Down to earth

BEACHCOMBING with JO BELASCO BA Hons History of Architecture and Design

Arriving at Charmouth with Zelda our dog, I remembered why I only come here in the winter: No dogs allowed on one side and only dogs on leads on the other in the summer! Nevertheless, it was exciting as I spotted a focused-looking man with a serious-looking hammer and a Panama hat. He looked like he knew exactly where the best fossils were lurking and so we gave chase. When the crowds thinned I began feeling rather conspicuous in my pursuit. What was I doing chasing a strange man? We would be in Seatown soon and he kept looking round, his face more of a grimace than a smile. I had to admit defeat and we turned tail, slowly retracing our steps, this time at such a pace that I managed to get a bit of socialising in. As I suspected, beachcombers were mainly looking for sea-glass, fossils, and driftwood at Charmouth. One couple with some drooling dogs said they were searching for cuttlefish bone for the hounds’ snacks but I would only put that on the compost heap. I decided to swing round to Lyme to see the new statue of the famous fossil hunter Mary Anning. Driving –not walking along the beach as the tide was too high. The statue is just in front of the Marine Theatre on the seafront. Created by Denise Dutton, it is a joy to see. Anning carries the tell-tale geological hammer or ‘rock pick’, her pockets brim with tiny fossils and her faithful dog runs at her heels. As the famous East Beach is very near the statue I couldn’t resist! In less than half an hour I had found a nice piece of fool’s gold (pyrite), a dragon’s egg or bonfire glass (slag glass) and an ammonite fossil. The fool’s gold looks like a rock which someone has liberally sprinkled golden glitter on. One friendly lady showed me the many fossils she had found and pointed back down the beach to Charmouth, saying there was a tour guide there who had showed her what to look for. I considered going to try to track him down but on second thoughts following one man with a ‘gurt’ hammer down a lonely beach was a bit odd but two in one day was maybe a bit much even for me!

HISTORIC: The statue of Mary Anning at Lyme Regis and, right, a fossil I discovered, fool’s gold and, bottom, a dragon’s egg (slag glass)

Take your pick of the fossils dotted along the exotic East

Neil Matthews, BSc, FLS, MCollP is the Secretary of STAND – Save The Area North of Dorchester. He is a retired environmental science teacher, a keen amateur naturalist and is a recorder & regular contributor to the Dorset Environmental Record Centre.

