Summer 2015 Thames Valley Environmental Records Centre Photograph by © Helen Miller I’d like to welcome Katherine Reading through this Welcome Holmes, our new Berkshire newsletter I see that Biodiversity Officer and also recording and conservation I thought I’d surely been congratulate Caroline groups have been very the busiest person in Coleman who will be staying busy too; securing funding, the last six months at TVERC in the new role of putting on talks & walks, looking after baby Benji, Volunteer Co-ordinator from surveying wildlife and but it seems that the September. And huge carrying out practical last six months have congratulations to Dr Lucy work. It’s evident that been a busy time for Lush who has completed her Berkshire and Oxfordshire everyone with lots of PhD in hare ecology. would be a much poorer new and exciting environment without all Apart from big projects such projects, events and your efforts. as the TVERC training opportunities. Lucy and courses, Oxfordshire Habitat So thank you to Lucy and the team have done a Mapping and Berkshire the TVERC team, and all fabulous job while I’ve Ancient Woodland Inventory those volunteering their been away and it’s been Camilla and Benji review, we’ve also been time to help conserve the lovely to come back and working hard to better utilise environment—I concede I enjoying a rare sit-down! hear all the news. technology to automate our possibly wasn’t the busiest While I was away Helen data management and person in the last six Miller left us and is now I N S I D E provision processes. This will months! running the new Warwick give us more time to spend THIS ISSUE: Camilla Burrow branch of Acorn Ecology. on getting data into our Oxfordshire 2 We will miss those quirky database, and on supporting Recording and cartoons in our newsletter! recorders. Conservation Day Meet our new 3 Berkshire TVERC Training Programme Biodiversity Officer TVERC received funding from Natural England to run 7 What is TOE2? 4 training courses covering a range of species and habitats. The aim of the courses was to provide an Woodstock Natural 6 introduction to ecology and overview of survey History Society methods, to encourage volunteers to get involved with 40th Anniversary surveying in their area. All the courses were soon booked up with waiting lists Mammal Group 7 for any spaces that became available. We have been secure funding. very lucky with the weather so far and participants were also rewarded with some great views of brown Hedge laying in 8 Blewbury hares, grass snakes and common lizards at Otmoor and bank voles at the Organic Research Centre. Let’s hope Former Rubbish 9 that the last two courses are just as lucky. Tip now LWS We plan to run further courses next year that will be advertised on our website and Twitter account. So if © Lucy Lush you are interested in attending keep any eye out as they will likely book up quickly. Lucy Lush P A G E 2 Oxfordshire Recording and Conservation Day 2015 TVERC, with about Wild Oxfordshire; the invaluable support Oxfordshire Biodiversity Strategy for from Judy Webb, the 2020; recording of invasive species; Ashmolean Natural Save our Magnificent Meadows; History Society of Oxfordshire Pollinator Advisory Group; Oxfordshire, Wild the Fungus Survey of Oxfordshire; Oxfordshire, BBOWT TVERC’s online recording system; the and Shotover Oxfordshire Mammal Group; Wildlife, held a Oxfordshire Rare Plants Register; the successful event for BSBI 2020 atlas; Shotover Wildlife; and Oxfordshire’s clearwing moth recording. recorders on 28th Downy For the last part of the afternoon, February 2015. The event was held at people had the opportunity to attend Woundwort the Oxford University Museum of one of four workshops. Darren Mann Natural History, a fascinating place in its Photo from Ken entranced his group with a tour of the own right which was much enjoyed by museum’s Hope Entomological Betteridge the 70 people who attended. Collections. Stephen Ellwood gave a The theme was ‘Recording the very successful master class on using invisible’ and we started with an radio-tracking. There was lots of enthusiastic and informative talk by discussion in a workshop by Debbie Judy Webb about seed banks and the Lewis on use of monitoring results to difficulty of recording ‘buried long- influence conservation. Merryl Gelling dormant seed’ plant species. Ken gave a demonstration, with many Betteridge then described the work that examples, of the signs left by mammals he and others have done with Downy in a workshop on ‘Poo, prints and Woundwort in the west of Oxfordshire. more’. David Wilding then showed us how Our thanks go to the Oxford University remote monitoring techniques Museum of Natural History for including cameras and data loggers providing such a fascinating venue and have been used to monitor the impacts to all of the speakers and participants of ground predators on nesting waders for educating