May 2020 www.malverngroup.btck.co.uk [email protected] Malvern Group Online Newsletter – Special Lockdown Edition

Welcome to the very first Malvern Group Online Newsletter!

For more than two months we have all been suffering from lockdown, and unable to attend our Indoor Meetings or go on planned trips and walks with the group. Notably there were meant to be three trips to Mull (organised by Margaret Vernon) and they have all been rescheduled for 2021 – let’s hope everything is back to normal by then. It’s possible we may be able to resume some activities in September, but at present it’s too early to say anything definite.

Fortunately in April and May this year we have had some beautiful weather and we have been able to enjoy the wildlife in our gardens and on our local walks. I thought it would be wonderful to have an opportunity to share all the things we have seen. An email sent to the group in early May produced a fantastic response; I was inundated with articles and photos, far too much for our usual Newsletter which is only two sides of A4. An Online Newsletter was the obvious solution, and I have had enormous pleasure collecting all the items and arranging them for you to see. Many of the articles are about common flora and fauna which have given us joy and interest during the past difficult weeks. We have everything from cuckoos to badgers, bees to stoats, Socially distancing goldfinches in my garden - Alison and orchids to butterflies. There are serious articles, and several fun items! Thank you everybody for all your contributions and your obvious enthusiasm.

Best wishes

Alison Uren (Chairman and Editor)

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Bee Hotels – Christine Seymour

With time on our hands we finally got round to creating bee hotels which we attached to our garage wall, which is quite sheltered and in full sun. Mason bees were already nesting in holes in the mortar of the brickwork, but competition for holes was fierce. We made two types – the traditional one with bamboo lengths of different widths, and one from hardwood with holes drilled in it of between 5 – 10 mm. Within days most of the holes were occupied; the hardwood hotel was the most popular. We created two more hardwood hotels, again nearly full within days of sunny weather! It is fascinating to watch the bees ‘casing the joint’, choosing a hole then reversing in to lay an egg. They then block up the hole with mud. In the bamboo holes, they often excavate the pith to their desired size. We are going to add roofs to give added protection from rain and hope next year to see adults emerging.

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Green alkanet is the foodplant of the scarlet tiger caterpillar (and others) so don’t strim it! - Alison Uren

Walking on the Malvern Hills – Alison Pickford During the glorious April we have just had, I have had the privilege of Yellow Archangel and Bluebell - Jim Bullett walking in the hills and watching the bluebells gradually reach the stage

of the magnificent displays that we have every spring. This was followed by spectacular clouds of forget-me-nots which seem to come in several delicious shades of blue as well as white and pink and the cow parsley just adds to the delight. I always considered green alkanet a weed, but it is hard not to love the banks of it in full bloom on the sides of the hills. I tend to walk early and have been rewarded with some unusual sightings (for me). A single nuthatch was sitting on a bare branch and singing his heart out. I glimpsed a peregrine falcon sitting in a tree on North Hill and I have seen lots of wrens. My knowledge of butterflies is very rudimentary and I had to search for the identity of what turned out to be a speckled wood. As it happened, the very morning I heard Brett

Brimstone moth – Neil Homer-Forbes Westwood on Open Country describing female orange tips, I saw one and was able to identify it from his description.

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Have we all gone Cuckoo?

Barry Tuck - April 8th: Surprised to hear an early cuckoo from Hangman’s Hill, this afternoon. Lots of willow warblers singing and a whitethroat and three tree pipits. Also a red kite spent quite a lot of time flying low over British Camp off and on through much of the early afternoon before drifting off towards Midsummer Hill.

Isabel Beale – April 18th: cuckoo heard at the Ham at Upton-on-Severn (her house overlooks the Ham).

Don Bradley and Jane Guinery – May 10th: On two recent visits to Common, Jane and I have heard cuckoos (very loud and clear thanks to the reduced traffic!). On the second visit, yesterday, we actually saw two of them flying together. This is the first time in nearly 20 years we’ve actually seen a cuckoo as opposed to just hearing them.

Not very exciting in the grand scheme of things, but they cheered us up! Cuckoo – Simon Evans

th Neil Homer-Forbes – May 12 : Neil lives at Birtsmorton and heard his first cuckoo on this date. Jack has just correctly answered the £500,000 question on Who Wants To Be a Millionaire. Margaret Vernon - May 12th: First time out in the car yesterday (very exciting!) to He has only one question standing between him and the £1m jackpot. visit the nearby hills and again today. Around Midsummer Hill/ Swinyard Hill, in particular: two cuckoos (first for me to hear one, but there were certainly two), "Which of these birds does not live in a nest? many chiffchaffs, a willow warbler, several whitethroats, two grey wagtails, and a A) Thrush, B) Kestrel, C) Blue Tit, D) Cuckoo" swallow (first for me). Jack has one lifeline left, phone a friend. He decides to call Matt, the owner of his local pub. Matt agrees, and immediately shouts "It's a th Isabel Beale – May 13 : cuckoo was cuckooing in the middle of the night which cuckoo!" Jack goes with that answer and wins the jackpot. was very irritating! That evening, Jack was round at Matt's bar celebrating. He turns to Roger Bates – May 13th: There was a lot of manic cuckoo activity in the woods on Matt and says "Matt, how did you know that cuckoos don't live in a Swinyard this morning, much calling and chasing, and making of weird calls nest?" including 'bubbling' and 'cackling'. There were three birds in total, perhaps a Matt answers, "That's the easiest question you could have had! female and two males? Everyone knows a cuckoo lives in a clock!"

Alison Uren – May 18th: Cuckdown has been eased a little this week so we can get to places where there are lockoos. Chase End, Wood Street, Old Hills, Castlemorton…... (Sorry, editor has gone cuckoo).

