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Holywell Pond award

Enjoying Wildlife Edition

Issue 122 November 2010 - March 2011

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Roebuck 122 Patrons Conrad Dickinson / Bill Oddie/ Chris Packham Vice Presidents Charles Baker-Cresswell Angus Lunn Vice President & Founder Tony Tynan Chairman David Brettell Vice Chairman Caroline Stewart Honorary Secretary Barry Butterworth Honorary Treasurer Sue Loney Chief Executive Mike Pratt EcoNorth Paul Salmon Manager

Kestrel, photo Darin Smith

Contents Packed with the latest news on wildlife in Northumberland, Newcastle and North Tyneside, Roebuck is an essential read for wildlife enthusiasts in the region.

Page 3

Chief Executive’s Comments

Page 4

Hauxley: rising from the ashes

Page 5 - 8

News in brief

Page 9 - 16

Enjoying wildlife supplement

Page 17

People in Focus: Jason Gaskell

Page 20 - 21 Final News Funding

Page 23

Corporate membership

Trust Information Northumberland Wildlife Trust Garden House St Nicholas Park Gosforth Newcastle upon Tyne NE3 3XT

Registered Charity No. 221819 Registered Company No. 717813 Registered in England & Wales Vat No. 556 1032 65

Tel: (0191) 284 6884 Fax: (0191) 284 6794 Web: www.nwt.org.uk Trustees: Peter Armstrong, John Barber, David Brettell, Barry Butterworth,Tom Cadwallender, Brian Copland, David Jones, Sandra King, Sue Loney, Angus Lunn, Elaine Rigg, Caroline Stewart

Roebuck is printed on 9 lives 80 paper. Northumberland Wildlife Trust is a registered charity, number 221819, and is a member of the largest voluntary organisation in the UK concerned with all aspects of wildlife protection – The Wildlife Trusts. The views expressed are not necessarily those of the Trust or the Editor. Whilst every effort is taken to check accuracy of the information contained herein, no responsibility can be taken for errors or omissions. The contents are Copyright.

Roebuck Editor: Fiona Dryden. Supplement Editor: Steve Lowe

Large text version available on request 2

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Conservation Team Steve Lowe Head of Conservation John Thompson Conservation Officer Kevin O’Hara Conservation Officer Naomi Waite Conservation Officer Elaine Jaggs Northumberland Biodiversity Co-ordinator SOS Team Carri Nicholson SOS Project Manager Mark Wilkinson SOS Conservation Officer Christine Westerback SOS Information & Support Officer

Page 18 - 19 Reserves & volunteer round-up Page 22

Marketing & Fundraising Team Sheila Sharp Head of Marketing & Fundraising Fiona Dryden Communications Officer Christine O’Neil Membership Officer Rachel Edwardson Marketing Officer Jo Cody Marketing and Administration Assistant

Front cover: Robin, photo George Rockett

Estates Team Duncan Hutt Head of Land Management Derek Hornsby Estates Officer Geoff Dobbins Estates Officer Dan Chapman Estates Officer Alex Lister Estates Officer Alex Zeller Estates Officer Kelly Hollings Estates Officer (Kielder) Jim Martin Hauxley Caretaker Brian King Weekend Receptionist (Hauxley) Steve Scoffin Druridge Bay Development Manager Stephen Comber Grazing Project Officer Yvonne Townsend Warden People & Wildlife Team Jason Gaskell Head of People & Wildlife Lynette Friend People & Wildlife Officer Emma Pearson People & Wildlife Officer Kara Jackson People & Wildlife Officer Anthony Johnston People & Wildlife Officer Lou Chapman People & Wildlife Officer Volunteer Co-ordinator Mathew Poole Volunteer Co-ordinator (Maternity Cover) Business & Administration Team Jane Speak Head of Business Management Ian Bush Finance Manager Kim Woolhead Administrative Officer Laura Lowther Administrative Officer (Reception) Jill Hood Finance Assistant

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Chief Executive’s Comments

Enjoy wildlife - it’s the best feeling in the world This edition of Roebuck is all about enjoying wildlife, whether it be on holiday, along the Northumberland Coast or tracking mammals in woodland and forests.

An important role of Northumberland Wildlife Trust is to raise awareness and enjoyment of the natural world, which will hopefully inspire empathy and support of our organisation, through either membership or volunteering.

It is a passion for conservation, fuelled by amazing encounters with wildlife that motivates Trust members and those involved in conservation to support us. I am sure the supplement will provide more ways to get closer to nature and extract even more enjoyment from your interest. r

My enjoyment of nature is a fundamental part of my everyday life, greatly adding to my sense of wellbeing, and I would recommend ‘wildlife therapy’ to anyone.

Getting out in the fresh air regularly, and watching wildlife benefits your health and makes your heart grow lighter. I enjoy drawing, painting, writing and reading about wildlife, as well as actively helping to conserve it through working here.

Some of my most memorable experiences come from the most unlikely of places, and often become the highlight of my day.

I remember my car being surrounded by a family of 8 young stoats in a lay-by on the Moors; a rare rough-legged buzzard hovering by the roadside on my way to a birthday bash; spotting marsh harrier, goshawk and deer on my way into work, and an otter playing in the Tyne in the middle of Newcastle.

In other instances I have enjoyed organised wildlife encounters, watching certain species sometimes over many years, or though wildlife tourism; travelling to the Hebrides to seek corncrakes, to Iceland for whales, and even discovering more exotic species in India.

finally fledged, trying to fly and hunt for themselves for the first time.

You will all have your own experiences and memories I’m sure, and other ways of enjoying your subject. Perhaps, like me, you experienced nature from a young age, and had the freedom to roam as a child and discover nature yourself. In today’s world this is not often the case, with other distractions preventing childhood exploration.

This is why key parts of our work are about engaging young people and those living in urban areas, encouraging them to get switched on to wildlife. This can be most However, nothing gives me more enjoyment rewarding as those without previous opportunity to enjoy nature up-close love than a close encounter with British wildlife. I saw my first pine marten in Scotland a the experience, and inevitably want more.

Whatever the cultural background or couple of years ago, and was struck by the incredible beauty of this mysterious creature. circumstances, nature can literally change lives and generate some of our greatest Badgers are a particular obsession for me, never ceasing to amaze and delight, and over supporters and activists. Enjoying wildlife is good for everyone, and increasing the years I have greatly enjoyed watching involvement and enjoyment as much as them. A young cub once actually stood on possible, for the sake of wildlife’s future, is my foot to get a better view, and a sniff of me at one sett I watched over a long period. our job!

Recently, my summer has been enhanced by Mike Pratt nightly watching of nesting barn owls near Chief Executive my house, observing the newly-hatched Northumberland Wildlife Trust young being fed by the parents until they

Baltic zip slide 11 September 2010 Total raised to date: £15,000

Young badger, photo Darin Smith photo NCJ Media

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Hauxley update

Hauxley: rising from the ashes Once the initial shock of the arson attack on our Hauxley Visitor Centre at the end of June had sunk in, we quickly focussed our minds on how we could turn a bad situation to our advantage.

