Suffolk Wildlife magazine Winter 2019

Suffolk

Wildlife News from Suffolk Wildlife Trust

WINTER 2019

RETURN TO A HEALTHY HEATH

The past & future of Knettishall Heath

DORMICE PIONEERS The pioneering way of locating dormice in Suffolk

CELEBRATING IPSWICH HEDGEHOGS The UK's most hedgehog friendly town

SUFFOLK WILDLIFE

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Living Landscapes Living Gardens Living Seas

WINTER 2019

CONTENTS

9

TIM FELCE

CARLOLINE TILLETT

4

JOHN FERGUSON

KLEIN & HUBERT NATUREPL.COM

16

CONSERVATION NEWS

28 The great otter comeback

LIVING LANDSCAPES

4

Concern for Suffolk's hares

6

Following reports of mysterious deaths across East Anglia, Suffolk Wildlife Trust has been working to identify the cause.

Reserves round-up

PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION

All the latest news from the Trust's reserves.

SPECIES SPOTLIGHT

14 Dormouse pioneers

To protect our rarest wildlife, first we need to know where it is.

Alison Looser explains the implications of the pioneering new way of locating dormice in Suffolk.

20 Celebrating Ipswich hedgehogs

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Ali North looks back on two years that could shape the fate of the nation’s favourite mammal.

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Forty years ago, pollution and habitat destruction had almost wiped out otters in England. Author, Miriam Darlington considers one of the great conservation success stories.

Every picture tells a story Michael Strand finds out how the winners of the Trust's 2018 Photography Competition got their stunning shots.

WILDLIFE & PEOPLE

30 A passion for land

What does it take to

be a wildlife-friendly

farmer? Author

Simon Barnes finds

out from Guy Tucker.

20 16 Return to a healthy heath

Following a six-year funded project to restore one of the UK’s rarest habitats, Charlie McMurray looks at the past and the future of Knettishall Heath.

Collective action is vital to secure legislation to protect our natural world. Ali North explains how you can help Suffolk Wildlife Trust to safeguard the natural world.

24 Campaign for a wilder future

UK NEWS

26 Support to protect our sea life

Huge response to six-week public consultation on designating more Marine Conservation Zones.

DIRECTORY

32 Advertising directory JOHN FERGUSON

JOHN FERGUSON

Welcome

Suffolk

Wildlife News from Suffolk Wildlife Trust

WINTER 2019

At the time of writing politicians are promoting wildly diverging visions for the UK’s future. But while the country is divided by Brexit, the value of European environmental laws that safeguard air and water quality, along with internationally important habitats and species, are broadly accepted.

The last major piece of UK conservation legislation was nearly 40 years ago - the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. Prior to this, even the most important wildlife sites – Sites of Special Scientific Julian Roughton Interest (SSSIs) – were essentially unprotected.

Chief Executive Forestry, farming and development were destroying SSSIs at an alarming rate as the government’s nature agency – Nature Conservancy Council – had insufficient funds to negotiate compensation agreements. Without compensation, SSSIs had no protection and so ancient woods, meadows, heaths and marshes were lost under the plough.

A generation later, there is an opportunity for a new Environment Act. Nature reserves and SSSIs - core areas for wildlife – have fulfilled their role brilliantly in safeguarding rare species and special places. But this is not enough. Nature in towns, villages and countryside is under more intensive pressure and formerly commonplace, everyday species are declining the most – hedgehog, toad, skylark, yellowhammer, amongst many others.

The loss impoverishes not just our own lives but those of future generations. The Oxford Junior Dictionary has removed many words that describe the natural world as, for many children, they are no longer relevant.

We must reverse this growing isolation from nature and make nature part of people’s everyday lives.

There is an energy for change. In Ipswich, public and private bodies, allotment holders and householders are coming together to make the town a better place for hedgehogs and all wildlife. We want to extend this approach to work with planners, farmers and landowners to ensure connectivity for nature throughout Suffolk. The creation of a Nature Recovery Network will link up core areas for wildlife via a network of sympathetically managed land - grass margins, flower-rich headlands, rambling hedges, woods and wetlands.

Forty years ago, the public’s voice strengthened laws for nature. Now your support is needed for an ambitious Environment Act that makes nature’s recovery possible. Ali North sets out our campaign on page 24 and how you can get involved. Help us make the most of this ‘once in a generation’ opportunity.

On the cover

RETURN TO A HEALTHY HEATH

The past & future of Knettishall Heath

DORMICE PIONEERS The pioneering new way of locating dormice in Suffolk

CELEBRATING IPSWICH HEDGEHOGS The UK's most hedgehog friendly town

SUFFOLK WILDLIFE

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Living Landscapes Living Gardens Living Seas

Herring gull by Gideon Knight Photo competition 2018 Young photographer 12-18yrs entry.

SUFFOLK WILDLIFE SUFFOLK WILDLIFE MAGAZINE is published by Suffolk Wildlife Trust, Brooke House, Ashbocking IP6 9JY 01473 890089 info@suffolkwildlifetrust.org suffolkwildlifetrust.org EDITOR Matt Gaw DESIGN Clare Sheehan ADVERTISING Today Magazines, Framlingham 01728 622030 PRINTING Lavenham Press

Registered charity no 262777

Suffolk Wildlife Trust is a registered charity no 262777 and a company limited by guarantee no 695346 PATRON Lord Tollemache PRESIDENT William Kendall VICE PRESIDENTS David Barker MBE, Sir Kenneth Carlisle, Lord Deben, Dawn Girling, Peter Wilson TRUSTEES Nigel Farthing (Chairman), James Alexander (Treasurer), Philip Newton (Hon Secretary), David Alborough, John Cousins, Rachel Eburne, Pip Goodwin, Peter Holborn, Stephanie Jones, Simon Roberts, Anna Saltmarsh.

KEEP IN TOUCH

Suffolk Wildlife Trust benefits from the most incredible support, with many members’ commitment stretching over decades.

Please tell our Membership Manager, Sam Grange, if your circumstances change, so we can keep your membership record up-to-date, for example if your family has grown out of the children’s magazine.

If you would like to change how we contact you, or would rather receive your magazine in a digital format please let us know.

Sam Grange our Membership Manager is happy to help with any questions about your membership.

01473 890089 Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram SUFFOLK WILDLIFE TRUST is one of a national network of Wildlife Trusts dedicated to safeguarding the future of wildlife for the benefit of all.

SUFFOLK WILDLIFE

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CONSERVATION NEWS

Photography competition entry

by David Davis.

SPECIES SPOTLIGHT

CONCERN FOR SUFFOLK’S HARES

F

ollowing reports of mysterious deaths of hares across East Anglia, Suffolk Wildlife Trust has been working closely with researchers at the University of East Anglia (UEA) to try and identify the cause.

As part of this, the Trust launched a public appeal in October, asking for anyone who saw an obviously sick or dead hare to record its location, photograph the entire animal – 4

SUFFOLK WILDLIFE

especially around the head and bottom – and send the information to Dr Diana Bell at UEA. At the time of writing and as a result of the Trust's appeal, some hare carcasses have been recovered and are undergoing laboratory tests.

