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A New Haymill

November 8, 2012, 2:01 am
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Summary: 
As a Developing Green Talent Trainee with Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust I gain experience with all aspects of the Trust's work in one way or another. Back in the spring and only a few months into the job it was time to initiate my own project. The trouble was choosing what kind of work I wanted to do. It needed to be inspiring, engaging, interesting and challenging. The way I figured it, nothing is more challenging than Haymill Valley Community Nature Reserve.
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Make a Decision

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Continental Invaders!

November 13, 2012, 1:42 am
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In recent weeks two charismatic birds have turned up on our shores in large numbers.
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Waxwing by Gavin Bennett

Jays invade!

Autumn bird migration is now in full swing and already this year there have been some noticeable events.

In most autumns, records of Jay increase as birds become more visible as they busily forage and cache food for the winter. This year the BTO and RSPB have reported far more Jays than usual. 

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Tony Whitbread on Ash dieback

November 15, 2012, 4:35 am
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Tony Whitbread, Chief Executive of Sussex Wildlife Trust, discusses the situation with Ash dieback, what we can learn from it and how we move forward.
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Ash dieback diseased leaf. Photo: Steve Collin, Norfolk Wildlife Trust

The situation with ash dieback has moved very fast over the last few days. It now looks like we have moved well beyond a time when simply eradicating the disease was a realistic possibility. The disease is now here and we are going to have to live with it.

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A living sea. That is our vision!

November 28, 2012, 6:27 am
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The Wildlife Trusts have a vision where marine wildlife thrives from the depths of the ocean to the coastal shallows. This may seem like an impossible task, but I believe that if we seize every opportunity to make radical changes now, we can make massive steps in reversing the degradation our seas have experienced for far too long.
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Young seal by Tom Marshall

We are an island nation; one that has relied on our surrounding seas for centuries. They supply us with food and resources such as oil, protect our borders, clean our air and keep us warm (or at least warmer than we would be!). Without our sea, Britain would not be Britain! And indeed the world would not support the life it does today. Evidence upon evidence indicates that a healthy functioning ocean system is absolutely vital to the wellbeing of this planet, and thus of course ourselves.

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Winter Birdwatching Update

December 4, 2012, 1:23 am
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Find out what is happening with some of our bird populations this winter
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Waxwings by David Blackett

Waxwing Invason Update

As predicted in my blog entry on 13 November, waxwings have now arrived in our area. Numbers are still low at present, particularly compared to previous ‘Waxwing Winters’, but surely more will arrive in the next few weeks.

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BBOWT’s Annual Winter Birdrace

December 18, 2012, 2:10 am
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Find out how staff and volunteers got on trying to record as many bird species as possible in our three counties on a perfect winter’s day in early December
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Short-eared Owl by Amy Lewis

At the beginning of December, 28 staff and volunteers took part in the annual BBOWT Winter Birdrace. On Sunday 2nd, eight teams comprising birdwatchers of all levels of experience, spent just short of eight hours scouring our three counties recording as many bird species as they could find. For the third year running the weather was kind to us and everyone enjoyed some fantastic winter birdwatching on a crisp and cold day.

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Charcoal Making - Fresh air, hard work, and setting fire to things!

January 3, 2013, 5:53 am
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As a hobby, charcoal making isn’t a bad one to have, writes Andy Kearsey. It’s outside in the fresh air, requires physical activity and I get to set things on fire!
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Participants in the charcoal making course, September 2012 by Andy Kearsey

Why charcoal?

Loading the kilnI’ve been involved with making charcoal since 2011 when I volunteered with the National Trust at Cliveden, who were working towards making charcoal from wood left over from felling operations on the estate. 

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Nature Tots

January 15, 2013, 8:15 am
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One man’s rubbish is another man’s treasure.
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Christmas pinecone creatures! Photo by Charlotte Hansford

Since starting at BBOWT I’ve acquired a new and unexpected skill: the ability to transform everyday items into exciting outdoor activities for pre-school children! I increasingly find myself mentally converting egg boxes into snails or empty pots into natural maracas. The culprit behind my new found skill? 

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Winter Birding And Our Wild Winter Weather

January 29, 2013, 2:39 pm
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Our weather since the turn of the year has been very mixed. Find out what some of our local birds have been up to during all the snow, strong winds as well as spring-like temperatures.
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Male Blackcap by David Kilbey

The turbulent often extreme weather we have experienced so far in 2013 has been a real test for our wildlife. I have tried to get out and about as much as possible to witness for myself how some of our local birds have been impacted by this weather.

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Young explorers make an intrepid journey through the wild landscape of College Lake

February 5, 2013, 2:31 am
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This winter eight young explorers made an intrepid journey through the wild landscape of College Lake, writes Rachel Thorp. The children from Egerton Rothesay School in Berkhamsted were on a mission to achieve the John Muir Discovery Award.
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Egerton Rothesay School pupils at College Lake. Jenny Fifield

What's all this about?

