Axe Vale & District Conservation Society NEWSLETTER No. 76

SPRING & SUMMER AUTUMN & WINTER 2013-2014

AXE VALE & DISTRICT CONSERVATION SOCIETY

President: Donald Campbell.

Hon. Vice-Presidents: Mr. G.A. Jones; Miss B. Lepper M.B.E.; Mr D. Ord-Smith Officers: Chairman: Mike Lock, Glen Fern, Whitford Road, Musbury, EX13 7AP 01297 551556 Hon. Treasurer: Roger Ash, 37 Springfields, Colyford, EX24 6RE 01297 551314 Hon. Secretary : Lesley Clarke, 78 Scalwell Lane, Seaton, EX12 2DL 01297 20180 Executive Committee: Rob Beard, 10 Western Place, Colyton, EX24 6NS 01297 551551 Neil Croton, Gashay Farm, Hawkchurch, Axminster, EX13 5UU 01297 678139 Martin Drake, Orchid House, Burridge, Axminster, EX13 7DF 01460 220650 Jean Kreiseler, 17 Alleyn Court, West Acres, Seaton, EX12 2JX 01297 24323 Lucy Morton, Cobb Cottage, Whitford Road, Musbury, EX13 7AP 01297 552132 Derek Prince, The Briars, Yawl Hill Lane, Uplyme, DT7 3RP 01297 443793 Doug Rudge 1 Armada Close, Seaton, EX12 2UT 07702 189914 Ann Smith, 18 Burnham Close, Seaton. EX12 2UW 01297 24049 Ian Waite, 38 Durley Road, Seaton, EX12 2HW 01297 20326 Colin Walker, Cissbury, Hillhead, Colyton, EX24 6NJ 01297 551224

AVDCS Website: www.axevaleconservation.org.uk

A note from the Chairman

Mike Lock

As I write this, your Society is spending money on helping to pay for a planning consultant to present the views of a large number of local residents on the development proposals for the Harepath Road area of Seaton. This proposal involves a large number of houses of which some will be ‘affordable’, light industrial units, and playing fields. This proposal was rejected by the Planning Committee of East Devon District Council but the developers have appealed, and have also put in a further planning application which repeats the proposals from the earlier one, with minor modifications. Our objections, which have been submitted to EDDC, are: (1) The development is in excess of Seaton’s housing needs, at least some of which could be filled by the development of the uncontroversial regeneration area beside Tesco. (2) The development encroaches heavily on the Green Wedge that currently separates Seaton and Colyford. (3) The area to be developed is close to the Axe Estuary Wetlands and would affect the corridor that links Holyford Woods and the Wetlands; this corridor is used by several species of bat including the very rare Grey Long-eared Bat whose population in Britain is probably no more than 1000 individuals. Even if the corridor itself is not developed the light pollution from the development could well affect its use by bats. When the Society was founded, one of its main objectives was to discourage inappropriate development, and your Committee feels that spending money in this way is an appropriate use of Society funds. In an article in this newsletter, Martin Drake reports on the meeting of the East Devon District Council’s Planning Committee at which the first application was rejected unanimously by Councillors. However, as he points out, this was a battle won but the war continues − the developers can appeal (and have done), and there is also a provision under which the proposers of a rejected planning application can submit another within a year without an extra fee – which they have done. 1

Since my last message, the Sand Martin bank on the Wetlands has been completed. Sadly no Sand Martins took up residence this year but it is hoped that we may have better luck next year, when young birds, that may have roosted in the holes on their way south, return. Furthermore, by next spring the pool in front of the bank should have been completed which could well be an additional attraction. Our commitment to help the Devon Wildlife Trust with the purchase of an area of the Undercliffs National Nature Reserve below Rousdon has not been required because the Trust’s negotiations to purchase this site have fallen through. Our finances are therefore in an even healthier state than we expected. The Devon Wildlife Trust has been selected to operate the Discovery Centre planned for a site near the Tram terminus. This is an extremely exciting venture that should help to attract more visitors to Seaton and contribute to regeneration of the area. The plans for the centre have been approved, as has the first phase of Lottery funding to DWT. Both your Chairman and President are involved in Committees looking at how the Centre will operate, present itself, and engage and co-operate with other local organisations, including AVDCS and EDDC’s Countryside Service. As usual this number includes reports of excursions, including one led by Ian Waite to Ham Walls and Shapwick – a beautiful sunny day with many species of warbler in full song. Lesley and Peter Clarke tell of a trip to Lundy, also on a bright and sunny day (a bit of a contrast to my visit in May when the island was shrouded in mist and drizzle). Humphrey Sitters has contributed an article on Oystercatchers and how they feed. A pair bred successfully in 2013 on Black Hole Marsh, after trying three times without success in 2012. They can be seen most days on the Estuary. Phil Parr has a note on the Ivy Bee, a relatively recent colonist of this country whose burrows are a feature of sandy banks and cliffs near the sea in the sutumn. Another colonist, Himalayan Balsam, is the subject of a note by myself. Much money and volunteer effort is being spent in trying to eliminate this plant from the Axe catchment.

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Oystercatchers at night Humphrey Sitters