Reports of sick and dying hares is particularly worrying in that East Anglia is a stronghold for the species, which have experienced a national decline

of more than 80% in the past year – including during breeding 100 years and are almost season. Illegal hare coursing is entirely absent from the south also still prevalent. west of the country. One of the While there has been fears issues facing the species is an that conditions such as intensification of agriculture, myxomatosis could have which has limited their supply of crossed over to hares, there has, food and habitat. thankfully so far, There is also been no evidence CAN YOU HELP? no closed season of this. It is Send all sightings and for hares, which possible that other photographs of sick means that they illnesses could be or dead hares to can be shot legally impacting on d.bell@uea.ac.uk at any time of the hares. A strain of

DAVID KJAER

PEOPLE & WILDLIFE

NEW HEAD OF CONSERVATION We’re delighted to introduce Ben McFarland as the Trust’s new Head of Conservation.

Here he outlines his motivations and vision for a healthier, wilder Suffolk.

Two summers ago, I took my son out beyond the back of my garden. We were searching for a rare prize, a treasure that had been whispered about. We heard it first, a gentle bucolic ‘purring’, a sound of summer, carefree and full of warmth. A turtle dove.

Minutes later, in the distance, travelling on the wind, we heard a cuckoo. The pure, simple delight on my son’s face is something I’ll remember for a long time.

Sadly, the purring of the turtle dove is now also a memory. It never showed up this year and it is quite possible my son will never hear another turtle dove again in his life.

haemorrhagic disease, known as RHD2, which in recent years has impacted heavily on populations of rabbits in East Anglia, can also infect hares.

Other conditions, such as coccidiosis, can also prove fatal in the species.

For this reason, Suffolk Wildlife Trust is continuing to appeal to members to look out for sick and dead hares this spring and to send all sightings and photographs to Diana Bell.

able to make a real difference.

We have some truly wonderful reserves in Suffolk, such as Bradfield Woods, Lackford Lakes and our new HLF-funded project at Carlton Marshes near Lowestoft, but if we are going to turnaround the decline of wildlife then we need to work with others and look beyond our reserves.

There’s an old African proverb, ‘If you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together’. This piece of wisdom really does encapsulate what I think we, not just at Suffolk Wildlife Trust but all of us, need to do to save our wildlife. People must be part of the solution and our lives will be better for having a more nature-rich environment to live in. Having seen my son’s pure joy that day I think he knows this and, perhaps, deep down, we all do.

CARVED IN STONE

BOB BUSHELL

East Anglia is a stronghold for hares and reports of illness and fatalities in any number is obviously a concern.

Suffolk’s wildlife is no different to wildlife across the UK; it is declining. The causes are complex but ultimately, they can be boiled down to one single factor: us.

Accepting this truth, that it is our collective responsibility is imperative; it is the first step towards real change. Of course, why our wildlife is declining is a result of a myriad of reasons: urbanisation, road building, intensification of agriculture, the plastic pollution problem to name a few, but accepting responsibility for this is important because only by working together can we hope to solve these complex problems.

As a career wildlife conservationist, I am very lucky to do a job I truly believe in and as Head of Conservation at the Trust, I’m in a privileged position to be

FIND OUT MORE Please visit our website letteringartstrust.org.uk

Last year, Suffolk Wildlife Trust launched a successful campaign to get copies of The Lost Words: A Spell Book,

by Robert MacFarlane and Jackie Morris, into every primary school in the county.

Now, as the Trust delivers the last of these beautiful books, we are delighted to give our support to an exhibition based on The Lost Words.

The Lost Words – Carved in Stone, which is taking place at the Lettering Arts Centre at Snape Maltings

from March 15 to May 26, features new work by some of the UK’s leading lettering artists.

Curated by the Lettering Arts Trust, each artist taking part will choose a “lost word” to carve into stone.

Suffolk Wildlife Trust, whose Snape Marshes reserve is within sight of the gallery, will be working with the Lettering Arts Trust to inform visitors where in Suffolk they might actually be able to see wildlife featured in the book and exhibition.

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CONSERVATION NEWS MARSH HARRIER

DARTFORD WARBLER

BREEDING AT TRIMLEY

WARBLERS DART BACK

Following a successful breeding season for lapwing (17 fledglings from 24 pairs), avocet (eight fledgling from four pairs) and marsh harrier (pictured) (two fledglings from two pairs), Trimley Marshes is now ready for winter.

As the temperature falls the reserve has begun to fill with waders and waterfowl. Plan your visit around high tide on the River Orwell to see more birds than you can count.

WADE INTO WINTER

Hazlewood Marshes is one of the best places to experience a wild winter, with waders and waterfowl gathering in spectacular numbers to squeeze onto the reserve from the estuary with half tide. The site is also increasing in importance for breeding, with four fledged avocet and a number of oystercatcher and redshank nests during 2018.

RSPB IMAGES

OYSTERCATCHER

ALAMY STOCK PHOTOS

MARTIN BRASSON

Good news from Blaxhall Common this year as the landowner, Blaxhall Parish Council, has entered into a new Countryside Stewardship Agreement. This has secured funding for the Trust to continue maintaining the Common on their behalf for the next five years.

This winter restoration of the heath will continue, with a small number of mature trees being removed to maintain conditions that has seen the return of Dartford warblers and a growing population of silverstudded blue butterflies.

RESERVES ROUND-UP KINGFISHER

Water is the lifeblood of many of the Trust’s reserves and it’s no different on Knettishall Heath.

In the past months further work has been carried out on the Little Ouse river that forms the reserve’s northern boundary, creating better conditions for invertebrates, fish and those that feed on them. Kingfishers are already making the most of a river that is as bright as their plumes.

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JON HAWKINGS SURREY HILLS PHOTOGRAPHY

BIG FLOW ON THE LITTLE OUSE

KONIK PONIES

SHORT EARED OWL

PATTER OF TINY HOOVES

ALL EYES ON THE SHORTEARED

PATRICK ENDRES ALAMY STOCK PHOTOS

It’s not just birds that have been breeding on the Trust’s reserves. This year, following the natural shrinkage of the konik herd that helps maintain the species-rich diversity of the open fen at Redgrave & Lopham Fen, the decision was made to place a stallion with three of the younger mares. In late summer a beautiful filly foal was born on the reserve. The konik can be very protective, so anyone visiting the reserve is asked not to approach or feed the ponies – however tempting and beautiful they may seem!

ANDREW SHEPHERD

After a great year for breeding with 15 avocet fledging (a first for Carlton Marshes) as well as good numbers of lapwing and redshank, the winter specialists are now putting on a good show.

The first short-eared owls were seen in September and visitors stand a good chance of seeing these beautiful birds hunting in the day throughout the rest of winter.

SPOTTED CRAKE

SPOTTED CRAKE SPOTTED!

DORMICE

ALAMY STOCK PHOTOS

MATT GAW

BRADFIELD BROADCAST

The long, hot summer may have caused the water levels at some of Lackford Lakes' shallow pools to dry up but that wasn’t bad news for all wildlife. A rare spotted crake made the most of the exposed edges and was seen regularly for around two months.

Dragonfly and damselfly also did well, with 17 species recorded on site, including willow emerald damselfly. The path to the new land, Sayer’s Breck, is now open and along with views of winter migrants (and hopefully murmurating starlings) is a must for any winter visitor.

Suffolk Wildlife Trust’s National Nature Reserve at Bradfield Woods hosted BBC’s Countryfile in November 2018, with the episode screened later that month.

The team, including presenter Margherita Taylor, spent time learning about the Trust’s pioneering techniques for surveying for rare hazel dormice (see page 14 for more on this).

The episode is available to view on BBC’S iPlayer.

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CONSERVATION NEWS

Street artist ATM has created the first of a series of wildlife murals celebrating the transformation of Carlton Marshes. This magnificent marsh harrier, an icon of the Broads, now soars high over Oulton Broad welcoming visitors to Lowestoft.

