the last thing you want to imagine is that it being eaten by a ravenous barn owl, but the reality is that there’s a high chance that this is destiny of many of the small mammals we look at in this feature.

14

Somerset Wildlife | Autumn/Winter Spring/Summer2023 2023

SPECIES FOCUS

FACT BOX

100% Small mammals make up nearly

of the diet of a barn owl

As well as birds of prey (including owls),

small mammals are important food for corvids (crows and their cousins), gulls, foxes, badgers, polecats, stoats, weasels, grey herons and snakes. Water shrews may even be eaten by predatory fish and harvest mice by pheasants!

Alongside squirrels and jays, small mammals such as bank voles are responsible for

new trees

growing where gathered seeds and nuts go uneaten.

vegetation – that are home to some of our smallest and cutest mammals - mice, voles and shrews. Across Somerset, they support a huge number of other animals from barn owls to buzzards and snakes to stoats. They are essential for the existence of predators that rely on them – for barn owls they comprise almost 100% of the diet.

Somerset’s small mammals are found all across the county, with some

species very abundant and others rare, requiring specific habitats and wildlife corridors to survive. Mice, dormice and voles are all rodents with continuously growing front teeth for feeding on plants and their nuts or seeds. Shrews on the other hand are solitary, aggressive insecteaters with tiny sharp teeth. These are tipped red with iron providing strength to such tiny teeth.

Somerset Somerset Wildlife Wildlife || Autumn/Winter Spring/Summer 2023

ISTOCK

W

alking through a park with long grass or along a woodland path you may hear the almost inaudible squeak of a small mammal, most often a shrew, or the brief rustle of leaves as a vole dashes underground. Hidden away, at ground level, there is a whole other world of holes and tunnels – both in the ground and amongst the

15

Small but mighty

TERRY WHITTAKER/2020VISION

SPECIES FOCUS

Here we showcase some of Somerset’s furry friends.

Telling mice, voles and shrews apart Large ears

Voles look furrier, with a rounded, cute-looking face and ears that are covered amongst their fur.

Their back teeth form a zig-zag pattern. They have short legs and often short tails, although the water vole has a more rat-like tail.

Voles are generally active during the day and common across a variety of different habitats.

Tiny ears

Long, pointed noses

Short tails

Shrews have long, pointed noses, tiny ears and short tails. Most adult shrews die within a year to 18 months, leaving their offspring to make it through the winter to breed the following spring.

Rounded face

Short legs Short tails

16

Somerset Wildlife | Autumn/Winter 2023

Large eyes Long tails

Mice are long-tailed rodents with large, obvious eyes (that look like they are about to pop out!). They have large, obvious ears, a pointed nose and are generally nocturnal.

Their teeth have tiny cusps, like miniature mountain peaks. Dormice meanwhile belong to their own family separate to mice that hibernate for up to six months or more and have broad, flattened teeth.

Size: 120-235 mm; tail 80-100 mm, half to two-thirds of their head-body length.

Habitat: Found in well vegetated ditches and rhynes. They are also found along rivers, streams and ditches, around ponds and lakes, and in marshes, reedbeds and areas of wet moorland.

Diet: A range of plants living in and by water – up to 227 different species of plants have been recorded in their diet.

Features: Although rat-like, water voles have a short, blunt nose, less obvious ears, a hairy, shorter tail and a rounder, compact body. Water voles dig burrows at or above the water level which are well trodden down, with nearby grasses and plant stems nibbled at a tell-tale 45° angle. They also leave piles of olivegreen, tic-tac-like poo in a latrine.

Status: The water vole is an endangered species in Britain and uncommon to rare in Somerset. They are mostly found where there is clean water, lots of water plants, no rat poisons being used and no mink (which eat water voles).

WATERVOLE FACTS The water vole is famously known as 'Ratty' in Kenneth Grahame's classic children's tale, The Wind in the Willows.

Despite being sometimes referred to as a 'water rat', there is no such thing - there are brown rats, black rats and water voles.

Water voles are one of our fastest declining mammals and are a vital part of river ecosystems. Their burrowing, feeding and movements help to create conditions for other animals and plants to thrive - a bit like beavers do, but on a much smaller scale.

The National Water Vole Database and Mapping Project is bringing together and mapping water vole and mink data which informs conservation efforts to create more wetland habitats to give ratty the best possible chance. Submit any sightings you have of water voles to somerc.co.uk.

Voles Bank vole

Myodes glareolus The bank vole, our smallest vole, is more likely to be found in woodland and is often the prey of tawny owls. You may spot their small (2cm width) holes along woodland paths which often become homes for other animals such as shrews and bumblebees.

Size: body 80-125mm; tail 36-72mm and 50% of the head and body length.

Habitat: Broadleaved, mixed woodlands or conifer woodlands, hedgerows, gardens, arable farmland, heathland, road verges and parks or grasslands where there is lots of ground cover. May also be found in trees

Field vole

Microtus agrestis With a population of 75 million, the field vole is one of the UK's most common mammals. It is the staple diet for many predators, especially owls, kestrels and buzzards.

Size: body 78-135mm; tail 18-49mm and less than 40% of the head and body length.

Habitat: Open green spaces where there is grassland habitat or taller grassy clumps

and bushes when foraging.

Diet: Green plants, berries, buds, shoots, bark, seeds, flowers, roots, fungi and moss.

Features: The bank vole has a reddish, chestnut-brown back and greyish-white belly, and a longer tail compared to the field vole.

Status: Common and widespread across Somerset.

in and along the edges of woodland, hedgerows, heathland, farmland and gardens (rural and urban).

Diet: Various grasses.

Features: The field vole is also known as the short-tailed vole, and as this name suggests, it looks short-tailed and has lighter grey-brown hair compared to the bank vole.

Status: Abundant although relies on tall grasses and can be encouraged in areas where there is lower grazing pressure and margins left unmown or cultivated.

JOHN BRIDGES

The ‘plop’ of water when walking along a stream, ditch or rhyne is likely to be the tell-tale sound of an escaping water vole, our largest vole species.

Tooth marks left on nuts Each species of small mammal leaves behind its own distinctive teeth marks which can help identify who has been gnawing the nut!

Wood mouse – round hole with visible tooth-marks around its inner rim. Surface of shell beyond the toothmarks scratched.

Bank vole – similar to wood mouse.

However, surface of shell remains unscratched.

Dormouse – eat green hazelnuts, leaving a smooth inner rim and toothmarks that run at an angle to the hole on the outer rim.

Somerset Wildlife | Autumn/Winter 2023

CORINNE WELCH

Arvicola amphibius

MARGARET HOLLAND

 Water vole

SPECIES FOCUS

17

PAUL ADAMS

Common shrews eat 80-90% of their body weight each day, amounting to 500 prey items to fulfil their energy needs. They scuttle through grassy tunnels and burrows in the soil, usually remaining hidden from sight.

Size: body 54-87 mm ; tail 32-56 mm.

Habitat: Common shrews are widespread across Somerset, living in most habitats where there is ground cover including grasslands, woodlands, hedgerows, road verges and urban environments.

Diet: Earthworms are a favourite alongside a range of other invertebrates including beetles, insect larvae, spiders, slugs and even carrion.

Features: Unlike the water and pygmy shrew, the common shrew is tri-coloured with a reddish-brown back, lighter sandy-brown sides and an even lighter, greyish belly and an almost hairless tail. Its tail is less than three-quarters the length of its body.

Status: Widespread and very common.

Pygmy shrew Sorex minutus

The small pygmy shrew is one of Somerset’s smallest mammals alongside pipistrelle bats and is common in the undergrowth. They have to eat the equivalent of one and a quarter of their body weight (3.5-7g) every day.

Size: body 40-64 mm long; tail 30-46 mm Habitat: Pygmy shrews are widespread

Water shrew Neomys fodiens

The water shrew is unusual by having venom in its saliva capable of slowing down or stopping prey.

Larger than the common and pygmy shrew, water shrews can be an important prey item for barn owls feeding across wetland habitats.

Size: body 63-96 mm; tail 47-82 mm Habitat: Water shrews are mostly found in watery habitats, including garden ponds, where they dig networks of small burrows and chambers. They may also live in woodlands, hedgerows and scrub.

Diet: Underwater invertebrates including freshwater shrimps, caddisfly larvae, tadpoles, and small

18

Somerset Wildlife | Autumn/Winter 2023

across Somerset, living in grasslands, broadleaved and mixed woodlands, hedgerows, arable farmland and gardens.

Diet: Various insects, including beetles, spiders and woodlice.

Features: The pygmy shrew is generally smaller than the common shrew and has more contrasting fur colour, between the grey-brown back and the paler belly. It also has a much longer and hairier tail which may make up 70% of its overall length.

Status: Widespread and common.

ISTOCK

Sorex araneus

SHREW FACTS While shrews feature in the diet of many predators, they are often left uneaten by some due to their distasteful secretions that come from glands on either side of their bodies.

Shrews can sniff out food 12cm beneath the surface of the soil.

Common shrews may tackle earthworms that are 10cm long, bigger than their own body!

Fact

2 24

Water shrews can dive down metres underwater for up to

snails alongside larger prey such as frogs and small fish. On land will also hunt earthworms, beetles and snails.

Features: Larger and darker than other shrews, with a whitish belly and black back, often with white tufts around their ears. It is well suited to water spaces and has a fringe of hairs on its back feet and tail that provide greater propulsion and steer through the water.

Status: Although elusive and difficult to survey their population is thought to be declining. They need clean water for their food, lots of plant cover and natural banks for burrowing into.help control pest species such as slugs.

seconds

NIALL BENVIE/2020VISION

Common shrew

Fast food

Shrews live in the fast lane by day and night, feasting every two to three hours. Sometimes they simply don’t find enough to eat and die; they are often found dead and unharmed along footpaths.

XXXXXXXX

Shrews

SPECIES FOCUS

Wood mouse

Mice

Apodemus sylvaticus

Size: body 97-110 mm; tail 69-15 mm long.

Habitat: Broadleaves and mixed woodlands, grasslands, gardens, arable farmland, scrub, moorland, heath and sand dunes.

Diet: Seeds (especially acorns, ash and sycamore), nuts, berries, buds, snails, insects such as caterpillars, worms, centipedes, fungi, moss and tree bark.

Features: The wood mouse is long-tailed, agile and fast with large round ears and large, shiny black eyes that look like they are about to pop out! They burrow deep underground, using the deeper tunnels mostly during the winter.

Status: Abundant and widespread.

Harvest mouse Micromys minutus

The harvest mouse is tiny - an adult can weigh as little as a 2p piece! It prefers habitats with long grass, but you are most likely to spot its round, woven-grass, tennis ball sized nests hung between tall grasses.

