Coming up in Rushcliffe

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WINTER OUT & ABOUT WITH WILDLIFE PROGRAMME

 Wed 18th Mar – Wilwell Farm Cutting in Early Spring with Gordon the warden (gordon.dyne@gmail.com). Meet 10 am at the Wilwell car park on the left of the B680 between Ruddington and Wilford, just before the ring road bridge).

CANCELLED – Sun 12th Apr – Wilwell Farm Cutting in Spring with Gordon the warden (gordon.dyne@gmail.com). Meet 10 am at the Wilwell car park on the left of the B680 between Ruddington and Wilford, just before the ring road bridge).

Sun 26th Apr – Sharphill Wood Dawn Chorus walk with John Elwell (07794 052672 – please advise if you wish to attend). Bring binoculars. Meet 6 am at the Pevrill Rd entrance to Sharphill Wood (West Bridgford).

Sun 26th Apr – Bunny Old Wood Open Day from 10 till 3 with a guided walk at 11am, children’s activities and info about woodland history (not to mention the bluebells. Car park on the left on the A60 climbing up out of Bunny village. Chris Terrell-Nield (0115 9374906).

RESERVE WORK PARTIES – If however you fancy something more practical this link outlines local reserve work parties (both NWT and others) – http://www.southnottswildlife.org.uk/content/?page_id=22

 

Bunny Old Wood Open Day

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This event did not get listed in the Trust Whats On, but will be happening on  Sun 26th April  from 10 till 3 with a guided walk at 11am, children’s activities and info about woodland history. A great chance to visit an ancient woodland with the spring wildflowers in bloom – not only bluebells but the white of greater stichwort and yellows of the lesser cellandine

Car park on the left on the A60 climbing up out of Bunny village. Chris Terrell-Nield (0115 9374906).

By the way the full summer Wildlife Walks programme for Rushcliffe is now available in the Diary section.

Pub Quiz great success

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Our third annual pub quiz at the Poppy and Pint in Ladybay was  the best ever. All the tables were taken (we could have filled more) and a good night was had by all. There were a few “stinkers” in the questions, which the quiz master claims are to separate the winning team from the rest, but others of us suspect it is just to see the confused looks on our faces ! All I will say is “Floating in the air” and Aled Jones. The winning team was only one point ahead and second place had to go to a tie break.

Besides a fun night, our object was to raise funds for NWT and this we also did making a total of £470. This is all “free” cash thanks to support from the Poppy & Pint in particular, but also Notts County FC, Notts County Cricket Club, West Bridgford ASDA, Clifton Morrisons + individual donations and of course the hard work of our quiz master Neil Glenn and all the South Notts LG “elves” who took money, sold raffle tickets and generally organized stuff etc etc.

General Knowledge Pub Quiz – Sunday 2nd Feb

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Back again for a third year, come along for a fun evening of general knowledge quizzing and also help raise funds for the work of Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust. Once again we are being generously hosted by the Poppy & Pint at Pierrepont Rd, Lady Bay, West Bridgford NG2 5DX on Sunday 2nd Feb (7pm for a 7.30pm start). As in previous years teams are a maximum of 4 persons per table with an entrance charge of £3.50 per head. Tables are limited so book in advance to avoid disappointment, by contacting Gordon Dyne on gordon.dyne@gmail.com or 0115 8784842.

South Notts Local Group (NWT) wish to acknowledge the support of Poppy & Pint (Castle Rock Brewery), ASDA, Nottingham Cricket Club and Notts County FC.

Attenborough Lifeline Appeal

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It may come as a surprise for some to know that despite being cared for by Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust for almost six decades, Attenborough Nature Reserve still belongs to aggregates company CEMEX UK.

Following intensive negotiations with the company NWT have secured an opportunity to buy the reserve. So, with the backing of the general public, funders and our corporate members to name but a few, we need to raise £1 million to safeguard its future for people and wildlife.  As at the start of December some £60,000 has been donated and NWT has a grant application to the Landfill Communities Fund for £750,000 and expect to hear about this shortly.

This is why NWT have launched the Attenborough Nature Reserve Lifeline Appeal, backed by none other than Sir David Attenborough himself. Follow this link for more information and how to donate  –  https://www.nottinghamshirewildlife.org/lifelineappeal

Sloworms at Wilwell Farm Cutting

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We recently ran a reptile survey at Wilwell to see if the occasional Grass Snake records translated into a permenant presence. I the end we found no Grass Snakes, but did find that we had a previously unkown colony of Sloworms (a legless lizard). Sloworms are probably poorly recorded , being smaller and less obvious than snakes, growing to perhaps 40-50 cm`s. We are fairly confident it is an active population as we have found at least 10 individuals varying from juviniles to young adults and at least one older specimein.

There is however good evidence that Grass Snakes are active in the area around Wilwell (between Ruddington and Wilford)  including the Golf Course and do on occasion visit the reserve.

Grizzeled Skippers on the Great Central Railway

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The attached article looks at the work of the Grizzeled Skipper project along the East Leake section of the Nottingham to Loughborough line in promoting and expanding the habitat for the nationaly important Grizzeled Skipper butterfly. Rushcliffe is one of the most northerly outposts of this creature and they are particularly assocaited with railway lines, as there are further colonies along the Bingham to Melton line (and branch lines). The whole project is a great example of practical conservation at work and there are plans to expand into the Vale of Belvior. Article for GCR newsletter Feb 2019

WILDLIFE TRUST ACTIVITY IN RUSHCLIFFE

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For a good few years now Rushclife Borough Council have been funding us under a Service Level Agreement to undertake additional work in Rushcliffe in terms of engagement, practical conversation etc. Follow this link Service level agreement report Jan -Dec 2018 for the 2018 report which gives quite a good idea of the range of work undertaken with Friends Groups, schools and landowners. It is fair to say even without SLA funding NWT would have undertaken some of this work from core funding (such as membership income), but a specific funding stream allows our Southern Conservation Officer (Ben Driver) to allocate more time to the area. And when you add on reserve management on our own reserves (not funded by RBC) you get some idea of the range of work undertaken. The Rushcliffe SLA is unusual in Nottinghamshire and I think only one or two Boroughs do anything similar.Service level agreement report Jan -Dec 2018