ATM, a passionate wildlife advocate and naturalist, has

created beautiful natureinspired street art across the world and his murals can be seen in New York, Madrid, Bristol and London. His giant paintings often highlight important environmental issues and he said he was pleased to bring species from Carlton Marshes into the town, strengthening the link between

CAUGHT IN THE ACT

The marsh harrier can be seen on the side of Smith Brothers Timber, 2-4 Victoria Rd in Oulton Broad.

the nature reserve and Lowestoft’s 70,000 residents.

ATM first visited Suffolk in 2016 when he painted a hedgehog mural in Ipswich in recognition of the town as a hedgehog-hotspot. The mural in Lowestoft has been received just as warmly and one fan even offered the wall of his own house for the next mural!

ATM will paint his second mural in Lowestoft in the spring, so look out for news of what and where this will be in the coming weeks.

KICKSTART YOUR CAREER IN WILD LEARNING Applications for internships at Suffolk Wildlife Trust are now open! The six-month posts are designed to give people a real taste of working in the environmental education sector and offers a chance to develop and improve skills, gain vital experience and accredited qualifications.

This year our interns were based at Carlton Marshes in

Lowestoft, and in the parks in Ipswich, but also found themselves doing outreach work on the coast, helping at the Suffolk Show and supporting learning at our other Suffolk centres.

The posts, suitable for graduates or those looking to change career, have led to jobs with the Trust or with other conservation organisations.

PICTURES FROM OUR RESERVES

Thank you We are grateful to the families of the following friends of the Trust who have recently remembered us in their Will or through an In memoriam donation.

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Ray Watson made waves across the world after his patience was rewarded with the extraordinary sight of a grey heron eating a pike, who in turn was eating a perch.

Jean Andrews Tony Beach Rosemary Cutting Keith Driver Sheila Follett Joyce Honeywell Christopher Keeble Georgiana Kent Lisa Linsdell

SUFFOLK WILDLIFE

Angela Mace Jean Merry Dick Nettleingham George Donald Osborne Jean Pattle Terry Rampling Ian Roberts Donald Westbury

JOHN FERGUSON

It’s rare for the food chain to be captured in a single photograph, but this fantastic shot taken at Suffolk Wildlife Trust’s Lackford Lakes reserves comes pretty close.

FIND OUT MORE To find out more, or apply, please visit suffolkwildlifetrust.org

LOWESTOFT JOURNAL/EDP

MARSH HARRIER street art

PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION

PICTURE THIS After two decades of spell-binding pictures, Suffolk Wildlife Trust’s photography competition has become an annual highlight.

Michael Strand reflects on another year of high-quality images that capture the very best of the county’s wildlife and wild places.

J

ust a glance at the entries to this year’s photography competition will tell you something: Suffolk is home to a wide range of species and landscapes, which whether frosthardened or softened by the light of the sun, are both atmospheric and beautiful.

But, more than that, it shows that those who have taken these photos care deeply for our wild and wonderful world. After all, without this patience, sensitivity and compassion, how else could the spirit of everything from a newly emerging crane-fly to the hare, paused in a spring meadow, be captured?

THE STORIES THAT PICTURES TELL

I have the privilege of looking through all entries to the annual photography competition and for me, the stories behind the images can be as fascinating as the photographs themselves.

Indeed, reading the reasons why a photo was taken, or how, often brings a smile to my face.

The quality and breadth of this year’s entries could certainly provide inspiration for a collection of short stories. Now there’s an idea…

Grasshopper

THANK YOU

Winner: Out of sight category Andy Lowe Taken on my daily dog walk. I love crawling through the undergrowth!

Photography COMPETiTiON

As ever, we would like to thank everyone who took part in the competition and also everyone who took the time to vote online. And remember, even if your photograph didn’t win a prize this time, there’s always next year.

We would also like to thank our main sponsor Avantigas for their continued support.

HOW TO ENTER Look out for the 2019 competition launch on April 6 at suffolkphotography.org

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PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION

RIGHT Gorilla art by murmurating starlings

Winner: Eastern Angles category Colin Barley

This was taken with a slow shutter speed to capture the movement of the starlings. With my camera mounted on a tripod and using a remote shutter release, I watched for the starlings to create an interesting shape.

BOTTOM MIDDLE

It's dark out there

Runner up: Unearthed category Kath Aggiss Studying the bank voles in my garden I took this picture as the vole was coming out of his burrow and then converted the image into black and white giving the impression of an after dark shot.

ABOVE Yellowhammer Winner: 12-18yrs category Andrew Mitchell

While in Scotland at my aunt's, this was on a tree near her house.

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OVER WINN ALL JUDG ER: CHO ES ICE

ABOVE "When I said could my day get any worse it was a rhetorical question not a challenge!"

Winner: Comedy category Nicholas Hurst

I spotted these red-legged partridge from the car and captured this moment leaning out of the window! So often we can draw human qualities and emotion from observing the animal kingdom.

LEFT Cranefly emerging

from its leatherjacket

Winner: Unearthered category Richard Taylor The photo was taken on the golf course at Ransomes Europark (Ipswich). It was fascinating to watch the cranefly work itself out from its leatherjacket and free itself. It was a first for me so was delighted to capture this moment.

THE JUDGES

JAMIE HALL SARAH GROVES KEVIN SAWFORD CATHY SMITH Award winning Award winning Learning Adnams wildlife wildlife Officer SWT Content photographer photographer & Zoologist Manager

STEVE HEDGES Photographer & photography tutor

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PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION

ABOVE Crisp Winner: Simply Suffolk category Justin Minns

I went out on this wonderful, frosty morning with the intention of photographing the trees along the River Stour in the heart of Constable Country but found this view from the flood meadows and didn't make it any further!

RIGHT Sights of the shore Winner: Under 12yrs category Charles Rayner

On the beach I saw a crab scrambling from the stones and I took a photo.

TOP RIGHT Young brown hare Winner: Strictly come wildlife category Kevin Pigney

While laying waiting for hares, this young fellow appeared quite close to me. As you can see by his ears and expression he had just seen me.

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ALL R E V O ER: WINNLIC PUB E VOT

PHOTOGRAPHY MENTORSHIP SCHEME As well as offering a host of photography courses for young people and adults, the Trust is delighted to announce a new mentoring scheme for those aged between 11 and 16.

Those taking part will be able to work with award

– winning photographer Kevin Sawford in creating a portfolio of images.

Photographs taken on these courses will be entered into a special new category of 2019’s photography competition.

SUN 20 JAN 10am-12.30pm Christchurch Park SAT 18 MAY 10am-12.30pm Chantry Park SUN 14 JUL 10am-12.30pm Christchurch Park SUN 27 OCT 10 12.30pm Holywells Park To take part in the mentorship and to receive a unique opportunity to receive a critique on your portfolio and a chance to be entered into an exclusive category in our

photography competition, join us across all four sessions for £35. Courses can be booked individually for £10 per child as standalone courses.

ABOVE

Hello world

Winner: On the doorstep category Steve Aldridge Taken in the garden, this little chap had a lot to say before fledging.

FIND OUT MORE For information about courses for adults and young people (including a chance for parents/carers and children to work together) visit suffolkwildlifetrust.org

SPONSORED BY:

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SPECIES SPOTLIGHT

DORMICE PIONEERS Over the past two decades the dormouse has suffered from a dramatic and widespread population decline. But, as Alison Looser explains, if we are to protect one of the UK’s most charismatic species, first we need to know where they are.