Immediately we started to think about what we could improve our Hauxley site and what sort of replacement building we could build.

We also stopped to ask ourselves if we should even replace it and was Hauxley the best place to have a visitor/education centre?

We felt strongly that it was and that we should design and build a new facility which enhanced the site and turned it into a place people would want to visit. It also made us think about what our other sites may need in terms of visitor provision into the future and how we might better work in partnership to improve the use of the Druridge Bay County Park Visitor Centre.

Hauxley itself has a number of important features which makes it a useful site for the Trust in terms of attracting visitors. It is well known both locally and regionally as its spectacular views and varied habitats make it a wonderful site for watching wildlife and it already attracts over 15,000 people per year.

From cheques and money deposited in collection buckets at Hauxley which were managed by our Hauxley staff and volunteers and a bric-a-brac stall at the Hauxley Village Fair to Greggs the Bakers who donated 10p from the sale of novelty biscuits sold in 52 stores in September (see page 7 for more details), the support has been overwhelming.

We need to raise a further £100K to realise our ambition of developing a new building in time for a summer 2012 opening. It will take us time to amass the funding, draw up plans and obtain the necessary permissions, we are therefore so grateful to social housing and maintenance provider Mears for creating a new site office inside an old stone built storage shed totally free of charge, saving us around £8,000. This wonderful building will allow business to carry on as normal at Hauxley while we work away behind the scenes.

What might the new building look like? We don’t know yet but we would certainly like to hear your ideas. Please email Trust Chief Executive Mike Pratt at mike.pratt@northwt.org.uk or post your suggestions into the suggestions box at the Hauxley Office.

Our aim for the future is to create a state of the art building of an appropriate scale but one which offers a much greater visitor experience and which demonstrates good ecological practice.

All good intentions but how will we pay for it? Insurance monies will make a contribution to realising our ambitions for the site, but we hope to receive funding through the Druridge Bay Coal and Coast Project and other sources.

Most heart warming of all is the money which flowed into our Hauxley Fire Appeal from members, regular Hauxley visitors and members of the public. At the time of going to print, the Fund stands at almost £22,000. photo NWT

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photo NWT

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News in brief

Save our Squirrels, busier than ever SoS is delighted that Heritage Lottery Fund has pledged support in developing a new project, working alongside every community living amongst red squirrels in the North East. This project will aim to encourage these communities to regularly monitor their areas, whilst working with landowners to continue grey squirrel control. With a generous development grant of over £50,000, the Team plans to have the full project application ready for submission at the beginning of March next year.

Image courtesy of Faber and Faber

The Project has also been successful in gaining three years funding from the SITA Trust, to support red squirrel conservation activities and local groups in the vulnerable Slaley complex.

These two new initiatives will form an integral part of the new Red Squirrels Northern England (RSNE) “super-project”, created by a partnership of Natural England, the Forestry Commission, the 5 Northern Wildlife Trusts, and the Red Squirrel Survival Trust. Replacing Red Alert North England, the new project will deliver a strategy encompassing the three key areas of control, conservation and community engagement, not only within the current red squirrel strongholds but also across the wider landscape of the North.

Red Squirrel Week this year, which raised over £600 in Cumbria alone, began with the launch of the new Axel Scheffler book,‘How to Keep a Pet Squirrel’. Axel, best known for his illustrations of The Gruffalo, launched the book at two events at Kielder Castle and Fenwick Ltd in Newcastle. Publishers Faber and Faber, and Axel, are donating 10p from every copy printed to SoS.

Axel Scheffler drawing at Kielder, photo Carri Nicholson

Both events were a great success, with Axel producing four amazing squirrel-related drawings which will be auctioned on Ebay in December, together with some limited edition prints. Whilst in Kielder, Axel formally opened the stunning and highly innovative new squirrel-viewing hide on the Duke’s Trail. Special thanks go to BSW Timber, Bay Plastics, MKM Hexham, and the Forestry Commission’s construction team at Kielder for turning dreams into a reality.

SENSE II will be bigger and better The Trust is delighted that the second phase of the SENSE (South East Northumberland Sustainable Environments) project is now underway and is on course to be bigger and better than its predecessor.

As with the previous SENSE project, SENSE II is another three year scheme funded by the Banks Community Fund through the mining, property and renewable energy developer the Banks Group.

The project will work at five new local nature reserves in the area: Prestwick Carr on the outskirts of Newcastle, Valley Park and Alexandra Park in Cramlington, Isabella Heap in Blyth and Gallagher Park in Bedlington. It will also continue the work begun

under the original SENSE project at Choppington Woods.

Anthony Johnston, People and Wildlife Officer with the Trust is managing the SENSE II Project and would be delighted to hear from anybody wanting to get involved on the six SENSE reserves. Call him on: 0191 284 64884 for more information or email him at anthony.johnston@northwt.org.uk “I am delighted that we have been able to continue our support for the SENSE project and the good work done by Northumberland Wildlife Trust to encourage local people to learn more about their environment and to become involved in enhancing the quality of these important wildlife habitat areas.”

Mark Dowdall, Environment and Community Director, Banks Group Roebuck Issue 122

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News in brief

Rare butterflies cause a flutter Staff at the Trust were all of a flutter following the discovery of not one but two types of rare butterfly at two of its reserves.

Back to school with an education pack Small pearl-bordered fritillary, photo Dave Stebbings

A total of six Small Pearl-Bordered Fritillaries were found at our Mill Burn reserve near Elsdon. The discovery marked the fulfilment of a two-year quest by Trust volunteer Dave Stebbings, who had been searching for them at that location since 2007.

The small pearl-bordered fritillaries (Boloria euphrosyne) is found on only a handful of sites in Northumberland, mainly in the Sweethope Lough area, with occasional sightings in Wark Forest.

The second butterfly came at a more unusual location - a desk at our head office in Gosforth!

The white-letter hairstreak (Satyrium w-album) is believed to have come from a collection of wych elm seeds harvested at the Trust’s South Close Field reserve, near Riding Mill, earlier this year.

It is thought that the butterfly cocoon had pupated into a caterpillar in the bag of seeds which had been kept warm on the shelf of the Trust’s estates office.

The butterfly was collected and safely returned to South Close Field where there is an abundance of wych elm for it to feed on.

This discovery caused great excitement as this particular species has declined drastically with the spread of Dutch Elm Disease in the 1970s having a bit impact on the British population.

White-letter hairstreak, photo Geoff Dobbins

A dark little butterfly, it spends the majority of its life in the tree tops.

Part of a group known as "lateral baskers", they always rest with their wings closed.

The Trust kick-started the autumn school term with the launch of an education pack aimed at helping teachers and youth group workers lead outdoor environmental activities with children aged between 4 and 14 years of age.

The pack will be a great help for teachers and youth leaders keen to encourage learning outside the classroom but who may be short of ideas, confidence or know-how.

