Wildlife News for September

An area for archived forum posts
Post Reply
RachelMC
Posts: 460
Joined: Mon May 17, 2010 1:04 pm
Location: Chester

Wildlife News for September

Post by RachelMC »

Wildlife News for September:

Conservation Dogs in Partnership with Wildlife Trust

Cheshire Wildlife Trust has been working with the UK’s first ‘Conservation Dogs’ team on the Wirral and in south Cheshire to demonstrate the unique skills of our four-legged friends in tracking down wildlife.

The trained dogs are being used across a wide variety of specialist projects including detecting problem non-native species, searching for secretive creatures that are hard for researchers to locate, and in seeking out the wildlife victims of construction schemes like wind farms to determine their impact.

The wildlife charity invited the public to see the dogs in action at Wirral Country Park at Thurstaston and at their own Bickley Hall Farm HQ near Malpas.

Typically used for the detection of banned substances and drugs by the border, customs and police services, the same skills are increasingly being applied to the environmental sector due to the minimal impact and less invasive nature of using dogs.

The dogs’ agility, small size and enhanced senses significantly reduces the impact on the habitats being surveyed - Sarah Bennett, Biodiversity Manager

The ‘Conservation Dogs’ first demonstrated their skills successfully in detecting droppings or ‘scat’ from pine martens, a highly secretive nocturnal mammal that is now restricted to Scotland, the far north of England and it’s thought in parts of Wales.

In a recent local project, the dogs and their handlers have been undertaking training exercises with Cheshire Wildlife Trust to develop techniques to detect dormouse nests, one of our smallest and rarest mammals, which have been the subject of a study in south Cheshire since 1996. If successful, the use of dogs would be a completely new strategy in monitoring the population status of dormice in the area.

The team are also currently training to provide services to locate bats at wind farm sites where vegetation and the bats’ small size – just a few centimetres in some species – makes them easily overlooked by human surveyors.

By assessing the impact of current schemes in this way, wildlife experts are able to make recommendations for future projects that can potentially reduce their effect on local wildlife.

Sarah Bennett, Biodiversity Manager with Cheshire Wildlife Trust said: “Conservation Dogs have the potential to really expand our opportunities in seeking out and studying species that are either far beyond human capabilities in terms of detection by smell, or in accessing areas that are simply too challenging for human surveyors to get too.

“The dogs’ agility, small size and enhanced senses significantly reduces the impact on the habitats being surveyed, compared to the many human surveyors that could be needed to achieve the same result. In addition we can then target our research quickly and effectively following the dogs’ hard work.”

Article re-posted from Cheshire Wildlife Trust

Note: Conservation Dogs was established in 2011, to train detection dogs to assist with conservation needs and ecological surveys. Conservation Dogs offer unique detection dog services to biologists, ecologists, conservationists and other wildlife organisations to provide a more efficient and cost effective method of search. The use of conservation detection dogs is a non-invasive surveying technique increasingly used in wildlife field research. Conservation Dogs is part of Wagtail UK Ltd one of the UK’s leading specialist dog companies.

RachelMC
Posts: 460
Joined: Mon May 17, 2010 1:04 pm
Location: Chester

Nature Reserves Transformed

Post by RachelMC »

Nature Reserves Transformed

Cheshire Wildlife Trust’s Swettenham Meadows and neighbouring Quinta reserves are now linked for the first time through the ‘Swettenham Loop’, thanks to a host of improvements backed by local business and community volunteers.

The spring bluebell woodland and wildflower meadow nature havens now boasts over four kilometres of linked trails, supported by £18,000 of funding from WREN (Waste Recycling Environmental).

Amongst the many changes are 90 metres of sustainable, long-lasting recycled boardwalks, 6 new gates and 85 steps to make the more hilly parts of site more accessible.

The Quinta, originally an arboretum, was purchased by the conservation charity from the late Sir Bernard Lovell who lived in Swettenham village since his early work developing the Jodrell Bank Observatory.

The recently completed work was achieved thanks to almost 100 additional volunteer days, involving groups as varied as Barclays, Bentley Motors and community volunteers from Crewe, Nantwich and Congleton along with the Care4u mental health support group.

The waymarked trails and boardwalks will link with existing footpaths, roads and take in newly accessed parts of the nature reserves.

The Trust has also installed three new information boards along the route and will be making an audio trail and interactive map available through its website for visitors to use to enhance their visit.

Cheshire Wildlife Trust’s Head of Estates and Land Management Jacki Hulse said: “These two reserves are natural gems nestling in classic rolling Cheshire ‘clough’ valleys. Their very nature creates a fascinating array of habitats but creates challenges for those looking to access the reserves to see the variety of plants, birds and other wildlife living there.