They are intricately woven with grass stems split along their length. During the winter nests are usually built on the ground in hollows or amongst tree roots.

AMY LEWIS

JANET PACKHAM

Second to the field vole, the wood mouse is also one of our most numerous rodents in Somerset, providing an important food source for predators, such as tawny owls and kestrels. They move around at night by jumping.

Size: 50-80 mm; tail 50-70 mm, almost as long as its body.

Habitat: Long tussocky grassland, reedbeds, ditches, road verges, hedgerows, arable farmland (cereal fields) and woodland edges.

Diet: Plant seeds, plants, berries, moss, fungi and insects.

Features: The harvest mouse is very small with pale, ginger or yellow fur, a white belly and small eyes. Its tail is almost hairless and prehensile – unique amongst British mammals. It uses it like a fifth limb, holding on to grass stems and twigs.

Status: Harvest mice are near threatened for a host of reasons, for example, the switch to growing shortstemmed wheat and barley and winter crops which get cut before their breeding season begins.

Hazel dormouse

HOW TO HELP

Muscardinus avellanarius

TERRY WHITTAKER/2020VISION

The hazel dormouse is easily overlooked and often only seen by licenced surveyors checking special dormice boxes in woodlands across Somerset.

It is mainly arboreal or tree-dwelling, moving around woodlands via overlaying branches of trees.

Size: 60-90 mm; tail 57-68 mm.

Habitat: Although most often encountered in ancient, broadleaved woodlands, the dormouse is also found in mixed woodlands, conifer plantations, scrub and hedgerows.

Diet: Flowers, buds, seeds, nuts, fruit and insects.

Features: Dormice have a distinctive reddish- or orange-brown back with a short nose, large black eyes and a furry tail. During the summer they make nests

in trees and brambles, while often hibernating in the ground under tree stumps, roots and rocks.

Status: The dormouse is classed as vulnerable and has a high risk of extinction in the UK due to the loss and fragmentation of woodland. Somerset is a stronghold for it due to the connectivity of many woodlands.

Making wilder spaces for our small mammals  Leave scruffier grassy margins and log piles around your garden or green space  Grow a range of wildflowers and nut or berry-bearing shrubs to provide food for small mammals  Help us map Somerset’s small mammals - let us know what small mammals you see in your garden through the Somerset Environmental Records Centre, somerc.co.uk  Take part of the dormouse nut hunt and identify gnawed nuts https://ptes.org/hazel-dormice/ help-hazel-dormice/

Somerset Wildlife | Autumn/Winter 2023

19

ANNUAL REVIEW 2022-23

How you are helping nature to recover in Somerset Against a post-Covid backdrop of inflation, freak weather events and deeply worrying proposed changes in government environmental legislation, our work to deliver our Wilder Somerset 2030 strategy has continued with determination, resulting in some significant achievements in 2022-23. This has only been made possible with the support and strength that you, our members give us. You have continued to inspire us with your passion for nature and commitment to being involved in our work in so many different ways.

20

Somerset Wildlife | Autumn/Winter 2023

MORE SPACE FOR NATURE Our strategy sets out to ensure at least 30% of land and sea is managed positively for nature by 2030 so Somerset has a strong and connected network of wild spaces Somerset’s Nature Recovery Network.

Our nature reserves are vital if we are to reverse the continuing declines in biodiversity and create greater connectivity between these nature-rich areas, enhancing the resilience of wildlife so it can adapt, like us, in the face of climate change.

We know that we cannot do this alone, so working in partnership with others has been of strategic importance to achieve this.

2022-23 HIGHLIGHTS • Working with our landscape partners, achieving the declaration of the 6,140 hectare Somerset Wetlands ‘Super’ NNR, which includes our Avalon Marshes nature reserves, laying the foundation for a wider Government supported Somerset Nature Recovery Area project on the Somerset Levels and Moors • Expanding our work with landowners in both West and East Mendip, with landowners playing their part in filling vital gaps in Somerset’s Nature Recovery Network • Launch of a new Climate Adaptation toolkit to help climate vulnerable communities make decisions and take action on climate adaptation • Progressing preliminary plans to rewet the peat soils at Honeygar, completing baseline habitat and species surveys and collecting baseline carbon and greenhouse gas data • Completing the majority of priority tree safety work arising from the impacts of Ash Dieback • Our Dormouse Reconnected project, in partnership with National Highways, saw us pilot the installation of wildlife bridges along the M5 near Taunton, to help reconnect isolated populations of critically rare hazel dormice.

ANNUAL REVIEW 2022-23

A MOVEMENT FOR NATURE

TELLING SOMERSET’S STORY

DEVELOPING OUR CHARITY

For nature to recover we need more people taking action for nature, a critical mass of at least one in four to tip the balance, so more people follow their example. To do this we are building a movement for nature across Somerset – Team Wilder.

The ethos of Team Wilder is to show that everyone can make a contribution, empowering the whole county to take action for nature wherever they are, in whatever way they can. We have seen a positive surge in people’s attitudes to nature, but we need volume, so this year we have been extending our Team Wilder approach to support a more diverse audience in taking their first step to nature connection.

Monitoring and demonstrating progress towards nature’s recovery in Somerset through a shared online Somerset State of Nature platform is our third strategic goal. This will inform what action is needed and where, whether by us or by others.

It is really important that we understand changes in both the diversity and abundance of wildlife we have. This in turn helps us track the health of the ecosystems that support them and make informed decisions on how our efforts are best directed. To do this effectively we need data so, as well as working to evaluate and modernise how we collect, analyse and share data, we have expanded our citizen science programme significantly.

We need to build our organisation to deliver a Wilder Somerset 2030 and to ensure our own actions support our aims. We grew in 2022-23 to support our ambitious plans and refocussed our work to match our goals.

• Empowered communities to take action by launching a new Community Empowerment pack, alongside a range of other advice sheets and resources supporting ‘Wilder Communities’. ●• Secured funding of nearly £600k to work with communities, young people and individuals in a range of areas, including along the coast, enabling them to engage better with their local wildlife. ●• Relaunched our Wilder Gardening offering to include new resources to support people at home, how to fundraise through our Open Garden scheme, and we extended our garden plaque scheme for a wider range of green spaces.

• Successfully recruited and trained Wilder Champions across the county to support our volunteering and community engagement work. ●• The Somerset Nature Connections project, a three year project, funded through the National Lottery Community Fund, worked directly with over 170 participants across a range of naturebased activities resulting in incredibly positive feedback on the impact connecting with nature had on their health and wellbeing.

2022-23 HIGHLIGHTS • Launched The Big Count, our biggest citizen science event, as part of the Great Somerset Wildlife Count. Nearly 1,000 records were logged with hundreds signing up to iNaturalist to take part • Worked with a range of nature stakeholders across the county to collate and analyse baseline habitat and species data to form the foundation for the first Somerset State of Nature report due in 2023-24 • Developed and created a new online recording system to facilitate faster, easier input of data from a wider range of specialist recording groups • Supported the Team Wilder team on a range of citizen science projects and campaigns and provided guidance for community groups • Created a baseline online Community Map for every parish in the county, with information on the ecological networks and nature corridors being developed in their area - a starting point from which communities can make a really meaningful contribution to our overall State of Nature mission • Completing an inventory of our Ancient Trees

The ethos of Team Wilder is to show that everyone can make a contribution, and it is our mission to empower the whole county to take action for nature wherever they are, in whatever way they can.

• Brought in new skills and expertise to support a growing number and range of projects, and to support the organisation in developing new commercial areas of work • Strengthened our HR and resources function to ensure that we are able to better recruit, retain, train and support staff and help them achieve their goals • Made sure Somerset Wildlife Trust remains a supportive and inclusive place to work by setting up an EDI and Inclusion task force, launching our EDI and Inclusion plan and assisting staff wellbeing by increasing access to more on demand support • Progressed our digital transformation strategy with the recruitment of a Digital Transformation Officer to audit and future-proof our digital and began a project to migrate to SharePoint to support hybrid and cross-team working.

Our people are what make our charity successful. We have grown our staff team significantly bringing new skills on board to reflect the organisation we need to be to have the impact we nature needs to recover.

BALLOK ZOLTAN

2022-23 HIGHLIGHTS

2022-23 HIGHLIGHTS

Somerset Wildlife | Autumn/Winter 2023

21

ANNUAL REVIEW 2022-23

us...

What the numbers tell A solid and steady year in support of our Wilder Somerset 2030 strategy

INCOME AND EXPENDITURE

2022-23 (£)

2021-22 (£)

2,027,073

3,524,946

More space for nature - nature recovery

1,659,119

709,654

More space for nature - nature reserves

601,252

738,987

A movement for nature

330,211

265,710

Telling Somerset's story

157,957

187,819

Other trading activities incl. SWT (Sales) Ltd

599,969

626,663

Investments

60,582

17,332

5,436,163

6,071,111

Cost of raising funds

285,466

240,738

Membership recruitment and retention

283,423

287,506

1,493

1,713

Income Donations and legacies Charitable activities

Despite the challenging economic climate the Trust had a strong financial year and recognised an overall surplus of £731k (£2.8m: 2021-22), although a much lower surplus of £166k (£185k: 2021-22) was recognised on unrestricted funds (excluding designated funds). We continued to grow our staff and invest in the delivery of our Wilder Somerset 2030 strategy, with 52% more invested in charitable activities compared to the previous year.

Income for the year totalled £5.4m (£6.1m: 2021-22) primarily as a result of grant funding and the continued generosity of supporters.

Overall expenditure grew by 38% to £4.6m (£3.4m: 2021-22) as we increased our spending to invest in a wide range of strategic projects to support nature's recovery in Somerset and continue to deliver our strategic goals. We have also invested in the development of new commercial activities, including land advisory and ecological services, to diversify and grow future income to support on-going financial stability.

We achieved a surplus of £239k (£818k: 2021-22) on unrestricted funds, including an increase of £73k in designated funds primarily as a result of legacy income recognised in the year.

We recognised a surplus of £306k (£793k: 2021-22) on restricted funds which represents funds received during the year for specific purposes as agreed with the funder. Our restricted funds include £1.2m raised for Honeygar in the last two financial years to support its development and wilding.

Although overall charity funds increased to £10.5m our financial reserve target, which is set as four months’ planned expenditure, has increased which has resulted in the income fund being £989k below the target although discretionary designated funds provide reassurance and ensure ongoing financial stability as they exceeded the shortfall.

STATEMENT BY THE TRUSTEES The full annual report and accounts 2022-23 is available in the publications section of our website, somersetwildlife.org/what-we-do/ news-publications/publications. The full accounts have been subject to a statutory audit by an independent auditor who gave them an unqualified report.

