We have once again commenced dormouse checks on all boxes and tubes mounted in woodland within our local countryside. Volunteer teams have been undertaking monthly checks on all boxes and records kept. Dormice are rare and even in woodlands where a presence exists they have a patchy distribution. This is thought to be a reflection of either the spasmodic food supply they rely upon or territorial behaviour during the breeding season. Whatever the cause it results in any population being spread thinly and even the best habitats will contain no more than four males per hectare. In the average woodland location detecting dormice often resembles looking for ‘a needle in a haystack’ so patience and an on-going commitment is required.

Our boxes are mounted following the detection of dormice in an initial installation of dormouse investigation tubes. This provides justification for the resulting costly purchase of permanent  boxes. They are mounted in the most lucrative food supply areas within the woodland which have a very mixed habitat and obvious provision of food supplies throughout the season between April and November, as dormice do not normally travel far from their nest. In addition to their favoured hazel nuts, the presence of oak, bramble and honeysuckle are valued sources of food.

 

One of our key team members installing a dormouse box.

Dormice are primarily tree dwellers and it is important that they are able to move from one tree to the next without coming to the ground with a further need to be able to climb between the canopy and the understorey without difficulty. With such demanding requirements it is not surprising that they are scarce, especially with the on-going reduction of suitable natural habitat to sustain them.

 

Regular monthly inspections are undertaken by licenced volunteers.

It is for this reason that we are not daunted by any lack of dormice found in our inspections but instead monitor their presence through the trail of indicators found in food debris and old nest construction. The knowledge of box use in these circumstances is rewarding in its own right as it proves that they are providing a valuable substitute for dwindling tree holes and helping to maintain the endangered population. Our inspections often reveal many other occupants and have included blue tits, great tits and wood mice this year.

 

A wood mouse is discovered in one of the boxes.

 

Sometimes shrews are found.

On occasions we are accompanied by inquisitive Robins who are curious to discover what insects we are disturbing. With many of the boxes containing earwigs, spiders and moths we are able to provide them with delicious snacks and are rewarded by them coming within centimetres of us, with one actually settling on the leg of a volunteer as a box was emptied.

 

A very friendly robin joins our team as we move from box to box.

An additional woodland has been selected for dormouse investigation within our local countryside and 55 tubes have been installed. These are also being checked regularly and if a presence is found will have permanent boxes erected. Permanent boxes are already being provided in another location following some positive results. We hope eventually to have researched all local countryside locations and provided nest boxes wherever we have detected a presence that needs supporting. Detailed records are kept of each box and its location.

 

Every box is examined and if no dormice found cleaned of any unwanted debris.

 

Volunteers are knowledgeable of all requirements and skilfully undertake the inspections.

 

The expertise gained from these regular checks allows them to be performed swiftly and efficiently with minimum disturbance inflicted on any dormouse found.

All this work to erect and monitor dormouse boxes when added to our other meadow, pond, owl, bat and nature reserve initiatives, adds to the overall work load of the group and demands a lot of volunteer time and effort to achieve. This means we are always seeking additional people to help us as we wish to maintain our support for countryside and wildlife to ensure our work makes a difference to their survival.  Anyone interested in helping our effort should contact us through the website link provided.

 

The talk given by Trevor Beebee on 29th August at Hurstpierpoint Village Centre was a great success. The Woodland, Flora & Fauna Group sponsored evening was well attended and enjoyed by all. A short introduction by the sponsors describing our conservation work was followed by a very descriptive illustrated talk by the author and emeritus professor of evolution behaviour and environment, Trevor Bee. He described the effects that climate change was having on British wildlife and their populations. This talk was fulfilling the group’s continuing ambition of providing eminent speakers to our annual public events to share their knowledge with us and improve our understanding of the natural world. This talk met all our aspirations in this respect and we are very grateful to Trevor that he found time to speak to us.

 

The Chairman, Michael Nailard, introduces the event and describes some of the group’s work.