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A Cuckoo Encounter – Paul Chappell

(May 17th) I’ve just witnessed one of the most remarkable things I’ve ever seen in a lifetime of watching wildlife. I was in Chat Valley on the eastern side of North Hill watching stonechats, when a larger grey-backed bird with a long tail glided very low over the gorse and then dropped down into the bushes. The stonechats became very agitated and I thought it might be a sparrowhawk. I watched carefully where it had disappeared into the bushes and then after a couple of minutes, a cuckoo flew up into a dead gorse bush holding one of the stonechat’s eggs, which it then ate in full view before flying off. It probably laid an egg in the nest before removing the one that it ate. The cuckoo was completely silent for the whole time so all the walkers on De Walden Drive were unaware that it was there. I was fortunate enough to have my camera with me this morning so was able to photograph the whole event. You can just see the wing of one of the upset stonechats in the top right corner of the third photograph. I’ve never seen a cuckoo high on the northern hills before. I did see one in the trees behind our house in once, but that would have been over 25 years ago. In recent years I’ve only seen one once near Colwall and heard them in other places like Castlemorton Common and Midsummer Hill.

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highlights have included pied flycatchers and redstarts on the southern hills, though fewer than there used to be. There was as an early cuckoo on April 8th from Hangman’s Hill. More recently, a nightingale (now rare in ) was reported by several members of the Bird Group. Red kites have been regular visitors to the hills, and several pairs of stonechats and lesser whitethroats have taken up residence on Castlemorton Common.

These observations are obviously very anecdotal. In all probability the numbers of all our summer visitors are declining with the possible exception of blackcaps.

Pied Flycatcher (photo taken in 2013) – Barry Tuck

Birds on Midsummer and Swinyard Hills – Barry Tuck

There has not been much good news this spring but, by way of distraction, the bird life on the hills and in particular, the returning summer visitors, have been magnificent. I am not sure if it’s been the good weather or just that I have done far more walking on the hills. My daily exercise has consisted almost exclusively of walks from home up onto the hills and there has been a tremendous amount of bird life to see and hear. Bluebells and a speckled wood butterfly – Barry Tuck

Willow warblers, garden warblers, whitethroats and chiffchaffs have been present in good numbers, and tree pipits have seemed particularly prominent this spring. Their display flight is fascinating to watch, accompanied by the distinctive song and finishing with a spectacular downwards parachute. Other

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IN A MALVERN LOCKED DOWN GARDEN By Liz Lloyd (sung to the traditional tune “In an English Country Garden”)

How many kinds of butterflies go by How many sorts of moth flutter by In a Malvern locked down garden? In a Malvern locked down garden We'll tell you now of some you can spy We’ll tell you now of some you can spy Those we miss you'll surely pardon Those we miss you’ll surely pardon Holly blue, brimstone, peacock, Angle shades and herald moth Orange Tip on lady’s smock Beautiful, and don’t eat cloth Brimstone in spring Muslin and mint Speckled wood on the wing Silver Y also glint Small and large white as well And the grand emperor and the pretty tortoiseshell Drawn in by a scented lure In a Malvern locked down garden. In a Malvern locked down garden. ~ ~ How many kinds of bees buzz on by In a Malvern locked down garden We’ll tell you now of some you can spy Those we miss you’ll surely pardon Note: Please send your monthly garden Hairy-footed flower bee butterflies sightings on a form available from Flying round your cherry tree [email protected] Box-headed blood And the common mourning bee Carder and furrow too Mining, mason - join the queue In a Malvern locked down garden. ~

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The Prickly Page

Hedgehogs – Nigel Woodall Hedgehog – Nicole Thomassin I feed hedgehogs in the garden but have a problem with cats. I have made a We live in the middle of Malvern. Here is a little something we found near hedgehog feeder designed by a charity called the Emily Jordan Foundation our little pond one morning in the second week of lockdown. It was a based in Kidderminster. They have adapted one of their hedgehog homes to young one, no idea where it came from or where it went, fleeting visit....it be a feeder with a cat-deterring tunnel. certainly put a smile on our faces!

Two thoughts – Tim Lawrence Malvern Hedgehog Rescue First, although this lockdown is a pain for us it is great for the environment and wildlife. Less disturbance and reduced fuel consumption, cleaner air (Viv Smith in phone conversation with Alison) and less pollution. Viv told me that she has had as many injured and sick hedgehogs as usual Second, one each of fox, hedgehog, muntjac deer and badger have all been this year, despite the quieter roads. She explained that gardens are not always seen recently in a garden that adjoins Link Top Common. A recently safe places for hedgehogs; they suffer from disturbance by dogs and cats, and constructed hedgehog house has already been inspected by the target garden implements (especially strimmers) cause many injuries. One of her species, so that is something else that can be built during lockdown. many problems this year has been the lack of her usual volunteer help and she has had to cope by herself. www.malvernhedgehogrescue.co.uk

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Wordsworth 2020 I wandered lonely as a cloud (Unattributed, provided by Margaret Vernon) Two metres from the madding crowd When all at once my name was called

To enter Waitrose hallowed hall. This was the pensioners’ special hour. My wife said: “Buy a bag of flour”. But I forgot, when through the door, What I had gone to Waitrose for. The Waitrose staff are very kind. I told them it had slipped my mind. They asked what else I had forgot They clearly thought I’d lost the plot. I phoned my wife again to ask. She reminded me of this special task: “I need some flour to bake a cake

Daffodils near Chase End Hill With all that cream you made me take.”

“Ah yes, of course” I had to lie.

I dared not ask what flower to buy.

But then I saw them next the tills

A bunch of golden daffodils!