If you take a walk by the Axe Estuary by day at low tide, you can see waders, such as Curlews, Redshanks, Dunlins, Oystercatchers and Black-tailed Godwits, feeding on the mud. They are all feeding on intertidal invertebrates – worms, crabs, molluscs, crustaceans – but mostly they do not compete with one another because they each have a different feeding strategy and a different size bill. But then the tide comes in and they have to stop feeding and gather at a roosting site nearby until the tide ebbs and they can feed again. If you go to the same place at low tide at night, you cannot see the birds, but you can hear them. They appear to be active. But what are they doing? Are they feeding? If so, how successfully are they feeding? And how important is night-feeding to them in fulfilling their daily food requirement? These are questions that fascinated me so much that 20 years ago I decided to investigate them for a doctorate at Oxford University. I carried out my studies on the Exe Estuary, mostly from a scaffolding tower hide built in the middle of a mussel bed near Lympstone. My plan was to study the behaviour of Oystercatchers feeding on mussels by day and night using a video camera with infra- red illumination to record what the birds were doing in darkness. But even before I started my project, I knew that feeding at night was vitally important to Oystercatchers. It is one of the best studied birds in the world. Its daily food requirement has been calculated and given that studies have shown that they only ingest about a half of that by day, the other half must be taken at night. In fact the amount they can eat in a low-tide cycle is limited by the rate at which they can digest food. Like us, they can eat more quickly – about three times faster – than their digestive apparatus can process food. This means that while they are on the mussel-beds, they frequently have to stop feeding to let the food go down. It is also well known that individual Oystercatchers show a strong tendency to specialise on a particular type of prey; there are cockle- 3 feeders, mussel-feeders, worm-feeders, crab-feeders, etc. Among shellfish-feeders individuals have their own particular method of breaking the shell and gaining access to the flesh inside. Therefore some mussel-feeders look for mussels that are themselves feeding and have their shells apart; those birds then stab between the shells and cut the adductor muscle (the muscle that holds the shells together) by biting and then scoop out the flesh. We call those birds ‘stabbers’. I found that by day stabbers locate mussels that are gaping by sight; that is they walk across the mussel bed looking intently at the mussels; then suddenly they plunge their bill into a mussel and in next to no time they are eating the orange-yellow flesh. I found that at night they change to touch-location; they would walk very slowly jabbing their slightly- A Stabber stabbing opened bill in the water until they managed to hit a gaping mussel between the shells. In September, they were less successful at feeding at night, but success at night increased from autumn to winter and by December they fed more successfully at night than by day. I think (but cannot prove) that the reason is that mussels have to filter-feed (gape) longer in winter because the amount of their food in the water declines at that time of year; moreover they feed more at night than by day because it is safer from predators, such as gulls (but not Oystercatchers!). Then there are ‘ventral hammerers’. They detach a mussel from the ground; either by dragging it from the weed or stones to which it is attached, or by cutting the byssal thread (the means of attachment) by biting it. Then they usually take the mussel to a place where the ground is reasonably hard, turn it upside down and hammer a hole in the underside of the mussel (the ventral side) which is the thinnest part of the shell. Like stabbers, I found that ventral hammerers change from sight-location by day to touch-location at night. In darkness they would fork through the seaweed with their bills until they came across a

4 suitable mussel. Then they would open it in exactly the same way as they do by day, except that it would take them longer. That is not surprising: imagine how much more difficult it would be to accurately hammer a nail in darkness. Finally, there are the ‘dorsal hammerers’. They attack mussels in situ A Ventral Hammerer and their aim is to punch a hole in the ventral hammering mussel’s shell at the point where the adductor muscle is anchored on the inside. Having made a hole, they insert the tip of their bill and twist it round until they manage to cut the adductor muscle; then the shells fall apart and they can extract the flesh. I found that, unlike stabbers and ventral hammerers, dorsal hammerers locate mussels by sight day and night. On bright, moonlit nights, they were almost as successful as they were by day, but on dark nights they fed more slowly; clearly their technique was particularly reliant on being able to see well. As I soon discovered sitting in my hide out there on the mussel-bed, an estuary is a different, more peaceful place A Dorsal Hammerer at night. There are no bait-diggers or any dorsal hammering other people to disturb the Oystercatchers and other waders while they feed; no gulls or crows to steal their hard-won food and no Peregrines to attack and kill them. But there was an occasion when a man ventured onto the mussel-bed just below my hide at 2 o’clock in the morning to collect winkles. I am not sure why he would want to do such a thing at such a time, but you can imagine his surprise and alarm when I spoke to him! I am grateful to Mike Langman for the drawings he made for me of Oystercatchers at work.

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The First Fifty Years of the East Devon Area Of Outstanding Natural Beauty Donald Campbell

Part Two – The AONB Partnership

The 1993 report on the ‘East Devon Landscape’ described the AONB as ’being notable for its varied and dramatic coastal scenery – the grandeur of sheer, red sandstone cliffs, the steep intimate woodland coves, the stark, white, chalk outcrop that punctuates the coast at Beer Head and further east the wilderness of the Undercliffs’. The report also pointed to socio-economic and other problems as did the Management Plan (December 1998) based on co-operation, common sense and good will which sought to ‘draw together the issues facing the area and to provide practical realistic policies and actions to help ensure the future well-being of the AONB.’ The Countryside and Rights of Way (CRoW) Act of 2000 consolidated earlier legislation concerning AONBs and created a statutory responsibility for local authorities and conservation boards (which only materialised in the large Cotswolds and Chilterns AONBs) to produce and regularly review Management Plans. Following the CRoW Act a new AONB Partnership, led by Chris Woodruff, coming from the Forest of Bowland AONB, and supported by Nic Butler and Pete Youngman, was formed on 4 March 2003 and, in line with the Act, was hosted by the District Council, based in the Council’s Offices in Sidmouth and under the Chairmanship of a Councillor, Tony Reed. On 12 June Tony and Sir John Cave, representing the Country, Land and Business Association on the Partnership, welcomed 132 guests to Sir John’s home at Sidbury Manor. These guests included Stuart Mollinson who had been involved with the original designation, 45 Councillors and 14 members of the Partnership including me as AVDCS representative.

