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!

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

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.

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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.

Mere Meadow, Bradmore

An interesting new initiative by local Bradmore residents Graeme and Eileen Radcliffe has been a while in the planning, but the initial phase has now begun with the rewilding of Mere Meadow at Bradmore. Horses have been moved to other fields in the village, public footpaths mown and the central area left to nature, whilst awaiting seeding of additional native meadow plants and flowers at the appropriate time. Care will be taken not to disturb the surrounding hedgerows, which support a variety of birds.

The next phase will be the pond and surrounding shrubs and trees. A key element will be an island in the middle of the pond to encourage wildfowl to nest and bring up their yioung in comparative safety! Another part of this project will be a small number of memory benches, so that local residents and walkers may listen to birdsong and relax and quietly enjoy the calming sound of nature.

The Radcliffe`s are fortunate to have advice on their plans from knowledgeable local residents who have studied the local bird life and evaluated the meadow and hedgerow flora, whilst another resident is a wetland specialist. But in addition they will be talking to Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust and other similar bodies to provide expert advice and potentially explore what grants may be available.

The meadow is on a public footpath and visitors are welcome. For information you can incorporate the site in a walk– either along the footpath from Rushcliffe Country Park to Bradmore and then straight down the lane opposite the exit from the footpath or from Bunny up the Green Lane to Bradmore and the meadow is on your left just before you reach the village – look for footpath gate.

This link is to an info pack produced by the Radcliffes`s Mere Meadow info pack

Rushcliffes Big Green Book –

This is a directory of nature-based activities and Green Spaces in Rushcliffe, and is for social prescribers and healthcare workers who want to find activities for their patients, as well as individuals who are looking for an activity to get involved in. Besides using to to give yourself and family ideas of opportunities localy, if you know of any local group/activity that would seem to fit the bill please encourage them to put themselves forward for inclusion, the more the merrier. The BGB is online on https://www.rushcliffehealth.org/green-book

Hedgehog Monitoring

A partnership of organisations are looking to set up a National Hedgehog Monitoring Programme pilot, a three year project is starting currently. The pilot is looking for sites to be included in the project and it would be great to have a number of sites from Nottinghamshire included in this work. If you think you or your organisation have a site that could be used in this pilot or that you may be interested in getting involved as a volunteer please contact Lauren Moore lauren.moore@ntu.ac.

 Researchers from NTU Brackenhurst are collaborating with PTES, ZSL, University of Durham and various other partners on a National Hedgehog Monitoring Programme pilot.

 In brief, the survey would cover an area of 1km in which a grid of 30 motion-detection cameras would be set up by members of the team or project volunteers. The cameras will be recording 24-hours a day for 30 days, once every year (3-year pilot). The data files will then run through a piece of software that first removes all non-target data (inc. human activity, vegetation movement, bright sunshine bleaching etc.), before the data is then uploaded to MammalWeb, where the files will be individually checked, and all species identified (not just hedgehogs). The hedgehog data will be sent to the data boffins to undertake statistical analysis on population estimates. The biological records (all species) will be made available to the relevant LERCs.

 Fundamentally, the aim of the project is to produce robust hedgehog population estimates. However, it is anticipated that a broad range of other species are likely to be captured and therefore the project will also help us to gain additional biological data on Nottinghamshire’s wildlife. The project has been trialled in London and is set to continue. NTU are therefore hoping to base their surveys in rural / semi-rural locations. However, all sites will be considered. This is therefore a shout out to any partners / landowners In Nottinghamshire, who would be happy to take part in the trial and are willing to provide access to suitable sites.

 For more information, please contact Lauren Moore lauren.moore@ntu.ac.uk