wildlife Autumn 2017 No.24 NEWS FROM YOUR LOCAL WILDLIFEma TRUST AND FROMtt AROUNDer THEs UK Badgers galore Our Tewin Orchard Warden talks badgers 10 y R avo s Russell >> BARBASTELLE >> FABULOUS Turn to the BATS FUNGI BACK PAGE Read how we are Take a look into to meet your helping to protect the fascinating RESER VES these rare bats 6 world of fungi 18 TEAM Give the gif t of wildlife this Christmas Bug Explorer Kits Perfect for little wildlife explorers! Includes a Garden Bugs and Beasties FSC Guide, magnifying glass, bug pots and more £10 Gift membership Feed someone’s passion for wildlife with a gift membership! From £42 Sponsor an animal Hertfordshire and Middlesex is home to some incredible wildlife – why not treat the nature lover in your life and sponsor an animal? For just £20 you will receive a gift pack that includes FSC guides a sponsorship certificate, beautiful A great accompaniment colour photograph, fact cards to exploring and and more! Order yours today at learning more about hertswildlifetrust.org.uk/wildgifts local wildlife species and wild places – the perfect gift for fellow nature lovers. From £3 contentsAutumn 2017 NEWS FROM YOUR LOCAL WILDLIFE TRUST AND FROM AROUND THE UK LOCAL NEWS CONSERVATION 4 Hertfordshire’s dragonfly species at an all time high See how our local dragonfly species have increased over the years 6 Barbastelle bats Read about the work going into protecting this species UK NEWS 8 The Wildlife Trusts launches its vision for Living Seas A radical approach to marine planning could bring our seas back to their former Top 5 places abundance to spot fungi MY WILD LIFE Weird and wonderful My Wild Life fungi in Hertfordshire 12 stock Andrew Harris tells us what R and Middlesex 18 it takes to become a volunteer hutte Local Wildlife Site surveyor s MICRO RESERVE FOCUS DAYS OUT HABITATS 22 Fir and Pond Woods 24 Nature’s Calendar 26 The Nature of a Hornbeam Read about this historic Tim Hill shares his winter Find out what makes this woodland reserve wildlife highlights with us native tree so special HErtS & MIDDLESEX WILDLIFE TRUST Grebe House, St Michael’s Street, Spring 2018 issue Registered Charity No: 239863 St Albans, Herts AL3 4SN copy deadline: Registered in England: 816710 01727 858 901 [email protected] 26 January 2018 www.hertswildlifetrust.org.uk Cover photo: All rights reserved. No part may be Russell Savory Editorial Team Josh Kubale reproduced without written permission and Charlotte Hussey from the editor. The publishers do not 01727 858901 x 240 necessarily identify with or hold [email protected] themselves responsible for the views [email protected] expressed by contributors, correspondents or advertisers. Membership Alan Cotterell 01727 858901 x 234 [email protected] Design TU ink www.tuink.co.uk Printed on FSC © Certified Stock Find us on Facebook and Twitter LOCAL NEWS From the Hertfordshire’s Chief Executive dragonfly species Welcome to the autumn edition of at an all-time high Wildlife Matters. The last few We are thrilled to announce that the number months have been of dragonfly species in Hertfordshire has a whirlwind of grown from 19 to 26 in just a few years. fantastic events, new records for Scarce emerald damselfly, willow the county, surveys emerald, scarce chaser, red-veined and continued darter, lesser emperor, downy hard work by our Reserves Team. emerald and norfolk hawker Our Festival of Wildlife is growing have all colonised Hertfordshire bigger and better each year, (or recolonised in the case of the with this year’s visitor numbers scarce emerald) in the last five doubling to 3000. It’s a joy to see so years or so, with the small red-eyed many passionate people enjoying damselfly and hairy dragonfly the nature on their doorstep, new since the 1980s. This is quite particularly young children who a turnaround for the county and made natural creations, hunted can be attributed to a combination for insects and had a brilliant wild of maturing artificial wetlands, day out. We are thrilled that our creation of new wetlands, improved and enjoy these stunning partnership with Puddingstone water quality and climate change. insects, there are now y Reed Distillery has been a roaring success The Trust, alongside dedicated dedicated dragonfly trails rr with each bottle of special edition volunteers, has been working hard at Amwell Nature Reserve Ba Himalayan balsam gin raising funds to ensure that the varied habitat and Panshanger Park. for the Trust. This summer has needs of dragonflies are met, The best time to see dragonflies seen our local dragonfly numbers maintaining and creating suitable is during the summer months. grow to an all-time high and habitats at our nature reserves. Look out for events in next year’s the plume moth has once again To enable people to experience Go Wild and on our website. been recorded in Hertfordshire – the first record