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ANNUAL REPORT and REVIEW

Tony’s forward to the 2003-4 Annual Report wondered about the role of central government funding of AONBs. At that time the Countryside Agency, then the statutory champion for rural people and the countryside, provided three quarters of core costs, with the County and District Councils providing one eighth each while the £100,000 project costs were met by the Countryside Agency (c. 50%) and EDDC and DCC (c. 25% each). The Report gave summary details of the consultation process which had significantly influenced the Management Strategy. We were one of 26 organisations providing detailed comments on the draft. The statutory consultees, English Nature and the Countryside Agency wanted greater consistency in the presentation and greater emphasis on landscape. The main points emerging from evening workshops, where young people and family groups were conspicuously absent, was the need to cut out jargon and bureaucracy and to be practical in enhancing the character of the AONB. Among projects mentioned in the Report, and in even more detail in the Review, were an archaeological survey which recorded 3000 new items to add to the Devon Sites and Monument Review, and 12 out of 106 ‘unconfirmed’ sites had been found worthy of designation as County Wildlife Sites. A visitor survey found that only 37% were aware of the East Devon AONB; to increase awareness nine boundary markers, with the new Buzzard logo, were placed on major roads, and all footpath fingerposts on rights of way were also marked with the logo. Five years later a repeat of the survey showed that levels of awareness had increased to 71%, and the most recent survey, in 2013, showed levels of awareness at over 90%. Work started on a Biodiversity Action Plan on behalf of East Devon Countryside Service, and there were improvements to the East Devon Way and Southwest Coast Path where Dave Palmer of the Countryside Service worked as effectively as he does now.

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ONGOING REVIEWS

The first Management Plan (Strategy) was adopted by County and District Councils in 2004 by which time Kimmo Evans had joined the team after Nic left for Scotland as mentioned in the 2004-5 Review. The Community Project Fund, preparing the way for the expanded Sustainable Development Fund, granted £8,590 to 19 projects, the first AONB Forum, now an annual event, was held in Branscombe and the website was set up. A review of partners’ activities highlighted the 550 man-hours of conservation work carried out by AVDCS who had organised some 50 walks and talks, including a special ‘Celebration of East Devon’s Landscape and Wildlife’. The Society had provided voluntary wardens for local and national nature reserves as part of its co-operation with other conservation bodies including East Devon who had been awarded £50,000 for the three-year initiative ‘Great Trees of East Devon’ led by Kate Tobin. Councillor Margaret Rogers, who had previously chaired the Joint Advisory Group, replaced Tony Reed for the two-years 2005-7. She was impressed by the diversity of initiatives supported by the new sustainable Development Fund. Fifteen projects were awarded £95,550 in her first year, and £72,000 for 17 projects in her second. When combined with matched funding and ‘in kind’ costs this second year represented £221,000 of work which included a farm plastic recycling scheme and support for a ‘hill hopper’ bus from Sidmouth which improved access to Salcombe Hill and Mutters Moor. Automatic people- counters had been installed at ten key sites and at Beer Head, after the grounding of MSC Napoli in January 2007, a six fold leap in numbers to 1500 per day was recorded. In a normal year some 12-14,000 walkers pass this counter on the coast path. Mike Ellingham, from the National Farmers’ Union, succeeded Margaret, and was the first non-Local Authority chairman. The 2007-8 Review mentioned some highlights; a three year, lottery-funded historic landscapes project run by Phil Planel, a bat initiative linked with Beer Quarry Caves, and support for the installation of a 50kW woodchip

8 boiler at Clinton Devon Estates showed again the diverse activities within the AONB. Next year, Mike reported on a revision of the Management Plan for 2001-2014 and after my two years as Chairman John Wilding MBE from Clinton Devon Estates will guide the Partnership towards the next revision due in 2014. Among the many enjoyable aspects of my two years as Chairman was attendance at conferences run by the National Association. Just as Devon Wildlife Trust is one of 47 County Trusts, East Devon is one of 47 AONBs that make up the National Association. One field visit at the Kent conference included a look at the way chalk rubble from the Channel Tunnel had been turned into a spectacular Nature Reserve while in Cornwall we were shown how boat transport around the Fal Estuary had been integrated with bus services: two very different aspects of AONB activities. To keep up to date with activities in East Devon go to the new website: www.eastdevonaonb.org.uk, and for a new AONB leaflet follow the link to publications. You can follow the Buzzard on Twitter@EastDevonAONB and for archive film go on the vimeo channel http://vimeo.com/eastdevonaonb.

AV&DCS maroon short-sleeved poly/cotton polo shirts and long-sleeved sweatshirts are available in Small, Medium , Large and Extra Large at £14 each for sweatshirts and at £12.50

for polo shirts. All profits go into Society funds. Please contact Ian/Yvonne Waite on 01297

20326 or email [email protected] for

further details.

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Lundy - A month not too late Peter Clarke

This year Lesley and I decided to visit the Island of Lundy. It is owned by the National Trust but run by the Landmark Trust, and is home to one of the largest seabird colonies in the South West. Our main aim was to see the Puffin breeding colony as well as the spring flowers and other points of interest. Research showed that mid-June could be an ideal time to visit and coincided with sailings from Bideford − albeit at 9 a.m! Duly booked for June 13th, our anticipation turned to concern as from the 10th gales were reported over North Devon with a rising sea. As instructed we phoned the sailing information line to be told to report to Bideford for 8 a.m. when the Captain would make his decision. With picnic packed and a variety of wet and warm weather gear stowed we set off − in glorious sunshine − for Bideford. The Captain decided the sea was too rough and Day Trippers were cancelled. For "Stayers" and Freight he would sail later that morning. As the ship only draws 1.6 metres of water, perfect for sailing from Bideford, she is very unstable on any rough sea. Not wanting to waste our time, Lesley and I spent the day in Ilfracombe − have you seen the new Theatre building, like concrete cooling towers? − and then on to Lynton and Lynmouth. A perfect day, in the end. Now, back to Lundy! We eventually sailed a month later at 8 a.m. on July 11th. Looking out for wildlife on the voyage, we soon came across Manx Shearwaters, Razorbills, Guillemots and that brilliant flash of white as a Gannet turns in the sunlight. Study of our map suggested that the best plan would be to walk north up the west coast to Jenny's Cove where, if any were left, the seabird breeding colonies would be, followed by a general exploration of the Island in the six hours we had. On arrival at the Village above the landing bay we were greeted by Simon Dell 10