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Lockdown Observations – Mary Horrobin

In the garden: I had a bee-fly in the garden, and lots of butterflies including holly blue, peacock, brimstone, orange tip and small tortoiseshell. I have two blackbirds’ nests, one in the beech hedge currently feeding young, and the other in the fir hedge making a new nest. There is a pair of goldfinches, but I don't know where their nest is. I think it's in a neighbour's garden. Last year they produced two young which were unfortunate swiftly dispatched by the sparrowhawk. I haven't seen the fox who chewed up my shoes and several pairs of gardening gloves last year!

On a walk in early May: I walked through Blackmore Woods yesterday and saw a muntjac, lots of peacock butterflies, one speckled wood, some orange tips and masses of red clover. A freshly-emerged lime hawk moth in Malvern I heard one buzzard, but in general there seem to be fewer buzzards around Wells. this year. Has anyone else noticed this?

On Common there is a lonely green-winged orchid. As I walked over the railway bridge up Peachfield Road a kestrel landed on the lamppost right above me and didn't seem the least bothered by my presence. I have seen more kestrels this year. A heron landed on a rooftop nearby and he also showed no concern about me. The hawthorn blossom has been in full swing for more than a week.

A single green-winged orchid on Poolbrook Common.

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Wildlife in the Garden - Jenny and Brian Bradford

There have been a number of interesting events in our garden in Poolbrook.

About one week ago at about 11 pm I found a hedgehog wandering across our front lawn. It went round the side of the bungalow and left some poos in the slabs. We have previously seen these poos but did not know what left them. It is great that we apparently have the hedgehog living nearby.

We have a bumblebee nest in among the rocks around our pond. I think they are buff-tailed and they are flying regularly in and out of the nest. However there is a mystery. Around the pond area there are other bumblebees which are WALKING about on plants and rockery, not flying, and appearing to have little idea of what they are doing. Can anybody come up with an explanation of this phenomena? It has been evident for several days. They are similar to the bees in the nest, their tails have two off white bars. They do not seem to be interested in entering the nest. Female broad-bodied chaser – Brian Bradford Reply from Andy Pearce on Facebook: When beekeeping I noticed honey bees would mooch around the soil We were sitting in the sun by our pond yesterday when we were visited by seemingly aimless. I concluded that they may have been looking for minerals two broad-bodied chasers. First came a female with its glorious gold or dirty water, which they do collect as well as seemingly clean water. Also body and then a brilliant blue male. Spectacular dragonflies. it was in the time of neonic pesticides so they could have just been lost.

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Swallows and Martins – Sadie and Tim Densham

We live at North Piddle, roughly mid-way between Pershore and Inkberrow. We have stables where swallows and martins nest every year. Our nextdoor neighbours have an old perry orchard which is "listed" and the Wildlife Trust assists with management. When we came here in 2014 we put up two "artificial" nests and each year the birds have added a layer to the top. Last year a magpie got into the stables and took the entire first brood of the nest on the right and they are not using that nest this year. In the photograph you can see the current inhabitants building up a layer on the nest on the left.

A diary of events in 2020:

April: During lockdown I have been communicating by email with Jean Young and I mentioned our concern that the swallows that usually inhabit our stables had not arrived. They normally arrive between 8th and 16th April but by the 24th none had turned up. We now have just one pair and Jean sent me some information about thousands of birds being found dead in Greece. Apparently the night of 5th to 6th April was disastrous for migrating birds because of strong winds, low temperatures and rain in some regions. This sad event probably explains their absence.

Of our nine house martin nests, eight are now occupied.

st To deter the magpies this year (which sadly for us have increased to 3 pairs May 1 : we were kept awake for several hours by a pair of tawny owls "t'whit, - all nesting close by) we have yellow baler twine strung just above the top t'whooing" right outside our bedroom window. A very small price to pay for of the stable door so that it is difficult for them to perch on top of the country living! door. We think they observed the swallows going in and out last year and th then at the crucial time swooped. We also spread a "get off" gel layer on top May 11 : We're incredibly upset. As we were mucking out the ponies this of the door as a further deterrent. The birds ignore our two ponies completely morning about 6.45 the martins were flying about and "chattering" but they don’t like visits from us! loudly. Suddenly a sparrowhawk came out of nowhere at great speed and took one of the martins. It was horrendous hearing the bird scream. The

12 others flew noisily after the hawk - and it is now 6.35pm and we haven't seen any of them all day. We had all nine nests occupied plus five or six more birds who "overnight" in one of the stables. The one pair of swallows we have were on the beam in Paddy's stable when the martin was taken and thankfully not affected. If the martins return we are worried that now the hawk knows they are all here it will come back. We have always fed all the other birds some way from the stables so as not to attract predators, but can't protect the martins and swallows in the same way.

May 18th: This year we have four blue tits in residence in their boxes. Another worry - a spotted woodpecker was carefully noting their comings and goings this morning, and if that isn't enough our cat is paying close attention to a nest of recently hatched pied wagtails. There is good news though - the martins' nests are once again all fully

occupied. Every year in November when all the summer visitors have left, May 12th: Happily the majority of the martins appeared this morning. There Tim sprays inside the nests with an avian anti-mite spray in the hope is just one of our nine nests they are not interested in, but as you will see from unwanted visitors - such as fleas - will be killed off before the birds return this photograph, arguments appear to have broken out over who gets which the following year. des-res!!