F

inding dormice is far from easy. A creature of the woodland edge and understorey, dormice are shy, nocturnal and largely arboreal: scrambling and foraging in dense cover before retreating to ground in late autumn to hibernate.

Yet, locating dormice has never been so important. Listed as a European Protected Species they are described as of “least concern” in the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List.

Analysis from the UK’s National Dormouse Monitoring Programme (NDMP) indicates they have suffered a 72% population decline over the last two decades. A recent review undertaken by The Mammal Society for Natural England describes them as “vulnerable” within their UK range.

Put simply, if we don’t know dormice are present, we cannot take action to prevent further declines, which may be due to fragmentation of populations or lowering of habitat quality.

TRACKING DOWN THE DORMOUSE Whilst sightings of dormice are extremely rare, sometimes their presence can be revealed through field signs: a delicately gnawed hazel nut with a distinctive smooth-edge hole or a glimpse through the bushes of a late summer nest. This fragile shelter is an intricate woven ball made from strips of grass or thin bark surrounded by a few leaves.

For the ecologists trying to identify the

distribution of Suffolk’s dormouse population, other methods have also been used. Artificial ‘nest tubes’ work well in hedgerows and scrub, but they can The tell-tale smooth be less successful in nibble of a dormouse woodland where compared to the there is a high, wood mouse above. shading canopy. This is because there is less incentive for dormice to venture lower to the ground where nesting and foraging opportunities may be limited and wooden nest boxes may work better in these habitats.

A creature of the woodland edge, dormice are shy, nocturnal and tree-dwelling However, in recent years there have been several studies to investigate the possibility of locating dormice by detecting their footprints. Dormice, so well adapted to life in the trees, have distinctive triangular-shaped pads on the ‘palms’ of both their front and hind feet.

The results showed quite clearly that the tracks of dormice could be distinguished from those of other small mammals which have more rounded ‘palm-pads’.

For Suffolk Wildlife Trust, the research planted a seed. Could it be that capturing footprints of dormice offered a more efficient way of surveying the species than traditional methods?

ALSION LOOSER

DID YOU KNOW? l The hazel dormouse is an ancient, native species that has been present in Britain since at least the last Ice Age more than 10,000 years ago.

One of the 50 footprint tunnels used to survey a single wood.

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Ink pad and card showing the distinctive dormouse footprints.

l Over 150 years ago, the

sleepy dormouse was familiar

In 2017, following funding from People’s Trust for Endangered Species, myself and the Trust’s Conservation Manager, Dr Simone Bullion set out to answer that question.

At 12 sites in the south of the county where dormice were known to occur, 50 footprint tunnels were installed. These were made from a short section of square drainpipe and contained a tracking plate with white card. The tracking medium was dormouse-safe charcoal powder mixed with olive oil. Between April and November 2017, we regularly visited all the tunnels, tubes and boxes to look for dormouse evidence.

SIGNIFICANT FINDINGS The results of the study have been a revelation. Footprint tunnels not only worked but were found to be the best method for detecting dormice in scrub and hedgerow habitats. In woodland, footprint tunnels were at least as effective as the other methods.

We found that the months between May and October yielded the highest numbers of footprints. Further analysis of the data showed that if 50 tunnels were monitored every two weeks for three months, this would have a greater than 95% chance of detecting dormice, even when they are at very low density.

Establishing that footprint tunnels are a viable, efficient way to detect dormice has obvious beneficial implications for helping locate and protect the species across the UK. But there are other positive outcomes too. Footprint tunnels are noninvasive and, unlike nest tubes or boxes, the chances of encountering a dormouse actually using a tunnel are very low. This means that in areas where there is likely to be high public disturbance footprint tunnels are an ideal way to look for this secretive and shy creature. In addition, because of the very low risk of impacting on dormice, the footprint tunnel method doesn’t require a survey licence, so it can be used by anyone interested in tracking them down! n

Footprint tunnels will help locate and protect dormice across the UK

enough to be included in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

l In spring, dormice eat the flowers of hawthorn, willow, honeysuckle and bramble and other woody species. In summer they eat caterpillars and

aphids before fattening up on hazelnuts, blackberries and other fruits ready for hibernation.

l They can live up to five years, which is a long time for a small rodent.

ALAMY STOCK PHOTO

FIND OUT MORE Thanks to a bursary from Suffolk Naturalists’ Society, we have 10 survey kits which include footprint tunnels, tracker cards and charcoal powder. If you are interested in taking part in 2019, please contact info@suffolkwildlifetrust.org

ALISON LOOSER is Suffolk Wildlife Trust's Ecologist and is a dormouse specialist.

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LIVING LANDSCAPES

Return to a healthy heath

JOHN FERGUSON

Following a six-year funded project to restore one of the UK’s rarest habitats, Knettishall Heath has been transformed.

Charlie McMurray explains how the Trust has turned back the clock and worked to safeguard a slice of Suffolk’s wild heritage.

The sight of the Exmoor ponies galloping across the heath, a ribbon of dun brown and black, their hooves drumming the earth is nothing short of spectacular 16 SUFFOLK WILDLIFE

T

he campaign to buy Knettishall Heath in 2012 was, at the time, the biggest in Suffolk Wildlife Trust’s history. It was an appeal to secure land but also to restore a landscape: to reinstate a piece of the Brecks that was important, for both the wildlife it supports and for the culture and history it holds within its soil.

The vision was clear. The Trust would work, with support from Natural England, Forestry Commission, Suffolk County Council and The Brecks Partnership, to make the heath feel whole again. The land, fragmented, compartmentalised and overgrown, would be reconnected and restored.

The size of the challenge the Trust faced though, is hard to overstate. The new reserve, despite its name,

was in fact more wood than heath. Nearly two-thirds of Knettishall’s 415 acres were covered by trees, most of which were pines that had grown up within the past 50 years or young birch that had sprung up as rabbit populations were hit by myxomatosis. Standing on Hut Hill in 2012, the Bronze Age barrow that marks the reserve’s highest point, was at that time to be adrift in a sea of trees. Even the view of the Little Ouse that marks Knettishall’s northern boundary and would no doubt have been significant, if not sacred, to those who once roamed here, had been completely obscured.

COULDN’T SEE THE HEATH FOR THE TREES As a conservation charity the idea of removing healthy trees was difficult. Furthermore, while some people remembered a place of furzy beauty, of open,

Sam Norris, Knettishall Heath Ranger.

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LIVING LANDSCAPES

The heath is a living, breathing, landscape & without the intervention of the Trust, would once again close up

Exmoor ponies can now graze across the reserve.

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SUFFOLK WILDLIFE

The Trust initially inherited 7 Exmoor ponies and by 2018 that number had grown to 20: all of them free to roam across a reserve now free of internal fences. The sight of them galloping across the heath, a ribbon of dun brown and black, their hooves drumming the earth is nothing short of spectacular. But, as well as their beauty and the fact that the ponies just seem “to fit” the landscape, their grazing, seed spreading and determination to take dust baths at every opportunity has helped create different vegetation structures and the kind of open ground usually associated with rabbits.

As a result, plants such as heath bedstraw and sheep’s sorrel, no longer crowded out by scrub have moved in and invertebrates, including the green tiger beetle are now thriving. Birds too have benefitted from the cleared heaths and open glades. This year, a pair of woodlark are thought to have bred (the first in many years) while skylarks – whose song connects sky and earth – have reached seven breeding pairs. Hopefully nightjar, whose haunting, churring call is so evocative of heathland, will also return soon.

