SUMMARY OF NATURE CONSERVATION ACHIEVEMENTS.
2024 proved to be another difficult year in terms of bad weather. The seasons are changing and this is producing a lot more rainfall. The number of volunteer project days we have been forced to cancel this year due to sudden wet weather fluctuations are at a record level. This has made both our countryside and wildlife projects a struggle to achieve to meet seasonal deadlines. Despite these difficulties, our volunteers have responded magnificently and have made themselves available to capture suddenly emerging dry window opportunities whenever they can. We are very grateful for their ongoing support in this respect, which has allowed us to achieve all major group objectives and successfully complete all required wildlife monitoring and collecting breeding results.
BARN OWL CONSERVATION SUCCESS INCREASES IN 2024.
2024 has been the most successful yet for breeding occupancy in our barn owl boxes. Not only have we had a record number of barn owl young born in our boxes, we have also found many kestrels. Kestrels are also in decline nationally with only 1 in 3 born surviving beyond 3 months. We have also found evidence of little owl breeding at some of our locations. With results like this, the tortuous winter maintenance schedule which involves pulling heavy equipment over many soggy fields to visit, clean and maintain all the boxes within our area are quickly forgotten.
Teams of owl volunteers brave the soggy ground and freezing conditions each winter…
….to access all remote box locations.
This freezing weather activity relies on the dedication of the most committed of our volunteers able to withstand the harsh prevailing winter conditions for long periods of time. Many layers of clothing were required by all involved. When the maintenance commitment was completed, there followed a massive programme of owl box replacement to remove all boxes damaged by weather or falling branches. This year had been one of the worst experienced for damage and over a dozen boxes required renewal. This presented us with a very heavy bill which we had to fund raise to meet. We strived to get all replaced before the onset of the owl breeding season so that the owls had good conditions to raise their young in. The frequent wet weather again made this more difficult. We achieved all apart from two. These will be given priority in readiness for next year.
The volunteers removed the damaged or rotten boxes and erected new ones in their place.
The objective was to maintain the provision of effective nesting and roosting habitat to maximise survival opportunities for the resident barn owls capitalising on our barn owl conservation area. These measures and the favourable conditions provided for breeding, have increased the local barn owl population considerably.
This resulted in a record number of barn owl and kestrel eggs found within them this year.
It is this objective that drives our project to help all these valuable creatures in a diminishing countryside landscape that is progressively threatening their survival by robbing them of the habitat they need to exist. Without this support they would probably be on the verge of extinction, as are so many other species currently.
This in turn, produced many healthy young barn owl chicks as shown above….
….and an equally record-breaking number of kestrel chicks beginning their life in our conservation area.
The birds found were ringed and recorded prior to their development into adults….
….and left to fledge naturally when they were ready to make their own way into the outside world.
All birds were carefully handled for ringing and recording prior to being placed back into the safety of their boxes.
This time spent with each owl provided a gratifying return for the conservation effort expended.
2024 -BAT CONSERVATION SUCCESS CONTINUES.
The weather again was a problem for all our bat conservation activities in 2024. Insufficient notice of dry days in the fluctuating forecast has made all our arrangements a last-minute scramble to organise. Those that we have been bold enough to gamble on for them to remain as predicted dry days, have often had to be cancelled at the last minute prior to the event. This made it difficult to achieve before the seasonal deadline when bats move to hibernate in warmer locations for the winter once the weather conditions begin to deteriorate. Our volunteer teams expected a poor result to our survey because of this, but we were pleasantly surprised.
Teams of willing volunteers are assembled before each site is visited.
Without this valuable help the surveys would not be possible.
Two of a number of ‘restricted and rare’ Bechstein’s bats found in 2024.
A Noctule bat found using one of our boxes.
Many Common Pipistrelles were found in groups of up to six in a multitude of other boxes.
Every box in each location is visited to determine whether there are bats roosting inside. We record every one found and submit a copy of the data to Natural England at the end of the season to determine population numbers nationally.
We try to disturb each occupant as little as possible to ensure they remain in the positions we find them, rather than as sometimes occurs, our presence makes them begin crawling towards the doorways. When they do this, extra care must be taken to gently move them back, so there is no possibility of trapping them when the door is replaced. Our results in 2023 were affected by the cold autumn weather which arrived early. In 2024 we fared much better as the following results show.
2024 – SEASONAL CHECKS CONTINUE ON DORMOUSE BOXES.
We rarely get the same positive results with the number of dormice found in our many dormouse boxes. In 2024 however, at the end of the year we did find evidence of a dormouse nest in one of the boxes, but no resident dormouse at the time or other indicators from food consumed etc. This find gives us encouragement to keep our conservation effort going and spurs us on through the many time-consuming annual box surveys where we usually find a wide array of other wildlife species occupying them.
There are many bird’s nests found in these boxes.
Many others contained wood mouse nests.
A dormouse nest found in one of the boxes this year.
A wood mouse found residing in one of the boxes.
A box that had been vandalised by a grey squirrel and requiring replacement.