and informing us all. Look at Otmoor. In his talk about moth out in the next newsletter for plans for recording, Paul Waring explained how the 2016 event and the Autumn synthetic pheromones can be used to Recorders Conference later this year! trap moths by mimicking the pheromones released by female moths. Caroline Coleman The last talk of the morning was from Jeremy Biggs, with a thought-provoking exploration of the potential for e-DNA, which is already being used to detect the presence of great-crested newts in fresh waters. The afternoon speed updating session proved popular as ever, with updates from 11 participants. The updates were Ken Betteridge’s Excellent Tomato Map showing location and numbers of Downy Woundwort plants Oxfordshire Habitat Mapping P A G E 3 How would you know where to find time and we also found some So far, we have made a start with different grasslands or other habitats unexpected areas of interesting fen mapping arable fields and such as ponds or traditional orchards and grassland. This has grassland. It is rarely possible to in Oxfordshire? Many of us have local demonstrated the value of be absolutely certain about some knowledge about favourite patches or producing a comprehensive habitat habitats – for example, places we’ve seen when we are out map. distinguishing unimproved from and about. And there are also improved grassland is tricky. sites that have been chosen for Fortunately, their importance to wildlife – Integrated Habitat Local Wildlife Sites, Conservation System (IHS) codes Target Areas and national allow us to use terms “This will designated sites such as SSSIs. such as “probably prove Amazingly, though, there isn’t a improved” or comprehensive map showing “possibly invaluable for habitat types across all of unimproved”, Oxfordshire. reflecting the strategic inherent uncertainty Oxfordshire County Council has decisions in identification from decided to remedy this and has aerial photos. commissioned TVERC to map about where habitats across the whole of the This is a long-term to prioritise county. This will prove invaluable project that will for strategic decisions about progress from the conservation” where to prioritise conservation. It will Although it would be lovely to spend more straightforward also provide the information about the the next few summers recording habitats such as arable most important habitats for district habitats across Oxfordshire, this isn’t to more complex ones and county planners when individual the most efficient approach. Instead, such as parkland. Over time, we planning applications are received. we take advantage of aerial will have a much better picture of photography (and other sources) to Oxfordshire’s habitats and where We have already carried out a similar take a bird’s eye view, identifying they are. project for Cherwell District Council. habitats as accurately as we can and Some areas of high ecological Caroline Coleman then adding them to a GIS layer. importance were mapped for the first Meet our new Berkshire Biodiversity Officer Katherine Holmes has joined and surveys of flora and fauna. TVERC as the Berkshire She has also worked within the Biodiversity Officer. Katherine has reserves teams at the a degree in Environmental Biology Staffordshire and Derbyshire and a Masters degree in Applied Wildlife Trusts, carrying out Ecology and Conservation, and practical conservation tasks in a has worked in the field of ecology variety of habitats. and conservation for 7 years. In addition to her paid work, Prior to TVERC, she worked on Katherine volunteers as a nest the ‘Save Our Magnificent recorder and bird ringer for the Meadows’ project with the BTO, and also volunteers for Cotswolds Conservation Board, BBOWT’s Water Vole Recovery where she was responsible for Project. community engagement; Katherine was previously employed arranging practical conservation as an ecologist at an ecological Katherine is thrilled to be joining work parties, public events and consultancy in Oxfordshire, where the TVERC team, and is looking volunteer-led botanical surveys. she was involved in a range of work forward to meeting and working across England and Wales including with our recorders very soon. carrying out ecological assessments P A G E 4 WHAT IS THE TRUST FOR OXFORDSHIRE’S ENVIRONMENT? (TOE2) The Trust for Oxfordshire’s Environment Examples of projects we have supported include: (TOE2) is an environmental funder for Oxfordshire. We are here to provide River of Life - funding towards the funding and support for environmental establishment of priority habitats including reed and community projects in Oxfordshire, beds, wet woodland and lowland meadows at the supporting both strategic priorities and Earth Trust’s visionary landscape scale wetland local initiatives in order to improve quality creation project beside the river Thames in South of life and the environment, ecosystem Oxfordshire.