MBE, a National Park guide who specialised in the Island. He was offering an "enjoyable and instructional stroll" round the Island. He soon confirmed that the Puffins were still there and in fact, due to the poor spring weather, everything on the Island was running about 3 weeks late. We decided to join Simon's group, and had an easy-paced lesson on all aspects of Island life. Most of the spring flowers were still out and these, together with secret ponds, were discovered in places off the beaten track. We saw Soay Sheep which were introduced some time ago and thrive on the Island, and we also met plenty of Lundy Ponies on the path. We were shown the crash sites of two Heinkel bombers and were regaled with stories of their arrival and subsequent capture of the surviving crew members. By mid-day we had only reached Halfway Wall and so turned west to have lunch at Jenny's Cove overlooking the seabird colony. As the Puffins nesting burrows were on the northwest-facing grass slope, reaching almost to the beach, they could only be seen from a northerly direction. As we had intended to approach from the south it was likely we would have missed seeing the nest burrows. After lunch we headed back down the West Coast visiting the Earthquake, a geological fault that has dropped the land on one side some eighty feet relative to the other. After visits and talks on the Church, Castle and history of the settlement we eventually arrived back at the inn for a welcome cup of tea. One last surprise was in store as we headed off down the track to the boat; we were shown patches of the unique Lundy Cabbage, still in bloom and complete with its resident beetle. A full day well spent and we only covered the southwestern half of the Island. Next trip we will do the northeast.

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The Ivy Bee Colletes hederae Phil Parr

The Ivy Bee is a recent arrival to the British mainland, and is now found along the south coast from Kent to Cornwall as well as inland in Somerset. Ivy Bees were first seen in September 2001 at a number of sites near St Albans Head, near Swanage, and soon afterwards at Portland Bill. In the same year it was found 80 miles to the west, in Devon, near East Prawle, just east of Salcombe. In 2002 it was found at more sites, including Branscombe, and in 2003 I found it in the Axmouth-Lyme Regis Undercliffs near Culverhole Point. It still occurs there and was also seen in late 2010 at Seaton and Beer, where it burrows into the softer parts of the cliffs, as well as at Musbury, where a large colony was found in a sandy cliff on the east side of the Castle. The species is also expanding its range elsewhere in Europe, with new localities along the Swiss-German border, Vienna, and on Mts Hymettos and Platania in Greece. The Ivy Bee is the last species of solitary bee to emerge in the summer, appearing in late August or early September. It feeds almost entirely at Ivy flowers, up until mid November. In East Devon they seem to appear in early September and continue until the weather becomes too cold – usually at the end of October. The females only visit Ivy flowers, where they collect nectar and pollen that is stored in the burrow as food for the developing larva. The males also visit other flowers, not only Ivy. Ivy bees form colonies, sometimes with several thousand holes; in 2006 I estimated that an Undercliff colony at Dowlands, to the West of The Slabs, included at least 7000 holes. Each female makes just one hole. The numbers of bees flying about the colony can be quite intimidating, but they do not seem to sting the casual visitor. I suppose they might do so if much provoked!

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Programme of Activities Autumn and Winter 2013 - 2014

Please wear appropriate clothing and footwear; bring a picnic to events marked with an asterisk (☼). Car share where possible, contacting leader if need be. Contact numbers: Work Party details: Donald Campbell 01297 552945; for Bird Watch details: Ian Waite 01297 20326; EDDC Countryside Service 01395 517557; other queries, including problems with grid references and meeting points: Mike Lock 01297 551556. At the end of a walk or birdwatch the leader will ask for a donation to Society funds.

OCTOBER 2013 Sat.. 10.00 Work Party Laurel and other clearance. th 5 . - Undercliffs Park at Pinhay. (SY316914) ☼ 16.00 (Chapel Rock area) Wed 10.00 Walk, With Ian Waite. 9th. - Branscombe Meet Branscombe Village Hall. 12.30 area Wed 10.00 Work Party Pond clearance. Park at th 16 . - Undercliffs Crow’s Nest, Ware (tbc) ☼ 16.00 Ware Pond Sun 09.00 Bird Watch, Meet far end of Dawlish 20th. - Dawlish Warren Warren car park. 14.00 Wed 19.30 Annual General Colyford Memorial Hall. 23th - Meeting and Finger Buffet. 21.30 short talk

Sat 13.30 Walk – Green With Donald Campbell. Meet 26th. - lanes and quiet Umborne Village Hall CP 16.30 roads. 6 miles (SY 237969)

Wed 10.00 Walk, Musbury With Mike Lock. Meet Musbury 30th - area Village Hall car park. 12.30

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NOVEMBER 2013 Sat 10.00 Work Party Laurel and other clearance. nd 2 . - Undercliffs Park at Pinhay. (SY316914) ☼ 16.00 (Chapel Rock area) Sat 10.00 Work Party. Scrub and bramble clearance. 9th. - Tawny Wood Meet at entrance (ST255013). 16.00 Reserve, with Parking difficult; car share if Devon Birds possible. ☼ Sat 10.00 Work Party. Grass cutting and raking; 16th. - Colyton hedge laying. Meet at site (SY 16.00 Community 245934) Woodland ☼ - if staying Wed 10.00 Work Party, Scrub and pond clearance. 20th. - Undercliffs, Park at Whitlands (SY306911) 16.00 Humble Pond ☼ Sat 10.00 Walk and learn: With EDDC CS and Mike Lock 23rd. - Trees in Winter Meet and park at Seaton 12.30 Holyford Woods Tower layby (SY235914) Mon All Birdwatch Contact Ian Waite for details. th 25 . day Portland ☼ Harbour Sat 10.00 Work Party, Meet at Horriford Farm (tbc) 30th. - Holyford Woods (SY236923) 16.00 ☼

DECEMBER 2013. Sat 10.00 Work Party. Scrub and tree clearance. 7th. - Trevett’s Corner Meet at site (ST358976) 16.00 ☼ Sat 10.00 Work Party. Tree felling and burning. Park 14th. - Undercliffs, at Whitlands (SY306911) 16.00 Humble Glades ☼ Mon. All day Birdwatch, With Ian Waite. Meet Ashcott 16th. Somerset Corner. Contact IW for details Levels, inc. and let him know if coming.☼ Starling roost. Mon 11.00 Walk – With Donald Campbell – for 30th. - Undercliffs – The SVCT. Meet Stepps Lane 14.00 Chasm (SY265903)