22

Somerset Wildlife | Autumn/Winter 2023

Total Expenditure Raising funds

Merchandising costs Investment management fees SWT (Sales) Ltd

6,864

7,915

588,551

551,692

Charitable activities More space for nature - nature recovery

1,627,491

514,595

More space for nature - nature reserves

803,303

866,220

A movement for nature

796,072

697,141

Telling Somerset's story

219,265

183,012

4,611,928

3,350,532

Net (loss)/gain on investments

Total

(92,779)

34,344

Net income

731,456

2,754,923

ASSETS AND LIABILITIES Freehold nature reserves

4,459,905

4,272,386

Other tangible assets

1,490,614

1,256,804

Investments

836,057

935,695

Current assets

4,417,845

4,222,215

Current liabilities

(640,661)

(615,977)

Provisions for liabilities (Ash Dieback)

(50,000)

(288,819)

10,513,760

9,782,304

3,072,776

2,885,758

Restricted funds

1,691,964

1,386,188

Designated funds

4,380,948

4,308,407

Unrestricted funds

1,368,072

1,201,951

Total charity funds

10,513,760

9,782,304

10,513,760

9,782,304

Restricted funds

(1,691,964)

(1,386,188)

Tangible and heritage fixed assets

(5,950,519)

(5,529,190)

Available financial reserves

2,871,277

2,866,926

Total net assets OUR FUNDS Endowment funds

OUR FINANCIAL RESERVES Total reserves Less

Available financial reserves include £1.99m (£1.9m: 2021-22) which has been designated by Council for specific purposes in future years.

ANNUAL REVIEW 2022-23

Income by source Investment income Other fundraising activities Other Data Services and SLAs

Grants

Legacies A total of £270k (£637k: 2021-22) legacy income was recognised in the year and has been credited to the designated development reserve for future projects.

SWT (Sales) Ltd (including First Ecology)

£5.4m

Grant income grew to £2.5m (£1.6m: 2021-22) representing the largest source of income in the year and 47% of overall income as a result of significant projects. This includes £647k from two Green Recovery Challenge Fund projects and £643k from Natural England for nature recovery. A total of £438k (£470k: 2021-22) grants were received through agri-environment schemes which specifically support the management of our nature reserves.

Membership Donations and appeals Income from donations and appeals totalled £901k (£2m: 2021-22) representing the second largest source of income in the year and 17% of total income. This includes £630k raised for Honeygar.

Thank you for being a member Membership income grew to £856k (£835k: 2021-22) and remained the third largest source of income in the year at 16% of total income.

s r e t r o pp u s r u o ll a To a huge thank you

Expenditure by activity

Thanks to your generosity, last year we were able to invest £4.6m to help nature recover in Somerset and invest in the staff and skills needed to diversify our income streams and deliver our Wilder Somerset 2030 strategy.

Raising funds Membership recruitment SWT (Sales) Ltd (including First Ecology)

Learn more

£4.6m

Charitable activities

about our work in 2022-23, plans for 2023-24 and put your questions to the trustees at our 2023 AGM (see inside cover for details and to book).

Expenditure on charitable activities Telling Somerset's story

More space for nature – nature recovery

A movement for nature

STEVE WATERHOUSE

£3.4m

More space for nature – nature reserves

Somerset Wildlife | Autumn/Winter 2023

23

STATE OF NATURE

The

State of Somerset’s Nature

BITTERN: JAMIE HALL

As wildlife populations continue to change across Somerset, we are keeping tabs on what is going up, what is going down and what is remaining stable across the county.

24

Somerset Wildlife | Autumn/Winter 2023

STATE OF NATURE

I

the Somerset Environmental Records Centre (SERC), the recently published State of Nature in Somerset 2023 report highlights the need to understand more about species population declines in Somerset and how these might be affected by different pressures, including the climate crisis. The report is a living breathing document, that will change over time and provides a benchmark of what we know so far about the state of wildlife populations in the county.

We now need to go further by monitoring and evaluating in more depth - something everyone can get involved with. Leon DeBell, Manager of SERC, explains, “Although bird and butterfly populations have been studied in detail for many decades, we know very little about the trends of most other wildlife in Somerset; much more systematic monitoring is required. It is never too late to begin collecting data and we want to have a more detailed baseline of underrepresented groups of animals and plants – from spiders to ants and lichens to liverworts – starting from now. This is something everyone in Somerset can help with. We need to know numbers and locations – what species are doing well and where, what species need urgent attention and where, and in some cases, what species may need returning to the Somerset countryside, assuming the habitat and connectivity is still there for them. With this type of information, we can compare between years and monitor changes in a transparent, repeatable way. This in turn helps the trust to work out a plan of action and recovery for those habitats and species needing most urgent attention and celebrate those successes when things do move in a positive direction.”

The declining distribution of UK butterflies 1976-2019. The colour of each stripe represents the annual index value of the unsmoothed UK all-species butterfly distribution indicator.

1976

1980

1985

1990

1995

2000

2005

2010

2015

2019

Somerset Wildlife | Autumn/Winter 2023

25

GRAPHIC: BUTTERFLY CONSERVATION AND BIODIVERSITYSTRIPES.INFO

SERC has recorded just over 12,300 species in Somerset over the last 150 years.

t’s 2050 and across Somerset’s farmland landscape, interconnecting field edges buzz with the sound of pollinators and grasshoppers, while above plentiful skylarks sing. Ash dieback has resulted in new growth from below as trees have died or been removed, while many ash trees were spared both disease and chainsaw.

Woodlands are managed in ways that allow light to penetrate their herblayered floors, while saplings planted in 2023 are filling out and re-connecting isolated woodland patches. The trees hum with the sound of insects, and bats, including grey-longed ears – newcomers to Somerset – feeding in abundance on moths and midges. Beavers have helped shape woodlands on high ground, providing pools for frogs and young fish, while holding water back during extreme heavy downpours, protecting low-lying rivers from ‘bulging’ at peak flow and high tide. Across the Levels and out in the Severn Estuary, eels have returned and been taken off the endangered list, while salmon numbers have increased along rivers that are clean and free of sediment.

Wildflowers, once found mostly along Somerset’s road verges in recent decades, are found in gardens, parks and farmland strips, supporting insects, small mammals and once rare birdlife.

Back to 2023 and this description of a wilder Somerset is what we are striving for, with your help, amid a world that is changing faster than ever.

Our ambitious landscape-scale plans to increase nature recovery networks across Somerset will help make this happen. To get there we need delve into the facts and really understand the State of Nature in Somerset. While there is already a lot of information held by

WHY ARE WILDLIFE POPULATIONS CHANGING? Nature is dynamic. Plant and animal populations naturally wax and wane according to conditions, and species that flourish in one year may fare worse in others. However, the pace and sustained direction of change we are seeing goes beyond natural fluctuations. Changes in populations started hundreds of years ago, when draining of wetlands and cutting down woodlands was already moving at pace, and especially since the 1930s, when industrialisation of farming gathered momentum. Add to these the collective pressures of pollution, fishing, urbanisation and disturbance, we understand what shapes the state of nature in Somerset today.

“In line with the rest of the UK, nature is in decline in Somerset”, remarks Ellen Phillpot, Records Centre Support Officer at SERC. “Somerset’s wildlife trends broadly mirror national trends, with habitat fragmentation and loss affecting species abundance (number of species) and distribution (where they are found). Urbanisation has directly impacted the loss of key grassland habitat. Now, even the ‘richest’ sites for wildlife are too limited in number, size and quality and are disconnected from each other. Somerset has the second highest number of Local Wildlife Sites in the UK; however, many have been lost and only eight percent of Somerset is legally protected for wildlife. Of this, a mere one third is in good condition for wildlife to thrive. There is some good news though. Woodland habitat has seen an increase in recent years.

Beavers are back in Somerset, the large blue butterfly is thriving on the Polden Hills and waterbirds, in particular egrets, herons and bitterns are now widespread and common breeders on the Avalon Marshes.”

26

Somerset Wildlife | Autumn/Winter 2023

Between 1990 and 2015, Somerset lost 202km² of its grasslands (5.74% decline) and gained 28km2 of woodland (0.81% increase).

In Exmoor, 31% of lichen species recorded during its pre-industrial period have not been recorded since 1960, with up to 38% of species inferred to be lost.

OYSTERCATCHER WITH LICHEN: TOM HIBBERT

What do we know so far? In Somerset, data from SERC reveals that out of the 12,300 species recorded, 313 are on The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list and 1,697 species are county notable. Thirty-seven species are considered to be invasive, such as Himalayan balsam, Canada geese and harlequin ladybirds, and have increased their spread across Somerset by 260% between 1990 and 2021.

EUROPEAN HARE IN GRASSLAND: ANDY ROUSE

STATE OF NATURE

STATE OF NATURE

HEATH FRITILLARY: JIM HIGHAM

Since 1990 total butterfly distribution in Somerset has declined by 874km2.

For fritillary butterflies this decline is 233km2, a decline of 60%

LOOKING FORWARD

How might species recover?

Wildlife can be resilient and recover quickly if given the chance. For example, invertebrates, such as aphids, hoverflies and ants have many generations in one year. They can reproduce and increase in numbers quickly. Others, such as beetles, earwigs, ladybirds and parasitic wasps, take much longer – some beetle larvae may feed in dead wood or the soil for three or four years. Therefore, there can be a time lag between the environment improving for them and their populations increasing. However, even small percentage changes in the number of young which survive to adulthood can make a big difference in the numbers of adults, such as butterflies that we see. If 1,000,000 peacock butterflies lay 500 eggs each, then potentially 500, 000, 000 caterpillars may hatch. In reality, many get eaten, parasitised, strimmed, sprayed with pesticides and so on. If just 1% of these eggs survive to adulthood, that would create 5,000,000 peacock butterflies! If in one year more nettles are left unstrimmed, new habitat is created or the parasitic wasps have a bad season and 2% of the eggs survive to adulthood, then suddenly there are 10,000,000 peacock butterflies across a region.

Somerset Wildlife | Autumn/Winter 2023

27

We are working with 76 farmers to manage over 64km2 of farmland better for nature

What people can do: Help us record Somerset’s State of Nature There is much we can still do to reverse the declines of wildlife in Somerset and there are many examples of good practice in agriculture and built development supporting nature’s recovery. There are also many dedicated individuals, groups and organisations already providing crucial information and evidence and taking positive action for wildlife.

