Wildlife Acoustics recently announced that the Echo Meter Touch (Standard and Professional versions), can now be upgraded so that they can be used with Apple iOS devices. There are a few important steps to take when upgrading.
Which Apple Devices can be used?
Wildlife Acoustics have stated that only new Apple devices that have a native USB-C connector on them will work. This means that any lightning connector-based devices will not work with the upgraded EMT even if you have a lightning to USB-C cable. If you have an iPhone 15 (all versions) or later you can use the upgraded Echo Meter Touch.
How to upgrade your Echo Meter Touch
Firstly, make sure you have the EMT with the USB-C connector. Micro-USB will not work with this upgrade specifically for Apple devices. Here are the steps you have to take:
1. Check to make sure you have the latest Wildlife Acoustics app installed on your Android Device. When you update the app it should display an announcement telling you that Apple is supported.
2. Plug your EMT into the Android device.
3. Using the menu found in the top left corner of the screen (displayed as three horizontal bars). Select Settings.
4. Scroll all the way to the bottom of the Settings menu, and select Advanced Settings.
At this stage the app will tell you what version of firmware you have on your EMT. If it is version 2 or later, then you do not need to update to get iOS compatibility. However if there is a new firmware update, even if your device has version 2.0 or later, you should update the EMT to get the best possible experience from the EMT.
5. If the EMT is shown as having version 1.3 the app will offer you a later version of firmware.
6. Select Update Module Firmware – DO NOT UNPLUG YOUR EMT Device
7. Let the app perform the upgrade and is will display the notice saying a firmware upgrade has been successful.
8. Once, this appears, remove your EMT from the Android device, and re-insert it to double check the device is updated.
Now that you have accomplished the firmware update you should insert the EMT into your Apple device. If you have downloaded the Wildlife Acoustics app to the Apple device it should function correctly.
This spring, traditional British lawns are out. Throughout the month of May, Plantlife urges us to let our gardens be wild with #NoMowMay. This exciting initiative encourages us to embrace a wild lawn this spring, providing plants, invertebrates and other wildlife the opportunity to make our gardens a home. No Mow May could transform your green spaces into a colourful kaleidoscope of flowers you never knew were there. From buttercups to bee orchids, here at NHBS we have had an astonishing array of wildflowers in previous years, and we are hoping that this year will be the same!
Knowing when, and how, to mow your lawn to encourage wildflower growth and minimise grass domination can be confusing, and there is no ‘one size fits all’ answer to supporting native wildlife. In anticipation of May, we outline the important things to consider when maintaining your lawn over the coming seasons.
Tightly manicured garden lawns are unable to host the diverse communities associated with a natural space. The artificially constructed environment, with uniform grass length and limited species, prevents our native wildflowers from blooming and our vital insects from settling.Lawn feeds and fertilisers often used to maintain our lawns can result in unnaturally high levels of soil fertility. Such levels can unintentionally diminish the diversity of flora within our gardens, since native wildflowers are adapted to low-nutrient conditions. Associated with higher carbon emissions, time consumption and overall cost, many are steering clear of a high maintenance lawn this spring.
A spring-flowering lawn provides a whole host of benefits for the wildlife within our gardens. Opting for a wild, native lawn provides essential breeding habitats, food sources and physical protection for a number of species.These spaces give wildflowers a chance to bloom and set seed, benefitting both insects, and the predators who rely on them.
Our Bee Orchid (Ophrys apifera) from #NoMowMay 2022. Image by Oli Haines.
So, how and when should we mow?
Less is more! Switching up your mowing routine, or refraining from a mow in some areas, is a great way to maximise diversity in your garden. After a short time, your outdoor spaces can flourish into a haven for wildlife. From voles to vetches, and even British reptiles, watch your garden transform from monoculture to a wild refuge.
Varied grass length, wild edges, or longer patches of lawn are great for attracting local wildlife to your garden. You may find orchids, ox-eye daisy and knapweed in these longer areas, which also provide cover for small mammals that may be wandering through, and shorter areas can boost pollen availability from low-lying flowers, like buttercups and clover. Plantlife advocates for a varied mowing approach with longer patches throughout the garden, alongside shorter areas (aiming to mimic grazing pressures of different herbivorous species in the wild). For instance, you might decide to maintain shorter pathways and areas around patios, but allow other areas of your green spaces to grow freely.
It is important to remove cuttings after lawn maintenance to prevent excess nitrogen in the soil, thus reducing nitrophilic plants (species with a preference for nitrate rich habitat, typically from fertilisers and the decomposition of organic material) in your garden. ‘Cut and rot’ management can be counterproductive when cultivating wildflowers, as low levels of soil nutrition are preferred by many and will harbour the most diversity. In fact, frequent fertilisation and additional nutrition can result in an overall decline of wildflowers, leading to a dominance of nitrophilic plant species.
A garden with varied grass length during No Mow May. Image by Allan Harris via Flickr.
Knowing when, and how, to mow during the year is key to maximise flowering of wildflower species, while simultaneously preventing grass domination: to do this, it is generally recommended to mow three times a year; early spring, late summer and in autumn.