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The Mammals Page

Fox in the Garden – Mel Mason

Two pictures from his trail camera – Simon Evans

Three Videos from Mike and Alison’s trailcam Badgers with cubs and two foxes, at a badger sett near Malvern. Click here. Or use the link: Hare near Wood Street – Alison Uren https://1drv.ms/u/s!AjVW9pGzh4OfiRSEQ5ZV0oBMu17e?e=zBvZV8

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Photographs by Dave Cook

Comma butterfly (Polygonia c-album) Green Carpet moth ( pectinataria) The female lays eggs singly, toward the edge of a leaf upperside, usually on This one is probably newly emerged as the bright colouring soon fades. common nettle. She can lay around 250 eggs in total. The larva is said to Can be seen flying just before dusk. Wing span is about 25mm. resemble a bird dropping Its caterpillars feed mainly on bedstraws.

Ruby Tiger moth (Phragmatobia fuliginosa) Cinnamon Bug (Corizus hyoscyami) or black and red squash bug Mainly flies at night but can be seen in the daytime. Apparently they get their name from the odour they produce when threatened, Named after its wing colour but it does vary. which smells a bit like cinnamon. The red of its body is very obvious when it flies. Adults can be seen all year but mainly active April to October with a new

generation in August.

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Photographs by Richard Newton

Bee-fly (Bombylius major)

Ichneumon wasp (Ophion obscuratus)

Mating green shieldbugs (Palomena prasina)

Daddy-long-legs spider (Pholcus phalangioides)

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In search of stoats and weasels - Hilary Macmillan Although stoats and weasels are believed to be common and widespread, they I am at the edge of a small mixed woodland in with Lizzie are hugely challenging to study and as a result are categorised as data- Croose, Vincent Wildlife Trust’s Senior Carnivore Conservation Officer. We deficient: radio-collars have a habit of slipping off their bullet-shaped bodies. are experimenting with a ‘Mostela’. This is a small wooden box with a plastic The collars are also expensive – and the has to be caught in the first drainpipe tunnel running through it and a trail camera inside. The camera is place. set to video and focused on a cut-out section of the drainpipe. Scat surveys are also difficult because although both weasels and stoats will “The Mostela is based on the idea that stoats and weasels are curious and they scat on landscape features such as logs or rocks, they tend to use latrine sites like to investigate tunnels and holes – because that is where they find their near their dens – so first you have to find the den! Surveying for pine martens prey,” explains Lizzie. “The Mostela was designed by a member of the Dutch using scats is far easier because they scat predominantly on tracks and paths Small Mustelid Foundation and is one of the tools we use to try and find out as they mark their territory. “We have had some success with monitoring the more about the current status of stoats and weasels.” Irish stoat using hair-tubes,” explains Lizzie, “but these tubes have not worked so well in Britain.” Hair tubes rely on some of the animal’s hair adhering to a sticky pad inside a tube as the creature passes through. The tubes are baited to attract inside. The hairs can then be DNA tested – but this is costly. Installing trail cameras in suitable habitat may result in footage of a passing stoat or weasel, but when foraging, however, these two species move rapidly and often the camera simply captures the animal disappearing out of view. Road casualty surveys are not easy either because the animals are small and easy to miss. Anything, therefore, that might help to further stoat and weasel research is worth a try.

A success story

Stoats and weasels are mustelids and belong to the weasel family. Other family members include polecats, pine martens, otters and badgers. They are all carnivores, but somehow stoats and weasels are considered more akin to serial killers. The rather beautiful pine marten is also a consummate hunter – but never the bad guy. Is it just a matter of looks? In history and literature, stoats and weasels are always the villains – look no further than The Wind in the Willows and its “skirmishing stoats and bloodthirsty weasels.” Inside a Mostela showing the tunnel and camera positions ©Lizzie Croose

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stoat will have no problem in predating a pheasant or partridge and, as a result, remain a target for gamekeepers. Stoats and weasels are therefore generalists in the sense that they eat a variety of prey species and can live in a range of habitats as long as prey is present: farmland, moorland, marshes and woodland. Both species frequently den in the burrows of their prey but old stone walls or other structures with suitable cavities will also do the job. Stoats and weasels are fast breeders, unlike their now-protected pine marten cousin, and this helps to explain their survival, even with intensive control by gamekeepers. Juvenile female stoats, for example, mate in the nest and have an average litter size each year of nine. This contrasts with the slow-breeding pine marten – a female marten does not usually breed until her third year and will only have two or three kits. This slow rate of breeding explains the pine marten’s near extinction in southern Britain as a result of highly efficient gamekeeping during the Victorian heyday of game shooting. In the absence of any national survey on stoats and weasels, the only data available is via the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust’s National Weasel ©Frank Greenaway Gamebag Census. Stoat numbers certainly fell as a result of the myxomatosis

There must be an assumption that their negative image is linked historically outbreak in rabbits but began to recover in the latter part of the 20th century. to their predation of game and poultry, but do they really deserve such a bad There is no current reliable population estimate, but it is thought to be press or is this just fake news? Admittedly a male weasel is not one to be something around 440,000. Weasel numbers increased with the arrival of intimidated and can take down a rabbit 20+ times its own weight – although myxomatosis: fewer rabbits meant less grazing and this led to more rough their first choice is the more manageable field vole. “Gram for gram they are grassland and therefore more voles. As vole populations regularly fluctuate, much stronger than any lion,” according to New Zealand’s weasel expert however, so too does the weasel population. An unreliable estimate for the Professor Carolyn King. “They are bold and powerful predators, but they are weasel population is gauged at 450,000. Even allowing for inaccuracy in the also fearless in self-defence,” explains Lizzie. A remarkable video Lizzie figures, stoats and weasels, like most of Britain’s carnivores, are doing well. took on her mobile phone while out cycling shows a stoat fighting with a This is a real success story against the general gloom at the state of our sizeable and very irate rat. The stoat clearly had no intention of giving up his wildlife and wild places, and well-summarised in a paper by Dr Katie next meal. You can watch it here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=HE0Vd- Sainsbury, one of Vincent Wildlife Trust’s PhD students. It is available at: Oaesg. Sadly, the phone battery died after some minutes and the animals https://onlinelibrary.wiley. com/doi/epdf/10.1111/mam.12150 disappeared into the hedge, but from the sounds heard, it is likely that the stoat was the victor. Encouraging stoats and weasels Under optimal conditions, stoats and weasels co-exist quite happily, weasels preferring a diet primarily of field voles, while the larger stoat has a The 2019 BBC2 programme Weasels: Feisty and Furious tells the story of preference for rabbit. Other prey species are taken in the absence of voles or the artist Robert E Fuller and his remarkable stoat and weasel community. rabbits. Stoats and weasels are highly competent climbers and will eat birds Robert has helped the animals to thrive in his garden by creating additional and their eggs, but this will generally be of bird species that are common in denning sites and other habitat features – and has captured much of it on an area. Weasels are by and large too small to take adult gamebirds, but a camera and in his artwork. The programme is currently available here: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0009mvb and may well give some ideas for