The increased light in the glades has also borne fruit. Over the past three years, white admiral butterflies have been seen flitting through much more of the woodland, feeding on honeysuckle that thrives in dappled woodland light.

KEN GILLESPIE

STEVE AYLWARD

GRAZING BACK THE CLOCK

atmospheric strangeness, many others had grown up with Knettishall as a place of trees and wood.

Initials and messages carved into the smooth bark of the beech trees showed how Knettishall was the green heart of the community.

A compromise was struck. While a large quantity of trees, especially veterans, would be kept (especially the autographed beeches!), blocks of homogenous trees that offered little wildlife benefit would be gradually removed. In so doing the existing areas of heath could be reconnected and new heath created. The land, like the river, which saw its meanders re-instated and riffles added, was allowed to flow – moving from woodland with sun-dappled rides and glades, through to wood pasture and, of course, heathland.

Although the project required human intervention to plan and fell, the reconnection and restoration of Knettishall owes much, as it did in the Neolithic and Bronze Age, to the movements of animals. With the digging, nibbling actions of rabbits still largely absent (myxomatosis still kills up to 100% of rabbit young and haemorrhagic disease has also hit populations hard – a recent survey counted just 15 rabbits on the whole site), it was the Exmoor ponies that became the barrel-chested engineers of the heath.

JOHN FERGUSON

Although the funded project is coming to an end and the vision of 2012 has so nearly been put in place, there is still plenty of work to do at Knettishall. The heath is a living, breathing, landscape and without the intervention of the Trust a habitat that is rarer than rainforest would once again close up and the spaces that Breckland specialists depend upon would disappear.

While much of the heathland restoration is complete, volunteers are still dedicating time to removing self-seeded birch and pine saplings, some of which find their way to Banham Zoo where they are used as browse or to stimulate animals.

Of course, restoring Knettishall has not always been easy. The hard winters, the harder summers, have each presented their own challenges, both to our team and the wildlife of Knettishall. But the rewards have always been greater. Seeing the river return to bubbling, chuckling life, the heath emerging, the wildlife finding its place, have all been wondrous – the kind of experiences that those working in conservation dream of.

Yet it is perhaps the human

ADOBE STOCK

RESTORATION NEVER ENDS

element of the heath that has made the journey of restoration over the past six years so special. We knew when we took on this reserve that our vision was about reconnecting and breaking down barriers. What we couldn’t have foreseen is how the project has also reconnected people to Knettishall. This can be seen not only in the increasing number of visitors but also in the growing team of volunteers (around 80 and rising) that want to feel and shape the land they love.

The heath is healthy again and what’s more, now it is protected, not only by the Trust but by the people of Suffolk. n ABOVE TOP

Kingfisher now haunt the restored Little Ouse.

ABOVE Woodlark

have once again returned to the heath.

LEFT AND BOTTOM LEFT Although

some heath creation looks brutal, wildlife soon benefits.

THAN K These are just some of the species that have YOU ! returned or flourished on the Heath since the RETURNING WILDLIFE

transformation that was funded by the appeal in 2012. Your generosity has helped.....

7

PAIRS OF

SKYLARK HAVE BRED

SHEEP'S SORREL AND HEATH BEDSTRAW HAVE FLOURISHED

IT IS HOPED

NIGHTJAR WILL RETURN

WHITE ADMIRAL BUTTERFLIES ARE FLITTING THROUGH THE WOODLAND

CHARLIE MCMURRAY is the Trust's Knettishall Heath Ranger.

GREEN TIGER BEETLE

infographic of returning species.

AnyFIRST key figures?

PAIR OF

WOODLARK HAVE BRED

HAS RETURNED

SUFFOLK WILDLIFE

19

SPECIES SPOTLIGHT

Celebrating

IPSWICH

In September 2016 a project to make Ipswich the most hedgehogfriendly town in the UK began. Ali North looks back on two years that could shape the fate of the nation’s favourite mammal.

hedgehogs

T

he last two decades have been tough on the western European hedgehog. Since the year 2000, more than 50% of our rural populations have been lost, and between 2000-2014, up to a third of our urban hedgehogs have also disappeared. A more recent report by People’s Trust for Endangered Species and British Hedgehog Preservation Society does however give hope; the decline of hedgehogs in towns and cities may be slowing, and this may be due to the efforts of community action.

For Suffolk Wildlife Trust, knowledge of the growing importance of urban populations was a clarion call and we got to work. Our project, supported by players of the National Lottery, local benefactors and British Hedgehog Preservation Society, aimed to promote hedgehog-friendly garden and land management practises, while creating and connecting habitat.

Importantly it would also provide lessons for other towns and leave a legacy for local conservation action in Ipswich.

friendly land management to over 6,000 people and recruited 53 hedgehog champions – a network of people dedicated to acting for and spreading awareness of hedgehogs.

The project’s reach has been greater than any of us hoped. A total of 780 hedgehog-accessible gardens have been logged, while advice and training has been given to land managers with influence over 9km2 of habitat. Meetings with planners and ecologists have also contributed to a 25% increase in planning applications in Ipswich that include conditions for hedgehog-permeable fencing!

WORKING WITH THE COMMUNITY Talking to those who have a strong connection to Ipswich’s green spaces has been another really important part of the project. Discussions with more than 100 allotment holders have given us useful insights into the level of chemicals used and attitudes towards hedgehogfriendly alternatives, with 62% already having tried hedgehog-friendly methods of slug control.

Community surveying and assistance in population research for Nottingham Trent University has helped us better understand the hedgehogs of Ipswich and contribute to national efforts to better estimate population densities. We have walked a total of 459km on night transects and collectively spent 159 hours searching for hedgehogs by torchlight. Our radiotracking activities had us searching far and wide for some hedgehogs, especially for the affectionately named ‘Adventure Hog’, who seemingly dropped off our radar but was eventually found over 1km

AMBITION AND PASSION The need to engage communities, businesses and land managers across Ipswich meant the project was undeniably ambitious. But the topic of hedgehog conservation really has captured the imagination of the town, with a huge audience embracing the project and the simple actions that can be taken in back gardens to help local hedgehog populations.

In fact, through a series of talks, walks, park events and workshops the Trust has now promoted hedgehog-

20 SUFFOLK WILDLIFE

JOHN FERGUSON

The topic of hedgehog conservation really has captured the imagination of the town

Hog marched: people in Ipswich celebrated the two year project with a lantern parade.

SUFFOLK WILDLIFE

21

SPECIES SPOTLIGHT

Ali North SWT Hedghog Officer

HEDGEHOG PROJECT IN NUMBERS OVER

Easy actions taken by anyone, can help secure the future of our hedgehogs away, in a village on the outskirts of Ipswich.

He wasn’t the only wayward hedgehog! One forced us to lie face down in a garden, while we waited for her to emerge from a nest under a garden shed. This behaviour coupled with the very large radio-tracking aerial resulted in some very funny looks in the local neighbourhood – and some enquiries over whether we were tracking unlicensed TV owners, aliens or ghosts!

Not all of our surveys have looked so unusual - our community footprint and camera surveys have involved over 400 people monitoring for hedgehog presence in allotments, parks, school grounds and gardens, checking trail cameras and tunnels in the mornings for signs of hedgehog activity.

Exciting footage include some very impressive hedgehog squabbles, moon walking hogs and bathing tawny owls. Of those providing feedback, 88% of participants took garden-scale action for hedgehogs as a result of their survey activities – proof that people care about the wildlife they know is on their doorsteps and want to do something to help them!