The pack focuses on activities at Big Waters (Brunswick Village), St Nicholas Park and Fencerhill Wood (both in Gosforth), Weetslade Country Park (near Dudley) and Prestwick Carr (outskirts of Newcastle), however many of the activities are suitable for a variety of different parks, nature reserves and school grounds.

Activities in the pack include pond and stream dipping, leading minibeast, tracks and trail hunts and the ever popular scavenger hunts. Each activity has full instructions detailed for the leader, lots of useful facts and great handouts.

The pack has been produced thanks to funding from the Land Restoration Trust, Environment Agency, the People’s Postcode Lottery and the Banks Community Fund.

The packs are available from the Trust’s St Nicholas Park Head Office for a £10 donation in printed or CD format. Copies are available free to groups booking other sessions with us.

Green Team gets on its bike

GREEN TEAM Reduce Re-use Recycle

Over the summer, our Green Team secured funding for two much needed cycle racks which are now in situ at the Trust’s St Nicholas Park Head Office site and Fencerhill Wood in Gosforth.

Many thanks to Sally Herbert, Travel Plan Officer at Newcastle City Council for her help in securing £300 towards the cost of the racks and to our volunteers for helping with their installation.

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The Trust is always keen to promote the benefits of cycling and thanks to the Cycle to Work scheme and the new cycle racks, more staff, volunteers and visitors to Fencerhill Wood have been able to wheel out their cycles and get peddling.

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Green Team member Naomi Waite, photo Duncan Hutt

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News in brief

Bring me sunshine

Found at last!

The Green Team has added the Trust’s name in support of 10:10’s Lighter Later Campaign. Lighter Later is urging the Government to shift Britain’s clocks forward by one hour throughout the year. In other words, instead of setting our clocks to GMT in winter and GMT+1 in summer, we would set them to GMT+1 in winter and GMT+2 in summer.

Conservationists at the Trust are ecstatic that, at last, one of Britain’s rarest mammals, the pine marten, has been found in Kidland Forests in the heart of the Cheviot Hills in Northumberland.

There are many positive benefits to this suggestion but of particular interest to the Green Team would be the huge reduction in the CO2 pollution - at least 447,000 tonnes each year and a reduction in electricity bills by maximising the available daylight and reducing peak power demand. Also, more daylight in the UK will give people the GREEN opportunity to spend more time enjoying the TEAM great outdoors experiencing the joys of wildlife.

If you would like to add your voice to the Campaign, log on at www.lighterlater.org and demand more sunshine.

Reduce Re-use Recycle

Pupils test out red hot sellers Pupils from Gosforth Junior High School in Newcastle ended their summer term testing the prototype red squirrel biscuit produced by Greggs the Bakers in support of our Hauxley Fire Appeal.

From Monday 30 August to Saturday 25 September, bakers Greggs turned out 3,000 red squirrel gingerbread biscuits a week at its plant in Gosforth in Newcastle.

The squirrel shaped gingerbread biscuits were sold in 52 Greggs shops with 10p a time going towards our £100,000 target. By the end of the campaign, Greggs customers had munched their way through over 2,500 biscuits.

The Gosforth Junior High School pupils visited the bakery to try their hand at decorating the biscuits with a piping bag and to test the prototype batch prior to them hitting the shops. Needless to say the biscuits were very favourably received and given a very definite thumbs up.

The visit made the front page of The Journal newspaper, and the inside pages of many other local newspapers and was shown on BBC Look North. What a great way for the pupils to end their school year!

To view the footage, visit our Facebook page.

The elusive and very shy pine marten is a member of the weasel family and essentially tree living by nature. Over many years, the species has been brought to the edge of extinction by persecution by gamekeepers and only survived in the very far north west of Scotland and remote areas of England and Wales.

A pine marten scat (dropping), found by the Trust’s Conservation Officer Kevin O’Hara, confirms the long held view of mammal experts that the pine marten does exist in Northumberland, but in such low numbers that very few people have ever been able to spot one.

The scat was sent to The Vincent Wildlife Trust (VWT) in Herefordshire, which in turn sent it for DNA analysis at the Waterford Institute of Technology in Ireland where scientists have photo Bill Cuthbert already tested almost 1000 scats on behalf of the VWT. Not only were scientists able to provide the first unequivocal evidence for 16 years of pine marten activity, better still, the DNA tests indicated that the scat , which was found on a den (nest) box, was left by a female and suggests the exciting possibility that the box has been used to raise young.

The discovery would not have been possible without the help of funding from the SITA Trust and Dave Robson of Tilhill Forestry.

Gosforth Junior High School pupils, photo Kevin O’Hara

photo Duncan Hutt

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News in brief

Winter start pays off in the summer A team of volunteers from the Trust and pupils from Darras Hall First School in Ponteland completed a wildlife garden in the grounds of the school - just in time for summer.

The project started in January this year, and has been a labour of love throughout the first half of the year for both volunteers and pupils.

The project’s aim was to create a space to attract a variety of garden birds as well as damselflies and dragonflies, and provide opportunities for the pupils to watch and learn about wildlife and life processes on their schools’ doorstep.

The volunteers created a wet area and circular woodchip path with overlooking benches, installed two raised flower beds and planted a hedge down one side of the school fence.

Once the ground work had been completed, the Trust’s People and Wildlife Team set to work with a number of pupils from Year Four, planting bog plants and wildflower plugs, making bat boxes, bird feeders and a minibeast hotel.

Annual General Meeting This year’s AGM was held in the newly refurbished Town Hall in Morpeth on 4 September.

After the main business, including election of Directors and a presentation about the work of the Trust over the last year, Steve Scoffin our Druridge Bay Development Manager gave a talk about the Coal and Coast Project, a key development priority for the Trust. After lunch, some members took advantage of a guided visit to Druridge Bay to see how and where the project is likely to impact.

If any member would like to make a suggestion for suitable AGM venues, particularly for our 40th Birthday year in 2011, please get in touch with Jane Speak, Head of Business Management at the Trust on: 0191 284 6884.

Fond farewells Olive Marshall, the first paid employee of Northumberland Wildlife Trust, passed away this summer, just four weeks before her 95th birthday.

She started working as a personal secretary in the Hancock Museum in the early 1960s and was the Trust’s first employee, undertaking a wide range of vital administration and membership work to support the Trust in its early years.

Olive was greatly respected by the volunteers and in the ‘development’ phase, it was vitally important to have someone who could accept the changes and work with them.

Olive accepted changes, indeed welcomed them and loved seeing the Trust moving from strength to strength.

photo Bruce Glendinning

Wild North Discovery Save the planet - holiday at home Guided exploration and discovery in the North Pennine Dales • Discover the plants and wildlife of the area with the help of a local expert • Develop your plant and animal ID skills in an informal and relaxed atmosphere • Explore woodland, moorland, grassland and freshwater habitats Also available: • Walking, green woodcraft and bushcraft holidays • Weekend or seven day breaks For more information: • Log on at: www.natureholiday.co.uk • Telephone: 01388 529 154 When booking, quote WND1 to claim your 10% discount

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The Trust will be forever grateful to this loyal and dedicated friend.