“The new Swettenham Loop has benefited hugely from the support of WREN, local businesses but perhaps most crucially the volunteers who have put in the hard work over dozens of days to achieve a fantastic result that everyone can now enjoy”.

Swettenham Meadows is one of a number of sites across the charity’s 45-strong nature reserve network that benefits from being grazed by native-breed cattle, and visitors may encounter Dexter cows at certain times of the year whose small stature makes them ideal for grazing the steep slopes in the valley.

Article re-posted from Cheshire Wildlife Trust

RachelMC
Posts: 460
Joined: Mon May 17, 2010 1:04 pm
Location: Chester

Burton Mere Wetlands Celebrates 1st Birthday

Post by RachelMC »

Burton Mere Wetlands Celebrates 1st Birthday

RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands, on the Dee Estuary, is inviting people to help celebrate its first birthday by offering free entry on the weekend of Saturday 22nd - Sunday 23rd September.

Over the past 12 months almost 30,000 people have visited the nature reserve, which was opened last year by BBC wildlife presenter Iolo Williams, and visitors have enjoyed the many wonderful sights and sounds the reserve has to offer, including regular sightings of Kingfishers, Common Lizards and dragonflies.

During the celebration weekend there will be a number of free family activities, including guided walks (from 11am), mini-beast hunts and pond dipping. A local wood art workshop has also donated wildlife-inspired items for sale over the weekend.

RSPB staff and volunteers will be on hand to provide advice on the many different kinds of wildlife, pointing out birds, dragonflies, butterflies and much more. Special homemade birthday cakes will also be on offer for visitors.

Colin Wells, RSPB Site Manager, said: "The weekend is set to be a wonderful celebration of our first year. It's always really satisfying to see people of all ages getting close to nature and seeing wildlife they may never have come across before. We see more and more wildlife around the reserve all the time, and it's fantastic that so many people are able it to share it with us."

Austin Morley, a volunteer at RSPB Dee Estuary said: "There is so much on offer at Burton Mere. Whether you just want a relaxing walk and a peaceful picnic or fancy seeing how many different birds and butterflies you can spot, there's something for everyone.

"Only recently, three new species were spotted on the reserve that have never been seen before: a Devon Carpet moth, a White-letter Hairstreak butterfly and a Red-veined Darter dragonfly. Visitors coming to the site over the weekend may be lucky enough to see Marsh Harriers."

Burton Mere Wetlands is open daily, with the reception building open from 9.30am until 5pm. The reserve is just 10 minutes from the M56, off the A540 (Chester High Road). Entry is normally £4 for adults (concessions £2), £6 for a family and £1 for children.

Please phone: 0151 353 8478 for times, details and for a full programme of activities and times. Alternatively e-mail: deeestuary@rspb.org.uk or http://www.rspb.org.uk/burtonmerewetlands.

RachelMC
Posts: 460
Joined: Mon May 17, 2010 1:04 pm
Location: Chester

Badger culling v. vaccination

Post by RachelMC »

Cheshire could be 'firewall' in efforts to tackle northerly spread of bTB

As the first licences for free-shoot badger culling are issued this week by the Government, leading conservation charity the Cheshire Wildlife Trust says its own vaccination programme could demonstrate a proven alternative to the much-criticised culls.

The Cheshire Wildlife Trust will begin their own bovine tuberculosis (bTB) badger vaccination deployment in south Cheshire in the coming weeks, and the Trust’s experts believe the programme could help to create a natural barrier in the northerly spread of the disease.

The Government’s decision to issue the first licences to allow culling in parts of Gloucestershire and Somerset has drawn criticism from high-profile figures including Queen guitarist Brian May and the Wildlife Trusts’ UK president and naturalist Simon King OBE, who visits the north west later this week.

Lord Krebs, author of the last independent report into randomised culling in 2007 has also expressed his concern over the decision to issue licences, suggesting the cull may deliver a ‘very small advantage, or maybe none’ in the battle against bTB.

The Wildlife Trusts remain firm in their opposition to a cull, exasperated after many years of explaining why a cull won’t help tackle bovineTB (bTB).

Eleven Wildlife Trusts across the UK are now working on programmes to prove that vaccination is the best way forward to tackle bTB, however Cheshire remains the most northerly of the charities to take on such a scheme.

Cheshire Wildlife Trust’s Richard Gardner said: “We have a unique opportunity here on the frontline of the northerly spread of bTB to show that culling is not the answer.

“We work daily with landowners in our Living Landscape scheme and fully understand the personal and financial hardship this horrible disease can cause to farmers who find it within their herds. In south Cheshire we have a chance to create a ‘firewall’ against bTB, and demonstrate that vaccination, in partnership with better monitoring and biosecurity is the best alternative to free-shoot culling.”

More on badgers and bovine TB

Article re-posted from The Cheshire Wildlife Trust website
Post Reply