LOGGING A HOG Our online hedgehog map is helping us record sightings and actions taken for hedgehogs across the county. Throughout the two-year project there have been an additional 758 hedgehog sightings recorded in Ipswich and nearly 2,000 across the whole of Suffolk. We hope residents across Ipswich and Suffolk

22 SUFFOLK WILDLIFE

BELOW You can feed your hedgehogs by leaving meaty cat or dog food out.

6,000

PEOPLE SPOKEN TO ABOUT HEDGEHOGS

53

25%

INCREASE IN IPSWICH PLANNING APPLICATIONS FEATURING HOG HOLES

HEDGEHOG CHAMPIONS

HAVE HELPED RAISE AWARENESS OF CREATING & RESTORING HOG HABITAT

will continue to log their sightings, but also their hedgehog-friendly garden features to help us better understand how connected different parts of the town and county are becoming for our local hedgehog populations.

Eleven schools have been involved in the Ipswich hedgehog project to date – one even created a hedgehog home replica of their own school building! By analysing some of our learning activities, we have seen an increase in hedgehog knowledge in children and families through our assemblies, trails and hedgehog quizzes. Our Hog Spotter Activity Jotter is encouraging potential young conservationists to learn even more about hedgehogs and this can be downloaded for free from the hedgehog page of our website.

The project has been a huge collaborative effort and has benefitted from working alongside other projects and organisations both within Ipswich (such as our very own Closer to Nature in Ipswich, Greenways, Ipswich Wildlife Group and Ipswich Borough Council) and across the country. Exchanging of ideas between other Hedgehog Officers and the national project Hedgehog Street has been of huge benefit, and we have shared our own expertise at several conferences across the UK.

ADOBE STOCK

Fencing with gaps or hedgehog holes allows hedgehogs to roam across gardens and green spaces.

9

km2

OF HABITAT INFLUENCED

459 km WALKED LOOKING FOR HEDGEHOGS

780

HEDGEHOGACCESSIBLE GARDENS LOGGED

People care about the wildlife they know is on their doorsteps and want to do something to help them!

THE BEST TEAM We would not have seen the outcomes that we have without the amazing good will of our Hedgehog Champions and volunteers, who contributed over 1,000 hours of their time to the hedgehog cause. From patrolling the pavements by torchlight, to assisting with community park events, our volunteers and interns have been critical to the success of the project. We have loved hearing what our volunteers have gone on to do next, with some setting up their own hedgehog projects such as ‘Hedgehog Friendly Campus’, at Sheffield University.

Our hedgehog Champions have been brilliant too at raising awareness - whether through running stalls at local events to distributing letters and flyers to neighbours. Hedgehogs have captured the imagination of many and highlighted the fact that each of us can take action, and that collectively we can make a difference.

Though our efforts have focused on Ipswich, the impact of our work can be seen across the UK. Our project has featured in media both locally and

ALI NORTH is Suffolk Wildlife Trust's Hedgehog Officer and Campaigns Officer.

Whilst the external funding for our project has come to an end, we are really gaining momentum in Ipswich and we can’t stop now!

Easy actions taken by anyone, anywhere, can help secure the future of our hedgehogs but the biggest positive impact will come from working together to increase the fine-scale connectivity hedgehogs rely upon.

We want to see hedgehog-permeable fencing and welldesigned development being the norm, with all fencing contractors

actively promoting permeable fencing as standard. We also want to increase the amount of urban green space being managed for wildlife and the number of Hedgehog Highways linking the streets of Ipswich and Suffolk.

These actions, alongside hedgehogfriendly gardening and land management, will help bolster the network of green spaces that make up the ecological network of our towns and will help provide the recovery network needed for a wilder Ipswich.

nationally via 49 online or print pieces, 19 radio interviews, seven TV features and two published books, and this has been a brilliant way to showcase the actions of passionate hedgehog champions and advocates across the town. To celebrate all that Ipswich has achieved for hedgehogs so far, we invited residents to a ‘one of a kind’ evening – a hedgehog lantern parade. Bringing together around 150 people from across the town, this community spirited event was a fitting way to celebrate the project, with many beautifully made hedgehog lanterns, including our giant hedgehog, Horace, winding their way through the park and along the waterfront at twilight. n

HOW YOU CAN HELP Go to suffolkwildlifetrust.org or contact our Hedgehog Officer on hedgehogs@ suffolkwildlifetrust.org or follow @ipswichhedgehogs and our project blog: http://bit.ly/hedgehogblog Whilst our hedgehog work focusses on the urban environment of Ipswich, the decline of hedgehogs in rural areas is severe. You can download a free farmers guidance handbook: https://www.hedgehogstreet. org/farmersadvice/

SUFFOLK WILDLIFE 23

PEOPLE PHOTOS: JOHN FERGUSON

NATUREPL.COM

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE

LIVING LANDSCAPES

CAMPAIGN FOR A WILDER FUTURE

Collective action is vital to secure legislation to protect our natural world. Ali North explains how Suffolk Wildlife Trust is pushing to safeguard the natural world and how you can help.

A

t the time of writing we are currently in an unprecedented place. A new Environment Bill is being drafted and we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to influence what will become our most important law for wildlife and wild spaces. As a result, environmental organisations from across the UK have come together to make sure this now-or-never moment is seized upon and that the action needed for nature’s recovery is taken.

STRONGER TOGETHER This coalition, which The Wildlife Trusts are proud to be a part of, is called Greener UK

24 SUFFOLK WILDLIFE

and consists of 12 other major environmental organisations including: RSPB, National Trust, Campaign to Protect Rural England and Woodland Trust.

Together we have a membership of 7.9 million people.

Although each of the organisations are obviously distinct, we are united in the belief that leaving the EU is a pivotal moment to restore and enhance the UK’s environment.

The message is strong and simple: we need action, and we need it now.

After all, it is obvious that nature, despite our best efforts, is struggling. We are depleting our soils and water supplies, generating mountains of food and plastic waste, changing our climate and making the air in our cities dangerous to

breathe. Our wild places are dwindling, and we face the sadness of once familiar animals and plants fading away from our gardens and countryside.

WHAT WE WANT TO SEE The Wildlife Trusts, as part of Greener UK, want to see a wilder Britain and we want to see a wilder Suffolk. We need the environment to be at the centre of decision making, both in terms of development and agriculture. But to ensure our countryside is wellconnected and healthy: buzzing with pollinators; providing habitat for birds, mammals and invertebrates; we need good legislation.

It is vital that any new Environment Act contains policies and commitments to

investment to create thriving farming and fishing industries, working with the grain of nature to return our land, seas, lakes and rivers to good health.

Not only should future legislation secure the benefits of existing environmental laws as we leave the European Union but it needs to be ambitious – not just maintaining the natural world as it is, but restoring it.

Bold goals should be set with measurable targets and clear standards that set out how governments and other organisations will be held to account. We need to see strong principles to ensure the environment is considered across all government departments and independent institutions to ensure compliance. .

Nature recovery maps highlight important habitat and key areas for improvement.

The campaign for a wilder future starts here. Critically, we need the Environment Act to give us: THE WILDLIFE TRUSTS, COMMON TOAD: TOM MARSHALL

whether barn owl or toad, depends on well-connected habitat.

BARN OWL: BILL STEVENSON

BELOW Wildlife,

ANDY ROUSE NATUREPL.COM

Leaping into action: we have a once in a lifetime opportunity to influence environmental laws.