With declared climate and biodiversity emergencies it may seem that all is doom and gloom in the realm of our native wildlife. But there are rays of light and our native animals can surprise us with their resiliency. Some of you will be familiar with the peregrine falcon. When it dives in order to catch its prey it can reach speeds approaching 200mph – the fastest animal on the planet. In the dark days of the 1960s, this magnificent hunter was almost extinct: an unwitting victim of DDT and unjustified persecution. However, now with the use of poisons much more heavily restricted, this iconic species is undergoing something of a recovery. If you look up to the towers of St Peter’s or St George’s churches in Dorchester in spring or summer you may be lucky enough to see a Peregrine perched high among the gargoyles. Normally, a cliff dweller, it is equally at home on our artificial clifftops feeding on pigeons that flock around town centres. As well as hunting among the rooftops they also range over the fields around Frome Whitfield and the County Show Ground. Another icon returning from the brink of extinction, the otter, pictured below, is also making a celebrated comeback. For many years missing from our rivers, this aquatic relative of badger and weasel is back. Although nocturnal and notoriously elusive, it is leaving its calling cards (spraint) at latrines along the River Frome. And with the return of the native otter, the alien mink is being pushed out. A winwin for our native biodiversity. Of course, some animals need a bit more help to recover their former territory. The beaver was hunted to extinction in the 16th century. However, it is a so-called keystone species – a habitat engineer extraordinaire. By damming streams, it slows the flow of water, reducing the risk of flooding down-stream and creating pools that support many more species than a fast-flowing river ever could. Because they were completely exterminated, they would not be able to re-enter the ecosystem on their own. They need help. Luckily, in these more enlightened times various colonies are being established by the wildlife trusts. Their effect on the environment is being closely monitored in enclosures across England and Scotland. The longterm aim is that this once common and widespread mammal can be returned to its natural habitat. There is a small colony in West Dorset, and permission is being sought for another colony in the east, in Purbeck. The health of the River Frome, rising in Evershot, crossing the breadth of Dorset before emptying into Poole Harbour is key to the success of this and many other species. So everything in the garden is rosy... and yet… In the midst of all this positivity, Dorset Council has proposed in its Local Plan to build an unsustainable 39,000 houses across Dorset –4,000 of them in the fields north of Dorchester. The irony is that at the very time that the world needs to engage with the natural world to help combat climate change, Dorset Council is planning to concrete over great swathes of our county. Any pollution produced here ultimately flows into Poole Harbour. Not only that, the land that is due to be built on is productive agricultural land – some of it leased to Kingston Maurward, the agricultural college. There is so many positive stories I could have mentioned: the success of the osprey reintroduction scheme in the harbour; the colony of grey seals; the pine martens slowly spreading from the New Forest. There are so many birds, mammals and invertebrates that either live in the river, hunt along its banks or use it as a navigational aid. Not much hope for any of these creatures once the Frome starts carrying the excess nitrates, effluent and run-off into the Harbour. That is, of course, if the river will still be flowing once the extra water is extracted from the water table to supply the new development. Current estimates for the proposed development north of Dorchester put this at around 1.3 million litres per day. The only way to safeguard the recovery of our ecosystem is to kill the Local Plan in its current Form. Join us. Join STAND. STAND for Dorchester –Campaigning to save the area north of Dorchester. (stand-dorchester.net)

Returning wildlife placed at risk with development

Sailing on the good ship Forgiveness

PAGAN VIEWS by JO BELASCO

I have struggled with forgiving people. Friends advise me to move on. But in the past I could not heed their advice. That is until a close friend made it very plain to me. She said: “Remember –you have done the work, now get rid of the residue left inside you.” It’s true I had done everything in my power to expose various misdemeanours. Suddenly, I could see the difference between the work I had done and the poison that was left in me – previously they were one and the same. One and the same which became woven into the very fabric of my personality. The anger gave me a certain energy and motivation and that too I hugged close. I made a list of people. It reminded me of the famous hit list in Game of Thrones which Arya Stark makes. However, my list was people I needed to forgive. My friend had told me about a powerful Druidic ritual. The rite involved going to a beach and making a wee leaf boat. My friend said, “One by one forgive everyone and yourself too…. forgive them for hurting you. Place these thoughts in the little boat and imagine it bobbing over nine waves and then turn your back and walk away.” This appealed to me on so many levels however it was midnight and I didn’t want to wait until morning. I went through the people on my list, forgiving them and myself. In my heart I was ready to forgive and that’s what counts. As I went through each name I symbolically flung the residue energy out of my window. I drifted off to sleep but had restless bad dreams. In the morning I was worried that not all of the residue energy had escaped out of my window and was lurking in my room. You may think I was overreacting but truly hell hath no fury like a woman whose child is scorned. I had read about smudging and decided to try it. Having sage in our garden, I dried the leaves and bound them into a bundle then wafted the smoke around my room. I hope intention is more important than execution as the smudging just seemed to make my room smell like a bonfire! It did feel magical and transformative but certainly this practising Pagan needs more practice!