Wherever you live in Somerset you can also record the wildlife around you. Somerset Wildlife Trust runs a number of mass audience species counts across the year as part of its ‘Great Somerset Wildlife Count’, using the app iNaturalist as the recording mechanism. You can also use SERC’s online recording system (ORS) to enter and store wildlife records. Just head to somerc.com and the heading ‘Submit data’. Once registered you’ll get access to a whole range of great features like a searchable species dictionary and online maps, for pinpointing your sightings. Your data will be stored securely by us and you’ll be able to build up a record of what you’ve seen and where you’ve seen it.

28

Somerset Wildlife

COMMUNITY WILDLIFE MAPPING On SERC’s Community Wildlife Mapping website you can see what has been recorded local to you and add your own sightings. The map also shows special habitat features, such as woodland or semiimproved grassland, which supports local community groups in planning where to plant trees or manage meadows that increase connectivity between similar habitats. somerc.com/ community-wildlifemapping/

BIRDS ON YOUR DOORSTEP See which species have been lost, declined, increased and colonised your area in Somerset since the 1970s based on Bird Atlas data, data.bto.org/doorstep-birds/

LARGE BLUE: ROSS HODDINOTT

STATE OF NATURE

STATE OF NATURE

LITTLE EGRET: TERRY WHITTAKER

CLIMATE REFUGEES One species that is bucking the trend is the grey long-eared bat. These are moving up from Spain and Portugal – which are getting too hot for it – and heading for cooler climes in Somerset.

Waterbirds, such as night herons and black-winged stilts are also following this trend as their wet habitats in

Iberia dry out. Other species doing well in Somerset include wasp spiders, cinnabar moths, four-spotted chasers, orange-tip butterfly, buzzards, great spotted woodpeckers and goldfinches.

WHAT ABOUT OUR SITES OF SPECIAL SCIENTIFIC INTEREST (SSSIS)?

In Somerset just under 90km² of SSSIs are in poor condition and declining further; there is not the funding to ensure they are in prime condition or because landowners, who may not be a conservation organisation, don’t have the funds, will or interest in looking after them. They may also be affected by external factors such as pollution from upstream or the effects of urbanisation or intensive agricultural practices next door. While SSSI status does require some obligation, the system is simply not working for landowners or wildlife in its current state. We want to support landowners and Natural England to reverse this trend and get SSSIs back into good, workable condition for us and for wildlife. On the upside, there is 160km² of SSSI land that is in poor condition yet improving.

BEAVER: NICK UPTON

“There is evidence that some, previously range-restricted species, are starting to move into the UK and are expanding northwards, such as the Jersey tiger moth, says, Anne Halpin, Monitoring Ecologist.

“While insects are doing appallingly in general, the places we find good results are where a concerted conservation effort has gone into saving a particular species or where a species benefits from this effort. For example, the large blue butterfly on the Polden Hills has done well since funding and effort has been dedicated to its reintroduction and the restoration of its short grassland habitat. The rugged oil beetle in turn has benefitted from the same, short, grassy conditions and is being increasingly found where grassland is managed in this way.”

FOUR-SPOTTED CHASER: JON HAWKINS

What wildlife is doing well at the moment?

England’s second ‘super’ National Nature Reserve (NNR) has been declared in Somerset: the Somerset Wetlands NNR has absorbed six reserves on the Somerset Levels and Moors, adding 56% more land to the area occupied by the original site.

29

SPECIES FOCUS

As the reality of our changing climate increases, with the event of wetter winters, hotter, drier summers and other extreme weather events in Somerset, how prepared really are we for the future?

30

Somerset Wildlife | Autumn/Winter 2023

ISTOCK

Adapting to our changing climate

CLIMATE CHANGE

T

here is no escaping the opportunity for carbon capture. Jack reality that Somerset’s Bedford, Climate Adaptation Officer, climate is rapidly changing explains what resilience, adaptation in our lifetimes. We are and mitigation means for us: experiencing its predicted “After extreme events like floods effects that impact our health, our or heatwaves, very often the focus day to day living, the prices we pay for is on resilience; being able to bounce food, and wildlife populations around back after the damage is done. While us. The county is vulnerable to rising learning from these events and building sea levels and river flooding on lowresilience is important, as the climate lying land, while more unpredictable continues to change these events are weather patterns will increase surface happening more often and are becoming water flooding and wildfire risk across more extreme and unpredictable as all areas, including higher ground. well as inevitable. We also need to focus These changes affect us, our homes, our much more on being able to adapt, gardens and our spaces for wildlife. which will help us to limit or avoid The good news is there are many the harms brought by our changing simple and positive ways to prepare climate - and even to take advantage of for our more extreme weather that any opportunities it brings. Adaptation enable us to be better adapted, while is vital and can take place at difference still doing what we can to reduce our scales, and it’s something we need to carbon emissions (mitigate) bring much more of into mainstream and create more space conversations around climate change. for nature. Many “And while we adjust to these changes are quick wins and it is also essential we reduce our involve changes that emissions (mitigate) to limit the impacts will often have farwe will face. Climate adaptation and Jack Bedford reaching consequences mitigation need to go hand in hand.

Climate Adaptation benefitting our wellbeing, One way we can adapt is by using Officer wildlife and the nature-based solutions. These are actions

that use the power of nature to tackle problems like climate change. What is great about nature-based solutions is they often have multiple benefits.

Planting trees can provide shade and absorb water, helping us adapt to extreme heat and flooding, but they also capture carbon and provide habitat for wildlife.

For example, one of the effects of climate change is large, more severe storms. So, mitigation can help minimise climate change, so we don’t get ever more severe storms, adaptation helps prepare for the more severe storms which we are already experiencing, and resilience helps us bounce back following these storms.”

Another good local example is the remaining peat in the Somerset Levels and Moors. When peat is dug up for compost, or farmed inappropriately, it dries up and releases the carbon stores it previously held. Digging peat or allowing it to dry out also means that the level of the land is lowered, making flooding more likely; it also reduces the land’s ability to store water and so further increases flooding risks. Therefore, stopping the removal of peat and caring for what is left will help store more carbon and water and support rare wildlife.

Climate projections SEA LEVEL RISE

0.27m to 1.13m

Projected rise in Somerset by 2100 (could see as much as 1.90+m rise in high emissions scenario)

CHANGE IN RAINFALL PATTERNS Exacerbated by storm surges

Change in rainfall patterns (leading to river and surface water flooding, and drought) Winters

Current coastal defences are resilient to 1.10m

HEAT AND DROUGHT

40.3ºc

Summers

Summer rainstorms

Peak river flows

35% 47%

25%

85%

more rain by 2070

less rain by 2070

more intense, up to 85% falling on dry ground increase

WILDFIRE

Heatwaves like 2018 now

2022 saw UK recordbreaking high temperature of

more likely due to climate change

2022 UK heatwave caused

150%

increase in excess deaths – 3,271 more people died during the heatwave than would be expected.

200% 41

30x

6.2%

By 2050 ‘high’ wildfire risk conditions in spring to increase by

Grasslands, heathlands, woodland and farmland most vulnerable

and ‘very high’ wildfire risk conditions in summer to increase by

properties destroyed in wildfires around London 19th July 2022

Somerset Wildlife | Autumn/Winter 2023

31

What can we do to adapt?

MAKE A DIFFERENCE

What does resilience look like?

For those living in flood-risk areas, resilience may include:  Raising electrical appliances and sockets  Installing flood-proof doors and barriers, and air brick covers  Installing non-return valves in toilets and appliances  Using flood-resilient floor and wall materials PLANTING

While helping to reduce fire-risk might include:  Having picnics instead of BBQs  Taking litter home (especially glass)  Sticking to footpaths  Not smoking or lighting camp fires  Quick reporting of any fires to reduce impact Actaea (Actaea simplex Atropurpurea) for vertical highlights against the honey stone.

Dogwood ‘Midwinter Fire’ (CornusMidwinter-Fire) for its winter stems.

Indian rhubarb (Darmera peltata)

Autumn fern (Dryopteris erythrosora)

Hemp-agrimony (Eupatorium cannabinum)

Siberian Iris (Iris sibirica)

RICHARD OSBOURNE

CLIMATE CHANGE

Planting more trees Adapting our villages, towns, parishes or whole valleys to our changing climate can be done positively together as an established community group or by bringing new people together from your local pub, school, book club, football club, Women’s Institute, allotment association, or even local businesses, professional bodies or friendly societies. Buffy Fletcher has done just this in Westbury-subMendip, a village on the southern slopes of Mendip. Disheartened by the loss of ash trees to Ash Dieback disease during lockdown in 2020, Buffy now heads a team of 40 volunteers, supporting local landowners to create hedgerows, extend woodland or convert appropriate fields (that are not wildflower meadows) into woodland. They grow local seeds and nuts from 25 species, with permission to collect from local woodlands (including Somerset Wildlife Trust) and grow these in a nursery on land rent-free courtesy of local landowners Guy and Evelyn Timson. Last winter they cared for 1,000 trees. Where landowners wish to put in thousands of hedgerow trees, the group Avens ‘Cooky’ (Geum coccineum)

Soft rush (Juncus effusus)

Chestnut-leaved rodgersia (Rodgersia aesculifolia)

Kaffir Lily (Schizostylis pink)

Leopard plant (Ligularia dentata ‘Desdemona’)

Grey sedge (Carex divulsa) for edges of trafficked areas.

Przewalski’s golden ray (Ligularia przewalskii)

In and around the paving low growing plants could be used such as Mind-yourown-business (Soleirolis soleirolii).

Moor grasses (Molinia dauerstrahl)

Royal fern (Osmunda regalis)

Wild strawberry (Fragaria vesca)

Chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla)

is able to supplement commercially grown favourites such as hawthorn, field maple and hazel with other traditional varieties such as crab apple, spindle, guelder rose and wayfaring trees.

The Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) team has supported the team with funding to pay for the tree nursery (polytunnel, insurance and basic kit). The team’s planting is providing more habitat and connectivity for nature, shade for livestock, improving the soil’s structure and its capacity to hold water and in some cases, reducing any human conflict, for example, growing hedgerows along a public right of way that act as a natural fence line. Buffy PERMEABLE HARD SURFACES adds, “Last winter our biggest project was a new hedge at Furlong farm with over 2,000 trees. While most were bought commercially, it was augmented by trees from the nursery. The group supported the playing field hedge and some planting on the Strawberry line (done by the Easton wildlife group for us). Other trees went to Wedmore for their new Forest Garden, Worthington Wood.”

Permeable tarmac for the more trafficked areas.

A number of companies offer concrete reinforced grass systems. Eg. Marshalls Grassguard and GrassConcrete Grasscrete

There are reinforced grass systems that look more like paving.

The most popular permeable surface is sett paving which has been designed to have large gaps filled with a course grit to allow infiltration.