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JANUARY 2014 Wed. 10.00 Work Party. Laurel clearance, step 8th. - Undercliffs. building. Park at Pinhay 16.00 (Pinhay) (SY316914) ☼ Sat 10.00 Work Party. Laurel clearance, step 25th. - Undercliffs. building. Park at Pinhay 16.00 (Pinhay) (SY316914) ☼ Mon 11.00 Birdwatch. With Ian Waite. Meet Holman 27th. - Bowling Green Way CP (SX 968 882) 15.00 Marsh. ☼

FEBRUARY 2014 Sat 10.00 Work Party, Meet at Horriford Farm (tbc) 1st. - Holyford Woods (SY236923) 16.00 ☼ Mon 09.30 Birdwatch on the With Ian Waite. Meet White rd 3 . - R Otter Bridge (SY 075 830) 13.00 Wed 10.00 Walk, c. 5 miles, With Lesley Clarke. Meet and th 5 . - Seaton-Beer park at Seaton Tower layby 12.00 area (SY235914). Wed 10.00 Work Party Reed cutting and raking. Meet 12th. - Springhead Springfield Cross (SY274907) 16.00 (Axmouth) (tbc – check with DC) ☼ Wed 10.00 Work Party, Tree felling and burning. Meet 19th. - Undercliffs, Whitlands (SY306911) 16.00 Humble Glades ☼ Wed 10.00 Walk. Colyton With Ian Waite. 26th. - area. Meet Colyton Picnic Site 12.30 (SY 245934)

MARCH 2014 Sat 10.00 Work Party. Scrub clearance. 1st. - Undercliff – Goat Meet top of Stepps Lane 16.00 Island. (SY265903)

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Sat 10.00 Walk – in the With Donald Campbell. 8th. - vicinity of the Meet Salcombe Regis Church 13.00 Donkey CP (SY148888) Sanctuary Wed 10.00 Walk – Musbury With Mike Lock. 19th. - area and Trill Meet Musbury Village Hall. 12.00 (SY 273946) Mon 10.00 Birdwatch. With Ian Waite. Contact IW for 24th. - Fernworthy details. 15.00 Reservoir Wed 10.00 Walk – Holyford With Mike Lock. 26th. - Woods Meet and park at Seaton 12.30 Tower layby (SY235914).

Other walks and events in the area are arranged by the following organisations (among others):

EDDC Countryside Service (01395 517557); www.eastdevon.gov.uk/countryside_index)

[Note that EDDC Countryside service will be publishing a leaflet with details of events organised by a wide range of organisations in this area]

Seaton Visitor Centre Trust (www.seatonvisitorcentretrust.com)

Jurassic Coast Trust (01305 224132; www.jurassiccoast.com)

Please note the Society’s website

www.axevaleconservation.org.uk

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Seaton Harepath development – a battle won Martin Drake

It’s not often that a bit of arable land with a scruffy copse catches the attention of so many people. But these few acres form the Green Wedge separating Seaton from Colyford. A big chunk of it was recently proposed for development − 170 houses, light industrial units and playing fields plus facilities, spilling out well over the draft boundary for development in EDDC’s yet-to-be-adopted Local Plan. There were lots of reasons for rejecting this proposal, as the people of Seaton and Colyford made clear in the vast number of objections. Despite all these sound points, EDDC planning officers had recommended that the development should be accepted. So we were exceedingly apprehensive as the date for the sitting of EDDC’s Development Management Committee was announced (11 June 2013). This was the important meeting when the fate of the application would be decided. It’s the one occasion when the public and the developer may air their views to the Council, so what’s said can be crucial, particularly if councillors haven’t taken in the hundreds of written comments. After much emailing and discussion by some of the objectors, ably led for the Colyford contingent by its mayor, Howard West, the arguments were divided among those of us who had offered to speak at the meeting. I was representing AVDCS, which was important as the Society’s remit is about protecting our local countryside. The big day came. Proceedings were already running late when we arrived just after lunch, with lots of people struggling to get into the council chamber. The ‘Harepath’ contingent sat through 2 hours of a contentious case at Exmouth, then a relatively brief but welcome discussion of Seaton’s Jurassic Coast Interpretation Centre which was unanimously approved (to hoorays from the audience). Then at 4:30 the Harepath item eventually surfaced. About 12 objecting members of the public and councillors from Seaton and Colyford put their point and all got sound applause from the rest of the room. All sorts of issues were 17 raised – transport and roads, the Green Wedge, shortage of doctors, dentists and schools, impact on wildlife, the huge EDDC effort spent on the estuary wetlands ..... But, from the wildlife point of view, the star item was a last-minute letter from Dr Fiona Matthews, a local bat specialist, making forceful points about the flight path between roosting sites and Seaton Marshes which is an important feeding ground, emphasising the newly discovered colony of Grey Long-eared Bat living close by. (Grey Long-eared Bats are the rarest of British bats, with perhaps no more than 1000 individuals, confined to the extreme south of Britain). You don’t expect councillors to be ecologists but there were clearly some who took note of this biology lesson. Having sat through the councillors’ previous demolition of the Exmouth objectors’ case, it was a nerve- racking moment when their turn came to lay their cards on the table. But with huge and mounting relief, almost to a man, they rejected this application (although we were ticked off for applauding them!). When the Council refuses an application, it has to have sound reasons that can be judged against the government’s new rule book (the National Planning Policy Framework). So some good arguments and plain common sense couldn’t be used because of technicalities. But the four acceptable reasons were: the Green Wedge, the impact on bats, the small amount of affordable housing and the loss of high quality arable land. The sting in the tail is that, although the developer was sent away with a flea in his ear, he was led to believe that their cloud had a silver lining (if you see what I mean – he’ll be back with another plan). So the battle was won but maybe not the war. This is a rather bland account of a highly charged issue but there are too many issues and too many stars to thank in such a short note.