A 3-inch, early spring mow is beneficial to kickstart the season, promoting early growth and blooming. An early mow can also help to tackle nitrophiles, like nettles and cow parsley. This can help to prevent competition, allowing wildflowers to grow undisturbed. However, be wary of mowing too early, as this can prevent wildflower seeding and will impact your gardens growth next year.
A summer mow in late July, or August, removes the previous growth, encouraging the bloom of wildflowers later in the season. As far as insects are concerned, the later the mow, the better. Insect species tend to hatch in the warmer parts of spring and summer, so a mow in late August will prevent harm to hatching individuals.
Around late November, an autumn mow can help to promote reseeding and encourages germination in the following spring. Allow the wildflowers in your lawn to finish flowering and let them go to seed, a mow after this allows the seedheads to disperse seeds into your lawn. An autumn cut can also keep grass growth under control, further encouraging germination.
There are also certain considerations to be wary of when forming wild areas in your garden. These habitats will attract a great number of species, who may make your lawn a home. Best practice involves leaving an area of your lawn untouched to house these species, but if you are looking to tidy up your garden after No Mow May, wildlife must be considered. Wildlife in our lawns can be harmed in the process of tidying up our outside spaces. It is recommended to disturb, or walk through patches to be maintained to shoo species from the area. On the first mow, start with a higher cut to give smaller animals a chance to escape. When mowing the lawn, start with garden paths and areas of high footfall, working toward the edges of the garden. This, again, provides wildlife with an escape route through the boundaries of your garden. If your garden has fences or hedgerows, a wildlife corridor along your borders is another way to support visiting animals. Untouched, or lightly managed, strips along these areas can provide a safe space for travel around the garden, providing cover and protection from predators.
Hedgehog by Kalle Gustafsson via Flickr.
How can we prepare for No Mow May?
If you currently use fertilisers, lawn feed, moss killers or pesticides, abandoning the use of these additives in your garden will allow the soil to recover from these harmful chemicals. This can provide microscopic and invertebrate soil communities a chance to recover, improving the overall health of your soil.
For some of us, early bloomers may already be present in our gardens. Cowslip, violets and primroses may be popping up on our lawns, showcasing the first few flowers of the season. You may consider allowing these to go undisturbed, giving them a head start for spring. Having said that, the best way to prepare for No Mow May is a 3-inch April cut to encourage a strong period of spring growth.
Whether or not you decide to mow the lawn this spring, consider leaving an area of your garden wild. Whether this be a natural lawn or rough borders, we hope you feel inspired to take part in this year’s #NoMowMay!
The Mammal Society, founded in 1954, is a UK charity formed to support evidence-based mammal conservation in Britain and Ireland. The Mammal Society is involved in promoting and enhancing conservation initiatives working to restore mammals and their habitats, with the overall mission of securing thriving populations of native species.
The Mammal Society will be celebrating their 70th anniversary in 2024, which will be the focus of this year’s annual mammal conference. The conference will focus on the past challenges and successes of mammal conservation, and discuss opportunities for future work.
Matt Larsen-Daw is the CEO of the Mammal Society. Having worked with WWF for some time leading education programmes, Matt is now working with the local mammal groups at the base of the Society’s work. Alana Scott works as communications officer for the Society, with a strong history in conservation biology and ecology. She also has significant achievements in the reintroduction of Water Voles in southern Cornwall.
In anticipation of the upcoming National Mammal Week (22nd –28th April), we recently had the opportunity to talk with Matt and Alana about the successes of The Mammal Society, their upcoming 70th anniversary and goals for the future.
National Mammal Week is an annual event encouraging awareness and conservation of mammals. Image by The Mammal Society.
Firstly, could you give us a brief insight into how The Mammal Society came into existence back in 1954?
Seventy years ago, in 1954, The Mammal Society was formed under the name of The Mammal Society of the British Isles (TMSBI), following a meeting of prominent zoologists, naturalists and the Zoological Society of London. The aim was to link amateurs and professionals in promoting the study of mammals, and by doing so to power conservation of mammals at a time when an alarming decline in the populations of several species was already being observed.
Three years later the society started to deliver on its remit when it published its first book – A Field Guide to British Deer. Perhaps some well-thumbed 1st editions of this vintage text are still sitting on shelves? More likely readers may have one of the beautifully illustrated 4th edition copies of this handbook, published to coincide with another significant anniversary – the 60th year of the British Deer Society – in 2023. The British Deer Society is one of several organisations (including the Bat Conservation Trust and SeaWatch) that started their lives as subgroups within The Mammal Society, until their objectives became sufficiently ambitious and broad in scope to warrant a separate charity. This highlights one of the key roles that The Mammal Society has played over the past seven decades. By acting as a lightning rod for discussion and research around the big issues in mammal science and conservation, the Society has convened experts and enthusiasts to foster collaboration and initiate vital projects at all levels of mammal conservation. From collaborative research projects to species-focused organisations and grassroots local groups, the work of the Society has helped shape the mammal conservation sector we see today.
What do you think has been the key to the enduring success of The Mammal Society?
