Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust run a number of wildlife and ecology courses. This PDF document gives full details: 20160331 Wildlife Trust Courses 2016 A4
You can also visit their website, http://www.gloucestershirewildlifetrust.co.uk/whats-on
Month: March 2016
Stroud Valleys Project
The Stroud Valleys Project charity runs a number of events which may of interest to GNS members. This link goes to their events calendar.
http://www.stroudvalleysproject.org/index.php/walks-talks-and-community-events/events
People book by phoning the office on 01453 753358. Then they are given joining instructions, once they have booked.
Please help us to help the Curlew
Message from Gordon Kirk, Chairman of the Gloucestershire Ornithological Coordinating Commitee (GOCC):
“For many people the wonderful ‘bubbling’ summer song of the Curlew is one of the iconic sounds of the countryside, but sadly it is heard less and less; the UK’s breeding population is estimated to have fallen by 43% in 20 years. Curlew has very recently been added to the “Red List”, and is now considered by many to be the UK’s highest conservation priority bird species, because of the high proportion of the international population that breeds in UK. Curlews are not raising enough chicks to sustain their population; predation, habitat change in upland breeding areas, and modern farming practices seem to be the main reasons. Although most British Curlews breed in upland habitats, there are also important lowland populations, mostly in hay-meadows but also in various habitats where there is rough grassland. In Gloucestershire and Worcestershire Curlews still breed in the Severn and Avon vales, and there are a few pairs on the Cotswolds. These birds can often be helped by involving farmers and other landowners and working with them; for example it may be possible to delay the hay harvest in some fields for a few days to enable young birds to fledge.
“To try to help Curlews, a local project is aiming to find all our breeding birds in 2016 and see what help can be offered to them and the landowners on whose land they are nesting. The area involved is Gloucestershire, Worcestershire and Wiltshire and the partnership includes the Wildlife Trusts, Natural England, RSPB and the Gloucestershire Ornithological Coordinating committee. A small team of experienced volunteers will be studying the well-known sites, but because Curlews can be quite catholic in their choice of habitat we are also asking people to report any Curlew seen or heard in potential breeding habitat between 1 March and 31 July so it can be followed up. We are particularly keen to hear from you if you are a farmer or landowner with Curlews on your land.
“Please report your sightings to Mike Smart, either by email smartmike@btinternet.com or by phone (landline 01452.421131, mobile 07816.140513).”
GNS Field Meeting at Minsterworth Ham on 20 March 2016
A small group of members took part in a field meeting at Minsterworth Ham on Sunday 20 March. This is one of the “Severn Hams”, the large grassy meadows in the floodplain of the Severn, which take up winter floodwater, and are cultivated, mainly as hay meadows, in summer; other Severn Hams include Ashleworth Ham, Coombe Hill Meadows and the Severn Ham at Tewkesbury, all popular and well covered by naturalists. Minsterworth Ham (which also includes the so-called “Corn Ham”), on the other hand, has been rather neglected, perhaps because it is rather isolated (in the large southward bend in the course of the Severn between Minsterworth and Over), though it is hardly remote, being only a few miles from the centre of the City of Gloucester. Being very close to the course of the Severn, a number of birds pass over the site, which has regularly been mentioned as a possible for wetland restoration.
The participants used public footpaths to walk down to the river through the Corn Ham, returning by a parallel footpath. The landscape is one of very wide open spaces, punctuated by very deep drainage ditches, with hedges of hawthorn, willow and oak; one of the attractions of the site is the chance to see well known features from a new angle – not just the Cathedral, but the looming presence of the Landfill Site, the reserve at Hempsted, and Windmill Hill and Elmore Back.