Exploring the woods by Jenny Fifield

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Looking after livestock

February 25, 2013, 3:47 am
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Cold weather and winter snow not only makes life difficult for our wildlife, but also creates problems for BBOWT’s enigmatic four-legged workforce.
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British White at feeding time. Photo by BBOWT

Over the past few months, BBOWT’s county reserves teams and legion of loyal stockwatchers have been helping trust livestock to stay happy and healthy over the winter. When snow is forecast reserves staff can be found reaching for the keys to the fleet of 4x4 vehicles and dipping into supplies of BBOWT grown hay.

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Act now to rescue protected areas for marine wildlife

March 12, 2013, 2:22 am
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Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs) are a type of protected area, designed to protect and enhance our vital marine and coastal habitats. Terrifyingly, only 0.001% of British waters are currently protected against all forms of damaging activities, which is no way enough to ensure our marine environment is able to support the wealth of life it should.
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Cuckoo Wrasse

Have your say before 31 March

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Tick Prevention Week 24-30th March 2013

March 25, 2013, 1:19 am
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Tick-tock! It’s that time of year: spring is here and our countryside is getting ready for an explosion of colour and fresh new growth. The warmer weather and longer days will energise all creatures great and small into a frenzy of activity. One of these will be the tiny, inconspicuous tick, an arachnid that is becoming much more prevalent in our countryside. For animals - including us - tick bites can carry potentially debilitating diseases and so it is important that we know the best methods of preventing them.
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Ticks

Tick Bite Prevention Week

There are over 700 species of hard bodied tick (Ixodidae) known to science, but just a handful are found in the UK. The tick undergoes three life stages: larvae, nymph and adult, with the female laying over 3,000 eggs in the ground. I. ricinus use animal hosts as food sources, and as a free ride, as they are unable to jump or fly. Instead they use their hooked legs to catch upon anything moving through the vegetation.

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Spring Unsprung

April 3, 2013, 8:53 am
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There are serious consequences for our wildlife when harsh wintery weather persists late into spring.
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Redpoll by Bob Coyle

It's hard to believe we've just entered British Summertime, with continuing wintery conditions making it feel more like January. Few plants have come into leaf and early flowerers, such as snowdrops, are lingering. Freezing easterly winds have had a dramatic effect on our seasonal visitors: many wintering birds from further North and the near continent have yet to leave, and only a few summer migrants have pushed through the cold weather and arrived in Britain.

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What planet does Michael Gove live on?

April 8, 2013, 2:10 am
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Philippa Lyons, chief executive of the Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust, leads the campaign to keep nature in the National Curriculum.
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Bee pollen game at Woolley Firs. Photo by rowanleaf.co.uk

Philippa Lyons, Chief Executive of the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife TrustI’ve always thought we all lived on an amazingly diverse, utterly unique and stunningly beautiful planet.

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BBOWT creates a bee-friendly farm at Woolley Firs in Berkshire

April 15, 2013, 2:15 am
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Few can have missed reports in the national media about the worldwide loss of honeybees, and many will be aware of their vital role in conservation and the economy. To address this, BBOWT is helping their cause in Berkshire by creating a bee-friendly farm at Woolley Firs.
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Bee hives at Woolley Firs in Berkshire (Photo by BBOWT)

Bees have been around for at least 100 million years and play a vital role in ecosystems across the world. They contribute a whopping £440 million to the European economy, but honeybees could be extinct within a decade and their cousins the solitary and bumble bees are struggling too.

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Spring onto College Lake

April 20, 2013, 6:15 am
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Warmer temperatures and beautiful sunshine can mean only one thing, yes, spring has arrived. Birds singing, flowers blooming and insects buzzing, be prepared for a sensory overload at College Lake this spring.
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Birds singing

It is in Spring that a group of birds called warblers grace us for the warmer months. No bigger than Tits, warblers arrive in Britain after migrating from exotic lands such as the Sahara, Africa. Now is the best time to pinpoint the unique and melodic songs before leaves burst open and these intriguing birds are lost in the foliage.

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Glowing worms

May 5, 2013, 7:15 am
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The warmer temperatures are not only bringing in flying visitors but also stirring creatures from below.
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It is a great time of year to visit College Lake Nature reserve. Birds are nesting, butterflies flying and flowers blooming. Insects are also taking advantage of the warm weather, waking up from hibernation and getting ready to breed.

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Dodging devil birds!

May 21, 2013, 1:44 am
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Spring is now in full force here at College Lake: the trees are green, the flowers are blooming, and birds and bees are buzzing everywhere. Something exciting also hints that summer is just around the corner: our skies are alive with the dramatic, screaming sounds of Swifts.
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Swift by Stefan Johansson

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Teddy Bears Picnic

May 28, 2013, 8:28 am
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If you went down to the woods today at College Lake, you would have been in for a BIG surprise! Sixty, yes, sixty teddy bears were gathered for a picnic - but this was no ordinary picnic.
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Teddy Bears Picnic by Helen Walsh

Taking part in one of our many environmental education programmes, sixty reception children had come with their teddies to discover the four secrets of animal survival in the wild:

  • Shelter
  • Water
  • Air
  • Food.

Now the teddies were well aware of these basic needs as bears have survived in the woods for hundreds of years. Sadly, humans have been far too concerned with their own needs and sometimes forget that they must share this beautiful planet with other creatures.

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