[Editor’s Note: The developers have now (August 2013) appealed. The appeal is likely to be determined some time in late 2013, after a public hearing. The developers have also put in a further plan which is a modified version of their original.]

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Ham Walls and Shapwick Heath Mike Lock

The eight members who met at 0800 (yes – 0800 after getting up at 0530) were perhaps a little worried about Ian’s wish to start early but, as so often the case, he was right. The mist cleared as we arrived to give a warm sunny day with a light breeze – quite a change after the cold spring. A distant Cuckoo was calling and warblers were singing as we set off along Ham Wall – Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Whitethroat, Black cap, Garden Warbler and Cetti’s Warbler were all in the trackside scrub. Cetti’s Warblers, normally only heard giving their explosive song from the depths of a bush, were much more forthcoming and several sang in full view, showing off their broad tails and russet plumage. Garden Warblers also sang on exposed branches, allowing comparison between their song and the very similar one of the Blackcap. Reed Warblers were singing in the reeds and showing themselves well – one spent a long time sitting on a bramble, singing, and grabbing a fly whenever one came near enough. Two birds that everyone comes to Ham Walls to see are Marsh Harrier and Bittern, and we were not disappointed. Several Marsh Harriers showed themselves and drifted across the reed beds, sometimes dropping down out of sight but also soaring high on the thermals that developed as the day warmed. Most seemed to be females or young males, but we did see one fully adult male. Bitterns, however, were the star turn. We saw several flying over the reeds and, indeed, we actually saw three doing this together. Others were booming in the distance. The best, however, was a bird that flew up out of the reeds and then landed right out in the open on a grassy bank in full view where we able to watch it for ten minutes as it stretched its head up and twisted about so that the dark streaking on its 19 neck should have been camouflaging it in a reed bed – but not very well in the open! Ducks were everywhere; lots of Mallard, a few Teal and Shoveler, and plenty of Gadwall. Pochard and Tufted Duck were on the deeper pools, as were Great Crested and Little Grebes – but no sign of the vagrant Pied-billed Grebe from America which had been seen here over the previous few months. Mute Swans were clearly thinking about nesting but many seemed to be non-breeders. The Canada Geese and Greylag Geese were both making a great deal of raucous noise. A flock of about 40 Black-tailed Godwits was on one of the muddy pools, many of them in their rusty-red summer plumage. A single Common Sandpiper and one or two Snipe seemed to complete the wader tally but then another bird was pointed out and the telescopes showed it to be a Grey Plover in almost complete summer plumage – silvery grey above and black below. Normally a seashore species, this must have been a stray bird on migration. Although there were no dragonflies on the wing, Hobbies were circling in the sky, obviously catching something, perhaps black Hawthorn Flies – a small morsel for a hungry migrant looking to refuel after its journey from Africa. Buzzards also soared in the thermals. Little Egrets and Grey Herons were seen, as were several Great White Egrets, one with its full complement of lacy white breeding plumage. Soon after lunch and a walk up to Noah’s Hide and beyond on Shapwick Heath, most people felt like getting home for a rest. However, some hardy souls went back via Greylakes and saw a Red Kite, a pair of Garganey and eight of the reintroduced Common Cranes. A fantastic day and many thanks to Ian for arranging it all and for guiding us so successfully.

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Himalayan Balsam Mike Lock

Himalayan Balsam Impatiens glandulifera is a rather decorative plant that was introduced to British gardens from the Himalayas in about 1839. It is an annual, but grows remarkably quickly, attaining a height of two metres or more in a single season. The stems are succulent-looking and translucent, often pinkish, and by July it starts to produce the hooded pink flowers that give it the common name of ‘Policemen’s Helmet’. By mid-August these flowers develop into spindle-shaped seed pods that, when ripe, spring open when touched to fling the seeds several metres from the parent. The black seeds are quite large, and a well-developed plant can produce over 800 of them. The plant continues to flower and produce seeds until the first hard frost, which kills it. By 1898 it was already being described as ‘a terrible weed’. It was first recorded in Devon in 1888, and Keble Martin, in his 1939 Flora of Devon, described it as ‘well established throughout the county by the sides of rivers, canals, streams and ditches’. He recorded it as being particularly common by the Rivers Taw, Torridge, Teign and Dart, and Sir Edward Salisbury, in his ‘Weeds and Aliens’ (1961), says that it was particularly abundant along the Exe. Keble Martin records it from the Otter catchment (Budleigh Salterton and Awliscombe) but not from the Axe. Whenever it may have reached the Axe catchment, it is certainly now well established there. Himalayan Balsam is a problem for two main reasons. It forms such dense stands, and grows so quickly, that it swamps other native vegetation. This means that in winter, when the balsam has died down, riverbanks are unprotected by vegetation and more liable to erosion. Secondly, it produces a lot of pollen and nectar, and so, although bees love it and visit it a lot, it is probably diverting them from visiting and pollinating native species. For these reasons Natural England are supporting a campaign to rid the Axe, Coly and Yarty catchments of this plant.

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Does this campaign have a reasonable chance of success? The answer is, probably, ‘Yes’. Himalayan Balsam is an annual, and persists through the winter as seeds. These seeds do not live for very long – probably no more than two years. This is in contrast to the seeds of many cornfield weeds which can persist in the soil for many years, perhaps as long as a century – which explains why an unsprayed cereal field is often red with poppies. Therefore, if plants of Himalayan Balsam are prevented from seeding, either by pulling them up or by cutting them close to the ground so that they cannot regrow in time to produce seeds before the first frost, the seed store in the soil will rapidly decrease and should be gone entirely after a few years. Seeds of Himalayan Balsam can be washed downstream by floods, but because they are large, do not readily move upstream. Clearance must therefore start at the headwaters and move downstream. Of course, clearance downstream is also useful but will have to be repeated until the upstream seed sources are removed. So in 2013 the clearance teams have been working mainly in the upper reaches of the catchment. Volunteer help is always welcome! You may wonder why some form of chemical control is not possible. Weedkillers can be used as long as they do not affect watercourses, and since most of the infestations are by water, their use is not permitted in most sites. What about biological control? Expeditions have visited the Himalayas to look for predatory insects or parasitic fungi that specialise on the species and have had some success. However, very careful testing is needed before any insects or fungi are released. We have a native species of balsam in Britain, Touch-me-not Balsam Impatiens noli-tangere, which is a rare yellow- flowered plant of damp places in woodlands in the Lake District and central Wales, and it would be very unfortunate if an insect or fungus introduced to control Himalayan Balsam also managed to control an interesting native species. At present work is concentrating on a parasitic rust fungus which appears to be completely specific to Himalayan Balsam.