It is vital that any new Environment Act contains policies to return our land, seas, lakes and rivers to good health NATURE RECOVERY NETWORK The Wildlife Trusts believe that a critical tool in monitoring the health of the natural world could come in the form of Nature Recovery Maps. Locally produced maps highlighting important habitat and key areas for improvement will help guide and coordinate action, funding and regulation, to create nature recovery networks across towns, counties and the whole country. These proposed maps would be evidence based, reviewed regularly and aligned with neighbouring recovery maps to ensure the best connectivity across the whole national network.

WHAT NEXT?

Our country is facing a huge amount of uncertainty. But we have a huge opportunity to make our voices heard

HOW WOULD AN ENVIRONMENT ACT HELP WILDLIFE IN SUFFOLK?

Our country is facing a huge amount of uncertainty. But what we do know is that we have an amazing opportunity to make our voices heard and show how much we care through our actions. Land managers, developers, public bodies and each and every one of us can take action and

provide space for wildlife wherever we live or work.

Each hedgehog hole, wildlife pond, field margin, wildlife friendly development or letter to an MP really does count, and together we can make a difference!

Who knows what position we might be in as you read this article. Let’s hope that we are seeing positive outcomes from parliament and are on the way to an Environment Act that we can really be proud of.

Here at Suffolk Wildlife Trust we are ready and willing to play our part in making this vision of a wilder future into a reality by working with communities, voluntary groups and the private sector to make local places better and to tackle global challenges, like climate change. But it is now vital that governments and politicians lead. They must demonstrate their commitment to our shared inheritance through bold action before it is too late. n

NATURE TARGETS: legal targets for nature's recovery that politicians must ultimately achieve and regularly report on.

A NATURE RECOVERY NETWORK: a joined-up network of habitats that provide enough space for wildlife to recover and for people to thrive.

NATURE WATCHDOG: an independent body to help people challenge bad decisions made by Government and councils.

The Environment Act will:

Improve people’s access to nature, especially in towns Create new wild areas and 2 wildlife corridors across the

county

3 Keep Suffolk's existing

wildlife sites safe from harm 4 Protect our best wildlife

habitats under the sea 5 Stop Suffolk's soils washing

away into rivers and the sea 6 Improve air quality,

especially in Ipswich

Stop damaging Suffolk's rivers 7 and streams with chemicals

8 Reduce emissions that are

contributing to climate change 9 Protect people’s rights to a

healthy natural environment 10 Avoid the loss of environmental

protection laws after Brexit

1

JOIN OUR CAMPAIGN Read the report and join our campaign on wtru.st/natnet

ALI NORTH is Suffolk Wildlife Trust's Campaigns Officer and also the Hedgehog Officer.

SUFFOLK WILDLIFE 25

UK NEWS

22,000 support call to protect our sea life Huge response to six-week public consultation on designating more Marine Conservation Zones.

we campaigned for the Marine and Coastal Access Act, which passed in 2009 and paved the way for more protected sites in English seas.

After two public consultations and campaigns by The Wildlife Trusts, Government has designated 50 new Zones in English waters. This is a great start, but we need a network of protected areas covering every kind of habitat and

We hope to hear the consultation outcome in early 2019

BEX LYNAM

T

hank you. In the six weeks leading up to July 20th, 22,000 of you signed up to our Wave of Support campaign, urging Environment Secretary Michael Gove to designate 41 new Marine Conservation Zones in the seas around England. This is the latest triumph in a decades-long battle to secure better protection for the wildlife in our seas.

Until recently, we had no way of protecting nationally important marine sites in England and Wales, and only 0.001% of our seabed was protected. So

threatened species. This latest consultation could take us one step closer to a complete network. The Government has up to a year to decide which of the 41 proposed

MAIN PIC: BEX LYNAM

THE 47 YEAR FIGHT FOR MARINE PROTECTION

1971

1990

1995

2002

2009

2013

Lundy, off Devon, becomes Britain’s first Marine Protected Area.

Skomer in Wales is designated a Marine Nature Reserve.

Northern Ireland’s Strangford Lough is designated a Marine Nature Reserve.

The Wildlife Trusts begin campaigning for a Marine Act.

Marine and Coastal Access Act passed in England. Scotland follows in 2010.

First 27 English Marine Conservation Zones designated.

Northern Ireland Marine Act passed.

26 SUFFOLK WILDLIFE

LEFT: How to draw a shark in the sand. Doing the entire UK is a bit harder!

Marine Conservation Zones they will formally designate. We hope to hear the outcome in early 2019.

Designating a Zone is just the beginning. We need to make sure these sites are managed well. This means restricting damaging activities, such as scallop dredging and bottom trawling, which threaten the wildlife that the site is designated to protect.

Restrictions are already in place for some of the first sites to be designated, such as The Manacles on the southern coast of Cornwall. With enough sites designated and proper management, our seas can thrive again. n

2014

2016

2018

Scottish Government designates 30 Marine Protected Areas (plus one more in 2017).

23 more English Zones designated.

Four more in Northern Ireland.

Consultation on third tranche of English Marine Conservation Zones.

Pine marten could have increased their range in England it is believed, after the first confirmed sighting in Derbyshire in 16 years.

The cat-sized mustelid, a relative of otter and weasel, is found in woodlands where they live in tree holes and old nests. Once common across the UK, woodland clearance, persecution for

ALAMY STOCK PHOTO

To raise awareness of the need for more MCZs, we drew the UK and its marine life on Filey Beach, North Yorkshire.

ALAMY STOCK PHOTO

PINE MARTENS BACK IN DERBYSHIRE?

the fur industry and as pests by gamekeepers, drove them close to extinction in England.

Pine marten are still only found in relatively few English counties. But now, following the discovery of a dead male on a road between Belper and Ripley in Derbyshire, it is hoped the species is once again starting to colonise parts of mid-England.

A pine marten is a rare sighting in England.

SUFFOLK WILDLIFE 27

SPECIES SPOTLIGHT

The great otter

comeback L Forty years ago, pollution and habitat destruction had almost wiped out otters in England. But times change.

re-colonise the South East. It is fantastic to think that within the next 10-20 years, they may regain their previous population levels across the UK. If they do, it will be in part due to efforts by The Wildlife Trusts, the Environment Agency, Water companies and MIRIAM many others to clean up our DARLINGTON is rivers.” the author of Otter Country (2012) and There is more to celebrate Owl Sense. than the simple presence of otters, however. With the benefit of science we now understand the complex relationship between predators A GRADUAL RETURN and their ecosystems. In Yellowstone, “We have waited a long time for otters to USA, reintroduced wolves have improved return,” says Fran Southgate from Sussex biodiversity. Off the west coast of the US, Wildlife Trust. “We have lost vast areas of a recovering population of sea otters have natural wetland, and few of our rivers and helped restore kelp beds – a crucial wetlands can be seen as natural or habitat and absorber of CO2 – by feeding healthy. Otters are only just beginning to on the sea urchins that were wiping the kelp out.

So if a predator is under threat, there is a serious issue to address. The otter in Britain is a prime example, where it plays an important role in the ecosystems of our rivers.

ast August, an otter was found dead in Sussex. It might sound like a tragedy, but in many ways it is a cause for celebration. Otters had made a miraculous comeback across many areas of the UK, but in the South East the population was recovering more slowly: this was evidence indicating that otters are present, even if in small numbers.

HOW TO SPOT AN OTT GET UP EARLY

LAURIE CAMPBELL

1

Dawn and dusk are the best times.

