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Bristol Naturalist News Contents / Diary of events NOVEMBER 2019 Bristol Naturalist News Photo © Steve Taylor Discover Your Natural World Bristol Naturalists’ Society BULLETIN NO. 585 NOVEMBER 2019 BULLETIN NO. 585 NOVEMBER 2019 Bristol Naturalists’ Society Discover Your Natural World Registered Charity No: 235494 www.bristolnats.org.uk CONTENTS HON. PRESIDENT: Andrew Radford, Professor 3 DIARY of Events; Subs renewal of Behavioural Ecology, Bristol University HON. CHAIRMAN: Ray Barnett 4 SOCIETY ITEMS [email protected] Society talk; Walks - leaders needed; HON. PROCEEDINGS RECEIVING EDITOR: Welcome new members; Dee Holladay, [email protected] Nature in Avon – call for articles HON. SEC.: Lesley Cox 07786 437 528 5 Bristol Weather [email protected] HON. MEMBERSHIP SEC: Mrs. Margaret Fay 6 NATTY NEWS : State of Nature; 81 Cumberland Rd., BS1 6UG. 0117 921 4280 Seagrass; Indicators; Machair; [email protected] Predator imbalance HON. TREASURER: Mary Jane Steer 01454 294371 [email protected] 8 BOTANY SECTION BULLETIN COPY DEADLINE: 7th of month before ‘Other’ meetings (New-year plant hunt); Botanical notes publication to the editor: David B Davies, 51a Dial Hill Rd., Clevedon, BS21 7EW. 12 GEOLOGY SECTION 01275 873167 [email protected] Festival of Geology . 13 INVERTEBRATE SECTION Health & Safety on walks: Members participate at their own risk. They are Notes for Sept.; responsible for being properly clothed and shod. Wildlife Photographer of the Year Dogs may only be brought on a walk with prior 14 Library Review; BNS Publications; agreement of the leader. New books; From the Archives 16 ORNITHOLOGY SECTION Meeting reports; Winter Birds Survey 18 MISCELLANY Botanic Garden 19 Ed Drewitt; Organic Group; Gorge & Downs Wildlife Project 20 Photos Cover picture: Wall Lizard, Clifton – see also page 20 Bristol Naturalists’ Society Discover Your Natural World 2 Registered Charity No: 235494 www.bristolnats.org.uk Diary of events Back to contents Council usually meets on the first Wednesday of each month. If you have any matters you wish to be discussed by Council, please contact the Hon. Sec. at least a week in advance. Visitors & guests are welcome, free, at our lectures and field meetings. If contact details are given, please contact the leader beforehand, and make yourself known on arrival. We hope you will enjoy the meeting, and consider joining the Society. To join, visit https://bristolnats.org.uk and click on membership. Members are members of ALL sections. NOVEMBER Wed 13 Mysteries of Migration Ornithology 19.30 page 16 Sat 16 Chew Valley Lake Ornithology 10.00 page 16 Wed 20 Society Talk Society 19.30 page 4 Sun 24 Dundry Slopes Botany 14.30 page 8 Wed 27 Talk: William Sanders, 1st BNS President Geology 19.30 page 13 OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST Sat 2 Nov. DIY Terrarium workshop Botanic Garden 11.00 page 18 Sat 2 Nov. Festival of Geology Geol. Assn. page 12 Thu 7 Nov. The Wren (Talk) Gorge & Downs 19.00 page 19 Sat 16 Nov. Trees in Winter Gorge & Downs 13.30 page 19 Thu 21 Nov. Mosses & Liverworts Botanic Garden 19.30 page 18 Thu. 28 Nov. Soil Biology for Growers AOG 19.00 page 19 Sat 23 Nov. to 4 May Wildlife Photographer of the Year page 18 Tue-Thu 3-5 Dec. Christmas Star Party Gorge & Downs 19.00 page 19 Fri. 6 Dec. Ed Drewitt on Bristol Ferry Boat Bristol Ferry Boat 11.00 page 19 Wed 1 Jan. New Year 4-day Plant Hunt BSBI page 8 Subscription Renewal 2020 Subscriptions are due on 1 January Current rates: Single Membership £25 ‘Household’ £35 Student £10 Payment options: By cheque to ‘Bristol Naturalists’ Society’ (posted to Membership Secretary) Bank Transfer/Standing Order to: Lloyds TSB: Account number: 00697372: Sort code: 30-92-13. Please quote your name as reference otherwise there is no way of linking the payment with your membership. N.B: If you don’t wish to renew your membership, please let me know, as this greatly helps to reduce the administrative costs involved in subscription reminders. Many thanks for your continuing support. Margaret Fay Membership Secretary: 81 Cumberland Road, Bristol BS1 6UG Email: [email protected] 3 SOCIETY ITEMS Contents / Diary SOCIETY TALK MAKING THE NATURAL WORLD A PRIORITY Wednesday, 20th November. 