18 attracting these animals to your woodland. Certainly, leaving plenty of brash and log piles around the wood benefits both the small mustelids and other small mammals.

Using a Mostela

We position the Mostela at the edge of the wood along a hedgeline and cover the top with pond liner to keep out the worst of the rain. There is evidence of rabbit activity nearby. “Stoats and weasels tend to follow linear features in the landscape, such as hedgerows, woodland edges, streams and field boundaries, so if you place the Mostela in the middle of a wood, you are less likely to record the animals,” explains Lizzie. Inside the box, we place a tiny container of rabbit scent to act as a lure. Outside, we lay some branches either side of the tunnel entrances to try to funnel in these inquisitive animals. Finally, we camouflage the box using some nearby brash. We will check the box in a couple of weeks and, in the meantime, keep our fingers crossed that Weasel captured on the Mostela camera a stoat or weasel has indeed passed by. More information If you would like to try and detect the presence of stoats and weasels using a Mostela, construction details can be downloaded at Read Lizzie’s blog at www.vwt. org.uk/blog/searching-for-stoats-and- https://stichtingkleinemarters.nl/bouwplan-mostela/ (Google translate will be wondering-about-weasels/. A Vincent Wildlife Trust paper on the use of needed if your Dutch is not too hot). Rabbit scent can be purchased widely Mostelas in a pilot study can be read here: www.vwt.org. uk/wp- online. Even if you do not discover any stoats and weasels in your wood, the content/uploads/2019/02/MonitorWeaselsAndStoatsInBritain.pdf Mostela will give you information on other small mammals present. A variety of non-target species has been recorded by Vincent Wildlife Trust staff, The definitive book on the two species is probably Carolyn M King’s The including grass snake and adder, rabbit, American mink and small birds, and Natural History of Weasels and Stoats: Ecology, Behavior, and Management in Ireland pine martens too have been filmed visiting Mostelas. In another (1989). Also available is a very useful booklet published by The Mammal recent experiment with a Mostela, I had 250 camera triggers in two weeks – Society: Stoats and Weasels by Robbie McDonald and Stephen Harris all mice and voles but rather fascinatingly it included a vole carrying a (2006). This costs just £4.99 from NHBS. Although published some 20 years mushroom in its mouth. An ecologically healthy woodland will include an ago, it is still pretty much up-to-date in terms of what we know about Kenneth abundance of small mammals – so this is one way to discover more about Grahame’s villainous rogues. your small mammal population – even if no stoats and weasels show up. This article first appeared in Small Woods magazine. Small Woods is the organisation for everyone who is involved in hands-on management of small woodlands, whether as owners, managers, volunteers, woodland and coppice workers or community woodland members. Visit www.smallwoods.org.uk for more information. Hilary Macmillan Head of Communications, Vincent Wildlife Trust

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A celebration of local wildflowers in May Can you identify them? (answers on p.21) Photos – Alison Uren

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The separate small areas at the top of the ramp have been planted with Lockdown Life – Margaret Vernon friendly garden flowers. We have installed a small 'bug hotel' and are planning a larger one. For me, the unexpected time that I have had at home has meant some of the many jobs on my extensive ‘to do’ list have been done/started/planned …… The Platform Hedge Several of the outdoor ones have been accomplished or are ‘in progress’, The redundant filled in bay platform is being cleared and has been partly usually in the company of the singing robins, blackbirds and woodpigeons planted with different types of wildlife friendly hedges. The soil is very thin with the blue tits nest building and subsequent feeding of young very here being on top of a lot of demolition material and we are importing some apparent, plus the increasing number of house martins overhead and the soil to spread over the area. We also hope to plant a short run of hops to wonderful sound of the swifts arriving. commemorate that this was where the trains carrying hop-pickers from The vegetable patch has been resurrected. As I was due to be away a lot over Birmingham and the Black Country dropped off the hop-pickers who picked the spring and summer, I had decided that was not conducive to growing on the local hop farms. (This would also have been their local annual vegetables, but as it is…… holiday). Living in has meant not using the car to go for walks, so We also hope to plant other areas with herbs, soft fruits, etc as part of the several new footpaths have been discovered and the gradual emergence of 'Incredible Edible' initiative. wildflowers and tree cover has been a welcome and positive learning curve; We have seen various butterflies, particularly on the ivy, ivy bees, earthstar the peace of the countryside providing therapy and an ever reminder that fungi and over the last few weeks there has been evidence of badger activity wildlife continues whatever – and often for the better without human on the site. When we put the small pond in we had pond skaters within two interference. weeks. There are just a few benefits to this lockdown, but I have no wish to Apparently Malvern Link Station is the only railway in the UK with its own experience another one! nature reserve.