At almost the same time, Sir John Riddell, our President for the past five years, passed away.

Living for most of his life at Hepple near Rothbury, Sir John had a love for the Northumberland region and was a strong champion of Living Landscapes, our new approach to landscape scale conservation.

Sir John also did a great deal to draw funding and resources into the charity.

He will be missed in many ways, but especially in his understanding of upland estate management and support for red squirrel conservation.

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Enjoying Wildlife Special Northumberland Wildlife Trust

Storm Thrushes Raucous rattlers, speckling over the trees, These upstart thrushes take control.

Thudding from tree to tree, grabbing at the apples, Pushing off the “blackies�, Undulating over our heads Asserting their chattering, clattering presence, While scolding the lawn, Pivoting on the pigsty, And cocking their tails like fans.

They are passing on through, Storm birds blown in on the back of a gale, Startled and thrown together in the crazy air.

Mike Pratt

Storm Thrush, Naomi Waite

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Enjoying Wildlife Special

Follow the tracks and trails As winter approaches, we come to the best time of the year to look for some of our lesser observed creatures, or even to look for what any wild creature has been up to when not directly observed.

Understanding and observing the tracks, trails and signs of our wildlife is a life-long learning process - it takes years to grasp even the basics. I have been doing it since I was a small boy and have had the knowledge and experience of several overseas trackers passed to me, and I feel I still don’t know enough; the reason for this being that wildlife doesn’t read books, it writes them!

So, armed with a spy glass let’s head off to try and solve a few mysteries as to what’s out there.

Everything in our countryside leaves some sort of clue behind as to its identity and what it has been doing, where it has been or what it has eaten. The easiest signs are footprints and no matter how

elusive or rare a creature is, it will always have to leave a footprint or something else somewhere to be found.

badger track, photo Kevin O’Hara

Most mammals have four toes displayed in their print. Stoat and weasels have five toes displayed but you only see four; deer, cows and pigs have two, horses one and most birds display three or four. A footprint can tell a lot of stories: are the claws visible, or clearly visible?

How far are they from the toe? Are the pads clearly showing or covered in fur? What shape are the pads? Are the toes splayed or neatly packed? Much of these are determined by how soft the ground is under foot and, in general, during the winter months, the ground is damp and soft allowing for clearer imprints to be made.

for a stroll anywhere, look to see what stepped in the ‘clarts’. Interpret them carefully, thinking beyond the actual track to give you extra clues as to the identity of the perpetrator.

Is the print smaller than a dog’s, does it look like your dog’s or is it much neater? Is the trail in a straight line or wavy, are there five toes or four and is it symmetrical? Where is it going or where has it been, and is there other evidence about, like droppings?

If so, what do they look and smell like? These are just some of the questions that rattle through my brain when I find tracks, but I also think about more subtle elements and signs that may be out there, like scats, scents and feeding remains.

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pine marten track, photo Kevin O’Hara

: Adult and young mink tracks, photo Kevin O’Hara

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Droppings are always confusing and should never be taken as being diagnostic of a species presence except in very certain circumstance, like if you saw the culprit do the job, or in certain species such as otter or water vole which can’t be mistaken for anything else.

Confusion reigns supreme in scatology. Pine marten scats are easily confused with fox scats or other mustelids, such as polecat or mink and vice versa. They have, in the past, been wrongly identified by many very good field workers, including myself, wrongly identifying marten scats that turned out to be fox. This has all changed now with a new weapon in the armoury; DNA analysis can show positively who the owner was.

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strangely wonderful, especially first thing the morning, so imagine my surprise when I realised one evening that it came from an otter.

Even in the heart of our towns, we can experience the smells and signs of wildlife. You may smell that foxy aroma during the frosty mornings at this time of year in your area. So, the next time you are out and about, think a little harder when

you see tracks disappearing into a river; are they really only dog tracks? What made those dark green marks on the lawn after the frost has melted and what could have left that smell you have just caught a whiff of?

Kevin O’Hara Conservation Officer Northumberland Wildlife Trust

Badger track (left) pine marten track (right), photo Kevin O’Hara

Scent is something else to keep your nose open for, and creatures are often described as being musty or musky, but what does that mean? What does it smell like? I have always wanted to write a book with a ‘scratch and sniff’ facility as it is impossible to describe accurately the smell of another animal. One can only give pointers such as, it smells akin to hay, parma violets or jasmine tea.

The whiff of fox one gets first thing in the morning along a woodland always reminds me of old sweaty wellie socks, with a hint of tom cat.

Many years ago when I was just a boy, I used to travel a lot and I was fortunate to be able to take a fishing rod with me on most occasions. I would often find this crispy black substance smeared on rocks and tree branches whilst scrambling to cast a fly. It smelt Roebuck Issue 122 11

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Enjoying Wildlife Special

The Big Sea Survey: get involved and have fun The north-east region offers a rich array of landscape features which support a wealth of both marine and terrestrial biodiversity. The space and the breathtaking landscape beauty that we have in this region, together make our little corner of England particularly special. But we can take it all so for granted when it is right on our doorstep.

One of the jewels in our north-east crown is the stunning coastline that holds its splendour all year round.

Clinging to these rocky reefs, snuggled into crevices and cracks, is the most incredible range of life that wriggles, photo, Dove Marine Laboratory

name of one species of seaweed over another, getting a handle on how massively varied feeding behaviours and life cycles are of even the most homely snails, and it opens up a whole world that leaves you wanting to know more.

photo, Dove Marine Laboratory

squirms and squishes. Obscure blobs of coloured life that we may overlook, have fascinating life cycles and bizarre sex lives. While holidays abroad bring us effortlessly close with flashy fish replete with a rainbow of colour, our own coastal treasures yield their secrets a little more hesitantly. But they are all the more valued for doing so.

Sometimes it requires a little patience and a little prodding. It may involve braving our shores with an accompanying bracing wind that threatens to strip the skin from your cheeks. But what revelations and what rewards for your efforts!! Spend some time getting to know the creatures that we otherwise ignore and trip over (literally), and find yourself quickly addicted. Discovering you know the 12 Roebuck Issue 122

So how do you find out more? Well you could join the Big Sea Survey.

Working in partnership with Northumberland AONB, The Durham Heritage Coast and The Wildlife Trusts, staff at Newcastle University’s Dove Marine Laboratory are facilitating anyone who wants to learn more about animals and seaweeds along our coasts. And it’s free of charge!

Joining the project means you will receive training in how to identify different species, and the know-how and field equipment to survey and record where and how much of it is found along our shores. The project runs for three years and over that time you can get out and about collecting information and building up your own knowledge. The data that you collect will feed into datasets held by the University, by ERIC (the North East Environmental Records Information Centre), and also into national databases available for use by a wide

range of coastal managers and professionals who need to understand more about life on our coasts.

This coast, and the life that it supports, belongs to all of us. It is a fragile and immeasurably beautiful habitat, which we need to learn more about if we are to protect it and plan for the changing environmental future ahead. The project needs your help to produce an extensive baseline of the species living in our region. Joining will not disrupt your lifestyle, as you can commit as much or as little time as you feel able to.