since 1930! This autumn we were delighted that the restoration of Panshanger Park, a partnership between the Trust, Tarmac and Herts County New orchard project launched Council, was recognised with the key national award – the Cooper Orchards East, a three year Heritage in the region. The project will Heyman Cup – at the Mineral Lottery Fund project working across involve both the restoration of Products Association’s 46th Quarry the eastern region, was launched in important historic orchards and and Nature Awards. With winter Hertfordshire at the Trust’s Tewin the creation of new examples. well and truly on its way, now is Orchard Nature Reserve. Herts Environmental Records a great time to visit our wetland Centre, which is hosted by the and woodland reserves to spot the Led by the University of East Anglia, Trust, is assisting the project by influx of winter visitors making a the Orchards East project team will digitising historic maps to enable new home for the next few months. survey and record traditional orchards historic orchard sites to be better With nesting season over our across the East of England and identified and surveyed. Reserves Team are busier than ever research the history of fruit growing Orchards East would welcome protecting our local wild spaces any information readers may – say hello if you spot them have about historic orchards. They hard at work while you’re out are also looking for volunteers who and about. Thank you for your can help to track down and survey continued support of the Trust. orchard sites and undertake research in local archives. Volunteers don’t need any specialist knowledge, just an interest in and enthusiasm for orchards. For further information, please contact [email protected] 4 wildlifematters Autumn 2017 ale B u Josh k Stocker’s eaves R g R a Lake h aniel d Chalk Stream Discovery Trail opens Local bat A nature trail at Tewinbury Nature Reserve has been expert, Patty Briggs, has led a opened in partnership with Tewin Bury Farm Hotel team of surveyors to carry out ‘harp trapping’ at Stocker’s The Chalk Stream Discovery Trail the stretch of the Mimram running Lake Nature Reserve as part runs alongside the beautiful River through their land is the best habitat of the Bat Conservation Mimram – known as ‘the jewel in it can be. The Chalk Stream Discovery Trust’s ‘National Nathusius Hertfordshire’s countryside’. The Trail allows visitors to learn more Monitoring Programme’. The Mimram is one of only 210 chalk about the habitat and the nature team identified one bat as streams in the world – 16 of which it supports. flying all the way from Latvia are in Hertfordshire. The Trail is open every day for guests – a total distance of more We manage the nature reserve, of Tewin Bury Farm Hotel and Herts than 1494km. The National which sits alongside Tewin Bury Farm and Middlesex Wildlife Trust members. Project has only recorded four Hotel, the owners of which have It can be accessed by collecting a key other long distant migratory worked with the Trust to ensure that from the hotel reception. records so this is a very exciting development. Festival of Wildlife and Apple Day Trust receives donation from Mayor ale B u k ussey h Josh lotte lotte R The Trust’s 2017 Festival of Wildlife was a adding a fantastic new element ha c roaring success. The Festival, which was for visitors to explore. held in partnership with Hertfordshire On Sunday 8 October, the Trust Hertford’s 2016 Mayor, Cllr Natural History Society and kindly enjoyed the fruits of Tewin Orchard Dr Linda Radford, presented hosted by Tarmac, took place at the end at our annual Apple Day. A record the Trust with a donation of of July in Panshanger Park near Hertford. 1200 people enjoyed the event in £3,705.86, raised from her This year saw visitor numbers double Tewin Village and were treated to nomination of the Trust as one to 3000. Children and adults were able home-made cakes, a wide range of of her two charity beneficiaries to learn about their local wildlife from orchard apples, juice and preserves, of the year. The Trust is hugely a rich programme of walks, talks and along with guided tours of the orchard grateful for this support which activities led by experts from the Trust and children’s wildlife activities. will help us look after Waterford and the Herts Natural History Society. Our thanks go to Councillor Ken Heath Nature Reserve. This year, other local conservation Crofton for once again supporting groups and wildlife artists joined us, this popular annual event. Autumn 2017 wildlifematters 5 CONSERVATION Barbastelle bats In 2015 a planning application for the A120 bypass at Little Hadham became the catalyst for a major new project to find out more about our elusive, local barbastelle bat population evelopment is one of the most significant pressures facing wildlife in Hertfordshire and DMiddlesex.