A key factor in the ongoing success of The Mammal Society is the community of mammal specialists and nature enthusiasts that has formed around it in the form of our members and local groups network. The staff team at the Society has never been big – in fact we are often assumed to be much bigger than we are, due to our vibrant social channels and the large influence we have on policy and practice. Our Council of Trustees, our Committees, and our ever-growing community of local mammal champions are just as important in the achievement of our aims. We are nothing without our members, and we hope that we give plenty back to those who join us in our mission to support and protect British mammals. Members receive our acclaimed seasonal magazine Mammal News, receive substantial discounts on our trainings and events, and have the opportunity to influence the priorities and projects of the Society. Why not join, or gift membership, today?!
At the hub of this thriving community of volunteers and supporters, the staff team arranges forums, events, training, campaigns and research projects that channel the huge energy and expertise in the wider community, while ultimately strengthening and energising that same community.
Our small size has allowed us to be agile and respond to urgent challenges quickly and efficiently – such as the discovery of the non-native Greater White-toothed Shrews in Britain in 2022. It also means our overheads as a charity are low – ensuring that we can put every penny of membership fees and donations to good use in our work to ensure a bright future for mammals.
ARK (Action for the River Kennet) participants of a Harvest Mouse Survey, 2023.
The world has changed a lot in the last 70 years. Have the key purposes and goals of the charity evolved during this time to adapt to this changing world, or have they broadly remained the same?
Conservation science is powerless without first being able to answer the questions ‘what to conserve?’ and ‘where to conserve?’; to do this we need to know, for each species, how large the population is, where it is (and was) distributed, and its status, threats and requirements. This science is exactly what The Mammal Society has been promoting since its inception, seeking to ensure that whatever the approach needed, it is undertaken in the right way – informed by science and data.
This central remit has certainly not changed. However, the role of The Mammal Society in the conservation sector was a hot topic of discussion in the first few decades. In 1963, a resolution was passed at a meeting that the Society should be ‘a scientific body to which those in authority can turn for factual information about mammals and mammal biology’, upon which to base a judgement of the conflicting claims of different champions. To be accepted as such a body, the Society should not itself become involved in any way with […] controversial matters. In other words, The Mammal Society should gather and present scientific facts but not campaign for any particular action to be taken. This perspective shifted within ten years, with members wanting the Society to be prepared to call for action where it was scientifically justified. Nowadays we certainly consider ourselves to have a key role not only in establishing scientific evidence, but also in ensuring it is seen, understood and acted upon to bring positive outcomes for mammals. Communicating the science and advocating for its application are as important as the science itself if we want change.
The other facet of our work that has become more important in recent years is communicating the importance and wonder of mammals to public audiences, in order to build public support for mammal conservation and encourage more engagement with life sciences – especially among younger people and communities currently under-represented in conservation. This objective is part of our remit to strengthen and energise the conservation sector. For example, our annual Mammal Photographer of the Year competition allows us to spotlight photographers who have captured beautiful and surprising images of mammals in the wild and inspire others to share in their wonder and excitement at spotting our elusive wild neighbours going about their everyday lives.
In 1995, The Mammal Society entered a new phase when it established a network of local groups that could monitor the state of mammals in their area and respond to local issues while playing a key role in contributing to a better national picture of mammal populations. Through this process of evolution, The Mammal Society moved from connecting amateurs to professionals in mammal conservation, to providing anyone concerned about the decline of mammals with ways to get involved and directly help tackle the key issues.
Some of these original groups are still going strong, and others have joined in the nearly 30 years since then. Led by volunteers, these groups provide opportunities for nature-lovers from all walks of life in their community to support citizen science activities that provide essential data and insight to inform mammal research, conservation practice and landscape management policy.
Now we have more than 30 local mammal groups in the network, and their contribution to projects such as the Mammal Atlas, the Harvest Mouse Survey and many other projects cannot be under-estimated – as well as the profound impact many have had on mammal populations locally through their targeted efforts. The Mammal Society have sought to guide and support these groups over the years, but we feel there is much more we could do.
Our new Local Mammal Groups Strategy (reflected in our new Local Groups Handbook) sets out how we intend to invest in growing, strengthening and diversifying the community of local mammal champions that participate in mammal conservation at the grassroots level through the local groups network.
The Squirrel and the Bee. Image by Garry Watson, winner of the Mammal Photographer of the Year competition, 2024.
Biodiversity loss and the climate crisis are key issues for everyone involved in conservation at present. What are your main goals for the coming years and decades?
Seventy years on, the challenges that need to be overcome to ensure a bright future for wildlife and people are just as daunting. This means that over the decades to come, our role as convener and mobiliser in the world of mammal conservation will be more important than ever. There is no doubt that reversing the loss of nature will require work from everyone, and the more joined-up those efforts are, the more positive the impact for wildlife and people.
As we move into our eighth decade, we continue to do everything we can to foster collaboration and inclusion in mammal conservation. We aim to bring the scientific insight and expertise of our committees, members, council and staff to strengthen and support any initiatives that can help address the threats faced by our native mammals. As an active member of Wildlife & Countryside Link, we are already adding our voice to those of varied stakeholders across the nature sector to call for urgent action to address issues and redress shortcomings in policy and practice. Via European Mammal Conservation Europe, we have strengthened joint challenges on issues such as the protected status of wolves in the EU. We are active contributors to the RSPB-led UK State of Nature Report, and members of coalitions and steering groups on various species recovery strategies. We continue to engage with government to ensure that policy and priorities are informed by science.
