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Wildlife News in Warwickshire, Coventry & Solihull Contents Warwickshire County Council Wildlife News in Warwickshi re, Coventry & Solihull May 200 9 Wildlife News attempts to be a comprehensive directory for all natural history groups, sources of Contents • wildlife expertise and planned activities in the News items – page 2 Warwickshire, Solihull and Coventry sub-region. To • Calendar of Events – page 6 publicise your group or activities, or tell us about • someone who’d like to receive a copy, please contact Courses – page 22 Warwickshire Museum. Press dates are 10 April, 10 • Working Parties – page 23 August and 10 December. • Ongoing Surveys and Projects – page 25 Address correspondence to: Senior Keeper of • Museum-based Natural History Education Natural History, Warwickshire Museum, Market Place, Warwick CV34 4SA. Alternatively ring Steven Resources – page 26 Falk on 01926 412481, or E-mail: • Contact details and meeting arrangements [email protected] . for groups and organisations – page 27 This newsletter can also be accessed in full colour • Useful local web sites – page 33 directly via the web at: • www.warwickshire.gov.uk/rings . Where to send your site and species data and seek expertise – page 34 • Bibliography of key Warwickshire books and journals – page 37 1 Wildlife News in Warwickshire Coventry & Solihull, May 2009 ___________________________________________________________________ NEWS ITEMS The book can be purchased from local book shops, including Warwick Books and Warwickshire Museum for £14.99, or on-line at Authorhouse.co.uk and Amazon. Where Peacocks Pace – A nat ural historians guide Well done Mark. to Warwick Steven James Partridge I’m truly saddened to announce the death of James Partridge on April 23 rd . James became the official BSBI County Plant Recorder in 2007 following Pam Copson’s passing, and has worked closely with the Museum in recent years, helping to maintain our paper records and even training our ecology team. His input to the forthcoming wildflower book has been invaluable, especially the production of a new county flora checklist in 2007. Our thoughts go to Mary. Steven I briefly mentioned the publication of this new book by Mark Smith in the January edition, but had not seen a “SCWEEM” – the new word in environmental copy in time to include a review. It is a small but education attractively presented celebration of Warwick with chapters devoted to Warwick’s History and Heritage, Warwick Castle, Priory Park, Common Land, The River, and The Town Centre and its Suburbs. Natural history facts and photos punctuate a wealth of historical and anecdotal information, much of which was new to me. We discover that Tolkien fell in love with a Warwick lass called Edith Bratt, who he eventually married in Warwick. He spent sufficient time in Warwickshire for Mark to suspect that he based much of his story-telling on the town and surrounding countryside. Mark prefaces each chapter with snippets of Tolkien poetry. Lists of the commoner birds, mammals, butterflies and dragonflies are given at the back of the book, though no attempt is made to provide a fully comprehensive species list like that provided in John Price’s 2002 Stratford-Upon-Avon. A Flora and Fauna . This is a much A family bug hunt at Hill Close Gardens, Warwick more personal account, a journey with stories. The only criticism I would make is that a few avoidable errors In recognition of the fact that a plethora of have crept in including typos, a photo of a Black-tailed organisations are involved with environmental education Skimmer labelled as a Broad-bodied Chaser on page 74, locally, Warwickshire Museum has launched a new and the claim that humans first arrived in Warwickshire initiative called ‘SCWEEM’ (Solihull, Coventry & some ten and a half thousand years ago (half a million Warwickshire Environmental Education Meetings). The years ago would be closer). It would also have been nice group held its first meeting at Brandon Marsh on 24 to see a few topics afforded greater coverage such as March 2009. It was a very useful opportunity for us to the fabulous flora of plants that grow on walls and review the tremendous variety of events that already pavements in the town (including the first British take place in Warwickshire, Coventry and Solihull, but record for Membranous Nettle, discovered growing in also to look at where voids of activity exist, and where Swan Street in 2006), or the wealth of lovely trees to local expertise and experience lies. It was attended by be found in and around the Town - but then you’d expect representatives from Warwickshire County Council me to say the latter! (including Warwickshire Museum, Heritage Education and Warwickshire Country Parks), Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council, Coventry City Council (including 2 Wildlife News in Warwickshire Coventry & Solihull, May 2009 ___________________________________________________________________ Coombe Countryside Park), Groundwork Trust and collate those. Like thirty years ago, there will be gaps in Hatton Country World. Various other organisations gave the available data, and Max Down, Peter Murray and their apologies (busy with events), and a good number of Stephanie Garner (nee Carrington) will seek to fill these further potential members were highlighted. SCWEEM gaps. could become a valuable information swapping forum in the future - helping us to promote an even greater There are two very good reasons for doing this work. variety of events across a greater range of audiences. First, internally, the college will have updated an For more information, contact Becky May, Warwickshire important resource as interest in biodiversity and the Museum Ecology Unit 01926 418074, environment grows apace. Second, it will be very E-mail: [email protected] valuable to see clearly how the composition of the wildlife has changed over the last 30 years. It is believed the Moreton Morrell Estate will be the first to A new Moreton Morrell College Fauna & Flora Survey have collated wildlife audit data over such a prolonged – can you help? period. It is anticipated that the updated Survey – thirty years on - will suggest particular areas for more detailed study in the future. Furthermore, it will almost certainly result in more people, from both within and outside the College, engaging with its wildlife. We would therefore greatly value any inputs from you or your organisation, and any contributions will be acknowledged. Equally, we are looking to repeat and update work by offering an open invitation to visit the estate at mutually convenient times during the forthcoming seasons of wildlife activity. If you would like to get involved, E-mail me at: [email protected] or telephone 01789 841567. Max Down Records needed of Warwickshire Centipedes The wildflower meadow beside Moreton Hall supports a number of scarce plants For many years, the biodiversity of the Moreton Morrell estate of the Warwickshire College has been seen as an indicator of both changes in the environment and of the effects of changes in farming and land management practices. The majority of the work to identify the Estate’s plant and animal species over the years has been carried out by outside groups and individuals who have brought their expertise to bear on identifying its flora and fauna. In 1979, the first step in summarising and extending the bank of knowledge on the Estate’s wildlife was taken with the appointment of Peter Murray and Stephanie Carrington under the Geophilus flavus © Tony Barber supervision of Max Down. The Flora and Fauna Survey of 1979-80 collated a great deal of data from No, they don’t have a hundred legs – nor even 100 pairs enthusiastic naturalists and wildlife groups and also since all centipedes have an odd number of leg pairs! In directly filled in a number of gaps in the knowledge of fact, in British species, the number varies between 15 the Estate’s wildlife. The results of the survey were and 101 pairs although foreign ones may have more. published by the College and have been used repeatedly What is notable is that centipedes are found in all sorts over the last 30 years in teaching. The original team, of places from the truly wild though to the urban encouraged and supported by Dr Diane Whitehouse and garden and even, sometimes, indoors and are seen her staff, are keen to repeat the Survey on the almost any time you turn over a log or large stone th occasion of its 30 anniversary. The initial study has (assuming conditions are not too dry or too wet). They stimulated further wildlife audits in the period since are carnivores with a wide choice of food, generally 1980 and it would now be opportune to summarise and 3 Wildlife News in Warwickshire Coventry & Solihull, May 2009 ___________________________________________________________________ invertebrates smaller than themselves which they work with landowners and land managers to prevent key capture using their poison claws, which are a modified species from becoming extinct. The text is augmented pair of legs under the head. A head, bearing antennae by high resolution maps and some of the finest and mouthparts similar to those of insects and eyes are photography I have seen in a report of this kind. The absent in some species. They are distinguished from report can be downloaded from the West Midlands millipedes by both their very obvious poison claws and Butterfly Conservation web site: by the fact that each of their segments bears only one http://westmidlands-butterflies.org.uk/ pair of legs, unlike the two pairs per segment present in most millipedes. There are only about 50 British species, of which 4 are exclusively seashore and others quite restricted in their geographical distribution. Identification beyond the order is done with various levels of ease but a new Field Studies Council AIDGAP key to British Centipedes (A.D.
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