Newsletter 28
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WYCOMBE WILDLIFE ~ - W/" 1>4/~o. 28 JANUARY1999 The Countryside Centre, Bassetsbury Manor, Bassetsbury Lane, High Wycombe, HP11 1QX -----------01494 536930 ----------- Ellen Percival,a pupil of Spinfield County We also interviewed children and CombinedSchool, Marlow reports on their staff at the school and one of the amazing Stag Beetle survey dinner ladies now realizes that she Spinfield'sStaggemg Record 81 ~he national Stag Beetle survey is the proud guardian of a rotting Lpdate 11had been given a lot of publicity tree stump that houses a whole Croup rews. Mammalsurvey . this year and as they had been seen colony of endangered insects ; she Pen, Woods appeal update 82 on the school field and in Marlow in has so many "stags" in her garden Aromdthe Reserves past years our Tusk Force group, each year she assumed that they BrushHill Local N.R. 83 four year five girls at Spinfield were common. Widlife Notebook School, decided to do a Stag ----- More sightings came in Mammals 84 Beetle survey and enter during the Marlow for the "Wild at Heart" Schools ' Environment Member's Observations award. The survey day. We discovered A FJSherman·s reflections 85 was introduced in the that Sandygate School Widllife ID school assembly and also has a colony and FungusForay finds 86 we prepared a letter the beetles abound in requesting sightings Marlow Bottom as well Have You Seen ? of the rare Stag Beetle. as Marlow. A BotaricalRequest 87 Every child at the School Most of the results came Penultimate took a letter home in June last ___ f,.,.r-omthe school catchment area, KIStoryof BrushHi11 88 year , and for the next few weeks we NW Marlow , but beetles are found waited for the results to come in. a 11over th e t own I suspec t th a t th e wildlife WATCH report They came in thick and fast; NW is their favoured habitat as it is arri WyWG reports 89 altogether we recorded 70 sightings a warm slope and there are still - we had more , but some were plenty of open spaces, mature trees Wildlife Nutice clearly the same beetle spotted in and rotting tree stumps. Board the same place by several children (Continued on pa{JJe 82) on the way to school! THE DOCUMENT COMPANY This issue generously sponsored by : RANK XEROX - Ill -- WYCOMBE.•.,. ·-· As stated in the WATCH report on page 89 Project Officer Nikki Frost left -■ -l ~'"""~~ ' us in September 1998 to take up paid employment as did Helen Eastman , WILDLIFE••1 GROUP who had been coming from Twyford in North Bucks , since last May. Helen has moved to Cambridge to work on a project with the Environmental consultants Mott Macdonald. We thank both Helen and Nikki for their Wycombe Wlldllfe Group is a hard work and wish them every success in their new posts. voluntary organization the OBJECT of which is to further Congratulations to our remaining officer Tim Hiett , in gaining his Master 's the ecology and lmowledge of the urban and fringe areas of in Coastal Zone management last December. Tim is hoping to become a High Wycombe , student teacher at one of the local schools, as he has enjoyed working with Buckinghamshire ; to children so much during his stay with us. The hunt is now on for new conserve, protect, restore and create wildlife habitats; to Project Officers to carry on the good work when he leaves. encourage colonization and survival of all plants & animal life in such areas and to Penn Woad& Update promote the education of the In December 1998 Secretary of State , John Prescott , refused permission for public in matters pertaining to wildlife and its a golf course in Penn \Voods. This leaves the Woodland Trust in a better conservation. position to negotiate the purchase of the Wood from its present owners Within Wycombe Distrlct the So far £923,000 has been raised to buy the woodland but a £250,000 grant Group aims to : from a nearby landfill company does not now look likely . Further funds • Survey and map wildlife habitats . will be needed if the wood is to be preserved intact for people to enjoy. • Protect important wildlife sites . Mammal Survey • Study wildlife sites and associated flora and fauna . The is still time if, like lrenke , (see P84) you have mammals visiting your • Manage wildlife sites and garden , to fill in a Mammal Survey form. But hurry , completed forms have associated flora & fauna . to be in by the end of February. Contact the Countryside Centre if • Stimulate public interest in wildlife & its conservation. interested. • Encourage wildlife gardening . Spinfield•li Staggering Record (continued) • Co-operate with other groups of similar aims . Many people said that they had seen fewer "Stags " this year - was it the • Promote the objectives of the Group . dull , cold weather? Some had seen them flying unusually early in the • Encourage active parti warm spell in the spring. cipation in conservation of all persons and groups and I recorded and collated the results and sent them off to the Survey provide appropriate training organisers and we had a letter back confirming what we suspected - more to that end . Stag Beetles were recorded in Marlow than any where else in Bucks ! (A detailed copy of the aims We are following up the survey ; a felled tree at the school is going to be is available on request) put out on the Nature Trail to rot and provide homes for Stag Beetles; Wycombe Wlldllfe News is published 3 times a year to Wycombe Rangers are helping with this , and we shall repeat the survey promote the Group 's activi t;. this coming summer . ties and inform members & public of its progress . I would like to extend the survey and raise Editor : Pat Morris awareness of Stag Beetles in Marlow - is there Produced by : Maurice Young anyone in other schools / groups interested in Printed by : Rank Xerox handing out and collecting forms next summer? THE DOCUMENTCOMPANY , If so please con tact Kate Finch , illustrations by : AHA Sales & Marketing, '\ 19 York Road ,Marlow, SL7 2QB. Ellen Percival Pat Morris , Frances Wilding \, and Maurice Young . Views expressed in the newsletter are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Group. For the purposes of management of the Group membership information is held on computer . Any members who object to their membership detail s being held in this way should notify the secretary . Pr-inted on fn viron ment al/4 fr iend/4 paper - - iiiiiiiiiiiiiliiil/J...=.... •~-- nroundthe Reserues ___ iliiiiiillliJ_. 111____ Bru§h Hill •Local Nature Re§erve Since Brush Hill was declared a Local Nature selected areas of Reserve by Wycombe District Council in June 1997 scrub removed. there have been many exciting changes and new This wiil allow a discoveries - the WDC Rangers provide an update . mosaic of open chalk grassland , Community Involvement rich in insects One of the most encouraging aspects of the last and wildflowers 18 months has been the high level of local and patches of dense support and community involvement in the scrub for nesting birds Bats fly project. Already , over 2100 volunteer hours have such as Garden Warbler over the been spent on various projects including scrub re!:ierve in and Blackcap. In time clearance , bird box building , pond restoration , -the this area will also be grazed litter clearance and wildlife surveys and severai evenings to maintain the balance of local schools are now using the site for environ scrub and grassland . mental education . An old dew pond which last held water in 1976 Wildlife News is being restored in the oak woodland. The Ongoing survey work has revealed several new accumulated silt has been dug out and a new species for the reserve. Woodcock and Buzzard clav• linino0 is bein2.~ installed. This will provide a have been spotted on several occasions roosting valuable watering hole for birds and animals in the scrub. The Woodcock has superb brown during spring and summer. camouflage and a long bill for probing wet The first area of coppice-with-standards was cut oround for its food. Winter heliotrope , which 0 in the lime plantation at the bottom of the produces a lilac, slightly vanilla scented flower reserve during March 1998. This traditional between January and March , and stinking form of management involves cutting trees near hellebore have also been identified. Bluebell , to ground level which encourages many new Cuckoo pint , wood sorrel and lesser celandine shoots or poles to grow back from the cut stump have also been a feature during the spring. or stool. After 7-20 years these poles will be cut Badoer activitv within the woodland has been 0 • again to produce charcoal , tool handles , fencing evident since early material and other products. Eventually there February : fresh latrines will be four coppiced area or coupes at various or dung pits have been stages of regrowth , creating a whole range of found throughout the wildlife habitats. Open sunny conditions in the reserve especially along early stages of the coppice cycle will encourage territorial boundaries. plants such as wild strawberry and violets to Project Work flourish together with associated butterfly ,,,:j1The top-field has been species. Shady conditions return as the coppice 1 • ·~ re-fenced and new access grows back , attracting ·willow Warblers and Ill _ gates installed. Winter Chiffchaffs. ; 1/1,, sheep grazing has been The material we coppiced last year has been left \' ~ introduced to encourage to season (dry out) for later conversion to 1 wild plants such as bird's- charcoal. This will provide a superb opportunity foot-trefoil , rock-rose and to view a traditional sustainable woodland kna pweed.