Our commitment to ensuring that everyone understands the importance of mammals, and can play a role in monitoring and protecting mammals, is reflected in our reinvigorated approach to supporting local groups – including an equipment loan scheme, free training for local groups, and an ambitious plan to see at least three new groups in currently under-represented urban areas by 2025. Alongside this our new school programme launches this year, creating opportunities for young people to explore and support mammals, and prioritising schools in areas of deprivation and serving communities under-represented in conservation.
Owl pellet dissection as part of the new school programme.
Seventy years as a successful charity is an incredible achievement, not to mention the research, support and training you have undertaken and provided during this time. How are you marking and celebrating this important milestone?
We’re spending 2024 looking back, and looking forward. We want to celebrate what’s been achieved over the past 70 years but also to take the opportunity to look at the challenges ahead and how we can all play a role in meeting them.
To help us highlight this significant milestone, talented illustrator Silvie Tonellotto has designed our beautiful 70th anniversary badge, which will feature on communications throughout 2024. You can see more of her work on Instagram (@silvietonelottodesigns).
The 70th anniversary badge, designed by Silvie Tonellotto.
One of the key things we are focusing on is celebrating the people whose actions are key to ensuring a bright future for mammals, and especially to show the rich diversity of people and variety of roles people can play in supporting mammal conservation. We have therefore marked this 70th year with the launch of a new awards scheme – Mammal Champions. NHBS generously supported the prizes for the 2024 awards, and we’re delighted to have been able to shine a spotlight on some incredible volunteers, campaigners and thought leaders.
National Mammal Week (celebrated in the autumn in previous years, but now moving to a new home in the spring) is 22nd to 28th April 2024. We’ll be celebrating the wonderful individuals shortlisted for Mammal Champions Awards, while also providing loads of opportunities for anyone in Britain and Ireland to find ways to become mammal champions in their own lives and communities.
Rockpooling is an educational and extremely enjoyable wildlife activity that introduces you to a colourful world of creatures that are usually hidden beneath the sea. Rock pools are full of limpets, crabs, whelks, periwinkles and anemones, all of which have fascinating adaptations that allow them to live in this unique place. The intertidal zone is an exceptionally harsh habitat, with animals needing to cope with exposure to saltwater, rainwater, changing temperatures and sun. Rockpooling is a brilliant hands-on activity to introduce children to this unique habitat and discuss how animals and plants cope with living there.
Photo credit: S Webber
Planning a Rockpooling trip
The best time to go rockpooling is in the late spring or summer, when the weather is milder and temperatures are warmer. There are many excellent locations to go rockpooling on the UK coast and, by searching the local area or consulting this list by The Wildlife Trusts, you can find some of the best spots. Once you know which area you are heading to, you need to consult the local tide table. Rockpooling is best done on a low spring tide, because the most interesting range of creatures are likely to be found nearest the sea edge. Pick a day with calm weather conditions and when the low tide point is at a suitable time in the day – you need to time your visit to be there for low tide and then watch carefully for the tide coming back in. Make sure that you take a sun hat, sun cream and wear sturdy shoes, as the rocks can be very slippery.
Rockpooling equipment and method
Photo credit: S Webber
Bucket – a clear or white plastic bucket is great for storing your finds temporarily.
Net –a net can help with catching crabs when used carefully, but avoid scraping along rocks.
Pots – smaller animals can be transferred carefully to pots for a closer look.
Endoscope – peer deep into the depths of the rockpools and record images and videos with a handheld endoscope.
Approach rock pools carefully, as animals can be wary of noise and shadows appearing above them. Dip your bucket into the water to catch mobile animals or carefully search through with your hands. If you fill your bucket and pots with a little seawater then you can keep any creatures you find in there for a short period of time while you identify them. Watch out for crab claws as they can nip, and anemone tentacles as they can sting. Do not remove any creatures that are attached to the rocks as they may have a specific place that they attach to until the tide comes back in. Turn over stones to find crabs and have a good look to see if there is anything hiding in the seaweed. Once you have finished looking, make sure you return the animals gently back into the pool.
In the first of our two-part series, Gardening for Wildlife: Providing Food, we looked at how to attract wildlife to your garden by including plants for pollinators and providing food for birds and mammals. In the second of our two-part ‘Gardening for Wildlife’ series, we look at how to create nesting or overwintering habitat effectively for the wildlife that visits your garden. Natural nesting sites for birds, insects and mammals have become rare in the broader landscape due to changes in farming, woodland management practices and building construction techniques. Wildlife-friendly gardens can provide fantastic habitat for invertebrates, birds, amphibians and mammals by making a few simple changes and by letting a bit of wildness back in.
