December

Featured

The start of meteorological winter, December is a month of short days and precious little greenery to brighten the countryside. There is, however, still plenty of birdlife to look out for.

Read our guide ‘What to look out for in December’ by following this link

WINTER WILDLIFE TALKS PROGRAMME

Tursday Decemebr 7th – The best of Britain: From Ardnamurchan to the Forest of Dean – Tom Mabbett, Naturetrek

In this talk, Tom will cover his favourite wildlife locations across the UK from the “Wild west” of Scotland to his local Forest of Dean. Appreciating what is close to home and on our doorstep has never been more important and Tom will also talk about some local wildlife discoveries and the joy and excitement of finding wildlife on your home patch, including an introduction to camera trapping.

A lifelong fascination with wildlife, a degree in Biology and extensive travel around the world encountering sharks, rays and too many birds and mammals to mention, followed by work at an environmental charity and then as grounds warden at WWT Slimbridge have given Tom a wealth of knowledge and experience which he puts to good use with Naturetrek. Since 2013, Tom has led over 50 of their tours around the world seeking out wildlife ranging from Hawfinches in the UK to Clouded Leopards in Borneo.

Each talk will be available online through Zoom (some may be available as recordings). Each talk costs £4 per device including booking fee. For dates, full details, including technical requirements and how to book, please follow this link.

GET CLOSER TO NATURE THROUGH ORGANISED EVENTS

Sat 9th December – Rushcliffe Wildlife WATCH GROUP

11:00 am – 1:00 pm.  Meet at Rushcliffe Country Park Visitor Centre.

For young people between 8 and 12 years old who are interested in wildlife-related activities.  Meets monthly, on every second Saturday. Charge £3 per session.

WORK PARTIES

Our local nature reserves rely on volunteers to help maintain them, and organise regular work parties.  Planned parties for December are as follows:

Fri 1st              Skylarks                                   Gresham Marsh

Sat 2nd            Wilwell Farm Cutting

Sun 3rd            The Hook Reserve

Sat 9th             Wilford Claypit                        Meadow Park

Sun 10th          Skylarks                                   Sharphill Wood

Grizzled Skipper – Grange Farm Normanton on Soar

Sat 23rd           Springdale Wood

Details of times, etc. can be found in the Diary section of our website here, so if you have some spare time and energy please feel free to join in – you will be very welcome!

Don’t forget, you can find out more about what’s happening with nature in Rushcliffe by following us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/SouthNottsWildlifeGroup

If you would like to contact us, send an email to southnottswildlife@gmail.com

 

Tree Planting exercise at East Bridgford

A farmer in East Bridgford who is interested in improving biodiversity: They are planning on planting a new 6 acre wood on the 6th and 7th January. 9am-3pm.  East Bridgford. Volunteers are needed to help with the and very welcome to drop in or go home at any point. Bring a spade if you have one. Refreshments available ….. tea, coffee, cake.

If you let us know if you can support this initiative please contact Springdale Farm, East Bridgford.  07592233575. Harvey Pickford. Gives us an idea of boots on the ground!

Grizzled Skipper Project 2023/2024 Work Party Programme

Sunday 19th November – Granby Disused Railway – hay raking/ maintenance of egg laying sites.

Tuesday 28th November – Saxondale Disused Railway Spur – hay raking/ scrub clearance.

Sunday 10th December – Grange Farm, Normanton on Soar – scrub clearance/ bare earth creation.

2024

Sunday 14th January – GCRN, Lime Sidings to Barnstone Tunnel – maintenance of egg laying sites/ scrub clearance.

Tuesday 23rd January – Flawborough Triangle – scrub regrowth clearance & treatment/ bare earth creation.

Sunday 4th February – Newstead & Annesley Country Park – scrub clearance.

Tuesday 20th February – GCRN, Rushcliffe Halt & Cutting – maintenance of egg laying sites/ scrub clearance.

Sunday 3rd March – Flawborough Footpath – scrub clearance and scallop creation/ bare earth creation.

Tuesday 12th March – Grange Farm, Normanton on Soar – scrub clearance/ bare earth creation.

If you want more details contact Christopher.Jackson@nottscc.gov.uk Notts Biodiversity Action Group Officer

East Midlands Railway and Notts Wildlife Trust working together for local wildlife

Railway stations and wildlife are two things you would not normally link together, but East Midlands Parkway is different. In a rural location, the station and car park are surrounded by over 11ha of wildlife habitat, part of a fantastic wildlife corridor linking with the River Soar and surrounding countryside.