It is also when much other wildlife is most active. Their behaviour may give away an otter’s presence

CHRIS GOMERSALL/2020VISION. INSET: RICHARD ASUSTIN

PERSECUTION AND POISON From the Industrial Revolution, the otter began to suffer a decline from persecution, pollution and damage to its habitat. Following the Second World War, its situation worsened due to the proliferation of agricultural poisons and the most misguided period of land management in history, when rivers were

Otters are happy in the sea too. Look for them on quiet Scottish beaches.

28 SUFFOLK WILDLIFE

We need farming and industrial policies that help us keep our otters

straightened and cleared of bank-side vegetation. Once widespread, the otter began to vanish. By the 1970s, it was facing extinction.

The recovery that followed is remarkable, but new threats are replacing old ones. Pollutants such as fire-retardant chemicals used in clothing, carpets and household furnishings can leach into rivers. These chemicals have been found to impair reproduction and immune functions in seals, and concentrations have been found in the livers of otters.

Utterly at home in the water, an otter polishes off an eel for the camera.

TTER OBSERVE OTHER ANIMALS

LOOK FOR OTHER CLUES

GET LUCKY

2

3

4

Otters are formidable predators. A flock of ducks suddenly swimming rapidly one way, glancing over their shoulders, could be a sign of an otter nearby.

CONSERVATION MUST CONTINUE The Wildlife Trusts are part of Blueprint for Water, a coalition of charities working with Government to restore the UK’s rivers, lakes and waterways to meet the European Water Framework Directive’s deadlines.

As we leave the EU, it’s critical that we retain strong regulations about what goes into our rivers. That includes farming and industrial policies that help us keep our otters, and continue their amazing comeback. n

A tell-tale trail of bubbles might mean the otter has seen you first! Belly-slide marks into water, paw prints on mud, and poo (spraints) are all promising signs.

WHAT A RECOVERY

Otters are now on every river catchment in the UK. They have even been seen in the heart of some of our biggest cities, so you never know...

1977-79

1995-2016

The 1977-79 map shows recorded signs of otters from the first Otter Survey of England. The later one gathers together 19952016 presence data. It is taken from The Mammal Society’s A Review of the Population and Conservation Status of British Mammals: Technical Summary.

SUFFOLK WILDLIFE 29

PEOPLE & WILDLIFE

A passion for land What does it take to be a wildlife-friendly farmer? Simon Barnes finds out from Guy Tucker.

W

MATTHEW ROBERTS

e forget about the passion for land. We are, more than ever, city people these days. We talk about real estate, and think that land is something to do with money, and that the land becomes better – ie more valuable – as soon as you’ve got planning permission to build on it. We’ve forgotten that land is life.

Human life, yes, and many other kinds of life as well. And that can stir the most profound feelings in the human soul, not for what kind of income the land will

You can benefit from our natural world

30 SUFFOLK WILDLIFE

generate, but what kind of life can spring from it. A gardener knows something of this; a farmer knows a great deal more.

A CUSTODIAN FOR LAND I was walking with Guy Tucker, around his farm in Hertfordshire, and it was clear from the first step that he is a man of passions. Farming is a business, sure, but offer Guy a non-farming business with twice as much money and half as much work, he’d turn you down flat.

His family have been farming the same land for three generations. It was a beltingly hot day, and we took a cut

through woodland past the places where Guy played as a boy. From the shade we looked out at tall hedges, wide field margins, areas planted for pollen and nectar, wild bird cover.

We have grown accustomed to the notion that farming and wildlife conservation are incompatible. Farmers have been seen as the enemy of wildlife – and if there is some truth in that, it’s a view that’s a generation out of date here.

“My father was one of the worst,” Guy remembered. “And his neighbour was just the same. But that’s changing. My father ploughed up hedges; I’ve planted them.”

Jordans supplier Guy Tucker manages more than ten per cent of his farm for wildlife.

Guy is passionate about combining farming and wildlife.

Properly maintained hedges shelter birds and mammals.

Wide field margins feature nectar and pollen bearing plants.

And there’s still plenty of crops for a sustainable business.

A WILD PARTNERSHIP Guy runs one of 40 farms that supply Jordans with the oats they make their products from.

A partnership between Jordans and The Wildlife Trusts (see panel below) requires the farmer to manage at least ten per cent of farmland for wildlife. Woodland doesn’t count. Guy is well over that ten per cent.

The total for all Jordans farms is more than 4,000 hectares managed for wildlife: buzzing with bees, flashing with butterflies, jumping with mammals and singing with

Look for our logo on packets of Jordans cereal.

birds. The scheme is important for what it does; and also because it shows what can be done.

Guy was drawn into this creative way of managing land by changes in farming. Mixed farms – combining arable and livestock – became unprofitable and the Tucker family were forced to sell their cattle. Guy felt he was ready, as one of the next generation, to take on new challenges, and make them work financially.

And that is always the greatest challenge in farming. “You need a solid base to your business to

HERE’S WHAT WE’RE ACHIEVING The Jordans Farm Partnership with The Wildlife Trusts assigns an advisor to each farm from the local Wildlife Trust. Using their expertise on the local area, the advisors develop a bespoke farm plan, focussing on key species and habitats relevant to the farm’s local landscape.

Total area of habitat 4,580 hectares Total area of farmed land 15,500 hectares

be able to do this,” he said. “You have to work constantly four or five years ahead.”

We passed a handsome badger sett in the wood. From the harsh blue sky a buzzard yowled suddenly. Guy’s farm has the biggest population of linnets and bramblings in the county.

And why not? It’s all the same thing: managing land so that it supports more life. In the UK, 70 percent of all land is farmed: it’s thrilling that an increasing amount of the life supported by farms is wild, and vital that it continues. n SIMON BARNES is a sports and wildlife journalist, and author of How to be a Bad Birdwatcher.

954 hectares of woodland

All 40 Jordans farms

768 km hedgerows 131 km of waterways 94 wildlife ponds

SUFFOLK WILDLIFE 31

Jim's gift to nature Rosalind & Jim Foster

I

n October 2016 we wrote to Trust members with news of the opportunity to double the size of the nature reserve at Carlton Marshes. In the weeks that followed we were overwhelmed by your enthusiasm and generosity as donations flooded in to help buy the extra land.

Among the first to respond were Jim and Rosalind Foster, just as they had so many times before. Over the years they have helped to buy some of Suffolk’s best loved nature reserves, among them Snape Marshes, Bradfield Woods, Captain’s Wood, Arger Fen, Knettishall Heath and Oulton Marshes.

When Jim died last year he remembered Suffolk Wildlife Trust in his Will, and it seemed right to dedicate his gift to Carlton Marshes, nudging our total towards our £1million fundraising target.

Jim was a great nature enthusiast and a Suffolk Wildlife Trust volunteer. Together with Rosalind, he recorded 817 species in his Suffolk garden. His garden log included 318 different moths as well as butterflies, dragonflies, spiders, snails, and woodlice. It highlights what an allround naturalist he was.

Fitting then that at Carlton Marshes his final gift will benefit such a rich array of wetland wildlife, including the lesser-known plants and animals that thrive in the spring-fed dykes. Plants like water-soldier, frogbit and bladderwort, rare freshwater snails and insects like Norfolk Hawker and scare chaser dragonfly.

Over the coming years, as the new land is restored to marsh, reed and fen this wonderful richness of life will spread out across the landscape – Jim would be in his element here!

01 89040783 9

32 SUFFOLK WILDLIFE

suffolkwildlifetrust.org

STEVE AYLWARD

To out h find your ow a gift i Wi n Suffo ll could he lp lk's w ildlife pleas , Chris e contact tine L uxton