It is easy to provide habitat for insects in your garden just by leaving the lawnmower in the shed. Setting aside a patch of grass to grow longer should encourage wildflowers to grow in your lawn, and will provide food and shelter for insects and small mammals. Creating a log pile in which beetles, woodlice and earwigs can shelter is also an easy way to increase garden wildlife habitat. You can provide additional nesting space for solitary bees or overwintering quarters for other insects by creating or installing an insect house. These can be homemade and constructed to your own design, or you can purchase purpose made houses. These are particularly important for solitary bees, who use tunnels in wood, mortar, plant stems or artificial houses to nest. They lay eggs and place a food source in a series of cells, and then block the entrance with materials such as mud, leaves or fine hair. Other nest sites can be provided by leaving dead wood and stems standing and leaving a patch of bare earth or mud bank for mining bees.
Vivara Pro Seville Nest Box
Bird Boxes
Providing bird boxes in your garden can be an excellent way of helping wildlife, as natural nest sites can be rare due to changes in house construction and woodland management techniques. There is a vast array of nest boxes available for many different species of birds, so it is worth knowing which bird species visit your garden before selecting a box. A good place to start is by providing a nest box with a 32mm entrance hole that is suitable for house sparrows or blue and great tits, who are enthusiastic occupiers of nest boxes. Most nest boxes are made of breathable materials such as wood or wood fibres mixed with concrete (Woodcrete or WoodStone). The advantage of Woodcrete and WoodStone nest boxes is that they are much more durable and can last for 10 years or more. Purpose-built nest boxes are available for many different species such as swifts, treecreepers and even robins. For more details on our most popular nest boxes, please see our series of blog posts on nest boxes suitable for different locations. For more details on where to hang your nest box, please see our blog post.
Image by Peter O’Connor via Flickr.
Mammals
Gardens are extremely important for hedgehogs and can provide excellent opportunities for foraging and hibernation. Leaving a pile of fallen leaves or a log pile can give them a place to shelter during the daytime or you can choose to invest in a hedgehog nest box. These can provide a safe place for hedgehogs to sleep or hibernate – there is even the option of installing a nest box camera so that you can watch footage of them using the box.
Hedgehogs can travel up to 2km each night, eating as they go. Allowing them to move freely between gardens is important to ensure that they can obtain enough food and find safe spaces to sleep. If you have a garden fence, cut a hole at the bottom measuring 13 x 13cm to allow hedgehogs to pass through on their nightly wanderings. You could also remove a brick from the bottom of a wall or dig a channel underneath.
Bats also use gardens for foraging, so increasing the number of invertebrates in your garden will help to attract them. Bats naturally roost in a variety of spaces including holes in trees. With natural cavities being rare, providing a bat box can be a great way of helping them and our series of blog posts on the top bat boxes for different locations, and our advice on where to hang your bat box is a great place to start. The best time to watch them is at dusk when you can sit in the garden and see them whizzing around catching mosquitoes. Alternatively, you can invest in a bat detector and identify the species visiting your garden. For both bats and hedgehogs, connectivity to other patches of suitable habitat is key. Hedgehogs use hedgerows or need access through fences to be able to visit multiple gardens, and bats use treelines and hedgerows when foraging.
Image by Erik Paterson via Flickr.
Amphibians and Aquatic Invertebrates
The easiest way to help aquatic invertebrates and amphibians is by creating a pond or small body of water. Even if you have a small garden, you can create a mini pond with an old belfast sink or a washing up bowl. Choose a warm, sunny spot that will be good for dragonflies and tadpoles, consider planting a few native freshwater plants and wildlife such as pond skaters, damselflies and water beetles should soon find the spot. Please ensure that ponds are positioned with safety in mind if you have children, and that you include rocks or sloping edges so that wildlife can get in and out. There are fantastic guides to creating a pond available, such as the Wildlife Pond Book, and once your pond is up and running you can even try some pond dipping. It is not recommended to collect frogspawn from the wild, but you can encourage amphibians into your garden by providing damp areas such as log piles or a frog and toad house.
Watching Wildlife
Having attracted wildlife to your garden, there are several ways you can get fantastic views up close. Binoculars give you a great view of wildlife that is further away, but with close focus distances now much improved, they also offer a great way of magnifying insects and aquatic invertebrates. Read our blog post to find out how to choose a pair of binoculars. Alternatively, trail cameras can be used very effectively in gardens to record garden visitors such as hedgehogs and birds. These standalone weatherproof cameras use passive infrared to detect passing warm-bodied animals and take either still photographs or videos. For more information on trail cameras, see our blog post on how to choose a trail camera. For a really close-up insight into what the wildlife in your garden is doing, consider installing a nest box camera. See our guide on how to choose a nest box camera for advice on the different options. A hedgehog nest box camera can also give you really amazing footage of hedgehogs feeding and nesting.
By providing food resources and suitable habitat for wildlife, you can ensure that your garden becomes a sanctuary for the animals around you and a spectacle of nature right on your doorstep.
This offers a fresh and unique perspective on ponds, encouraging readers of any budget to reach for the spade and do something positive to benefit their shared neighbourhood nature.
Even the smallest garden can be an important haven for wildlife, and this authoritative guide enables everyone to explore this wealth on their back doorstep. It covers all the main animal groups – including pond life – likely to be found in a garden in Great Britain and Ireland.