Wildflowers on p.20 Malvern Link Station – Brian Iles Ramsons (wild garlic), early purple orchid, bush vetch, red campion. Malvern Link Station has been officially adopted by a group consisting members of Malvern Community Forest and Malvern Civic Society. This is Cowslips, bogbean, cow parsley, yellow archangel. part of a national initiative for local communities to adopt railway stations. Wood spurge, bluebells and stitchwort, woodruff, greater butterfly orchid. Station Coppice This is the area alongside the path from Osborne Rd. The large area has been cleared and transformed into a mini nature reserve complete with new native coppice trees underplanted with native wildflowers and a new wildlife pond. The small area behind the waiting room has been planted with a cordon of local apple trees.

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Green carpet moth Puss moth

A moth trap – Karen and Rhys Leonard During lockdown we have enjoyed using our moth box in our Malvern garden to attract , practise our macro-photography and learn more about these night-flying . We read with interest an article published in Biology Letters on 13/5/20 by Walton et al which highlighted the importance of nocturnal macro moths in pollination. Pollen transport was found to occur on their hairy bodies rather than their mouth parts. There are concerns about the decline in these moths (as with other insects) and the need to include them in future conservation strategies.

Pale tussock moth

Muslin moth Buff-tip imitating a broken birch twig

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Malvern Garden Butterfly Watch 2020 “The Buckthorn Blue Returns...” last year I was surprised to see a holly blue lay eggs in the flowers next to brimstone eggs on the leaves of alder WMBC Malvern Butterfly Group buckthorn in my garden. But it wasn’t a one-off as this year I was even more The natural world seems to be oblivious to the corona virus and Covid-19 but astonished to see eggs laid on a standard grafted fine-leaved buckthorn we are trying to adapt to a “new normal” and other ways of observing and Rhamnus frangulla - planted last autumn - in preference to the many hollies monitoring our local wildlife. “Stay at Home” and “Stay Alert” limits our in the vicinity. access to the wider countryside but presents a new opportunity to look more Small white, large white, green-veined white, speckled wood, small closely at the wildlife on our door-step or in our garden. This idea led to the tortoiseshell and comma were well reported, and red admiral, our first MGBW 2020 - a citizen science project set up to discover the butterflies, migrant species, was seen on six occasions – these are possibly survivors moths, bees, hoverflies and other insects in and around our gardens. Just eight from a late emergence last autumn and a mild winter rather than early weeks into the project and local recorders have reported some unexpected migrants that usually arrive from the Continent at end of May or in June sightings. around the Malverns. February / March 2020 More moths were reported including many bee moths and herald moths. The Following a mild and wet winter, Storm Ciara, Storm Dennis and Storm first migrant silver-Y moth arrived this month. Jorge brought gales and the wettest February on record. Nothing was reported Perhaps most exciting are in February 2020 compared with almost 200 sightings in February 2019. the numbers of emperor However, in March the four hibernating adult butterflies were the first to moths reported by several emerge in gardens – peacock, comma, brimstone and small tortoiseshell – recorders using a pheromone followed by small white and holly blue. Very few moths were reported but lure. Arguably the most bumblebees – early, buff, tree, common carder and white-tailed – were in majestic and attractive of all good number, along with tapered drone fly and dark-edged bee-fly. our day-moths, this species is Further afield early spring sightings of orange underwing around the birch rarely seen or reported trees on the slopes of the Malverns heralded the start of spring before the around the Malverns with lockdown began. some historical records from April 2020 Castlemorton Common. “Stay at Home” seemed However, recent sightings of more bearable as April turned males in the middle of might suggest this mysterious moth is out to be the sunniest for at not really scarce, as once believed, but very good at hiding and only willing least a century. Many more to emerge in response to a pheromone from a female. There is some peacocks were reported but discussion on the WMBC Facebook site about the ethics of a growing number in second place to orange-tip, of recorders using lures and possibly upsetting local populations of moths one of the first to emerge that may be travelling over long distances. However, Mike Williams from from its chrysalis. Later in WMBC carried out a very interesting experiment in Stourport-on-Severn this the month, orange eggs of month to show that marked emperors may quickly learn and do not always this species were easy to find return to the same lure site – but Mike is an expert, and I would warn against on nearby lady’s smock and such experiments without some expertise and a very good reason. garlic mustard. Holly blue was the third most abundant species, a common This very warm month caused a lot of insect activity. It seems the open hills garden butterfly. and commons are not the only places to find a wealth of insects, particularly

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Hymenoptera – bees, wasps and ants – including 31 different species of bees Further afield Dingy skipper was recorded at a new site in - next to during April, some solitary like the Andrena genus and others cleptoparasites a local recorder’s garden – between two of its known sites of Knapp and like the Nomada species. One, called little nomad bee is about the size of an . Then the last of the spring species appeared on local sites ant and lays its eggs in the nests (containing grub and pollen) of the common including common blue, brown argus, small heath, small copper and green mini-miner bee – both recorded in local gardens. hairstreak - also speckled yellow, a widespread moth. Many wasps are out and about Looking forward to more surprise sightings from local recorders at the end including the brilliant metallic and of May... colourful jewel wasp, also known as Please join this project by submitting your garden butterfly sightings on a cuckoo wasp because it lays eggs the simple recording form available from [email protected]. in other solitary wasp nests where The more recorders the more reliable the data and information about its grub eats the host grub and our local butterflies, but it is also meant to be fun. It’s never too late to pollen food store. join. Further afield small coppers Mel Mason emerged at the end of March, and WMBC Malvern & Malvern Butterfly Group / May 2020 small yellow underwing, a notable Nb. A more detailed report with monthly sightings and images of all moth species, appeared in butterflies, moths, bees and other insects is available from Woodford’s Meadow. [email protected] May 2020 Go to Facebook Malvern Butterfly Group to view more images, videos A local recorder [Jess Sly] discovered a very interesting caterpillar named th and information about our local butterflies & moths, bees and other “Peter or Petra” in a packet of mangetout or sugar snaps on 17 April. It insects around our gardens looked like a member of the Lycaenidae family (hairstreaks, coppers, blues and metalmarks) but developed into a pupa on 24th April and emerged as a th male long-tailed blue on 10 May – so, Peter rather than Petra - originating from the Continent.