MOVING ON: My feather and leaf boat, feeling joyous after launching the good ship Forgiveness with my side-kick Zelda. Below: Mullien, purple sage and lemon balm from the garden and, right, working on my boat

The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022 45 Down to earth Enjoying sparrows’ trip to a beauty salon

Sally Cooke lives in Tolpuddle with her husband, two grown up sons and her spotty rescue dog. You can follow Sally on Instagram at Sparrows in a Puddle

On a hot July day I find myself thinking that the sparrows in the garden have the right idea. I see them splashing about in a big sociable group on the shallow edges of our pond and it looks like great fun. I expect they get some satisfaction from cooling off and getting clean but bathing is vital for keeping their feathers in good condition and I’m just as likely to see them bathing in the winter when it’s less appealing! When the sparrows have finished in the pond they line up on the fence nearby, where they shake off the excess water, fluff out their feathers and undertake a thorough feather maintenance routine. Dampening the feathers loosens any dirt and makes them easier to preen. The sparrows use their beaks to make sure their feathers are in good order, while also spreading preen oil over them from a special gland on their back.

This oil helps to keep their feathers flexible and strong and provide waterproofing and insulation. Sparrows don’t only use water to bathe though, if the weather’s dry I also see them

‘dust bathing’. Another very sociable activity, their favourite place for this is my vegetable patch and I learned the hard way to protect any newly planted seeds. The birds make themselves a depression or ‘wallow’ in the dirt and vigorously shake their wings to cover their feathers in dust. It’s thought this might help remove lice or other parasites. Other garden birds are also keen to look after their feathers. After heavy rain, a large shallow puddle is left on our garage roof. Starlings and wagtails use it for a quick wash but the woodpigeons seem to actively enjoy washing while it’s raining. They sit exposed to the heaviest rain and lift each wing up in turn to let water onto the feathers underneath. The puddle soon dries out but we always keep our birdbath topped up with fresh water. Several different birds regularly pop down for a drink, including the occasional herring gull! Perhaps you could find room in your garden for some water for the wildlife this summer, the RSPB has plenty of advice on what to buy or make. It’s not only for the birds though, but the animals too, a shallow dish of water left overnight might just help out a thirsty hedgehog!

Heed the warning signs when picking mushrooms

JOHN WRIGHT is a naturalist and forager who lives in rural West Dorset. He has written eight books, four of which were for River Cottage. He wrote the award-winning Forager’s Calendar and in 2021 his Spotter’s Guide to Countryside Mysteries was published.

It is only recently that the Brits took any interest in wild mushrooms beyond Field and Horse Mushrooms, and in the Midlands at least, Field Blewits. Everything else was a toadstool. Stick to what you know, and you will be fine. I certainly do not wish to put you off eating any edible wild mushroom, but Field and Horse Mushrooms are not as easy to identify as is generally thought. They are in the genus Agaricus – A. campestris and A. arvensis respectively – a genus containing over 50 British species and notorious among mycologists for being difficult. My two headline species are easy to identify, but only if you check carefully. The first is white everywhere except the pinkthen-brown gills, medium-sized and with a fragile ring on the stem. The skin projects a little from the cap. The Horse Mushroom is larger, similarly coloured and in possession of a large pendulous ring with little cog-wheel markings on the underside. It smells of almonds. So far, so good, but there are three or four large Agaricus species that are often mistaken for Horse Mushrooms, the largest and commonest of which is the Macro Mushroom, A. urinascens. This, indeed all the large look-alikes, are edible, but some are rare, and the Macro Mushroom produces the smell indicated in its Latin name if it is not eaten when very fresh! Much worse is that both Field and Horse Mushrooms can be, and frequently are, mistaken for the Yellow Staining Mushroom, A. xanthodermus. It is most similar to the Field Mushroom, but often taller and with a much larger ring on the stem. Sometimes it is pure white on top, sometimes grey scaled. Its giveaway characteristic, and the one you must check if you do not wish to spend two unpleasant days in the smallest room in the house, is that the edge of the cap, the ring and the very base of the stem all bruise bright chromium yellow within three seconds of being bruised. This works best on fresh specimens. Do make this check as this mushroom is by far the commonest cause of mushroom poisoning in Britain. I have known people who have been merely intrigued by this strange discoloration and the subsequent yellow liquid that flows from the cooking mushrooms, and have noted with interest what was their final warning, the characteristic smell of Elastoplasts (phenol) that wafts from the frying pan. Regret invariably ensued.