For areas that are not trafficked by vehicles, paving spacers can be used to create wide joints between paving that can then be filled with grit or planted.

Wedmore flood adaptation case study The rain garden is designed to take the rain runoff from the roof and use it in an attractive environmentally positive way. The planting is chosen to thrive in times of drought and times of flood.

Connected to drainage network 32

Somerset Wildlife | Autumn/Winter 2023

A permeable car park significantly reduces surface water runoff by replacing traditional hard surface with a permeable surface.

Permeable ground/paving Water butts

CLIMATE CHANGE

In Martock, several flooding events have made roads in and out of the village impassable. The community’s Flood Warden Group now monitors river levels and coordinates responses to flooding events. It has helped identify how and where the flow of water can be slowed down to reduce the flood risk. In the Wellhams Brook catchment, more than 47 structures, including leaky woody dams and floodwater storage ponds, have been installed since 2016 to reduce the likelihood of Martock being flooded.

Hard surfaces generate a higher risk of surface water flooding In villages and towns, hard surfaces such as roads, tarmac driveways and concrete patios generate a higher risk of surface water flooding. As a solution, sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) reduce this risk by mimicking natural drainage, slowing the rush of stormwater to roads and drains, and allowing it to soak into the soil. In Wedmore, the Green Wedmore group have worked with PLANTING designers at SEED Landscape Design to produce a case study illustrating how the landscape and a considered drainage design (SuDS) could help address some of its current flooding issues. Its main aim is to showcase the ideas and inspire other villages to do the same.

One of our partners, the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group SouthWest (FWAG SW), are working with farmers Traditionally reinforced grass systems have been designed for low growing, drought tolerant grass. The success of which depends on how trafficked the area is.

Around the edges of the carpark where cars and people can not damage the planting, other plants could be used such as Mind-your-own-business (Soleirolis soleirolii).

Wild strawberry (Fragaria vesca)

Chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla)

At the bottom of walls larger plants could be introduced such as Western maidenhair fern (Adiantum aleuticum).

Baltic parsley (Cenolophium denudatum) for the sunny places.

and other landowners to keep water on higher ground for longer using naturebased solutions. The more slowly it moves downhill the less likely the water will cause flooding or deep surface water during heavy or prolonged rainfall.

Known as Hills to Levels, the project is working holistically across catchments in Somerset, aiming to ‘slow the flow’ and also reduce erosion, improve water quality, create wildlife habitats and increase resilience on the floodplain.

Little interventions might include sowing grass margins around arable fields or planting trees to slow the flow of water and aid infiltration, aerating the soil through subsoiling (a technique of lifting the soil) to reduce compaction, and retention ponds that accumulate excess water before slowly releasing it downstream.

Ada Myers, Somerset Natural Flood Management Adviser for FWAG SW says, “Good soil management is key to flood mitigation as well as protecting water quality and reducing soil erosion.

Improving infiltration of water by improving soil structure, choosing the right cultivation techniques at the right time of year on soils with the correct soil moisture and/or increasing soil organic THE POND HABITAT matter by using and incorporating green cover on fields, will increase soil water storage and plant uptake as well as reducing surface water run-off and erosion. Additionally, many natural flood management measures (e.g. leaky ponds, swales and silt traps) can store excess water whilst also helping to reduce diffuse pollution by slowing and filtering surface runoff before it reaches a watercourse.”

The pond would be home to native marginal plants such as Water crowfoot (Ranunculus aquatilis)

The pond would be home to invertebrates like this dragon fly larvae.

Marginal plants would need to be tough to cope with potential fluctuating water levels.

Eg. Marsh marigold (Caltha palustris)

The pond would be a place for amphibians to breed.

Native aquatic plants would oxygenate the water and provide cover to predators.

The pond would provide ideal habitat for native amphibians.

A pond captures water and, during flood events, floods the adjacent wetland/damp meadow.

Trees are planted which also slow runoff and absorb water.

Permeable car park

VAUGHN MATTHEWS

Reducing flood risk

Reducing wildfire risk With long spells of sunny weather, dry vegetation and plants containing aromatic oils, such as heather and pine needles, are more vulnerable to fire. Grasslands, heaths and coniferous woodland are becoming increasingly at risk of wildfires. Landowners are able to adapt by planting more fire and drought resistant tree species THE WETLAND HABITAT and creating more firebreaks – spaces between stands of trees that stop fire from spreading. These can be scallop-shaped and subtly cut into the woodland landscape (unlike linear lines for pylons) where the vegetation is kept low or broadleaved trees are planted to fill out the space, increasing space for wildlife and providing a cooler, shaded and moist environment.

The insects around the water would be predated on by bats.

Marginal perennials like Purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) would populate the wetland and pond margins.

Pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium)

The stems of the plants would be a place where larvae would emerge and transform into adults. eg. Common Hawket (Aeshna juncea) Lesser pond-sedge (Carex acutiformis)

Yellow iris (Iris pseudacorus)

New trees Wetland/ damp meadow

Habitat pond

Somerset Wildlife | Autumn/Winter 2023

33

SPECIES FOCUS

How does wildlife benefit?

JIM HIGHAM

Some wildlife is adapting to our changing climate, although for many species we do not know how our warming world will affect them. While climate change is a huge game changer for how wildlife lives in Somerset, it is happening alongside other challenges that wildlife is facing, including the loss of insects, reduced connectivity between wildlife habitats as well as habitat fragmentation and loss.

While some species may not be able to adapt at all or quickly enough, others will benefit from climate-related adaptations alongside wildlife-friendly farming and the creation of wildlife-rich habitats and connecting corridors, both in urban and rural environments. We may lose some species and gain others.

Heath fritillary numbers have been in steep decline.

34

Somerset Wildlife

Willow warbler populations declined by

67%

in the southwest of England between 1995 and 2021

The willow warbler The willow warbler was once a widespread and abundant bird in Somerset. Between 1995 and 2021, they declined by 67% in the southwest of England, a downward trend repeated across other southern regions.

Yet, it has increased by 36% in Scotland. Research by the British Trust for Ornithology has revealed that the willow warbler is heading to the cooler north and this change is directly linked to our changing climate.

BEN HALL

What is our wildlife doing in response to our change in climate?

ROSS HODDINOTT/2020VISION

Adapting to our changing climate has far reaching consequences that go beyond the benefits of simply coping better with heatwaves and heavy rainfall.

For example, planting trees in appropriate locations provides more habitat, shade and moist soils for woodland wildlife.

Slowing the flow of water downhill creates new habitat upstream such as wet woodland and ponds while improving the water quality, making it a healthier environment for water plants and invertebrates.

CLIMATE CHANGE

Blackcaps enjoy a warmer climate, and their numbers are increasing.

What will benefit?

CLIVE NICHOLS

Other heat-loving species, such as the chiffchaff and blackcap, have both already increased rapidly across England, by 35% and 153% respectively, during the same time period. Studies show that great tits are nesting on average two weeks earlier than 60 years ago. They appear to be keeping up with the earlier emergence of leaves and therefore the hatching of caterpillars to feed their chicks. Sadly, others such as the pied flycatcher are not arriving from West Africa earlier enough to catch the bulk of insects in time to raise their own families and since the 1980s they have disappeared from almost a third of their range in the UK, subtly moving more west and north.

For those species that hibernate – hedgehogs, bats, dormice and reptiles – warmer, wetter winters may encourage them to be active during days when there is no food, using up vital fat reserves to see them through to spring. Birds escaping wildfires and droughts in southern Europe may be looking at Somerset as a place of refuge, in particular wetland species such as avocets and more exotic waders such as black-winged stilts. They may be joined by new butterfly, moth and dragonfly species that prefer Mediterranean-style heat. While hot, dry summers may shrivel the food plants of butterflies, providing tough feeding conditions for their caterpillars, mild winters and springs may see some species emerging earlier alongside their food plants.

TOM MARSHALL

Warmer, wetter winters are impacting species which hibernate, such as hedgehogs.

TEAM WILDER

Adaptation actions  Search for our Climate Adaptation Toolkit (Adapting to Climate Change on the Somerset Levels) for more ideas and solutions that you can do personally, as a community or as a parish council.  Create a pond connected to a water butt to use excess water and stop the pond drying out, providing a habitat for watery wildlife and water/bathing opportunities for birds, small mammals and insects.  Connect water butts to overflow into rain gardens which are designed to cope with large downpours. This takes pressure off drainage networks and reduces surface runoff.  If you have an allotment, have green cover for longer and grow a more diverse range of crops.  Consider a ‘green roof’ – these help absorb rainwater, slow the rate of run-off water and help to reduce flooding. They also help to keep urban areas cooler than traditional roof building materials during high temperatures.

 Reporting blocked road drains to Somerset Council.  Reduce paved garden space and replace with green (plants and grass) and gravelled spaces where water can filter away rather than accumulate over paving stones or other hard surfaces such as concrete. Borders and lawns soak up the rain and help reduce flood risk.  Keeping your garden lawn green by mowing less regularly – every two weeks or once a month – to develop deeper roots. Plant other drought tolerant and deep-rooted species that keep your soils fertile and stay green such as yarrow, chicory, lucerne and sainfoin – they are also great for your pollinators.  Create ‘Green Walls’ to insulate and cool buildings. Training climbing plants up external walls, particularly those that are south facing, can help to insulate properties and provide important habitat and food sources for wildlife.  Install external shutters to windows (Mediterranean-style).  Research also shows that greening our urban spaces makes people happier and healthier too!

Somerset Wildlife | Autumn/Winter 2023

35

JON HAWKINS

While willow warblers are becoming increasingly scarce, chiffchaff numbers are on the increase.

FUNDRAISING

Wilder Fundraising

AS AND WHEN Volunteer as an Event Marshall at fêtes and carnivals in return for a donation. Fiona has raised over £300 this way. Add yourself to our list!

£489!

JENNIFER JANE PHOTOGRAPHY

£37

A FEW HOURS

Become a volunteer speaker, and present our talk about the

top 5 ways we can all improve our outdoor spaces for wildlife.

A FEW HOURS

JOIN US!

To request your Wilder Fundraising Pack, go to somersetwildlife.org/ fundraise, email me at fundraising@ somersetwildlife.org or call on 07549 031738.

Don’t miss ...

Walk like a Hedgehog!

23rd – 29th October Request a Recycling Sack and raise vital funds via Recycling for Good Causes we’ll receive 75% of the value.

SMALL BUSINESSES Work for Good! Megan at Dainty Bakes donated £1 from the sale of her delicious brownies.

Find out how at workforgood.co.uk/charities/ somerset-wildlife-trust

36

Get crafty! Becky used her crafting skills to run a Christmas Decorations workshop with friends and raised

Challenge yourself for Wildlife! Abseil, Swim, Cycle, Run or Walk for Wildlife.