19:30 Speaker: Graham Morgan. CEnv MCIEEM Westbury-on-Trym Methodist Church, Westbury Hill, BS9 3AA. If we are to address the crisis that nature faces, individual action - though important - will be insufficient. The crisis will have to involve Governments, businesses, public bodies and many others. To that end, an All-Party Parliamentary Group for Nature has recently been created, not least because of the lead emanating from the organisation known as CIEEM (The Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management). Graham is the Chairman of CIEEM’s Policy Working Group for England. He and his colleagues are working to bring about change and a better future for our natural world. How can that be achieved? This unusual talk will give us some insights into what is going on. SOCIETY MID-WEEK WALKS WALK LEADERS I am trying to create a pool of walk leaders. Do you have a favourite walk that you would like to share with fellow members? If so, please do let me know. Lesley. [email protected] WE WELCOME NEW MEMBERS: Alison Griffies, Graham Balfrey, Bronwen Balfrey, Judy Copeland, Pamela Curtis, Louise Kennedy, Taylor Niblett Nature in Avon (Proceedings of the Society) Papers are now invited for Volume 79! If you have never written for the journal before, now is your chance to let others know about any interesting finds. We welcome all types of papers and short notes about the natural history of the Bristol area. Please send to: [email protected] 4 BRISTOL WEATHER Contents / Diary September 2019 After a rather wet August, September saw a dry beginning to the month with the first 20 days only recording a total of 14.2 mm of rain. This was to change quite abruptly on the 21st when over 10 mm fell. In the last 10 days of September a total of 113.3 mm of rain fell which is 162% of the whole month’s 30-day average rainfall of 69.8 mm. The complete month's rainfall was 127.5 mm which is 182.7% of the average for the month. It was the wettest September since 137.2 mm was recorded in 2000. It was the 13th wettest September since continuous records began 138 years ago in Bristol in 1882 and it was the wettest of any month since November 2016. On the 24th of September 26.9 mm fell in the 24-hour period and this maximum 24-hour rainfall was the highest for any month since December 26th 2017 when 28.5 mm was recorded. Surprisingly with all the rainfall, it was in fact a sunnier than average September in Bristol and the daily maximum on the 1st of 19.20 MJ/m2 was the highest recorded for September since this data started in 2005. The 1-hour maximum solar radiation of 722.21 Wm/2 at 12:00 on 12th was the highest for September since 2013, whilst the average temperature for September of 15.1°C was -0.2°C lower than the 30-year average for the city. The lowest daily minimum temperature of 4.2°C on the 25th was the lowest (equal with the same day September 2018), for a September day since 3.7°C was recorded on September 24th 2003. Barry Horton Leopard Slug (Limax maximus) recently spotted by a member on a Memorial Oak in Cliftonwood – enjoying the wet weather maybe?. Photo © Mark Ashwood. 5 NATTY NEWS Contents / Diary The State of Nature: The Report by Hayhow, et al., for 2019 has been published showing a worrying continuation in the decline of our wildlife. The report’s title is most apt. For political philosophers, the ‘state of nature’ refers to the condition that we lived in before the emergence of ‘Society’ and ‘Government’. For naturalists, scientists and conservationists, the ‘state of nature’ refers to the condition of non-human life after the creation of organised ‘Society and Government’ and the impact of one upon the other. The report finds that, ‘Our statistics demonstrate that the abundance and distribution of the UK’s species has, on average, declined since 1970 and many metrics suggest this decline has continued in the most recent decade. There has been no let-up in the net loss of nature in the UK. Prior to 1970, the UK’s wildlife had already been depleted by centuries of persecution, habitat loss and degradation.’ The report quotes a 13% decline in average species abundance since 1970 and that the rate of decline was steeper in the last ten years based on 696 terrestrial and freshwater indicator species. 41% have decreased in abundance with more species showing strong or moderate decreases than increases (26%) since 1970 and that our flora and fauna is undergoing rapid change with 53% of species showing strong changes in abundance in the short term. Added to the extinctions that have already occurred, 15% are currently threatened with extinction. We know what the drivers of change are - Agricultural Intensification: Documented impacts on farmland wildlife found on 75% of the UK’s land area with farmland birds being particularly hard hit; Climate change is impacting abundance, distribution and ecology – the 21st century has been warmer than the previous three and since the 1980’s the UK’s average temperature has increased by around 1 degree; Pollution: emissions of many pollutants have declined in recent years but new pollutants are emerging; Urbanisation: an 8% increase in the number of people living in urban areas in the UK between 1970 and 2018; Woodland Management: a 9% increase in woodland cover, despite the loss of irretrievable ancient woodland sites through projects such as HS2 in the last twenty years but only 44% are managed sustainably; Hydrological Change: 1,000 hectares (approx.
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