We already have an enthusiastic band of Coastal Assistants, all trained up and recording away. Why not join them and contribute to helping conserve something that makes our little corner of England so special?

To find more, contact bigseasurvey@ncl.ac.uk 0191 222 3059 or write to: Big Sea Survey, Dove Marine Laboratory, School of Marine Science and Technology, Newcastle University, Cullercoats, Tyne and Wear, NE30 4PZ. Dr Heather Sugden Project Officer The Dove Marine Laboratory

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Kielder Water and Forest Park: a wildlife haven On first impression, the Kielder Water and Forest Park appears to consist of thousands of acres of conifer plantations surrounding a large manmade reservoir. However, there is so much more to the Park if you know where to look!

Whilst the conifer plantations themselves have provided a vital refuge for our native red squirrel, there are also large swathes of upland heathland (particularly visible on the C200 as you pass Tower Knowe), ancient semi-natural woodland along the stream edges flowing into the reservoir, roadside verges rich with wildflowers and numerous flushes, bogs and mires.

Ongoing management of these habitats relies on the successful partnership between Northumbrian Water and Northumberland Wildlife Trust, through funding for the Kielder Project Officer. This initiative has allowed us to carefully graze a unique calcareous flush and maintain a bird hide, dipping platform and footpaths within Bakethin Reservoir Nature Reserve. Wildlife Trust volunteers are also vital in this process, helping the

Heather at Kielder, photo Stuart Pudney

Project Officer with a variety of tasks including hand-pulling weeds from the specially constructed gravel island at Bakethin, pulling up typha from the dipping pond, and even helping out at events.

glimpse of basking adders on warm sunny days! A bird hide in the nearby woodland, complete with feeding station, also provides an opportunity to see native woodland birds close up, and of course our native red squirrel.

The ‘Osprey Watch’ event is a good example of volunteers playing an important part in providing an opportunity for visitors to learn about and see the ospreys at Kielder, which have now bred and raised three young each year over the last two years.

These are just a few examples of our ongoing work to enhance the visitor’s wildlife experience, and don’t be surprised if you spot Exmoor ponies grazing in a distant field or RAF cadets creating a new pond - it’s all part of the big picture!

In addition to the work at Bakethin we have also been working creatively to enhance the wildlife experience at Leaplish, the main visitor centre at Kielder Water. A formerly redundant piece of species-poor grassland has been transformed into a Wildlife Garden complete with bog garden, raised pond, butterfly area, bird feeding station, native hedgerows and reptile basking areas. The construction of this garden not only provides a more scenic route for visitors from the luxury cabins down to the main visitor complex, but has also become a great spot where you may get a lucky

Stuart Pudney Conservation Team Leader Northumbrian Water

RAF creating Leaplish Garden Pond, photo Stuart Pudney

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Enjoying Wildlife Special

Bird watching holidays: well worth taking a look Bird watching is big business. The popular image of a genteel hobby for the elderly members of society could have been washed away by a visit to the recent British bird watching Fair at Rutland Water from 20 -22 August. This year’s fair attracted around 26,000 visitors, with exhibitors promoting a wide range of birding-related products and services; optical equipment, books, DVDs, holidays, artwork etc.

The Bird watching Northumberland consortium (Northumberland Coast AONB partnership, North Pennines AONB partnership, Northumberland Tourism, Northumberland National Park, Northern Experience Wildlife Puffin, photo Martin Kitching

Eider duck, photo Martin Kitching

the other benefits of birds as part of an eco-aware tourism offer. As well as companies offering guiding, local accommodation provides benefit from guests they wouldn’t have otherwise had, restaurants and pubs will sell more meals, local shops will have increased trade – the list goes on!

A report published in 2009 (USFWS, 2009) estimated trip and equipment expenditure by birders in the United States of $36bn in 2006, leading to a total industry output of $82bn for that year. Those figures are truly mindboggling. The industry output in the UK isn’t likely to be anywhere close to that but there is a potential market that, with careful management, can

Tours and the newest associate of the consortium, Northumberland Wildlife Trust), spent the three days of the Bird Fair promoting all that’s good about bird watching and wildlife in our region.

I was allocated one of the much sought-after lecture slots at the Fair and presented a talk entitled ‘The North Sea - a new birding frontier’.

What could have been a real graveyard slot, 3.30pm on Sunday afternoon, turned out to be anything but, with 134 people coming to the talk and some of those having subsequently visited Northumberland as a result of it.

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Pale –bellied Brent geese, photo Martin Kitching

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benefit both local businesses and the wildlife and habitats that we all treasure.

Why is there such a focus on birds?

They’re generally easy to find, noisy, often colourful, large, there are species all year round (although many are seasonal) and, to be blunt, they’re not as esoteric as some other wildlife that we have in abundance. Birding tourism is already a niche market – anyone for lichens? mosses? liverworts?

Of course, birding-related tourism encounters a lot of other ‘collateral’ wildlife as well. In Northumberland, this could be adders and slow worms while searching the Cheviot valleys for black grouse, whinchat, peregrine and merlin; coral root orchid and Lindisfarne helleborine on a mid-summer trip to Holy Island; otters causing panic amongst flocks of waders and wildfowl around our coastal pools in the autumn; white-beaked dolphins and minke whales on pelagic bird watching trips from Royal Quays, Amble or Seahouses.

With the potential to support existing businesses, extends the tourist season to include the late autumn and winter, and encourage responsibility and environmental awareness, our birdlife is a real gem.

Little owl, photo Sarah Barratt

Martin Kitching Director & Senior Guide Northern Experience WildlifeTours

White beaked dolphin, photo Martin Kitching

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Enjoying Wildlife Special

Wild about gardens Just by my backdoor, alongside the pot plants and herbs on the kitchen windowsill, sits an old pair of indestructible Russian army binoculars, a notepad and a well chewed pencil.

Every day, whatever the weather, I am enthralled by the visitors to the numerous feeders I have hanging from the old apple tree in the centre of my tiny lawn in suburban Tyneside.

I love to watch the bickering starlings arguing over nothing, the cautious dunnock lurking in the hedge bottom or the swooping swifts, screaming above the roof. The “cottage garden” feel to the flowerbeds is actually a deliberate thing, not because I am lazy!

The resulting colour and informality attracts hoverflies, bees and butterflies, all most welcome!

This year, I splashed out and started to feed nyger seed. The result has been wonderful goldfinches, messy feeders but now up to number one in the most frequent flyer list! How rewarding to be greeted by this bird, daubed in colour, when you draw the blinds in the morning. Almost makes it worth getting up for!

Watching wildlife in the garden can be particularly rewarding. It’s like having your own private nature reserve (with a very luxurious hide) and you can often witness some fantastic behaviour at close hand, often something that may be a total surprise. I once had a pelican land on my shed, and the frog that came through the letter box had definitely taken a wrong turn!