 

   Trevor Beebee addresses a packed audience.

 

The talk created great interest and prompted many questions afterwards. Trevor is pictured here with the Chairman during the question and answer session.

 

Many people received answers to their raised queries which demonstrated the public concern about nature and wildlife.

 

Trevor pictured with the Chairman afterwards following an expression of The Woodland, Flora & Fauna Group’s gratitude for his attendance.

 

The difficulties of the natural environment’s struggle to overcome adversity were aptly depicted by a newspaper’s cartoon as a conclusion to Trevor’s talk.

 

INVITATION TO AN ILLUSTRATED TALK.

 

The Woodland, Flora & Fauna Group

invite you to an illustrated public talk by the emeritus professor TREVOR BEEBEE entitled CLIMATE CHANGE & BRITISH WILDLIFE

It will take place on Thursday, 29th August at 7.00 pm in the Main Hall at Hurstpierpoint Village Centre, Trinity Road, Hurstpierpoint, BN6 9UY.

The talk provides a factual review of the changes that are occurring to our natural environment and the effect it is having on our wildlife populations. It will immediately follow a brief introduction by The Woodland, Flora & Fauna Group.

Trevor Beebee has published several books and more than 200 scientific papers and articles on ecology, conservation and genetics of wildlife populations. Our climate is changing and this is having a tremendous effect on British ecosystems. He examines the changes so far to our plant, fungi and animal species and reveals how wildlife is being impacted by the warming climate. It is a talk that will be of extreme interest to all nature lovers concerned about the well-being of our natural environment. He is a busy person so we are very pleased that he has found time to speak to us. We strive to organise eminent speakers to improve our knowledge so please join us to make the most of this opportunity.

Entry is free (although voluntary contributions are welcomed) and all are invited. Bring any interested friends. There is a car park opposite the building.

Michael Nailard.   –   Chairman.

Talbot Field Nature Reserve has many bird nesting and bat roosting boxes mounted in the main woodland at the western end of the meadow. These were originally purchased by Hassocks Parish Council and mounted and maintained by The Woodland, Flora & Fauna Group. Recently, following a meeting with council officials and a group representative, it was agreed that further boxes would be purchased by them to compliment the existing ones which had been so successful. Every year inspections revealed a high level of occupancy which suggested an increased number of boxes would further benefit local wildlife species.

The additional boxes were ordered by the Parish Council and collected from their office by the group. They were subsequently mounted in the existing woodland and the tree cluster at the eastern end of the reserve. It is anticipated that these will be welcomed by the local bird and bat populations and make the nature location even more valuable for the indigenous wildlife. We are obviously very grateful to Hassocks Parish Council for their on-going investment in the local natural environment and will continue to support this to maximise the benefit to nature.

A new bird box mounted on a tree within the reserve.

 

Each one is located in a position most suitable for nesting.

 

They include boxes of various types to appeal to different bird species.

 

Bat boxes are mounted on trees throughout the woodland.

 

They are often mounted considerably higher than the bird boxes to suit the requirements of their occupants.

 

When entering the wood it is necessary to look up in the canopy to notice them.

 

Bats are sensitive to temperature and humidity and select roosts to match their particular needs in respect of height and orientation.

 

This woodland at Talbot Field is highly used by roosting bats.

These measures compliment the richness of the surrounding meadow to provide a sanctuary where wildlife can flourish in an increasingly hostile world. Below are some of the other natural attributes flourishing in the reserve this year and sustaining local wildlife populations.

 Colourful flowers form displays throughout the meadow.

 

Each plant blending with its neighbour to compliment the impressive overall appearance.

 

Different species and coloured areas of plant growth provides a rainbow patchwork throughout the meadow.

 

Each plant providing a valuable source of food for different species of local wildlife.

 

Knapweed is one of the richest providers.

 

Appealing to insects of all descriptions….

 

….and a vital source of food for the bee populations.

 

Other plant displays appeal to different insects….

 

….like this beautiful moth ….

