South Notts Local Group
Bringing the work of the Trust to your doorstep
Rushcliffe’s Wildlife Web Site
Reserves
The South Notts Local Group, known as the SNG represents members of the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust resident in the south of the county, principally in the borough of Rushcliffe. More about the Group...
All the Fun of the Spring Fair!
Our major annual fund-raising event – Ruddington Spring Fair – will be on 18th May, 10am till noon at St Peter’s Rooms, Ruddington, which is opposite the church in the village centre (more info & street map). This year we are selling good quality donated plants, home baking, CDs, DVDs and records. There will also be a café (home-baked cakes with tea, coffee or soft drinks!), a general knowledge quiz and, of course, our nature table and Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust displays.
May days in South Notts
We have three nature reserve walks later this month, beginning with a midweek morning ramble round the ever-popular Wilwell reserve to see its spring wildflowers (hopefully the greenwing orchids will be out!) on Wednesday 15th May starting at 10am. Next on Sunday morning, 19th May we meet at 10am to visit Keyworth’s new wildflower meadow, then stroll along Lings Lane (hedgerow birds) to the Keyworth Meadow reserve. We have our first evening walk of the summer on Wednesday 22nd May, when we join the Friends of Sharphill Wood at 7:30pm for a stroll through the spinney and then across to the wood itself.
See the diary at the bottom of this page for full details of these, and of our other events during spring and early summer!
News
South Notts AGM (added 14 May 13)
Our local group’s annual meeting was held on 25th April 2013, and was attended by 27 members. We had a successful year, with a well-attended talks programme and welcome news on development of our reserves. Full details in our AGM report (PDF)…
Health walks in Rushcliffe (added 14 May 13)
Rushcliffe Move & Mingle is a programme of health walks at three locations in Rushcliffe. The group is part of the national Walking for Health scheme run by Ramblers and Macmillan Cancer. The Rushcliffe walks each take place once a week, are mostly in green areas and invariably items of wildlife interest are seen:
- Tuesday mornings in Ladybay, West Bridgford, taking in The Hook and heading towards Holme Pierrepont
- Wednesday mornings at Rushcliffe country park
- Friday afternoons at Cotgrave country park
Wildlife courses in Derbyshire (added 14 May 13)
A bit outside our patch but well worth a day out! Experienced natural history tutor Debbie Alston is presenting a series of wildlife courses, including talks and walks, in conjunction with the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust and various adult educational groups. Nottinghamshire residents are welcome to attend! Course brochure… (PDF)
Free courses in butterfly conservation (added 14 May 13)
Come along to one of two FREE training courses and find out more about the Grizzled Skipper butterfly! Course dates: Thursday 23rd May at East Leake Village Hall; Sunday 26th May at The Old Courthouse, Bingham. Organised by East Midlands branch of Butterfly Conservation with Nottinghamshire Biodiversity Action Group. More info… (PDF)
Meadow Park walks (updated 14 May 13)
The Friends of Meadow Park in East Leake have organised a series of spring & early summer nature walks. More info…
Bunny Wood Open Day photo-tour (added 8 May 13)
This large area of ancient woodland (mentioned in Domesday Book) is one of our prime south Notts nature reserves. Its annual open day this year was 28th April. The cold spring weather meant the bluebells weren’t in full flower but the event was well-attended, with 50-60 visitors, and, as our photo-tour shows, there was plenty to see! Take the tour…
Garden Moth Challenge 2013 (added 8 May 13)
This is a friendly and increasingly popular annual competition to see how many species of moth you can record in your garden during the year. And with more moths about now the evenings aren’t so chilly, it’s a good time to join in! More info…
The Nature of Rushcliffe 2012 (added 8 May 13)
Rushcliffe Nature Conservation Strategy Implementation Group (RNCSIG) brings together organisations and community based activities involved in protecting and enhancing Rushcliffe’s wildlife resources. Their annual report is well worth reading as it shows the amazing amount of work that goes on behind the scenes! There’s a comprehensive list of nature reserves and quick-reference indicators of what’s improving (and what’s not!). Download report (PDF)…
Spring Newsletter now available (added 17 April 13)
The South Notts Local Group Spring 2013 Newsletter is now available, to read online or to download as-printed (PDF). Features include Jenny Craig’s butterflies & wildflowers at Bingham, Gordon Dyne’s recommendations for springtime reserve visits and Neil Pinder’s new wildlife websites.
Looking for butterflies & dragonflies (added 15 April 13)
Can you spare a morning or afternoon a month from May to September to walk round the new Blotts Pit nature reserve and note butterflies and dragonflies seen? If so, we’d like to hear from you! This is part of a programme to identify what is currently found on the site and will also cover birds, flora, amphibians & various categories of invertebrates. A high level of ID skills is not essential (indeed it could be a good way of acquiring some basic ID skills!) as the most you are likely to find is about 40–50 species, and we can provide a list of the ‘usual suspects’ indicating which are common or rare. We can also arrange for someone to give you a guided tour of the site, but essentially it is a circular walk of 2-3 hours. Interested? Then contact Gordon Dyne (0115 878 4842, or gordon.dyne@gmail.com) for more info.
‘Lake’ Wilwell (updated 15 April 13)
Well, almost! Anyone visiting Wilwell Cutting reserve over the winter will have seen major flooding (photo, right) affecting the north end of the trackbed and the lower meadow, and making access to the southern end of the reserve difficult. Warden Gordon Dyne says, “The amount of water that has appeared is unprecedented in my experience over the last 17 years!” It has been caused by civil engineering work associated with the new tram line extension, NET Phase-2. NET’s contractors began pumping during February, and after a slow start – not helped by very cold weather in March – water levels have dropped steadily. But there are problems with water ‘ponding’ in parts of the site, and it is feared that the reserve’s flora might have suffered significant damage from over 6 months under water. Full report, NWT press release and BBC News item...