Gardens may be the only contact people have with nature. As a result, gardens and the wildlife they attract have huge potential to thrill and inspire, something the Trust is keen to foster. My personal inspiration was reading Chris Baines “How To Make A Wildlife Garden”, but nowadays there is a wealth of information available. A good starting point is http://www.wildaboutgardens.org/ .

that the information has an added value for science and conservation. I knew I had succeeded as a dad when my son started adding his own notes and it’s now a competition to see who gets “the best” or “the most”!

My garden will continue to be my most visited and special nature reserve.

Steve Lowe Head of Conservation Northumberland Wildlife Trust

Making notes about the things I see is almost compulsory – hence the notebook – and my records go to the British Trust for Ornithology as part of the BTO Garden BirdWatch (http://www.bto.org/gbw/ ), ensuring

Starling, photo Darin Smith

Goldfinch, photo Darin Smith

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People in Focus Jason Gaskell joined the Trust in 2004 as People & Wildlife Manager, based in Gosforth, and now works as Head of People & Wildlife.

Jason comes from Northumberland, but has lived and worked throughout the UK and has had brief spells in Italy and the US. His academic background is in Ecology, getting his first degree from Lancaster in 1992, but from there he went to work in IT for a multinational company. After eight good years there (he mentions international travel and a large expense account), he decided he wanted to work more closely to his values, in wildlife and conservation.

He joined British Trust for Conservation Volunteers as a project officer in Berkshire before quickly being promoted to a management position looking after West Sussex and Surrey. From there, he was very keen to join a Wildlife Trust and got to join Northumberland Wildlife Trust soon after.

Why the complete change from a successful career in IT to wildlife?

I enjoyed my time at Procter & Gamble, and got to meet some great people in exciting places. To be honest though, after a while airport lounges all look the same, and I couldn’t get that excited about IT systems. I wanted to do something that I cared about and was in line with my academic background.

People

Any regrets?

I chat to former colleagues who are now high-flying executives for fairly big companies and I always say that I wouldn’t swap with them for the world. So, no, no regrets. Not even the large salary!

As you hold a degree in Ecology what steered you towards People & Wildlife and not Conservation?

When I graduated from Lancaster, I seriously considered becoming a teacher. I’d done some schools work during my degree and quite enjoyed it. I also remembered the impact school trips to Druridge Bay had on me as a child and thought it would be nice to do that for someone else. I get to make that happen now, but without OFSTED inspections and excessive paperwork.

What is the best part of your job?

I really enjoy helping run a charity. I enjoy knowing that, even though I’m not doing the face-to-face stuff myself, my work allows other people to do that instead. I’m lucky enough to manage a great team of people who make that job a lot easier!

How many people to you manage?

It seems to vary depending on which projects we are running, but it’s usually about six or seven people. Any more than that, and I think it gets harder to give them a decent amount of help and support.

What would you list as you and your team’s achievements?

Probably making People & Wildlife such a core part of the Trust and what we do. I can’t remember the figures exactly, but the People & Wildlife Team has engaged with tens of thousands of people in the last few years. If even a small percentage of those people became advocates for wildlife and conservation, I’d be a very happy man.

Has your role changed within the Trust since you first joined?

Yes. In the last few years I’ve been able to get more and more involved in helping run the entire organisation, not just the People & Wildlife Team. It’s challenging in so many ways, but still very enjoyable.

What is the next big project you will be working on?

There are quite a few! I’m looking into things like a joint project with Cumbria Wildlife Trust focusing on engaging people from coast to coast, a mini Living Landscapes project with Durham and Tees Valley Wildlife Trusts and an apprenticeship scheme for passionate young people who may not have the educational background to get into our line of work.

ph

photo Duncan Hutt

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Reserves & Volunteer Round-up

Holywell Pond scoops silver

Dennis Neal, always one of the gang

Holywell Pond has scooped a Silver Gilt Special Award in the Conservation category of the Northumbria in Bloom Awards. photo Duncan Hutt

An area stretching from the Borders to Teesside is judged for the Awards so, to receive a silver award, is a real achievement for all involved with the reserve.

Special thanks must go to Councillor Margaret Rochester who nominated the reserve for an award. Thanks also go to the Estates Team at the Trust for maintenance of the site and the Holywell Pond Volunteer Wardens for hosting regular weekend events and the day to day management of the site which lies to the north of Holywell Village.

Bird numbers on the up at Big Waters Volunteers have reported another great year for bird sightings at our Big Waters reserve, which has long been regarded as an oasis for birds.

The bird feeding station on the site is maintained by a dedicated group of volunteers and is an excellent place to see one of the region’s largest colonies of tree sparrows.

Volunteer Alan Johnston has reported that tree sparrows are on for a record year at the site, with more than 300 young hatched and 270 having successfully left the nest boxes.

Alan has also recorded his 200th bird species for the reserve in the form of a dipper, a species which, although not that rare on the streams of the region, was something which, in his 28 years of volunteering at Big Waters, he never thought he would see at that site.

Rare birds discovered by Alan at Big Waters include red-throated pipit, white-winged black tern, river warbler, great reed warbler, crane and laughing gull.

Most notably, Alan recorded a Caspian tern at the site in July 2007, which was only the second recording for Northumberland. The first recording was at the Farne Islands in June 1880 and caused quite a stir!

photo Brian Copland

In August, Dennis Neal, one of the Trust’s main-stay volunteers, collapsed and died suddenly whilst out cycling. Dennis was 64 years young.

He first volunteered for the Trust in 2003 and quickly became a ‘regular’, working especially with the Estates Team. In all weathers, numb fingered or midge ravaged, Dennis would battle on.

No fair weather volunteer this man, but a hard and conscientious worker, full of encouragement and positive ideas on how the task in hand should be completed. A good man to have in your team.

I first met Dennis in 2005 and he was instantly likeable, took time to help me settle in, and as importantly was just excellent company.

Dennis didn’t just confine his activities to a task day and had recently become a Volunteer Leader - able to lead tasks on his own, and was a Weetslade Warden helping to look after the running of the Country Park.

Brain Copland Volunteer Northumberland Wildlife Trust Trustee “Dennis was always willing to undertake any task asked of him. His keenness and good humour made him a valuable member of the volunteer team and he will be greatly missed.”

Lou Chapman, Northumberland Wildlife Trust Volunteer

Dipper, photo Darin Smith

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Reserve Reflections In a place of Druids It is late September, on the cusp of autumn, a great time to visit Upper Coquetdale and witness the ancient beauty of the Harbottle Crags . The reserve covers a large area of some of the most impressive and scientifically important moorland in the valley.

Through the gate the path turns quickly south and leads you through a leafy corridor of heavily berried rowan and elegant silver birch. The moorland vista to your east is breathtaking, the high ridge of the crags stretches in a gentle curve over the sleepy village below. Between the sandy pathway and the pine woods to the eastern side, grass verges house a scattering of autumns most magical toadstool; the scarlet fly agaric, long associated with these hills.