 

….or cinnabar moth caterpillars on ragwort.

 

Clover adds to the insect attraction and value of the meadow.

 

  Fungi of many descriptions can also be found here.

Overall this small nature reserve area is providing an increasing appeal to wildlife populations and improving our natural environment. Foxes and deer are often seen around us as we perform conservation work there and frogs hop through the long grass disturbing the huge population of grasshoppers and crickets inhabiting it. The majority of bird and bat boxes are populated each summer and we have high expectations from the additional ones that have just been erected. Increasingly this small area is becoming a wildlife haven and one we are proud to contribute effort to improve in conjunction with Hassocks Parish Council.

Each summer all the group’s barn owl boxes are visited by our authorised team to determine which ones have breeding occupants within them. From this a record is kept of the stage of development of any young to determine when they are large enough for a return visit to be made to ring and record them. Every box is logged initially and all findings added to our data base to complete the historical record of each one.  Kestrels, jackdaws and stock doves are often inclined to make the most of our effort to assist the local barn owl population and are regularly identified as interlopers. The jackdaws complete their nesting before we arrive and we are often presented with a box almost completely full of the mud and sticks they use to form their nest. These have to be removed entirely and the boxes cleaned of all redundant debris to make them suitable for occupation by owls again. It is always a difficult and very dirty job and produces clouds of dust which totally engulfs the person undertaking it and anyone else in the vicinity. Any old stock doves nests found are also cleared but any doves still residing within a box are left undisturbed to complete their breeding in peace. Even in a location where we had only weeks before erected new boxes we already had a stock dove resident with several eggs.

During our winter inspections we had noted only half the number of resident adult owls compared with the previous bountiful breeding year, so we were expecting the summer breeding population results to follow the same pattern. This indeed proved to be the case. The spring and early summer had been dry and hot and this resulted in a delay in the growth of meadows where their mice and vole prey reside. This in turn affected the prey populations and made food availability for owls less plentiful which affected the size and frequency of owl broods. In some cases the number of barn owl young found on our initial inspections had reduced further by the time we returned to ring them and it was suspected that some smaller siblings had been sacrificed to compensate for the food shortage. We found no larders of dead mice and voles this year which further adds weight to this theory.

The first box visited however had a really healthy brood of young kestrels in it. These are very fiery even at a very young stage of growth and make a lot of noise to try to force us to leave.

Young kestrels huddling together for protection.

 

When we returned to ring them several weeks later they demonstrated even more defiance.

Several boxes were found to contain broods still at the egg stage. This meant we had to stagger our return visits as ringing can only be undertaken when they reach a suitable size and each box contained young at vastly differing stages of development. This development difference even occurs within a single box depending on the timing of individual egg hatching.

 

Five barn owl eggs found in one box.

 

Three eggs found in another.

 

Four kestrel eggs found in a further box. These unfortunately had been abandoned by the parents, probably because the box was occupied by an adult barn owl at the time of our initial visit.

 

This was a young stock dove resident found enjoying the safety of a barn owl box to develop. It was left undisturbed.

 

This was one of the many boxes found with young barn owls within it. At this size it was several weeks before they were sufficiently large enough to ring.

 

This was one found in another location having grown enough to develop much of its adult plumage. This one was revisited fairly quickly to ring it before it fledged.

 

By the time we had returned to record this owl it was already showing evidence of having undertaken an exploratory flight in the world outside the box. This could be determined by the cleanliness of its feet. They become very dirty during their time inside the owl box and need a hunting trip to clean them.

 

 It had fully formed and decidedly sharp talons which immediately became evident to us during its handling. 

Each fully grown young owl we are able to ensure develops to maturity is another boost to the fragile continuity of the species in an increasingly hostile world. Without such conservation initiatives they would be struggling to survive so we are encouraged to continue with the considerable effort we currently expend. Our supporters often generously help with donations to assist us with the expenses we incur to achieve this. We are obviously very grateful for this.