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Summer 2020 Berkshire, Buckinghamshire Wild & Oxfordshire GREEN SHOOTS Time has come for wildlife’s revival 60 YEARS YOUNG! BBOWT celebrates its diamond jubilee SUMMER SPOTTING Bug’s eye view There’s a miniature jungle to be explored Wild Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire | Spring 2020 1 BBOWT at 60 ZWERVER/SHUTTERSTOCKRUDMER Six decades Welcome 10 fighting for wildlife Your wild summer Time for a new normal The best of the season’s wildlife, and Covid-19 has shaken our world. Like all charities, where to enjoy it on your local patch BBOWT has taken a financial hit, as our education and visitor centres had to close, losing us vital income. Our conservation work has also been impacted – you can RIC MELLIS RIC read more about this on page 6. Lockdown was tough on everyone, but with it came a seismic 8 Timeout change as more people fell under nature’s spell. The rumble of traffic Escape to the great outdoors quietened, flights were cancelled, the air cleared and we migrated to our gardens and parks. We started to walk and cycle, to live in the present. Many of us found solace in nature; wildlife undoubtedly Green shoots contributed to our physical and mental wellbeing as we reconnected New priorities post You are helping Bats are under increasing threat with the rhythms of the natural world. Personally, it not only helped me 14 Covid-19 from habitat loss. As a member cope but reminded me why I love this job so deeply. your support helps protect them Could this be the turning point, when humanity realises its utter – including very rare species such dependency on nature? Have our values shifted to a more balanced, as the Bechstein’s bat. Find out less frenetic pace of life? Let’s hope so! The bounce-back begins here what else your support means at and, like everyone, we expect a new normal to emerge. bbowt.org.uk/about Yet the battle for nature’s recovery and climate stability rages on. We will continue the local fight, playing our part in this global challenge. We’ve made the case for more ambition on nature’s recovery, and will of course do our utmost to protect precious wild places and the wildlife found within them (see page 14 for more on this). We look forward to welcoming back our army of volunteers and reopening our centres soon. In the meantime, thank you so much for sticking with us – the battle to safeguard the wildlife of our three SUMMER SPECTACLE counties would be lost without you. Swooping bats When you think about it, bats are mammals to be revered, not feared. The smallest UK species, the pipistrelles, weigh no more than a 2p piece and yet, like Estelle Bailey, Chief Executive every other bat it’s a masterpiece of design: capable of producing milk for its young, with on-board sonar and wafer-thin wings that unfold in an instant to enable it to agilely swish, swoop and glide with uncanny precision. There are 17 types of bats resident in the UK, and they all eat insects – the common pipistrelle can get through 500 an hour! They feed at night using echolocation, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust Get in touch pinging sound off their prey to work out where they are Wild Berks, Bucks & Oxon is the membership Wherever you are in the country your Wildlife Trust A large-print version of Wild Berks, before swooping in to nab them. At this time of year magazine for Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust is standing up for wildlife and wild places in your Bucks & Oxon (text only) is available feeding really picks up; it’s a race against time to fatten area and bringing people closer to nature. Contact 01865 775476, [email protected] on request. Call 01865 775476 or up before hibernating for winter. Membership 01865 788300, email [email protected] [email protected] Wild Berks, Bucks & Oxon brought to you by SEE THEM THIS SUMMER Address The Lodge, 1 Armstrong Road, Editor Ben Vanheems Finemere Wood The shadiest areas of the wood are UK Consultant Editor Sophie Stafford Enjoy the extended version of Littlemore, Oxford OX4 4XT roosting sites for rare Bechstein’s bats. Website www.bbowt.org.uk UK Consultant Designer Tina Smith Hobson Wild Berks, Bucks & Oxon online at Letcombe Valley Daubenton’s bats swoop low across President Steve Backshall Design Yorkshire Wildlife Trust Design Studio bbowt.org.uk/publications Bats like the common pipistrelle have the surface of the Letcombe Brook. Chair Joanna Simons Print CKN Print Ltd a busy schedule. They must feed as Chief Executive Estelle Bailey Cover Stephen Dalton/naturepl.com Loddon Nature Reserve Bats gorge on the rich insect much as possible to prepare for winter, life found at this flooded gravel pit. Registered Charity Number 204330 Company Registered Number 006800007 while mating also occurs in autumn. WildWild Berkshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire & &Oxfordshire Oxfordshire | Summer | Spring 2020 3 2 Wild Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire | Summer 2020 YOUR WILD SUMMER STAY CONNECTED Summertime’s easy living We’re going on a bug hunt Spend an afternoon Leave the trials and tribulations of modern life behind hunting for bugs. Look Enjoy even more from BBOWT under leaf litter, in the compost heap, among the Cool, calm and composted herbaceous perennials... Can’t get out as much as you’d like? Want to do more to help local wildlife? Or Woodlands offer a shady retreat on hot summer days. universe of fungi, beetles, worms and microorganisms simply craving more nature-themed nuggets? Here’s how to stay connected, Walk beneath their leafy boughs and a sense of calm convert autumn’s fallen leaves into a rich layer of Green shieldbug instantly descends. These are secret places, secluded humus, fuelling the food chain from the ground up. Often seen sunbathing in up-to-date and enjoy even more from your local Wildlife Trust refuges from the mad and busy world outside. late summer, this sap- Woodlands are blessed with their own very special ESCAPE THIS SUMMER sucking bug is sometimes wildlife. Woodpeckers drum their urgent staccato Dancersend with Pavis Woods Pavis Woods called the green stink bug Nature Notes What’s on? beats, making nests in the holes they painstakingly is home to old boundary beech trees and sunken because of the smell it Signup to Nature Notes, our regular free newsletter, to receive The situation regarding Covid-19 is rapidly evolving which, as excavate or, if lucky, find. Owls like the tawny owl add tracks, both centuries-old features of these secretes when disturbed. emails packed with feel-good activities that bring wildlife you can imagine, makes planning exceptionally hard! We hope to a further sense of mystery; their familiar ‘twit twoo’ remarkable woods. and wild places to you. resume our busy events programme as soon as it is practical and call is in fact two – the first part from the female, Bowdown Woods This ancient woodland has The lockdown has seen us share encouragement, wildlife safe to do so. the second the male’s reply. Then there’s the legion glorious views across the Kennet Valley. Watch sightings, and nature-based facts and fun guaranteed to The best way to stay up-to-date with the very latest situation of thrushes, warblers and tits seeking cover in the for basking butterflies like the white admiral in inspire and uplift. Featured topics is to sign up to Nature Notes, so you are among the first to be undergrowth or living high up in the canopy – a the clearing. include projects to ignite your informed when our events restart. You can also visit bbowt.org. refuge within the refuge. children’s interest in nature, advice uk/events for details of what’s on, when the time comes. We look RACHEL SCOPES RACHEL Marvel at the canopy above but take time to scan Go behind the scenes of our magnificent on how to enjoy garden wildlife forward to seeing you in person again very soon! the woodland floor. Its earthy smell Finemere Wood with volunteer warden Violet ground beetles and green-fingered gardening is the product of nature’s Charlotte Karmali’s regular blog: bbowt.org.uk/ These shiny black beetles tips, with inspiration for those composting miracle. Here a blog/charlotte-karmali are typically found under who don’t have a garden too. logs and stones by day. At There’s lots to read, watch GUY EDWARDES/2020VISION GUY night they hunt for slugs and listen to, including know- and other insects, making how from our team of experts Old school them superb garden allies. and enthusiasts, so you can Just 1.2% of the help wildlife and get involved country is covered in no matter what the restrictions ancient woodland. MELLIS RIC imposed by coronavirus. Sign up at bbowt.org.uk/newsletter MARGARET HOLLAND Field grasshopper Look and listen out on Social butterflies their gardens. These are joyful moments sunny days for the chirrup of During the lockdown we created a that people will hold dear long after the the males among the grass. range of online activities to encourage lockdown. They make their courting members to tune in to wildlife at You can catch up on anything you sound by rubbing their legs home – and help people find solace in missed and look forward to plenty against their wings. nature during these tough times. more fresh and engaging content by SHUTTERSTOCK Wildlife experts usually found following our social media channels leading school visits, events or talking and subscribing to the BBOWT YouTube Camp in the garden to visitors on reserves have turned channel, where you’ll also find our to leading online family wildlife popular wildlife gardening videos The lockdown saw many of us escape to the wilds BURKMAR RICHARD ID events, blogging about how to and podcasts.
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