The narrow path now takes a steeper route, a sandy gully, through shrubby bilberry and the fading purple of moorland heathers. Half way up, a small cairn marks a formal viewing point back across the valley. A grey heron leaps clumsily from the dense firs of Harbottle Forest, before settling into a languid flight over the high moor. Heronries have been a feature of these woods for centuries, with

some nests said to be in repeated use for more than two hundred years.

One of Upper Coquetdale’s most notable features is the Drake (or Draag) Stone, perched on the western side of the ridge. This thirty feet high sandstone monolith, deeply scarred by centuries of erosion, is a true icon of the valley, with tales of mysterious druid ceremonies taking place here in ancient times. If you climb atop one of the many large quarried millstones scattered about the site, you are awarded magnificent views of the Coquet Valley below, the Simonside Hills to the east and the Cheviot massive to the west.

The path south travels through a wide hollow, to the lonely waters of Harbottle Lough. Today’s bright autumn sunshine reflects from the deep, still lake, but on cloudier days, a bleaker, altogether darker landscape emerges. On approaching the peaty shoreline, a pair of diminutive ducks, silently emerge from the rushes. They take to the air and fly south out of the reserve, undisturbed by the red flags that stand to warn of the dangers that lay in the valley below; the Otterburn military ranges.

Harbottle Crags is a deeply evocative and ancient place, combining its conservational and archaeological importance with folklore and Dark Age mythology. Fitting then, to end with one last tale: a plan to drain the Lough by local workmen was abandoned when they fled from Drake Stone on hearing a disembodied voice cry: Let alone, let alone Or I‘ll droon (drown) Harbottle An’ the Peels An’ bonny Hallystone Graham Woods Reserves Reporter Northumberland Wildlife Trust Member

Fly agaric at the entrance to Harbottle Crags, photo Graham Woods

Heron, photo Darin Smith

Harbottle Crags, photo Graham Woods

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Cairn at Harbottle Crags, photo Graham Woods

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Final News

Going back to school

Natural artists

The People and Wildlife team went back to school in September and gave 90 teachers a taste of their own medicine.

Children from Broadway East First School in Gosforth have made their mark on the Trust’s Fencerhill Wood reserve.

The ‘crack’ team of trainers had two days to teach staff from the Arthur's Hill Federation of Schools everything from minibeast hunting, to calculating the height of a tree, to helping hedgehogs hibernate, all in the name of helping the teaching staff use the school grounds as a tool for teaching their children.

The training was very popular, with one teacher commenting afterwards: "The last couple of days have been the best training I have had - so useful and I can't wait to do this with the children next week.”

For the People and Wildlife team, it was an exhausting, but rewardable and enjoying experience and one they’d be more than happy to repeat.

"Training days are very precious and I always plan to get the most from them. I am so pleased with the work undertaken, the activities have really enthused and inspired staff to get out there and use the school environment." June Foster, Executive Head Teacher of the Federation of Arthur’s Hill Primary Schools.

The children drew pictures of their favourite creature which they thought they would see in the Panel design, EcoNorth reserve, which is close to the school in Whitebridge Park. The top 10 drawings were then selected to star on a new information panel situated at the entrance to the Wood.

This project marked the end of the first year of a partnership between Broadway East and the Living Waterways Project, which is funded through the Northumbria Regional Flood Defence Committee’s Local Levy and Natural England. The 1.4-hectare reserve is being used to help reduce the risk of flooding elsewhere on the Ouseburn.

Flexigraze continues to grow Our ‘conservation’ grazing programme (grazing for the benefit of the natural environment) continues to go from strength to strength.

The Soay sheep are back grazing at Powhill for the second year and are certainly making an impact but it is too early to assess any difference they may be having on reducing the spread of the bracken. They are one of five breeds of sheep we have grazing on a number of conservation areas around the region. The other four breeds, Swaledale, Hebridean, Manx Loaghtan and Shetland have also settled in well.

Elsewhere there are Exmoor ponies grazing on Longhorsley Moor, and hopefully soon at Prestwick, and cattle grazing is ongoing at Druridge Pools and Weetslade.

photo Philippa Mitchell

Red alert in Gosforth and Kenton There was great excitement in September when a red squirrel, which had been seen on numerous separate occasions in the Kenton and Gosforth areas of Newcastle, was spotted dashing along a path outside the SoS headquarters in Gosforth.

Newcastle is the only city in England that still has red squirrels, but it was unusual to see the radiant redhead in our urban setting.

If you see a red or grey squirrel in any part of the county, please call the Squirrel Hotline on: 0845 347 9375 or log on at: www.saveoursquirrels.org and report your sighting as soon as you can.

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A ground breaking project to assess the impact of different types of grazing on scrub that is covering the Whin grasslands is just starting at West Kyloe. A lot of work is being done initially to clear the scrub with grazing following on from that to prevent it re-establishing.

Jess the Northumberland Wildlife Trust sheepdog is now eleven months old and has just completed her initial sheepdog training. She will shortly take a more advanced training course at Shirlaw Hope to help her reach her full potential!

She is working very well already and is a valued member of the team.

Jess at work, photo Stephen Comber

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Final News

EcoNorth: helping to develop a new reserve

Common Plants Survey unearths a little gem

The summer survey season found EcoNorth (the Trust’s consultancy service) surveying a wide variety of sites across Northumberland and Tyneside as well as sites in North Yorkshire National Park.

The consultancy also designed interpretive boards and material showcasing bird watching opportunities at the Trust’s reserves as well as building boardwalks, ponds and amphibian hibernacula.

EcoNorth now has an Assistant Ecologist (Mark Wilkinson), whose GIS and mapping skills have been put to good use, most notably on a strategic renewable energy constraints study and a project to map habitats at potential local wildlife sites. He has also been involved in the consultancy’s survey programme looking at the flora of Weetslade Country Park and Bedlington Woods. EcoNorth has also benefitted from the arrival of Conservation Officer Naomi Waite, who has an excellent knowledge of bats.

One of our most interesting projects has been assisting Northumberland County Council with the development of Tranwell Ponds.. This small site has a couple of ponds surrounded by scrub and grassland containing northern marsh orchid, snowberry, gorse and oak.

The Council plans to create a nature reserve and provide disabled access but before any work can begin, it must consider the site’s use by protected species. EcoNorth was commissioned to survey the site for great crested newt, white clawed crayfish, otter, badger and water vole.

Surveys were extended to include a former reservoir to the south of the site, as great crested newts could move to the reservoir for mating and egg laying. Understanding how species use the wider environment at all stages of their life cycles, and in all seasons, is a vital aspect of ensuring we don’t inadvertently damage vital parts of the ecosystem.

The results of the surveys indicated a large great crested newt population at the site along with smaller smooth and palmate newt populations. No evidence of white clawed crayfish, water voles or otters was found but the ponds were well used by feeding bats and the site is home to water shrews, who have a somewhat isolated distribution in Northumberland, so it is fantastic to find another population here.

Having established the level of use by protected species on site, method statements are being prepared to ensure wildlife is protected as the access paths, boardwalks and bird hide are constructed.

Special thanks go to the Tranwell Survey Team and Peter Brewis at Northumberland County Council.