Initial impressions were that much of the present grassland has at some stage in the past been ploughed up, so that the botanical interest of the vegetation may be limited (but more visits later in the flowering season will be required to confirm this). One of the birds being sought was Curlew, for which a breeding survey is being organised this spring in Gloucestershire and Wiltshire, as well as other lowland counties; no display flights were noted, and only a single bird was heard (though it was a cold windy day and conditions may not have been perfect). A couple of Lapwings showed signs of breeding display, and about a dozen Shelducks, mainly in pairs, may well have been seeking nesting sites in holes such as rabbit holes or pollarded willow boles. Half a dozen Cormorants, some in flashy summer plumage, were loafing in a tree on the river bank. One unexpected finding was a couple of male Ruff, feeding round a shallow pool remaining from the winter floods; a few of this species have recently been seen round floodwater at Ashleworth and Coombe Hill, no doubt migrants on their way to breeding grounds further north in continental Europe. Minsterworth Ham used to be popular as a resting place for gulls from the Landfill Site across the river; with the decreasing numbers of gulls present at the Landfill Site nowadays, only a couple of hundred were found during the GNS visit, some Black-headed Gulls coming into summer plumage and a few Common Gulls, as well as the ubiquitous Lesser Blackbacks and Herring Gulls. A large flock of some 500 Fieldfares was feeding on the grass, so there were clearly plenty of invertebrates in the soil.
A number of Lichen records were made, some frog spawn was noted in one ditch, and the mammals seen included fox, rabbit and grey squirrel.
GNS Annual General Meeting 2016
The GNS Annual General Meeting took place as planned on Friday 18 March in Cirencester, with the President, Mrs Anna Ball, in the chair. The Meeting re-elected the existing Executive Committee, except for Lynne Garner and Gordon Avery who had stood down in the course of the year; it elected Ben Locke and Martin Matthews as members of the Executive Committee. It was agreed not to appoint a new Hon Secretary, and to go ahead with the redistribution of tasks as already agreed: Andy Oliver will take over the initial screening of Grant Applications; the Chairman will complete the annual return to the Charities’ Commission. The Committee is looking for a volunteer to act as Minutes Secretary.
David Scott-Langley had stood down after ten years as Chairman of the Cirencester Branch, but remains on the Cirencester Branch Committee as Treasurer; Andy Bluett has joined Ken Cservenka and Rob Curtis as the other members of the quartet; there will be a rolling Chairmanship.
Gordon Avery (former Bird Recorder), Roger Gaunt (former Moth Recorder), David Haigh (Spider Recorder), Colin Twissell (Amphibian Recorder) were appointed Honorary Members of the Society; all have made major contributions to the recording of these taxa; Colin thanked the Society on their behalf.
David Scott-Langley has also for many years been Chair of the Scientific and Publications Sub-Committee, a really crucial position within the Society Society. David of course remains Recorder for a variety of invertebrates and hence a member of this Sub-Committee, and is to continue editing “The Gloucester Naturalist”, quite apart from continuing as Vice Chairman of the Society.
Ecology for Beginners 2016
Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust in partnership with Gloucestershire Naturalists’ Society will be running “Ecology for Beginners” on 17th April 2016 – a chance to learn some new skills and to explore and understand the interdependence of animals, plants and the environment.
Full details for booking on the flyer here – Ecology for beginners course 2016
Cleeve Common and its Wild Flowers by Ian Howes
Gloucestershire Naturalists’ Society has supported the publication of Cleeve Common and its Wild Flowers by Ian Howes by grant aid funding. We are pleased to publicize the book on behalf of the author and the good cause to which it contributes.
“Cleeve Common and its Wild Flowers” is a book produced for the charity ‘Teenage Cancer Trust’ (in memory of the remarkable Stephen Sutton). All profits from the sale of the book will be donated to the charity. The author, Ian Howes, gained his interest in wild flowers during his school years in Cheltenham, joining a local Natural History Society. He went on to do his degree in botany at University College London.
Ian, thinking of his own enthusiasm about wild flowers when at school, thought to produce a book that would appeal to young people today and make them want to be out in the countryside. The book is a photographic guide to the wild flowers found on Cleeve Common. Points are scored for finding plants (depending how difficult they are to find!) and ticked off as they are found! Also included are some interesting landmarks that can be seen when walking the Common. Most of the photographs have been taken by Ian on the Common and arranged in the book by flower colour. Cleeve Common is an increasingly rare habitat of unimproved limestone grassland which needs to be protected for future generations.
The book can be purchased online for £6.50 (inc. postage) at;
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/-/301872503542
All profits from the sale of the book will be donated to ‘Teenage Cancer Trust’.