Find your sponsored challenge at somersetwildlife.org/ challenge-yourself

Pledge your celebration!

Congratulations to Sarah and James who tied the knot and raised over £300 in lieu of gifts and cards.

Shop online via Give as You Live and Easy Fundraising to raise free funds for wildlife at no cost to you.

Between just 37 supporters, we’ve already raised

A FEW HOURS

ONE-OFF

5 MINUTES

5 MINUTES

Look after our collection tins – the Speaking Tree in Glastonbury have now raised over £1000!

Somerset Wildlife | Autumn/Winter 2023

Help us raise vital funds to make Somerset a better place for hedgehogs that call Somerset home. See p11 for details

The Moonlit Meadow Run

Saturday 25th November Join our Team Wilder for a flat 5k or 10k night run, perfect for beginners, in Longrun Meadow in Taunton. See p10 for details

JON HAWKINS

A huge “thank you” to our team of Wilder Fundraisers, who are doing all sorts of things to raise vital funds for wildlife.

It is so much more than baking cakes or hosting a quiz - our fundraisers are helping us create a Wilder Somerset.

The next 10 years are the most important in the history of nature conservation and that’s why your support this year is so vital.

Donating your time to raise funds goes hand in hand with inspiring others to make changes for nature, and, we’re here to help you every step of the way.

Here’s just some of the ways you can help raise vital funds for wildlife, and be a firm part of the Team Wilder movement!

A FEW HOURS

THANK YOU Middledown

Dear member

We urgently need to modernise our equipment in order to reduce our longer term costs. We’re at the point now where newer equipment is simply not compatible with our older machinery. Upgrading and modernising some of the key items we use will support more effective practices, so can maintain our grasslands and manage scrub so our reserves and wildlife benefit on a larger scale.

There is always an extensive list of items we know would make a real difference to our work, but most critical has been replacing the tractor used in the Blackdown Hills. This single piece of equipment had become a major issue in terms of dangerous emissions, the inability to reach remote areas of the reserves and it’s ability to do even the simplest of grassland tasks due to faults and compatibility issues. The difference a new tractor will make in managing our grasslands and meadows cannot be underestimated. It would also, not only support the Blackdowns, but can be transported to be used at any reserve across Somerset, wherever it is needed to make the most difference.

Please consider making a donation to support our Nature Reserve Fund which will not only raise vital funds for our essential schedule of work, but also to enable us to replace our out of date, broken equipment. Equipment might not seem ‘exciting’ or ground-breaking but to us, it will literally transform the way we manage our reserves.

On our Middledown nature reserve, bee orchids have been discovered on an area that was cleared of scrub ten years ago.

Aisholt Wood

ZOE NEEDHAM

Our nature reserves represent some of David Somerset’s most precious habitats - safe Northcott-Wright havens for very special wildlife species.

Senior Reserves Their ongoing health and quality is also essential Manager to our ability to create a strong and resilient nature recovery network across the county - one that can endure the challenges we know lay ahead, and to help us achieve our goal of 30% of land and sea managed for nature by 2030.

Managing our nature reserves costs us £803k a year. It’s a huge endeavour and we take pride in our stewardship of this important land. But costs are increasing year on year – as they are for everyone.

We need to be as efficient as possible to make the most of every penny donated by our kind supporters. This efficiency also extends to how we use equipment to support our reserves staff and their volunteers so they can do more with the time and equipment we have, and our reserves and wildlife that lives there can benefit on a much larger scale.

Moving to rechargeable hand tools such as chainsaws and brush cutters reduces our dependence on fossil fuels. The tools are also quieter, meaning they are much less disruptive to woodland wildlife.

Westhay Moor

ZOE NEEDHAM

WAYS TO DONATE: Any gift you can give to The Somerset Nature Reserves Fund will always go straight to our nature reserves, ensuring that they are kept in the best possible condition to support the wide range of species that rely on them as well as helping us achieve our ambitious conservation goals.

If you are able to support us, please complete the enclosed form and return it to us in the envelope provided, visit our website at somersetwildlife.org/reservesfund or call Zoë on 01823 652429. Every donation, whatever the size, will make a difference. Thank you again for your very kind support.

Thank you

Somerset Wildlife | Autumn/Winter 2023

37

TEAM WILDER

We’re using the science of people as well as the science of ecology to work urgently together for a wilder future.

What action will you take?

Let's come together to create a culture of conservation in Somerset

B

y being a member you’ve already taken action to support nature's recovery through your generosity – Thank you!

But nature needs us all to do more, and urgently. We’re calling on our supporters, members and volunteers to be vocal about the actions they’re taking for nature to help lead and inspire change more widely. This is what is means to be part of Team Wilder - people taking visible, evidence-based, action for nature across the county that they care about.

There are so many ways to make an

38

Somerset Wildlife | Spring/Summer 2023

impact: write to your MP, garden for wildlife, create a community meadow, speak up for nature on your parish council, establish Nature-based Solution in your community…

Recording the wild plants and animals you see everyday can be a simple way to start and help you assess what’s special about your area before you make any changes. By recording wildlife you’ll be contributing to the evidence we need to “health check” populations, influence decision makers and understand what nature needs across the county to thrive.

You’ll also be building you own skills

Whatever our skills, ages, interests and networks we all have a part to play.

TEAM WILDER

Join a Shoresearch or Sea Watch survey event see page 9 or visit somersetwildlife.org/shoresearch

JARGON BUSTER

Learn the lingo

25%

Social Tipping Points: Social scientists describe “tipping points” in social systems where if a significant minority can cause a cascade change within society. When a committed group advocating for new social norms reaches 25% (1 in 4) of the population, this is the trigger for a rapid change in social norms in the rest of society.

Nature-based solutions: Protecting and restoring natural habitats, such as woodlands and wetlands, in a way that helps capture carbon and tackle other challenges associated with climate change such as flooding. It also provides benefits by helping restore biodiversity and improving human wellbeing.

Citizen Science: Volunteers contributing to real-world science as part of a project with professional scientists. Citizen science helps us collect much larger data sets and you don’t need to be an expert in order to take part.

Nature Recovery Network: A network of wildlife-rich places connected with “corridors” and “stepping stones” of habitat across agricultural and urban land which allow plants, animals, seeds and water to move from place to place, adapt to change and find places to breed, feed and thrive.

RESOURCE HIGHLIGHT

Be part of the Great Somerset Wildlife Count PAUL HARRIS/2020VISION

and knowledge, which in turn you can use to inspire others to take action!

Globally we are facing climate and ecological collapse. The prospect is overwhelming, but there is still time to turn things around if collectively we act and inspire others. Whatever our skills, ages, interests and networks we all have a part to play. It’s time to set aside the generational differences, the “whataboutery” and the apathy. We’re in this together, and we need to act now.

Will you be part of the 1 in 4 people needed to create a “social tipping point” and help restore nature in Somerset?

Check out the explainers on our website to get started with iNaturalist and take part in recording wildlife year-round. Throughout the year we’re also encouraging specific focuses on collections of species, such as the Fabulous Fungi Focus in October. Our downloadable packs contain spotter sheets and fun activity guides!  Download activities and find out about iNaturalist at somersetwildlife.org/get-involved/citizen-science Somerset Wildlife | Autumn/Winter 2023

39

TEAM WILDER

ACTION SPOTLIGHT

Recording and restoring the Nature Recovery Network together

Wilder Coasts

(Hinkley Point ‘C’ Community Fund and Lottery Climate Action Fund) This 3-year project aims to empower coastal communities to take more direct action for wildlife by wilding spaces to help deliver a Coastal Nature Recovery Network and increasing people’s involvement in coastal citizen science. Mark Ward (Wilder Coasts Manager) and Mandy Wallington (Wilder Coast Officer) have been working with councils, communities, schools, businesses and youth groups to establish self-sustaining community-led initiatives. The ongoing Shoresearch and Sea Watch Surveys continue to train up citizen scientists to record marine and coastal wildlife building data which is key for protecting these areas. Schools that are near to, or would like to engage more with, our amazing coastal habitats can take part in our exciting Somerset School Coastal Champions award.

Nextdoor Nature

(Heritage Lottery) Focusing on urban communities in Yeovil and Taunton, our Wilder Communities Officers, Patrick Price and Helen Hawke, listen to and support communities with their nature initiatives - bringing a little more wild into the urban landscape.

This project ends in June 2024, by which time we hope to have supported four communities to realise their ambitions for their local area.

40

30 x 30 (Heritage Lottery)

This new 3-year project concentrates on B-Lines running across South and East Somerset. Communities living in or near “B-Lines” can have a big impact for wildlife by helping connect up key habitat areas to serve as highways for pollinating insects and other wildlife. Guy Braga (Wilder Communities Officer) is on hand to advice communities on the actions they can take and identify training and grants to help this happen. We’re also developing a roving exhibition to help people engage with the concept of a Nature Recovery Network – let us know if your community would like to host it for a week or two!

Also, as part of this project Sian Bentley, our Wilder Youth Officer, will be working with young people across Somerset to build a Youth Forum and advocate for opportunities for young people to take a leading role in nature recovery.

Adapting the Levels Landscape Recovery (ELMS)

Stretching across the Brue River catchment, connecting the hills to the floodplain and expanding and buffering existing nature reserves this project focuses on helping communities and landowners understand and engage with tackling the ecological and climate emergencies through Nature-based Solutions.

Jack Bedford (Climate Adaptation Officer) continues to support communities in other areas of Somerset that are particularly at risk of the impacts of climate change. Find our Community Adaptation Toolkit online.

Somerset Wildlife | Autumn/Winter 2023

Megan at Dainty Bakes donated £1 from the sale of her delicious brownies.

Community Fundraising

Kate Wilson supports our Wilder Fundraisers across the county to raise vital funds to help protect and restore Somerset's wildlife and wild places. Our Wilder Fundraisers are doing all sorts of things from looking after collection tins or marshalling car parks, to bake sales and sponsored challenges, to sharing wildlife gardening tips with friends and family through our Wilder Open Gardens. Find out more about Wilder Fundraising on page xxx.

Churches, Gardens, Allotments, wildlife recording and everything in between!

(Various funders) Bryony Slaymaker (Wilder Communities Manager) and Pippa Rayner (Wilder Projects Coordinator) work across Somerset to develop resources, training, events and toolkits to help you get started.

This includes the popular Wilder Churches network and our Wilder Matters series of events, as well as supporting communities directly with specific requests.

Dan Mackley (Volunteering and Citizen Science Officer) has joined the SERC team to both work with the experienced Specialist Groups and to support people new to citizen science to discover the joys of recording wildlife.