This guide can help you create an aquatic habitat in your garden, home to stunning, brightly coloured damsel- and dragonflies with iridescent eyes, amphibians which choose to breed, and birds and mammals of many kinds that come to drink at such placid waters, including hedgehogs
Building your own nestbox and watching a pair of birds raise a successful brood will bring pleasure to the whole family, and this book provides all you need to know to get started. Written by Dave Cromack and drawing on the BTO’s expertise, this provides the perfect guide to building, erecting and monitoring nestboxes for a broad range of bird species.
Aimed at KS2 and above, this 8-page fold-out chart is a fully illustrated key to help users identify the main animal groups found in freshwater. None of the identification in the key goes beyond family level, and some of it stays at the phylum or class.
It is in the earliest months of the year, when the weather turns milder and deeply saturating rains arrive, that adult toads, frogs and newts begin to emerge from their wintering hibernacula and make their long-standing annual journeys to the waterways in which they breed. It’s an ancient way of life for amphibians and a behaviour that pre-dates humankind by millennia.
Toad – Oli Haines
Roads are a relatively new addition to the landscape by comparison. A blink of an eye in toad evolution. They frequently bisect the paths that amphibians must navigate in order to reach their ancestral ponds. Being relatively slow-moving, small, and cryptically coloured, amphibians are incredibly vulnerable on tarmac roads. As such, it is estimated that two tons of toads are killed on roads each year in the UK.
This February was one of the warmest and wettest on record in England, and it felt every bit of it. Despite the gloom of early darkness and torrential rain, I was thrilled to sign up and join an enthusiastic local volunteer group of Toad patrollers, deep in the Devon laneways, to learn what work is being done to mitigate our impact on the amphibians currently making these critical journeys.
The Toads on Roads project was spearheaded by the amphibian charity Froglife over twenty years ago. Volunteers that are involved in the project put in considerable effort each year to monitor known and established toad crossings around the country. These are the places where toads gather in their largest numbers and are at significant risk of being run over in their attempts to reach spawning ponds.
The group I joined have, for a number of years, been protecting an intersection where three roads meet beside a large pond. As we gather in high-vis vests at around half five in the evening, it’s already fully dark. We’re wearing latex-free gloves and bearing large white buckets. The pond is swelling up either side of the road, flooding the tree roots in a muddy soup. The rain falls intermittently and, sure enough, a proud collection of male toads is already eagerly lining the roads awaiting the females.
Toads crossing sign in Stalisfield Road by Pam Fray, via geograph.org.
We walk along the lane counting the toads we find and placing markers near them that are more visible for passing cars than the toads themselves are. It’s not such a busy road, but it is narrow and steeply enclosed between old earthen hedgerows that cars and tractors have clipped away over time, resulting in an overhang that the toads are incapable of climbing. Often, they become trapped along the lane. Where we find them in a predicament, we watch to observe the direction of their travel, and if the cars come, we gently lift the toads off the tarmac and place them in the verge where they appear to be headed.
A few drivers who come by slow down and ask what we’re doing. Many seem intrigued by the response, often vowing to take care as they go on. I’m told this is an improvement. As awareness of toad crossings and the work being done to monitor them increases, people are more understanding, though I’m assured there’s still animosity from some drivers who feel inconvenienced.
During some of the evenings on the patrol we encountered beastly weather; driving rain and flooded roads; and I marvelled at the dedication of the volunteers and their care for the amphibians crossing the roads. I learned that more people are approaching Froglife to get involved and that, due to increased awareness and publicity, the plight of toads is reaching more and more would-be patrollers. There have also been successful cases of temporary road closures to divert traffic during the heights of toad migration in the UK this year.
Toads – Oli Haines
It’s a complex web of challenges that contribute to amphibian population declines – not just nationally but globally. Land-use intensification threatens our waterways with myriad pollutants and our roads and construction projects fragment vital habitats or obliterate them entirely. It’s heartening that awareness is building. It has been such an inspiration to me to learn there’s a network of enthusiastic and caring volunteers out there in the winter nights, working at limiting the damage to amphibian populations, championing these remarkable and charismatic animals, and building hopeful connections in local communities while doing so.
If you feel call to get involved, visit the Froglife website where you can learn more about local toad crossings. There’s also abundant information on ways that you can make any local green spaces or gardens more amphibian friendly, such as making ponds, allowing wilder patches and encouraging greater invertebrate diversity.
We have reached the end of the 44th Big Garden Birdwatch, which took place between 27th and 29th January. Run by the RSPB, this is one of the largest citizen science surveys in the UK and encourages the public to observe and record the birds in their garden over a period of one hour. In 2022, more than 700,000 people took part recording over 11 million birds. This huge amount of data allows the RSPB to create a comprehensive picture of how our local birds are faring, and to examine changes in both abundance and distribution over time.
If you took part over the weekend, there’s still time to submit your results on the RSPB website. The final date to let them know what you saw is 19th February. Don’t forget, even if you didn’t see anything, it’s still useful information. (If you can’t submit your results online, you can print off the form from the free guide and send it by post).
Even though the Big Garden Birdwatch is over this year, there are still lots of important things you can do to make your garden attractive to birds and other wildlife. Private and public green spaces in the UK cover an area three times bigger than all of the RSPB nature reserves combined, so making these spaces wildlife-friendly is hugely important and significant. Remember to keep putting out fresh food and water for your garden birds, and always remember to keep your feeders, bird tables and bird baths free from disease by cleaning them weekly. See the RSPB website for some helpful information on preventing disease, and check out this great guide from the Wildlife Trusts on cleaning bird feeders and nest boxes.