A plant not seen in South Northumberland Vice County since 1969 was rediscovered during a survey of our Big Waters reserve at the beginning of September.

The discovery of rigid hornwort (Ceratophyllum demersum) in the ponds at Big Waters highlights the importance of the random area sampling organised by the Botanical Society of the British Isles.

Rigid hornwort is a floating aquatic plant with dense whorls of bristly, deciduous dark green leaves borne on delicate stems. At first, these stems are rooted but they break loose during summer and float to the surface. The plant prefers nutrient rich water, and it can be used in aquariums as an effective oxygenator.

The Common Plants survey is being undertaken with the intention of obtaining a picture of the abundance of all of our plant species throughout the country.

To find out how you can take part in the Surveys, log on at: http://www.botanicalkeys.co.uk/ northumbria/ncps.asp

John Thompson, Northumberland Wildlife Trust Conservation Officer, photo Duncan Hutt

Rigid hornwort, photo Geoff Dobbins

Tranwell Ponds, photo Duncan Hutt

Don’t forget our photography competition There is still time to enter.

For further details log on at: www.nwt.org.uk.

The competition closes on Monday 31 January 2011.

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Funding

Cash award for grassland sites We received a cash grant of £2,000 from Natural England to help us survey a number of grassland sites across the County which are listed in the National Grassland Inventory.

Survey work concentrated on the Great Limestone (around Hadrian’s Wall), South East Northumberland and a number of coastal sites.

The results of the survey updated the national inventory and will help with future site management.

Charity lottery sponsors wild times with the Trust Support from the People’s Postcode Lottery continues to play a vital part in our work at the Trust.

Since September 2008 we have received £241,216, from the charity lottery.

All this year’s summer holiday events were supported by the People’s Postcode Lottery. Events ranging from camp fire cooking, mini raft racing and water safaris to earth art, making dream catchers and nature trekking in Heaton Park, were all made possible thanks to its players.

photo NWT

In the meantime, for more information or to play, visit www.postcodelottery.com Common fragrant orchid, photo Colin Scrutton

Northumberland County Council The Trust is set to receive a total of £60,000 from Northumberland County Council.

Spread over three years, the funding will allow us to employ a part-time local sites officer who will be responsible for the survey, advice and management of local sites which are of local, regional or national significance for nature conservation.

The sites will include Prestwick Carr, Pegwhistle Fen, East Cramlington Pond and Blyth Links.

Cash boost for partnership working Natural England has awarded £5,000 to Northumberland Wildlife Trust and £5,000 to the National Trust to enable the two charities to work in partnership on projects at Seaton Delaval Hall and Holywell Pond.

The money will allow us to fund a series of small events and training days and also enable us to develop wildlife links between the two sites.

The first event, a bat walk around the grounds of the Hall which took place in September, was so popular, the spaces were filled within 48 hours of it appearing on our website.

Donations • A massive thank you to Tim Hall, Environment Officer at Northumbria University for donating 24 chairs worth £3600 to the Trust.

• Thank you, yet again, to Trust members Peter and Rosemary Newton from Stocksfield for their fundraising efforts. This year they raised £230 in aid of our Hauxley Fire Appeal taking the total raised by them over the past few years to over £3,500.

• Thank you to Waitrose Eldon Square for including the Trust as one of three charities receiving support from its monthly Community Matters Fund. A cheque for £235 was handed to the Trust in September

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Seaton Delaval Hall, photo Maureen Ritson

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Corporate Membership Northumberland Wildlife Trust offers three levels of corporate membership. Whilst any level of support for an environmental charity will enhance an organisation’s Corporate Social Responsibility commitments, the following packages are designed to provide year round benefits to your business and support your staff development, PR & marketing strategies.

To find out more about becoming a corporate member contact Christine O’Neil , Membership Officer, on (0191) 284 6884 or via email at christine.o’neil@northwt.org.uk.

GREEN CHAMPION Business

Balfour Beatty Construction Northern Ltd

Nature Of Business

Website

Mears Ltd

Northumbrian Water Ltd

Social Housing Repairs and Maintenance Utilities

www.mearsgroup.co.uk

Utilities

www.npower.com

North East Chamber of Commerce npower

Tarmac Ltd

The Banks Group

UK Coal Mining Ltd

Construction

Business membership organisation Heavy building materials Developers

Coal producer

www.bbcl.co.uk

www.ne-cc.com www.nwl.co.uk

www.tarmac.co.uk www.hjbanks.com www.ukcoal.com

GREEN GUARDIAN Business A One

Nature Of Business

Website

Alcan Smelting & Power UK

Motorway & trunk road maintenance

Croft Veterinary Hospital

Smelting & distribution of aluminium Veterinary

www.alcan.com

Tel: 01670 36323

Classic Excel Ltd Dickinson Dees Elanders Ltd

Golden Sands Holiday Park Harlow Printing Ltd Karpet Mills

Mountgate Caravans Ltd Northumberland College Port of Tyne Authority Potts Printers Ltd

Procter & Gamble Riverside Leisure

Wardell Armstrong

Interior Construction

Commercial law firm Printers

Holiday accommodation Printers

Carpet warehouse

Holiday accommodation Education Port

Printers

Manufacturer - hygiene products Holiday accommodation

www.aone.uk.com

www.classicexcel.co.uk

www.dickinson-dees.com www.elanders.com

www.northumbrianleisure.co.uk www.harlowprinting.co.uk www.karpetmills.co.uk

www.silvercarrscaravanpark.co.uk www.kirkleyhall.co.uk

www.portoftyne.co.uk www.potts.co.uk www.uk.pg.com

Tel: 01502 502 588

Environmental & engineering consultancy

www.wardell-armstrong.com

Business

Berwick Holiday Park

Nature Of Business

Website

Blyth Harbour Commission

Holiday accommodation

Geoffrey Lurie Solicitors

Port

Solicitors

www.portofblyth.co.uk

www.geoffreylurie.com

WILDLIFE PARTNER Dunstanburgh Castle Hotel Gustharts

Heathergate Country Park

Hexham Steeplechase Co Ltd Jacana Ltd

Marmax Products Ltd

Northern Experience Wildlife Tours Northern Rock plc

Northumberland County Council Ord House Country Park Percy Wood Leisure Ltd Poltross Enterprises Pride Hotels Ltd

Hotel

Aborist & garden equipment Holiday accommodation Racecourse

Management & training consultancy Recycled Plastic Products Wildlife Tours

Financial institution Local authority

Holiday accommodation

Holiday accommodation

Wild bird food & accessories Hotel

www.havenholidays.com/parks/scotland/northumberland/berwick www.dunstanburghcastlehotel.co.uk www.gusthart.com

www.heathergate.co.uk

www.hexham-racecourse.co.uk www.jacana.co.uk

www.marmaxproducts.co.uk

www.northernexperiencewildlifetours.co.uk www.northernrock.co.uk

www.northumberland.gov.uk www.ordhouse.co.uk

www.percywood.co.uk www.poltross.com

www.thepercyarms.com

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