East Midlands Railway’s Parkway Station group and Notts Wildlife Trust are looking for volunteers to help protect and develop this unique location and its wildlife.  More details can be downloaded here.

If you are interested in helping, please contact Ben Driver at bdriver@nottswt.co.uk

DaNES Insect Show 2023

Join Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Entomology Society for their 2023 Insect Show – ‘A celebration of Insects’. It takes place on Saturday 11th November at the NTU Brackenhurst Campus, from 10:30 am to 4:30 pm. Free entry.

Click here for details

Rushcliffe Borough Council Free Tree Scheme

is open to all residents. So far this year some 700 trees have been allocated, but RBC still have some 300 that can be handed out. (Hazel, Crab Apple, Wild Cherry and Rowan). The final date for applications is 30th Sept and the trees will be despatched between Dec 2023 to Feb 2024. For more details go to https://www.rushcliffe.gov.uk/news-area/free-tree-scheme-returns-for-rushcliffe-residents/

Rushcliffe has been running this scheme now for some six years and circa 10,000 have been distributed in that time. Parish Councils can also apply for up to 10 trees (I think) under a different version of the scheme.

Rushcliffe Nature Conservation Volunteer Forum 2023

The Forum is scheduled for Sat 7th Oct at Upper Saxondale Community Hall 11.15 am to 4 pm  (lunch provided). The overall theme for the day will be Community Action for Wildlife, plus an update on the Rushcliffe Nature Conservation Strategy, followed by a visit to the Saxondale Nature Reserve and Orchard.
This is open to anyone engaged with wildlife and nature conservation in Rushcliffe  so please forward it onto other membefrs of your group.
Look forward to seeing you there.
Gordon Dyne –  Chair RNCSIG

2023 Celebrating Rushcliffe Awards

Nominations are now open for the 2023 Celebrating Rushcliffe Awards, which celebrates the Borough’s wonderful volunteers, businesses, clubs, organisations, environmentalists, sports clubs and athletes, and the best of its health and wellbeing and food and drink sectors. From our point of view the important category is

  • Environmental Group or Project of the Year – Acknowledging individuals, organisations or projects that have an impact in making Rushcliffe a ‘greener’ place. This could include promoting nature conservation, reducing waste, improving energy efficiency, water conservation or improving quality of life for the people of the Borough

You can make nominations via this link https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/CRAs2023  

You can also make your nomination by phone by calling 0115 914 8555, Monday to Friday 10am to 4pm. Please note the deadline for nominations is 11pm on Sunday 15th October.

i

Wilwell Walk Rescheduled

NOTE this walk is recscheduled to Sat 12th Aug – Wilwell Farm Cutting in Late Summer – A stroll round the reserve to look at the sites natural history with Gordon the Warden. Meet 10 am at the Wilwell car park on the left, just before the ring road bridge on the B680 between Ruddington and Wilford (look out for reserve sign). Post Code for approx location NG2 7UT, Just Three Words = home, news, fuzzy Need more info contact gordon.dyne@gmail.com

Strange World of Fungi

Listened to an episode of “The Infinite Monkey Cage” (BBC Radio Four) about Fungi (listen to it on BBC Sounds). But the edited highlights are

The earliest fossils of fungi date to 1 bya, therefore Fungi seem to have been around before plants and animals had eveolved, Indeed Fungi are held to be closer to animals than plants and there are an estimated 3 to 6 million species on the planet (barely 10% have been documented). Fungi evolved in the icean and may have moved onto the land alongside plants, indeed may have made it possible for plants to exist on land. There are plants dated to 425 mya that show fungal connections. Fossil fungi have been found the size of a house.

The DNA of fungi is as diverse as that of a Flea and an Elephant and fungolgists have somewhat implausibly identified 23,000 different ways fungi might go about reproducing ! A distinguishing feature of Fungi is that they put themselves into their food, whereas plants and animals put food into themselves.

I have mentioned before how fungi can be active predators by setting traps and “hot pursuit, but to these we can add “harpooning” nematodes and poisoned baits. Alternatively there are parasitic fungi that take control of an insect hosts, in effect the zombie insect becoming part of the fungus.