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The Knapp and Papermill Reserve 2020 – Garth Lowe By week two northerly winds had brought temperatures down to give a few frosts. While working at the log pile on the edge of the woodland one morning the subsong of redwings was picked up in the ivy-covered trees and two were looking for the last of the ivy berries. This low song seems to occur about the time when they would be thinking about their forthcoming easterly migration. Spring flowers were now well in evidence, in a wood close by, the floor looked like a carpet of snow with thousands of wood anemones. A walk down the lane showed there was still a patch of white violets, having already seen blue ones which are far more numerous. At the bottom of the lane I saw the first ladys’ smock. A check on the dipper’s nest in the reserve revealed she was sitting well on five eggs, almost identical timing to last year. By the end of the week temperatures were rising and the first bluebells were showing. Now we are in April and it does feel like spring has arrived. A lovely surprise was walking into the woodpile to find a female goldcrest looking (Garth lives in a house right next to the WWT Knapp and Papermill Reserve for insects in the logs at knee height just a few feet away. It slowly worked at . Special sightings are in bold.) round my legs looked at me but was impervious to my presence, a good start for the week. By the middle of the week spring had definitely arrived, The coronavirus has brought the world into chaos, starting in China at the hawthorn leaves bursting everywhere, the first oak leaves appearing and a start of the year and then spreading to pretty well every country. By the holly blue and a brimstone in the garden. Three orange tips were seen early middle of March, Britain had gone into lockdown procedure with built up in the week in the reserve with the first commas. The wood anemones are areas suffering the worst and deaths starting to mount. hanging on enjoying glorious sunny days some reaching 20C. A dunnock was Access to the countryside was limited supposedly for locals to take sitting on eggs in the roadside hedge next to the car; this was why the male exercise once a day and driving far to well-known scenic spots was soon had made such a mess attacking his reflection in the car’s wing mirror. A outlawed. Here in Old Storridge we soon realised just how lucky we were, cover put a stop to more attacks. On the morning of the 10th (Good Friday), with wonderful walks right on our doorstep. our blue tit finally laid, this is over a week later than 2019. On Saturday 11th With so much time on my hands I decided to do a week by week log of the first redstart was singing in an old cherry orchard near the wood, any wildlife highlights that occurred in my garden or in the reserve. The first st carrying on a long tradition. Its sweet disjointed song is very recognisable, week was from Sunday March 21 which turned out to be a relief from the and it was on the same date as last year. very wet conditions that had thrown low-lying parts over the country into vast The week following Easter began with a cold spell but with clear days the areas of floods. It gave sunny days bringing out the first butterflies: brimstone temperature rose, and there was no stopping the flora. The wooded hillside and peacock in the garden and a walk in the Knapp Reserve close by produced across the valley imperceptibly started to take on a green tinge. Birds moved five small tortoiseshells and two more peacocks. The Leigh Brook runs along into breeding mode and suddenly the two pairs of garden blackbirds were the bottom of the valley and another pleasant surprise was finding the dipper seen carrying food. Chiffchaff alarm calls were heard from the undergrowth was nesting again. Our garden had a nocturnal visitor - a badger, who as I passed by, a sure sign they have found a nesting site. Two plants I am seemed to know there were apples put out for the birds. Muntjac took off the always pleased to see appearing with lovely names are wood goldilocks from heads of a bunch of false oxlip just over the road and I noticed the first purple the buttercup family and yellow archangel, one of the nettle family. Even the honesty with many more white already out. humble dandelion graced most places; it is a good pollinator for lots of