We’ve got a lot to keep us busy, but we will always do our best to help if you need advice with setting up a new environment group, developing a management plan for a community nature space or establishing a community mapping project.  Find out more: somersetwildlife. org/get-involved/team-wilder  Get in touch: teamwilder@ somersetwildlife.org  Find training and events: www.somersetwildlife.org/events

STARFISH: MATT SLATER

Since the launch of our strategy in 2021 we have been developing new projects to provide support for communities across Somerset to contribute to recording and restoring the Nature Recovery Network. Meet the team and get involved!

TEAM WILDER

Thank you!

127

JOIN IN

2648

An amazing records (observations) have been recorded in iNaturalist since the Great Somerset Wildlife Count started in January 2022...Wow!

95

255 250 intertidal species recorded as part of Shoresearch since 2016

Parish Councils have received a copy of the Adaptation Toolkit

Over people received a “This is a Wildlife Garden” plaque last year, and we now revamped the scheme recognise smaller spaces, courtyards, balconies, and allotments.

PAUL HARRIS/2020VISION

observations for this year's Frog and Toad Spawn Count!

3 ways to take action in your area

1

Recording and mapping Encourage your parish to record the wildlife they see every day. We can support you to set up your own “project” on iNaturalist so that you can quickly and easily see what other people in your community have spotted.

Why not consider holding a BioBlitz or nature walk to get everyone started and learn together? You don’t need to be experts to do this and often you’ll find that there’s already someone in your community with knowledge to share.

2

obtained a Somerset Wildlife Trust garden award AND your community has taken part in at least one communityled initiative to support wildlife then you can apply for an award. We can also provide you with flyers and support to encourage more members of your community get involved!

3

Creating corridors and service stations for wildlife Gardens can form important stepping stones for nature with the wider Nature Recovery Network. We recognise this with our Wildlife Garden Award which you can apply for online: somersetwildlife.org/garden Gardens can have even more impact if your neighbours are joining in as well and connecting up wildlife friendly spaces to form corridors through urban and residential areas. To recognise this we’ve launched a new Community Award!

If 25% of households (this can include schools, businesses and churches) within your village or street have

Inspire others It’s not just about doing something great for nature, it’s also important to pass it on and inspire others!  Add your community project to the Action Map: www. somersetwildlife.org/get-involved/ team-wilder/team-wilder-map  Invite your friends, family and neighbours to your Wilder Open Garden to inspire others to improve their own outdoor spaces for wildlife: www.somersetwildlife. org/wilder-open-gardens  Join the Facebook group and share what you’ve been up to: www.facebook. com/groups/teamwildersomerset  Let us know about your project and feature in our next e-newsletter: teamwilder@somersetwildlife.org Come along to Wilder 2023 on the 14th October and meet like-minded people!

Somerset Wildlife | Autumn/Winter 2023

41

TEAM WILDER

Wilder 2023 – together for nature Saturday 14th October 2023, 11am3pm. The Canalside Bridgwater.

Whether you are passionate about nature-based solutions, keen on wildlife recording or want to create more space for nature in your garden, park, or churchyard - come and join in!

It doesn’t matter if you’re just getting started or you’ve been volunteering for years, everyone is welcome to this day of celebration and sharing for individuals and communities in Somerset who want to create a wilder future together.

PLANTING

Actaea (Actaea simplex Atropurpurea) for vertical highlights against the honey stone.

Dogwood ‘Midwinter Fire’ (CornusMidwinter-Fire) for its winter stems.

Indian rhubarb (Darmera peltata)

Autumn fern (Dryopteris erythrosora)

Hemp-agrimony (Eupatorium cannabinum)

Siberian Iris (Iris sibirica)

As this magazine goes to press, we are finalising the details for this event and DON’T want you to miss out!! So please do be quick and book your tickets ASAP. See you there! www.somersetwildlife.org/events Avens ‘Cooky’ (Geum coccineum)

Soft rush (Juncus effusus)

Chestnut-leaved rodgersia (Rodgersia aesculifolia)

Kaffir Lily (Schizostylis pink)

Leopard plant (Ligularia dentata ‘Desdemona’)

Grey sedge (Carex divulsa) for edges of trafficked areas.

Przewalski’s golden ray (Ligularia przewalskii)

In and around the paving low growing plants could be used such as Mind-yourown-business (Soleirolis soleirolii).

Moor grasses (Molinia dauerstrahl)

Royal fern (Osmunda regalis)

Wild strawberry (Fragaria vesca)

ROSS HODDINOTT/2020VISION

MUST DO EVENT

Chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla)

CURRENT SITUATION

INSPIRING INDIVIDUALS AND COMMUNITIES

Elizabeth, West Somerset Wildways Wilder Champion Elizabeth launched the Wildways project in Minehead's Blenheim Gardens on 8th April, with around 300 people attending during the course of the day to discover more about the wildlife all around them. Wildways focuses on increasing species observations on iNaturalist in West Somerset, with Elizabeth offering free sessions to local groups to get them started.

Elizabeth’s infectious enthusiasm and patient approach has already inspired lots more people to take part in Citizen Science, contributing to our understanding of wildlife in West Somerset. Over 100 new observers have contributed to the Wildways project in its first three months, increasing by an average of one per day to bring the number up to nearly 1,000 so far. And iNaturalist records for West Somerset have risen by more than 4,000 to over 20,000 in total.

Elizabeth says: “I think it’s getting people hooked that matters. Whether I’m doing wildlife talks or bug hunts or informal iNat training sessions, a key aim is to get people observing and recording - but unless they’re captivated by what they see and learn, we won’t get anywhere!”  Get in touch: wswildways@ somersetwildlife.org.

42

Somerset Wildlife | Autumn/Winter 2023

Way to go Wedmore!

A forward-thinking coalition of parish council, village hall committee and Green Wedmore group are taking the matter of increased flood risk in their community into their own hands.

To adapt, designs for Sustainable Drainage Systems, aka SuDS, around the Village Hall have been drawn up. These include replacing a tarmac car park with permeable paving, creating rain gardens and a pond in a nearby field to help excess water soak away after heavy downpours.

These could help the community to reduce flood risk, support wildlife and create a greener, more attractive street, without losing any parking spaces!

Read more about adaptation solutions in our adaptation feature on p. 30

BLENHEIM GARDENS: NEIL OWEN, GRASHOPPER: DAWN MONROSE

We are the 1 in 4!

PERM

Permea areas.

A numb reinforc Grassgu

There a more lik

The mo paving large ga infiltrat

For area paving joints b filled w

TEAM WILDER

Volunteering

SPOTLIGHT ON

ANNA GUTHRIE

Fred Giles, Butterfly monitoring team

TAKING ACTION

How you can get involved Short on time?

Record the wildlife you see dayto-day and help us to understand the changes taking place in our county. It’s simple to get started with iNaturalist: www.somersetwildlife. org/get-involved/citizen-science

Learn new skills…

Join a Shoresearch or Sea Watch survey event and learn new skills alongside experience volunteers along our amazing coastline. All dates listed here: www.somersetwildlife.org/events Big impact!

Become a Wilder Champion and use your skills and interests to lead change for nature. We’re looking for public speakers, events organisers, land advisors, wildlife recorders and enthusiastic leaders. Get in touch to find out more: teamwilder@somersetwildlife.org

Fred Giles is a leading member of the Recorders of the Avalon Marshes (RoAM) and over the last two summers has been working tirelessly to recruit and train a team of butterfly recorders.

Surveys take place between April to September with volunteers surveying their transect every 4 to 6 weeks, these take about 2 hours each time. It’s a wonderful opportunity to enjoy the peace and beauty of the Avalon Marshes Reserves.

Butterflies are one of the indicator species, telling us important information about the health of their immediate habitat and trends in the wider environment. RoAM also record other indicator species including Dragonflies, Grasshoppers, Beetles as well as significant plants and fungi with surveys being conducted throughout the year. If you are interested in taking part with butterfly recording or any other surveys, please get in touch with Fred: butterflysurvey@outlook.com

AWARDS

Nominate someone for a Volunteering Award 2023!

Somerset. Nominees need to be registered volunteers, or part of an associated group, of Somerset Wildlife Trust or Somerset Environmental Records Centre, see website for full details. Nomination must be submitted by October 30th. For full details and to submit a nomination please go to: www.somersetwildlife.org/getinvolved/volunteering/volunteer-awards Somerset Wildlife | Autumn/Winter 2023

ROSS HODDINOTT/2020VISION

Somerset Wildlife Trust Volunteering Awards will be announced at this year’s AGM. Awards can be made to individuals or groups who have made an outstanding contribution to nature recovery in Somerset.

The nominations should reflect how the nominees have contributed to one or more of our aims to create a Wilder

43

SLUG

GO WILD

Top wildlife spot!

AKWILDLIFEIMAGES.COM

Wild wordsearch

We bet this is the first wordsearch you’ve ever seen based around climate adaptation! Get stuck in!

R

A

W

N

N

O

I

T

A

G

I

T

I

M

M

R

E

R

I

T

L

S

D

C

O

M

M

U

N

I

C

A

T

I

O

N

S

E

E

A

H

E

A

T

W

A

V

E

O

E

O

E

E

A

E

G

N

O

I

T

A

T

P

A

D

A

G

N

N

G

G

T

A

I

T

O

C

L

H

E

A

T

P

U

M

P

E

A

R

I

L

A

C

W

R

V

E

M

A

T

P

F

U

E

U

R

E

O

E

E

L

I

E

R

R

P

A

A

R

E

E

T

R

E

E

S

V

C

I

L

D

A

T

E

A

I

F

L

O

O

D

I

N

G

E

O

M

D

R

I

U

R

N

L

I

T

E

E

V

A

H

U

L

M

A

F

D

D

D

A

D

R

I

G

M

A

G

E

O

N

R

M

T

I

R

H

A

T

T

T

L

S

I

A

T

M

U

M

I

U

E

R

T

H

G

U

O

R

D

U

D

G

E

N

S

B

S

N

O

E

L

T

G

R

E

E

N

W

A

L

L

S

E

E

E

I

U

P

A

P

R

E

P

A

R

A

T

I

O

N

G

A

E

T

N

V

E

C

N

E

I

L

I

S

E

R

I

O

A

V

E

Y

N

O

E

M

I

S

S

I

O

N

S

E

S

A

S

E

N

N

R

A

I

N

G

A

R

D

E

N

A

S

N

E

E

R

S

G

S

V

A

I

I

A

O

F

I

T

A

M

T

I

S

S

Wild events

Earlier this year, four lapwing chicks fledged from a nest at our Catcott Nature Reserve! Here is a fantastic photo of two of these four chicks just after they fledged, taken by Andrew Kirby — thanks for sharing it with us, Andrew!