As always, many of our staff got involved with the Big Garden Birdwatch this year. Scroll down to see what we found and to see some of our pictures. We’d also love to see what you’ve spotted if you took part – let us know in the comments below.
Results
Sabine saw:
Woodpigeon: 2
Robin: 2
Great Tit: 1
Chaffinch: 2
House Sparrow: 1
Magpie: 1
Common Pheasant (male): 1
For more information on UK garden birds, the Big Garden Birdwatch and how you can help them, please visit www.rspb.org.uk. Here you will find a wealth of information to help you find and identify UK bird species.
Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria) sunning on a hazel leaf – Sabine Lang
Butterfly Conservation opened the Big Butterfly Count between 15th July and 7th August this year. This annual initiative sees citizen scientists taking to their gardens, local parks and verges, or heading out into the countryside to spend fifteen minutes counting the butterflies and moths in their chosen patch.
At the time of writing (15th August) the results on the 2022 Big Butterfly Count page state an accumulation of just shy of 95,000 counts recorded by approximately 63,400 participants. Most counts were submitted from the UK but there was a scattering of submissions from elsewhere in the world. It’s a lower participation count than last year, but there’s still time to submit any counts you took between 15th July and 7th August at: https://bigbutterflycount.butterfly-conservation.org/map
The results from the 2021 Big Butterfly Count suggested a continued decline of the overall number of butterflies across the UK and prompted some sobering thoughts on the diminishing appearances of these beautiful, remarkable and vital members of our ecosystem. “76% of butterflies have declined in abundance in distribution since 1976” heads one article on the Butterfly Conservation website, then goes on to state that “We may be the last generation to enjoy butterflies and moths in abundance.”
Some interesting results from the 2021 Big Butterfly Count were increases in the recorded numbers of some species such as Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina) (33%), Ringlet (Aphantopus hyperantus) (81%) and Six-spot Burnet (Zygaena filipendulae) (42%) and a whopping increase of 213% from 2020 for the Marbled White (Melanargia galathea)!
It’s hard to imagine that 2022 has been more favourable for the UK’s Lepidoptera. A prolonged winter of record-breaking storms that rattled the country was followed by low temperatures through spring that gave way in a burst to record-breaking heat, parching the soil for weeks on end and plunging us into drought and sporadic wildfires by the time the Big Butterfly Count came around.
Town centre meadow of dried grasses in Totnes – Oliver Haines
For one of my counts I took a lunch break trip to a local parkland meadow under a heavy humid sky where the grasses, thistles and cow parsley flowers have been allowed to grow all summer long. Allotments run along one field edge and private gardens with a variety of growing styles along the other. In my allocated 15 minute count a single Large White (Pieris brassicae) slipped past in a hurry, over the wall and away.
A second count along a hedge by the local river bank was a little more fruitful, sporting three Gatekeepers (Pryonia tithonus), one Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina) and five Ringlets (Aphantopus hyperantus) all skipping along the spent bramble flowers and sunning themselves on the leaves.
Results
Elsewhere within the NHBS team, counts were taken by Hana, Catherine and Sabine who spotted the following species in their chosen locations:
Hana:
1 x Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria)
1 x Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta)
1 x Jersey Tiger Moth (Euplagia quadripunctaria)
Catherine:
7 x Large White (Pieris brassicae)
3 x Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria)
2 x Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta)
2 x Gatekeeper (Pryonia tithonus)
Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) – Catherine Mitson
Sabine:
1 x Holly Blue (Celastrina argiolus)
1 x Comma (Polygonia c-album)
2 x Small White (Pieris rapae)
2 x Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas)
1 x Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta)
Comma (Polygonia c-album) – Catherine Mitson
Butterfly Conservation
There’s some interesting reading on the Butterfly Conservation website on their strategy to save and support the UK’s butterfly and moth populations here and a useful guide to ways that you can directly get involved and help out here.
The current top 5 Butterflies recorded in the 2022 Big Butterfly Count are as follows:
Large White (Pieris brassicae)
Gatekeeper (Pryonia tithonus)
Small White (Pieris rapae)
Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina)
Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta)
Useful resources
NHBS sells a wide variety of helpful guides to assist in butterfly identification all around the world – some great ones to get you started in the UK include:
Britain’s Butterflies:A Field Guide to the Butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland Flexibound | 2020 £12.50£17.99
Swifts, swallows and martins are migratory birds, spending the winters in Africa before flying around 3,400 miles to spend summer in the UK. While they are here they spend their days soaring high and feasting on the abundance of flying insects. Their arrival, for many of us, marks the end of winter and announces the arrival of spring and summer.
Although swifts, swallows and martins share some characteristics, they are, upon closer inspection, markedly different. They are roughly similar in size and shape, which can make them difficult to discern between, especially when flying high in the sky. However, as you begin to look closely at their appearance, flight, nesting behaviour and other key characteristics, it is relatively easy to distinguish between them.