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Himalayan Balsam is not the only balsam species that is naturalised in the Axe catchment. Around the Axe Estuary and particularly along the Stafford Brook you may see the Orange Balsam Impatiens capensis, with dull orange flowers deeply spotted with red. For some reason, however, this species behaves itself and does not become invasive or swamp natural vegetation. It is probably a relatively recent arrival, as Keble Martin (1939) does not mention it at all. The campaign is not just addressing Himalayan Balsam, but also Giant Hogweed Heracleum mantegazzianum and Japanese Knotweed Fallopia japonica. The control problems that these pose are quite different. Giant Hogweed is a huge perennial umbellifer (cow-parsley), that produces flower heads more than a foot across and abundant seed. Its hairy stems can produce an unpleasant rash on the skin of anyone who handles it (and particularly on those unwise enough to use its hollow stems as peashooters). This rash may fade with time but return if the affected area is exposed to strong sunlight. I have never seen Giant Hogweed in the Axe catchment but it is common along the Lym above Lyme Regis, and along the Char at Charmouth. Japanese Knotweed is a perennial with very strong and vigorous underground rhizomes that spread extensively and are extremely difficult to kill. It is notorious for emerging through the floors of new buildings where it has not been fully cleared before construction began. In fact, if you have it in your garden, your house insurer may demand a higher premium! Luckily it does not produce seed in this country, but any fragment of the rhizome in dumped soil may start a new colony. Rhizomes when dug up must not be dumped or composted but treated as toxic waste and deeply buried in an approved site. The control of both these species is a job for the specialist. There is plenty of information available from the Devon Knotweed Forum which has a website that is part of the Devon County Council website.

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Beautiful, Exciting, Photogenic and Challenging Donald Campbell

Dave Smallshire described his one-day course at the Wetlands Centre as an ‘Introduction to the Identification and Ecology of Dragonflies’. He answered his own question: ‘Why Dragonflies?’ with the four adjectives of the title. With 5th August 2013 grey, windy and sometimes wet, the afternoon fieldwork would certainly be challenging. Putting Devon and the Axe Valley in context, Dave told of 44 breeding or migrant species in the U.K., other than vagrants, and 30 Odonates (the American collective name for Dragonflies and Damselflies), in Devon. At least 22 species occur along the Axe; they are often said to be good indicators of habitat quality but some are not averse to (cleaned) sewage outflows. They are little changed anatomically since kestrel-sized giants that lived in oxygen-rich atmospheres before the dinosaurs. Concentrated field work in 2005 and 2006 had produced a list of key dragonfly sites in Devon with the finding of exuviae (the cast larval skin from which adults had emerged) one of the easiest ways of proving breeding. Seeing oviposition (egg-laying) in mud, stones or vegetation, and finding larvae or pre-flight emergent individuals also provides good evidence. Lower Bruckland Ponds, the River Axe, and Seaton Marshes were key sites but the developing network of ponds around the Stafford Brook and the Field Studies Dragonfly larva Base will no doubt make that area equally important. Photogenic, said Dave – and he proved it with plenty of images of key identification features, focussing particularly on the stripe patterns on the thorax and legs, and on colour markings on segments 2 and 8−10 on the long

24 abdomen. Thus the Common Darter has brown legs with a yellow stripe, while the Ruddy Darter, a Seaton special, has black legs, an unmarked red-brown thorax and a blood-red abdomen with a clubbed tip, and thick black lines down segments 8 and 9. Among Damselflies the Common Blue has broad black shoulder stripes on the top of the thorax, a black stalked spot on segment 2 and blue segments 8 and 9, whereas the Blue-tailed has narrower shoulder stripes and an abdomen which Blue-tailed Damselfly is mainly black except for segment 8 which is blue except in some females which have five colour forms – another challenge. When the group moved outside towards the pond shelter, we weren’t optimistic in the damp, grey conditions – individuals would certainly not be flying about over the water. I found it exciting and surprising that we soon found Blue-tailed, Common Blue and Azure Damselflies resting on willow or blackthorn. The netted Azure was particularly smart. It was suggested that we think of the male as a snooker player with the spur on the side of his thorax as his cue, a mark on segment 9 as his bow tie, and the black U-shape on segment 2 as his beer glass! A Common Darter dragonfly was also found, lurking inconspicuously. Just north of Axe Bridge on the A 3052, up to ten male Banded Demoiselles, with broad black bands on their wings, fluttered over water and vegetation. We caught a female, who had a beautiful metallic green thorax and abdomen. A special species for the Axe, the White-legged Damselfly, differs from the Common Blue Damselfly in the expanded white edges to its legs. These two damsel species favour the slow- flowing muddy Axe but, as evidence of Odonate ecology, our next two species liked the faster-flowing stony Bruckland stream. First we saw a male Beautiful Demoiselle with iridescent dark wings and then, after a brief flight, a Golden-ringed Dragonfly which characteristically dealt with

25 the damp conditions by hanging still under ivy leaves. Plenty more Damselflies were active around the Lower Bruckland Ponds, but despite the water lilies (a favoured habitat) no Red-eyed or Small Red-eyed Damselflies, local specialities, were seen. Dave’s knowledge and enthusiasm meant that the weather couldn’t spoil a day of enjoyment and considerable learning. His book, with Andy Swash, ‘Britain’s Dragonflies’ is lavishly illustrated, and buying it supports the British Dragonfly Society. The Field Studies Classroom provided an excellent base, as it had for Professor Malcolm Hart’s talk on Geology and Landscape at the previous week’s Natural Seaton Golden-ringed Dragonfly Festival.