We are extremely grateful for the valuable help provided by our group volunteers who enable all our dormouse box checks to be achieved. They are essential to group wildlife conservation activities and maintaining project effectiveness with surveys and maintenance.
The days we were able to undertake these checks were again very difficult to arrange due to the erratic nature of the weather experienced. When competing for dry days with many other countryside and wildlife initiatives, it has been necessary to limit attendances for all to address the major requirements for each.
The team members selected individual roles to improve the efficiency of the checks.
With many locations allowing only single vehicle access, it made car sharing necessary. To accommodate this the teams had to be small. For some of the larger locations this meant that with the huge number of installed boxes to check the time it took increased significantly.
These were some of the volunteers who recently worked through the morning and into mid-afternoon to complete one of the surveys. They are shown having a sit-down break to have lunch midway through the day.
Where pairs of wood mice were discovered within a box, the nesting material was left intact so that they could continue using it, especially for the winter months. The mice captured were either returned to the box or released after the inspection. In all other boxes any old nesting material was removed in readiness for possible later occupancy by dormice.
WORK CONTINUES AT POND LYE SNCI MEADOW.
Group members work on the meadow to prepare it for the annual cut.
The meadow is cut by a group supporter kindly offering his help.
The cut hay is raked up with the help of students from a local college.
The annual meadow cut is vital for the maintenance of this area of land which is designated for the distinctive wild flowers it produces and the wildlife it supports. The task is extremely labour intensive and for it we have to recruit as many people as possible to aid our own volunteers. These students worked hard and were a great help to our group effort.
TALBOT FIELD NATURE AREA CONTINUES.
We returned to Talbot Field in the early months of the year to clear the bramble understorey from the woodland to ensure that the bluebells and other spring flowers could flourish in the following weeks. This was then extended to the meadow to remove the hundreds of unwanted tree seedlings and the outcrops of bramble that repeatedly appear each year. Keeping the meadow clear allows the wildflowers that result from the continuous planting of plugs, to become fully established and steadily improve the value of the area.
The spreading bramble is cleared from the woodland floor each year.
The adjoining meadow is also rigorously attended to ensure maximum benefit is achieved to boost the site’s natural environment.
Volunteers attend for many months each year to maintain and improve the site’s value to nature.
In early summer the woodland floor is transformed as the wild flowers emerge and the meadow orchids appear.
Once cleared, the area is left for nature to flourish undisturbed.
SAYERS COMMON WOODLAND POND.
No work has been possible at Sayers Common woodland pond this year due to advancing building development in the surrounding area, which has denied us access to the site while work goes on. Hopefully when sufficiently advanced we can resume our activities there.
GROUP STALLS AND TALKS ARE HELD THROUGHOUT 2024.
In August our group held a public talk to advertise our work and invite a prominent speaker to attend. This year we were fortunate to hear David Ramsden MBE from the Barn Owl Trust, who gave a highly illuminating talk about his lifetime experience of working with barn owls.
The hall was packed to capacity and the talk was very well received. David captivated the audience with his knowledge of barn owls and their requirements, which made the event a huge success.
We held a multitude of group presentation stalls and talks throughout 2024 to advertise our nature conservation work.
Volunteers manned the stalls at each location to explain the nature projects we undertake and the area we cover.
BIRD BOXES INSTALLED FOR PARISH COUNCIL.
The Woodland, Flora & Fauna Group received a request from Albourne Parish Council at the end of 2024, to install bird boxes on the trees within their Millennium Garden. We are always willing to help with projects that improve prospects for our natural world, so readily agreed. The bird boxes were installed quickly and now provide increased opportunities for birds to nest and roost. The group will check, clean, and maintain them each year.
The boxes were purchased by the Parish Council and installed by The Woodland, Flora & Fauna Group.
Each box will be visited at the end of each season to check, clean, and maintain if necessary.
GROUP AREA OF NATURE IMPROVEMENT EXPANDS.
Since the formation of The Woodland, Flora & Fauna Group in 2004, our volunteers have expended thousands of manhours in a continuous effort to improve conditions for nature to flourish.
Appalled by the continuous use of countryside as a commodity to be exploited by anyone with expansionist ambitions and showing little regard for the devastating impact this is having on the natural world, we have been compelled to combat this. This has on occasions brought us into conflict with local authorities and others whose development proposals or actions diminish our precious natural environment still further.
Our first-hand knowledge of the value of the countryside and the wildlife species these actions are destroying, compels us to give voice to these concerns and strive to reduce the devastating impact continuously being inflicted wherever we can. This has resulted in many countryside and wildlife projects being undertaken by our group over an area which now covers all of southern Mid Sussex and beyond, as outlined in purple on the map above.
SUPPORTER MESSAGE.
We thank all our supporters for their interest in our activities and our valuable volunteers for their help. We also give heartfelt thanks to those supporters and organisations who have generously provided donations to support our funds during this year. If you too would like to be a supporter or volunteer please contact: –
Michael Nailard. Telephone: 01273 834001.
Email: dralianmarine@aol.com