Below we share our top tips for identifying swifts, swallows and martins. In this article we have focused on the below species as they are all common and widespread in the UK:
Swifts are amazing birds – they are the longest continually-flying species, spending up to 10 months in the air without landing. They eat, drink, sleep, and mate while flying, only landing to breed. They are almost never seen perching.
Key identification features:
Crescent-shaped, long, curving wings
Forked tail which is much shorter and stouter than the tail of a swallow
Dark brown all over with a small pale patch on their throat, but often appear black against the sky
Swallows are small colourful birds. They are known for their agility as they feed on insects while on the wing. They can often be found flying low to the ground over farmland and open pastures, particularly near water where there are lots of insects. In late summer they can be spotted perching together on telephone wires and power lines, readying themselves to migrate to Africa for the winter.
Key identification features:
Glossy blue upper parts, creamy-white under parts
Red throat and dark red forehead, but from a distance their whole head may appear dark
Long forked tail
They tend to nest in barns, lean-tos and other outbuildings, where they build cup-shaped nests of mud
Chattering call
Can be seen perching on telephone wires or wire fencing
House martins are commonly found in towns and villages, as well as in agricultural areas. They are one of the last of our summer migrants to depart in the autumn. They only eat while on the wing, catching insects as they fly. Their mud cup nests are usually spotted below the eaves of buildings.
Key identification features:
Small birds with glossy blue-black upper parts and pure white under parts
Distinctive white rump, short forked tail and white feathers covering its legs and toes
Sand martins are the smallest of all the European hirundines and one of the first spring migrants to appear. They are agile fliers, feeding mainly over water. They breed in colonies of up to 1000 pairs. Unique to sand martins, these birds burrow holes into sandy, dry vertical banks in sand pits, gravel pits, riverbanks, lakes, streams, railway cuttings, and even in drainpipes in walls and holes in brickwork.
Key identification features:
Dark brown upper parts, with pale tipped feathers. Upper wings, tails and flight feathers are dark brown
Under parts are white with a distinctive brown band across the breast separating the white throat from the white belly
Breast band on young sand martins is less visible and their necks and chins are a reddish brown
Short legs and feet which are dark brown or black
Short forked tail
Tend to swirl and flap rather than glide, and can be found mainly over water
Countryside Management Association (CMA) is the largest organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland that supports the work of conservation, access and recreation professionals in the natural greenspace and countryside sector. They also have close ties to the Scottish Countryside Rangers Association (SCRA), Scotland’s own association.
Through networking, training and continuing professional development, CMA supports and champions the development of staff, students and volunteers that are involved in the management, interpretation and public enjoyment of natural greenspaces and the countryside. They promote the value and importance of these areas and their management to the general public, government and other organisations, while also providing organisations who are involved in management with helpful and relevant information.
Last year, the CMA ran a photo competition celebrating the work of professionals in the field and shared inspirational photos of staff and volunteers undertaking work to protect, enhance and interpret these important areas. Participants were encouraged to submit images of work involving anything from habitat management, estate work, and wildlife survey and monitoring to leading events and school visits, and engaging with visitors and volunteers. The competition ran from May 2021 to 7th January 2022. We teamed up with CMA to offer some fantastic prizes: a £100 voucher for first prize and £50 vouchers for two runners-up.
Results
Winner: Robert Ballard
The winning entry was taken by Robert Ballard, a ranger at Stover Country Park near Newton Abbot in Devon. His black and white image is a portrait of several volunteers undertaking some pond maintenance. Ponds and lakes are important habitats, supporting a wide range of species. Maintaining and enhancing them has a number of ecological benefits, including increasing wildlife diversity, improving water quality, reducing pond edge or lake shoreline erosion and creating better habitats for aquatic species.
First runner up: Jo Maddox
First runner up was Jo Maddox’s image of conservation work with a city background. CMA liked this image as they are currently seeking to promote and represent greater diversity in their membership, and to highlight urban greenspace management in particular. Urban green spaces, such as gardens, parks and woodlands, provide a vital habitat for wildlife, as well as numerous benefits to people living in urban areas. The management of these areas can help to improve and maintain ecosystem health and biodiversity.
Second runner up: Aam Hersey
Second runner up was Aam Hersey’s socially distanced hedge workers, which CMA thought was of the moment. Hedgerows are dynamic and invaluable habitats, providing food, shelter and breeding sites for species such as yellowhammers, great tits and dunnocks. Hedgerows are made up of a wide range of flora groups, often thought as different layers, including the shrub layer, tree layer, base, margin and ditch. Woody species like hawthorn, blackthorn and hazel make up the tree layer. Smaller woody species, shrubs and climbers, for example bramble, honeysuckle and ivy, are part of the shrub layer, which can also include young trees. The base, margin or ditch parts of a hedgerow can be bare ground, grass or be occupied by wildflowers such as herb robert, wood sage and red campion or thick herbaceous vegetation like cow parsley and common hogweed. Each of these components can support different wildlife, therefore hedgerow management is vital to maintain and promote this biodiversity.
Countryside Management Association
For more information on Countryside Management Assocation, please visit https://countrysidemanagement.org.uk/. Here you will find information on membership, training and events.