British Dragonfly Society: www.british-dragonflies.org.uk)

AV&DCS possesses two hand-held GPS units. These may be borrowed by members if they

have a valid use for them. Apply to the Chairman.

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The plants of the Tesco landfill site Mike Lock

The site next to Tesco in Seaton was infilled and raised two or three years ago with the intention of creating an area above foreseeable flood levels, to be used for house building. The infill material was dredgings from the sea bed shipped in and then pumped ashore through a temporary pipeline. The material was largely sand. By the early summer of 2013 this site was bright with flowers. I looked at it on a rather damp and drizzly day in June. It had obviously been sown – the lines from the seed drill were obvious – with a mixture of grass and legumes. Red Clover Trifolium pratense was common, along with some White Clover T.repens. A prostrate yellow-flowered species, Black Medick Medicago lupulina was also abundant, forming mats over parts of the sandy surface. A few tall plants of White Melilot Melilotus alba grew on the deeper sands at the margins. One of the commonest species, however, was a plant that looked a bit like Bird’s- foot Trefoil Lotus corniculatus in its heads of yellow flowers and leaves divided into three leaflets, but which was much more upright and a slightly paler yellow than normal Bird’s-foot Trefoil. At first I was puzzled by this plant but I went to the standard British Flora (Stace’s New Flora of the British Isles) and found the following: “Native plants [of Bird’s-foot Trefoil] have solid stems; robust erect plants with large leaflets, light-coloured keels and sometimes hollow stems, mostly on roadsides, are probably introduced and referable to var. sativus.” So there was the answer. This is a variety of Bird’s-foot Trefoil that is often included in ‘wildflower’ seed mixtures that are sown on places like roadsides to provide ground cover. One may surmise that the seeds of this form are easier to harvest than those of the normal variety because they are held further off the ground, and so are more readily available. There is a lesson here: if you are sowing the seeds of 27

‘wild flowers’ try and find out the source and make sure that you are really buying the real thing! Ash Die-back Mike Lock

This is new disease to Britain – although it is increasingly looking as if it may have been around for several years. In Denmark it has killed a high proportion of all ash trees in the country. Will it spread here? There have been one or two outbreaks in Devon but so far no indication of extensive spread. The symptoms are wilting and death of branches and leaves. Be careful not to be deceived by the bunches of brown ripe fruits in late summer and autumn!

Ash leaf and bunch of fruits (‘keys’).

Useful pictures and details of the disease can be found at:

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www.forestry.gov.uk/chalara

AXE VALE & DISTRICT CONSERVATION SOCIETY Registered Charity No. 266682 Subscription Application/Renewal (for the year ending 30th September) To: Hon Treasurer, Mr Roger Ash, 37 Springfields, Colyford, E.Devon, EX24 6RE

I/We* would like to join the Society*/renew our subscription*and pay £ ……. by Banker's Order (Banker's Order form enclosed) /Cheque* / PO*. I/we have not* received a copy of the latest Newsletter. (*Please delete as applicable) Minimum Subscription and Donation: ● £2.00 - Individual ● £3.00 - Two persons at the same address ● £0.50 - Junior (non-voting) member Name (In Block Capitals)…………………………………………Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms Address:…………………………………………………………………………….. ……………………………………………………Postcode:……………………….. Telephone Number:…………………………………..Date:……………………….. (Please note that membership records are held in computerised form. If you have any objection to your details being held in this way, please notify the Treasurer.

Gift Aid Declaration: Completing a Gift Aid Declaration ensures that we can make the most of your subscription/donation. I, Title………… Forename……………………..Surname…………………………… Address………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………Postcode…………………………. To The Axe Vale and District Conservation Society. Please treat all subscriptions/donations that I have made in the past four years and all future subscriptions/donations that I make from this date as Gift Aid donations until I notify you otherwise..

Signature………………………………………Date……………………….

NB. In each tax year you need to pay enough Income Tax and/or Capital Gains Tax to cover the amount of tax that we shall be claiming. At present we claim 25p in every £1. Please let us know if you no longer pay enough tax, if your name or address changes, or if you wish to cancel this declaration.

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LOCAL REPRESENTATIVES

Mr R. Ash 37 Springfields, Colyford Mr R. Berreen 9 Rowan Drive, Seaton Mr D. Campbell Wheatears, The Butts, Colyton (for Combpyne Dr C. Cannan Knap House, Axmouth Mr. P. Clarke 78, Scalwell Lane, Seaton Mr P. Cook 8 North St., Axminster Mr D. Cox 21 Barnes Meadow, Uplyme Mr N. Croton Gashay Farm, Hawkchurch Mr & Mrs R. Dark Hillcrest, Broadhayes, Stockland Ms J. Dauncey Wavertree, Market Place, Colyton Mr R.Dawe Doulting, Kilmington Mr E.D.Gordon Kincora, Beer Road, Seaton Mr S. Heighway Mustons, Kilmington Mrs H. Horley Tucker's Orchard, Dalwood Mr R. How 21, Burnards Field, Colyton Mrs J. LeGood 15 Lea Coombe, Axminster Mr R.J.Olliver Lost Elms, 9 River View Close, Colyton Mr N.Yool Forge Farm, Rock, Membury Mrs B. Pocock 3 Old Manor Gardens, Colyford Mrs P. Price 7 York Road, Seaton Mrs C. Sargent Ruffles, Doatshayne Lane, Musbury Mrs A. Smith 18 Burnham Close, Seaton Mrs J. Stacey Buckthorn, Rocombe Cross, Axminster (for Raymonds Hill). Mrs E. Stonex Lydcote, Kilmington

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