Category Archives: Uncategorized

Decembers Wildlife Talk

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In our December talk, Barbara Meyer took us ‘On safari in South Africa’. A keen amateur wildlife photographer, Barbara turned professional with a view to raising funds, through her work, for wildlife conservation and research.
 
Her extensive knowledge, gained through years of experience, was evident as she introduced us to South Africa’s wildlife, particularly that in the Kruger National Park. We met the ‘Big 5’ – a term coined by the hunting community to reflect that amongst all of the animals hunted, these were potentially the most dangerous, as “they can fight back” – lion, rhino, leopard, buffalo and elephant. We saw antelopes including nyala, kudu and waterbuck, hippos, giraffe, ostrich, baboon and many more animals, all brought to life in Barbara’s images taken on safari.
 
Barbara shared advice on maximising your chances of seeing animals in South Africa – use reputable organisations and experienced guides – and regaled us with accounts of locations and encounters. One of the more memorable locations is a car park where baboons try to get into arriving vehicles searching for food, and rangers fire their rifles into the air to discourage them. As Barbara said, it can be interesting returning a damaged hire car with the excuse “it was the baboons that did it”!
 
Thanks again to Barbara for an interesting and informative talk.
 
Join us for our next talk on Thursday 6th January, when Gordon Hamlett gives us ‘Molotovs and Merlins (Birdwatching in Scotland)’, looking at the trials and tribulations of writing his best selling book ‘The best birdwatching sites in Scotland’.
 

Wildlife Talks

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COMING SOON – Our online Winter Wildlife Talks programme starts on Thur Oct 7th with a talk on Flowers of Road Verges and Reserves by Gerald who pent two years photographing the Nature Reserves and flower-bedecked roadsides, all within eight miles of his home in the countryside to the south of Winchester.
Talk is online via ZOOM and cost £3 per device (incl booking fee) via https://www.nottinghamshirewildlife.org/…/2021-10-07…

What to look out for in Sept/Oct

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Summer’s almost ended, and (meteorological) autumn is nearly here. Flowers and leaves may soon be gone for the year, and our summer visitors leaving but the coming two months offer the prospect of lots of birds coming in for the winter to join our resident species, and there will still be plenty of insects to look out for. To find out more, follow this link: http://www.southnottswildlife.org.uk/content/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/month-ahead-sept_oct-2021.pdf

Sharphill Wood Annual Bird Report 2021

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Sharphill Wood is a 24-acre wood standing on a hill to the south of West Bridgford and clearly visible from many points in the city. It is owned by Rushcliffe Borough Council and is a designated Local Wildlife Site with mature ash, oak, large-leafed lime and beech. The wood is popular with local walkers; information boards at the two entrances show the rights of way. It supports a wide range of flora and fauna. Bird and plant surveys, as well as woodland management, are undertaken by The Friends of Sharphill Wood. (see www.sharphillwood.org or search Facebook for our page).

Attached is a link to the 2021 Sharphill Wood Bird survey SharphillBirdReport2021  

Petition – Nature Recovery Targets

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A consortium of a whole host of nature conservation organisations both big and small are campaigning for the government targets for nature recovery to be enshrined in Legislation in order to give them some teeth. They are asking people to sign a petition, although the campaign is being organized by RSPB it is on behalf of a consortium. called the Wildlife & Countryside Petition.

Sign the petition to make nature’s recovery by 2030 law

Currently it stands at circa 189,000 signatories.

Also of interest is this video by Chris Packham and Megan McCuddy talking about the issues surrounding the problem and is an appeal to sign. Nothing that will surprise most of you I think. Indeed the first section could almost be called things we are trying to do/hope to do in Rushcliffe and is behind the thinking for the Rushcliffe Nature Conservation Strategy since 2003

See this link https://www.facebook.com/ChrisGPackham/videos/496971391545650  to a starter video, that links to the main video.

Cheers – Gordon Dyne   Chair- RNCSIG

Tims Nature Notes

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Here is a link to Tim Williams latest set of Nature Notes, this time majoring on garden snails, proof if it is needed that whether or no aliens exist on other planets, life on Earth can be pretty dam strange.  + a little bit of Pigeon voyeurism – Tim definitely needs to get out more.

Wildlife Sites just over the border

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An area worth exploring is Charnwood just over the border in Leicestershire.

There is a cluster of Leic Wildlife Trust sites namely Lea Meadows, Ulverscroft and Herberts Meadow and in addition the County Council manage Outwoods, Beacon Hill, and Broomriggs Farm and of course there is also Bradgate Park and Swithland Wood. Although the footpath network is very limited in the area it is perfectly possibly to put together a days walk taking in Beacon Hill, Ulverrscroft/Herberts Meadow, Lea Meadows, Bradgate Park and Broomriggs – although to be fair such a circuit is more about passing through. But it is a fine walk taking in National Forest plantations.

Outside of Charnwood there are nature reserves at Holwell/Browns Quarry and also Wymeswold Meadow and Loughborough Big Meadow all just over the border. See LRWT web site for more info https://www.lrwt.org.uk/nature-reserves PS not sure if exotic places like Leicetershire has left the EU, so you might need to take your passport !