CLIMATE ADAPTATION MITIGATION HEATWAVE TEMPERATURE DROUGHT FLOODING WILDFIRE SEA LEVEL RISE EMISSIONS GREENHOUSE

Visit somersetwildlife.org/events for other events and how to book.

JOHN MACPHERSON/2020VISION

 SYNCHRONISED SEA WATCH SURVEYS Where: Various Coastal Locations When: Friday 3rd November, 9am – 11am & Sunday 5th November, 10am – 12pm Our Autumn Synchronised Sea Watch surveys will be taking place at the start of November! Join us as we look out for porpoises, dolphins, and other marine species at a coastal location near you (from Porlock to Portishead!). No previous knowledge or training is required, so why not get involved?

FUNGI FORAY  Where: Langford Heathfield Nature Reserve When: Sunday 19th November, 10.30am 12.30pm Join us at our Langford 44

Somerset Wildlife | Autumn/Winter 2023

Heathfield Reserve for a fungi foray! We’ll be joined

by Steve Parker, who will help you learn how to identify and record the different species of fungi you’ll come across during your visit.

GASES RESILIENCE PREPARATION COMMUNICATION COMMUNITY TREES BEAVERS RAIN GARDEN GREEN WALLS HEAT PUMP

GO WILD

Contacts Area Groups AMY LEWIS

A reminder that since February 2023, events and activities have been coordinated together as one volunteer team, and local volunteers have been organising events and activities in their local areas. We’d like to say a huge thank you to all volunteers involved for their work and continued support over many years.

WILD RECIPE:

Specialist Groups

Blackberry & Apple Crumble There’s nothing quite like a fruit crumble — but wait until you’ve tried a crumble made from ingredients you’ve foraged yourself!

• 60g oats • 175g wholemeal flour • 110g unsalted butter • 110g demerara sugar • 1tsp nutmeg

Bats somersetbat.group Facebook: facebook.com/groups/ somersetbat somersetbatgroup@gmail.com

Ornithology somersetbirding.org.uk Rob Grimmond motcombe@btinternet.com Botany somerc.com/specialist-groups/ somerset-botany-group Chris Billinghurst 01761 221579 or email Val Graham at somersetbotanygroup@gmail.com

Butterflies somerset-butterflies.org.uk Ross Harley, recorder@somersetbutterflies.org.uk

1 2

Forage (or purchase) your blackberries and apples, and secure all your other ingredients!

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas 6 Add the apples to a saucepan with a tablespoon of water and cook until soft. Then stir in the blackberries and light brown sugar and place in an oven-proof dish.

Geology wp.somerc.co.uk/specialistgroups/somerset-geology-group Garry Dawson somersetgeology@gmail.com Tel: 01823 282305

3

Rub together flour and butter until it looks like breadcrumbs, then stir in the oats, nutmeg, and demerara sugar.

Otters somersetottergroup.org.uk Dr Rob Williams Tel: 01823 762877 somersetotters@gmail.com

4

Place crumble on top of the blackberries and apple, place the dish in the oven, and bake for approximately 30 minutes!

Rare Plants somersetrareplantsgroup.org.uk Steve Parker, Tel: 07450 691712 stephenjparker1710@gmail.com Hedges somerset-hedgegroup.org.uk Heather Harley, hjharley@exmoornationalpark.gov.uk North Somerset Fungus Group northsomersetandbristol fungusgroup.co.uk Phil Gascoigne nsbfg6@hotmail.com Tel: 07984 113330

 WILDER MATTERS: NATURE-FRIENDLY FARMING Where: Online When: Tuesday 28th November, 7pm – 8.30pm “Wilder Matters” is a new series of online events which run throughout the year to help you get to the heart of some of the biggest environmental topics and their relevance to Somerset. Our next event will be all about nature-friendly farming — we’ll be hearing from expert speakers and there will also be a chance for you to ask any burning questions, so make sure you book your place!

Somerset Environmental Records Centre (SERC) somerc.com Tel: 01823 664450 info@somerc.com Gardening for Wildlife somersetwildlife.org/get-involved/ at-home/wildlife-gardening Penny Richards, Tel: 01984 624788 pennywildlifeways@gmail.com Reptiles & Amphibians somersetarg.org.uk John Dickson, Tel: 01749 672928 jdickson61@aol.com

EMILY WEATHERBURN

TERRY WHITTAKER/2020VISION

Moths somersetmothgroup.org.uk/ portal Rob Grimmond motcombe@btinternet.com

Private Community Nature Reserves somersetwildlife.org/pcnr Valerie Godsmark johngodsmark123@btinternet.com We’re asking PCNR Network members to answer a short questionnaire and opt-in to future mailings. Please complete this survey as soon as you can: www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/ LJ286DX

Other Contacts Secret World Wildlife Rescue secretworld.org Tel: 01278 783250 RSPCA rspca.org.uk Tel: 0300 1234999 Avon and Somerset Constabulary – Wildlife Crimes Unit avonandsomerset.police.uk/ advice/animals/wildlife-crime First Ecology (The Trust’s ecological consultancy) firstecology.co.uk Helen Ward, Tel: 01823 652425 enquiries@firstecology.co.uk

OTTER: ANDY ROUSE / 2020VISION BEE ORCHID: ALAN PRICE

INGREDIENTS • 300g blackberries, stalks removed • 450g apples, peeled and cored • 50g light brown sugar

Badgers somersetbadgers.org.uk Vanessa Mason, Tel: 07850 604585 (24/7) info@somersetbadgers.org.uk

Mammals Thomas Mansfield somersetmammals@yahoo.com

THE LAST WORD

Charlotte Wiles is the Media Officer for Somerset Mammal Group. Her job involves running the group’s social media and making sure our website is up to date! Which means looking at lots of cute photos of mammals for her.

For those not in the know - can you sum up the mission of Somerset Mammal Group in a nutshell?

The SMG’s main aim is to encourage people to get involved in looking out for and recording mammals to help us understand how best to protect them. It’s great to connect people with similar interests in mammals.

What’s the thing you most love about working with your team?

I love that everyone has a different background and brings different skills to the group. Two of the SMG team ran a series of harvest mouse surveys this year and last, which were an experience completely new to me!

What does a typical week in the life of a Mammal group staff member look like?

Probably a lot of emails, trying to connect with local people and landowners to organise surveys and events.

What’s the biggest misconception people have about British Mammals?

That it’s just rats and foxes! We’ve got so many different species of vole and mouse, each with their own ecological niche.

In terms of historical land use, what do you think have driven the biggest changes in mammal populations?

Our forests and woodland have significanty less of an understory than in the past. Many are now heavily deergrazed and don’t have that lovely bramble layer that dormice in particular need.

46

“Beavers are back! I haven’t seen one myself yet but they’re becoming a common sight for the group and it looks like the public are fully embracing their return to our waterways. ” Which species do you think has come off the worst in your view?

Dormice are declining rapidly, and seem to be becoming more and more fragmented.

We’re lucky to have them in Somerset but they still seem to be on the decline.

Looking more positively have there been any recent winners and why has that been the case?

Beavers are back! I haven’t seen one myself yet but they’re becoming a common sight for the group and it looks like the public are fully embracing their return to our waterways.

What is currently the rarest mammal in this country?

The greater mouse-eared bat - there’s only one that visits the UK every year!

In terms of climate change - what is your biggest worry in terms of mammal habitats/populations?

Climate change is having a big impact on the seasonal behaviour of our plants and trees, meaning the right food may not be available at crucial times of year when mammals need to “fatten up” for winter or feed their growing young.

Somerset Wildlife | Autumn/Winter 2023

If there was one thing you could ask everyone in the county to do to help our mammals, what would it be?

Let a little bit of your garden get messy! This provides both cover for mammals and more insects for them to feed on, and it’s so easy If you could reintroduce one of Somerset’s lost mammals, what would it be?

I’d love to see pine marten back in our woodlands. They are fabulous creatures.

What was your best childhood mammal experience?

Seeing red squirrels for the first time in France. It was sad we had to travel to see them but I was so excited.

What is your favourite mammal and why?

My favourite small mammal (if you can have favourites) has to be the dormouse because it’s so exciting to find one when you’re out on a survey!

What is the mammal you have met in the most unexpected place?

I’m always surprised by hedgehogs when I’m on a bat survey. They make so much noise for such a small animal and make me think someone’s creeping up on me.

Somerset cheese or Somerset cider?

You can’t go wrong with Somerset cider.

How can people get involved in the work that you do?

Become a member, follow our socials, and get into citizen science and recording!

Do you remember a Wilder Somerset?

A landscape filled with woodlands, wetlands, grasslands and meadows.

Somerset Wildlife Trust has been protecting and restoring these wild places and the wildlife that depends on them since 1964.

Our work is even more important today as the Somerset Levels are one of the largest remaining wetlands in England.

If now is the time to write your Will, please consider leaving a gift to Somerset’s nature, and help us restore the wild places you remember.

PHOTO: ROSS HODDINOTT

You can ensure the next generation experience and enjoy a Wilder Somerset.

How to get started Visit www.somersetwildlife.org/legacy Email legacies@somersetwildlife.org Phone Lucy Marsh on 01823 652441 Registered charity number 238372

Somerset Wildlife | Autumn/Winter 2023

47

Wilder

A CHRISTMAS

Donations in lieu of gifts and cards to protect wildlife this Christmas.

Would you like your Christmas to have a lasting positive impact on Somerset’s Wildlife? Want an easy answer when friends and family ask “What would you like for Christmas this year?

Asking for donations to Somerset Wildlife Trust in your name, instead of receiving gifts and cards that you may not even need, will make a huge difference to nature’s recovery in Somerset.

Set up your festive fundraising page today To collect donations in your name this Christmas visit somersetwildlife.org/Christmas

Digital Christmas cards Instead of buying cards and paying for postage, use our beautiful, wildlife themed digital Christmas cards and donate to Somerset Wildlife Trust. You’ll save paper too! dontsendmeacard.com/ charities/PGCh

SOMERSETWILDLIFE.ORG/SHOP

FREE P&P

L A R G E C H R I S T M A S C A R D S (1 0) Five designs, two of each £5.49, 120mm x 120mm (+£1.10 p&p)

BACKGROUND: KJPARGETER/FREEPIK

with orders over £40

WILDLIFE CALENDAR 2024 £10.99 (+£2.25 p&p)

…and check out our brand new stocking fillers this year!

S M A L L C H R I S T M A S C A R D S (1 0) Five designs, two of each £4.49, 153mm x 153mm (+£1.10 p&p)