25 insects. With the warmer spells thermals soon attracted buzzards with three prospecting her box! The next day April 24th she was taking nest material in at one stage floating effortlessly above. In an old quarry nearby the bats made and in a couple of days had finished it. their annual appearance, dashing rapidly about in search of insects and moths. Wild garlic is everywhere in white frothy masses and the scent is Against the sky their aerobatics are fascinating to observe. On 17th a check overpowering. A visitor to our garden one night must have been the badger on the dipper’s nest showed there were four chicks. The end of the week as it was obvious it had been digging in a builder’s bag of rotted manure for saw welcome rain arrive, but the end of the week saw the mercury dip with worms. On the reserve in the orchard I found the mandarin duck sitting in the the last day only reaching single figures whereas on previous days it had same hollow apple tree as last year. climbed to well over 20C. The last few days of April brought an end to the long fine spell with a day This was just a short blip with the temperature the following week going of rain on the 28th. By the end of the month the last four days had produced over 20C on some days, again well above the seasonal values. Noticeable this an inch of rain, most of the month’s total rainfall. On a warm day the sound week was the appearance of the May blossom on the hawthorn and with the of the seaside occurred - five lesser black backed gulls appeared calling to cherry trees in full bloom, everywhere was really looking spring-like. The one another, then found a thermal, went totally silent and must have risen unseasonably warm weather also saw a small copper emerge at least two from 500 feet to over a thousand in less than five minutes! The blackbirds are weeks earlier than in the last thirty years and the first buds of green-veined still out there eating apples, though there must be plenty of worms appearing orchids were spotted in the meadow in the reserve. I also found the emergent in the rain. The two chicks are still doing well and looking as if they are black-spotted leaves of many common spotted orchids. The garden finally learning to peck for themselves. On a dead cherry stump near the edge blackbirds are still feeding apple to their chicks, one of which made a brief of the wood once again the first growth of a fungus called “chicken of the appearance still with head tufts. The apple season for them will soon be over woods” has appeared. From a lumpy orange mass it eventually bursts open as there are only a few left but they did well lasting in the shed from last into feather-like growths. autumn. On the last day of the month the female pied flycatcher laid an egg, but did she find a mate or not? It will be at least three to four weeks before we will know. Acres of bluebells in the woods are looking glorious this week and there are still a few anemones. Good to also hear a stock dove “who- upping” outside as I write. The first week of May’s weather was nearer the average with a bit of everything so not too disastrous for many of the young birds leaving the nest. The robin chicks made us smile when after watching the parents diving into a rhododendron to feed them, a look into its depths found three chicks in a sort of lockdown until they feel confident enough to leave its protection! The blue tits were now on their conveyor belt of a continuous daylight supply of caterpillars from the nearby leaf canopy, to a box near the front door. They seem oblivious of humans standing or sitting in the sun close by. A pleasing find was a pair of stonechats on the rough grassy banks just through the wood. Their agitated behaviour made it clear A female pied flycatcher briefly appeared at the same box as last year this was their chosen nesting site amongst the brambles. This was a first for by the wood pile, most likely the same bird that bred there last year, but oddly this part of the world. no male is evident. A few days later while I was working in the garden, I Update from Garth on May 19th: the pied flycatcher is sitting on six eggs. heard the alarm calls of the pied and I feared a visit from a cat or magpie; on Complete story in the summer Malvern Group Newsletter! investigation it was only a very irate female annoyed at a pair of blue tits

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My Lockdown Experience – Brietta Pinder

I`ve really enjoyed lockdown because it’s given me time to appreciate Malvern Common and the beautiful weather to the full. In particular I have noticed the smells of the may blossom, the bluebells, the rowan trees and the wild apple blossom. It was very intoxicating like aromatherapy! In April I walked from the Common through to the golf course and the woods were full of white violets with more lovely smells, and the many cherry trees were covered in blossom. Lady’s smock flowered well after all the early spring rain and attracted lots of orange tip butterflies.

(Last week of May) There has been almost no rain for weeks and Poolbrook Common looks rather sad at the moment. The usual display of orchids is not developing well and most of them look stunted. It’s still pretty with other flowers though including grass pea, yellow rattle and pignut. The skylarks have been busy and I think there are two pairs as usual. Starlings are chattering noisily with their young in the trees near the stream.

Southern marsh orchids on Poolbrook Common. They are only about 15 cm high this year whereas they usually grow to at least twice that size. The ground is hard-baked and dry.

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Lockdown in the New Forest – Ann Bowker

I have spent eight weeks of lockdown with my partner in the New Forest and The buttercups here are a revelation - shiny yellow and more upright than decided to write about things around the garden that are new to me and might the creeping ones that bedevil my flowerbeds. There are some lovely displays be of interest to the group. by the roadside where the ponies cannot reach. First of all I was surprised to find woody nightshade grown as a most decorative bush! And that was followed by discovering that the bit of topiary in the second photo, which had no leaves when we first arrived, was in fact produced from a stray oak sapling.

I have never come across WHITE herb robert before but that is what it seems to be along the shady edge of the garden. This was my most exciting find, as kindly identified by Gerry Davies - a pasqueflower, which duly appeared at Easter and now has the lovely seed heads in the picture below. Apparently it turned up unexpectedly on the bank above the pond 3 or 4 years ago, and is the County flower of .

So now on to birds. For over three weeks in April the mallard pair in the next photo came and spent the day with us feeding in the little canal and associated ponds that surround the lawn, preening, resting and mating, (I

28 thought the female might drown!). The bird life here takes me back forty why? Also there is a little field mouse living under a paving stone in front of years or more. Starlings nesting in a ridge tile where it adjoins the gutter and the French window which zips across under the flower pots to grab food from a colony of house sparrows round the side of the house. Their young have under the bird feeders. All good fun. just left the nests and the noise is almost deafening. The tits that nested in the box on the wall seem to have fledged when we were not looking. Finches Last of all - insects. There were several of these bees (?) on the hogweed are much in evidence with up to four greenfinches, chaffinches, goldfinches by the road nearby. I have missed the butterflies I might have seen in or siskins on the feeders at once. I hardly see them in now. Malvern. There have been many brimstones here and white species which I There is a rookery in the trees by the crossroads nearby. The dawn chorus is cannot identify. No orange tips but one or two speckled wood and holly blue impressive. In spite of this abundance, there are some things I miss. There on the heath and I am pretty sure I saw a small heath last week. was a pair of blackcaps in the Wells when we left, the long-tailed tits were a I was relieved to find that the ants here are minute little black ones. In joy, ravens and buzzards often heard and, at this time of year, house martins the garden in Malvern I have to wear Wellingtons, even when I am watering, to be seen swooping through the air over the valley below. I have seen one to avoid being attacked and severely bitten. Altogether I have had a buzzard over the heathland here and there is a little gang of swallows feeding wonderful holiday down here in the New Forest during lockdown and feel over the fields about half a mile away where the grass is longer. quite guilty when others are finding it so difficult.

And what about mammals.? Well there are wild ponies of course, though they don’t look wild, they are so quiet and slow. I have seen deer when walking the dog but they do not come into our garden. We have a hedgehog which we watched trundling across the lawn last week at 8:30pm looking for slugs, etc. It investigated under a bush and suddenly flipped onto its back and then back onto its feet again the same way. We are still trying to work out

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