Excellent Guardian article - Confusing year of weather for Britain's wildlife

We thought our readers would be interested in this review of the year from  a wildlife perspective. Apparently it's been a boom year for the grey seal, large blue butterfly and mining bee but bad news for frogs, toads and newts.

We know we've seen butterflies still active locally within the last month, but unlike the Guardian report, fungi at Wapley are doing well.

Season's greetings to all our readers

Best wishes to all our readers from everyone in the Wapley Bushes Conservation Group.

Thank you for all your help this year that keeps the Wapley Bushes Local Nature Reserve thriving and such an asset for local wildlife.

Report from Wapley Work Morning 19 November

Our November workday allowed us to tackle a range of planting. 14 volunteers took part, and we The group planted over 60 climbing plants of two types, ivy and wild clematis, on the reserve boundary. These plants will provide food, shelter and nesting material for birds when the climbers settle in and grow larger.

The group also planted 4 species of wildflowers on the woodland floor in the Western Wood including 50 native bluebell plug plants, 30 wild garlic bulbs, 30 wood anemone bulbs and 40 wild snowdrop bulbs. In addition to providing a spectacular display of flowers in the late winter and spring, these plants will also provide an early source of nectar and pollen for native insect species.

The Spectacular Westonbirt Enchanted Christmas 2011

Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings from 25 Nov - 18 Dec 2011

The Enchanted Christmas will return this year with a new illuminated trail route through the Old Arboretum and more exciting festive activities, foods and stalls onsite. The costs are adults £9, concessions £8, children £5.

You can book in advance online or call 03000 680400 (booking fee applies). You can also buy tickets onsite from the Forest Shop.

The hard paths are accessible for wheelchairs and electric scooters and these can be booked in advance by calling 01666 881218. Please note that dogs are not allowed on the trail.

On Fridays, Friends of Westonbirt Arboretum will receive a 50% discount on the full ticket price. Children (under 19s) accompanying parent/guardian members go free. 

Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday evening from 25 November - 18 December 2011 at  Westonbirt Arboretum, A433, 3 miles south west of Tetbury, Gloucestershire, GL8 8QS, 5.00pm to 8.30pm with the last entry at 7.15pm.

Click the links to find out more about Enchanted Christmas  and the National Arboretum in general.

Wapley Bushes Workday, Saturday 19 November

This workday will be a morning of planting bluebells and clematis in the Western Wood, plus some general maintenance work and tidying up the reserve prior to the winter season. Please wear walking or wellington boots and bring some gloves.

Meet at the Shire Way entrance gate, South Yate, 10.00am.

A lovely autumn day at Wapley Bushes

Pears at bottom of Lower Meadow

What a lovely Sunday we had! It had all the signs of our mixed seasons - on a walk round the Nature Reserve I saw ripe pears and apples, as what must be the last butterfly of the year fluttered past.

And then, at the top of the woodland, I caught a brief glimpse of a deer, leaping away into the undergrowth. About chest-high on me, it was too big to be a muntjac. I was close enough to get a reasonable look, but it was too quick for me to photograph. Based on the size and colour of its coat, I think it was probably a roe deer.

Apples at top of Lower Meadow, near Chris's Bridge

Ridge Wood Owl Prowl, Thursday 27 October

This popular family Owl Prowl event is back again in 2011 with bird of prey expert Ian McGuire who will guide us round the woods. Please wear warm clothes and bring a torch. Please do not bring any dogs to this event (even if on a lead).

Meet at the southern Quarry Road entrance to Ridge Wood, Quarry Road, Chipping Sodbury at 7.00pm.

Lower Woods Guided Autumn Colour Walk, Sunday 23 October

A seasonal guided walk around Lower Woods nature reserve, taking in the different aspects, landscapes and wildlife of this huge, fascinating and diverse ancient woodland. The route will be about 2.5 miles long, and will follow the narrow and occasionally steep paths along the stream. The woods will be muddy and slippery in places so please wear suitable footwear.

Meet at Lower Woods Nature Reserve, Inglestone Common, east of Wickwar, South Gloucestershire (OS Grid Reference: ST 746881, postcode: GL9 1BY), 2.00pm - 4.00pm.

Kingsgate Park Ponds Workday, Saturday 8 October

We shall undertaking maintenance of this important amphibian site including the cutting back of vegetation. Please wear gloves and wellington boots.

Meet at the Scott Way entrance to Kingsgate Park, Scott Way, Yate 10.00am.

The rooks are getting territorial again!

Our local rooks tend to get very protective of their territory when it gets close to the nesting season, but they've started extra early this year.

Walking round Wapley this afternoon, I was out on the Common when I heard the rooks calling and saw the full squadron launch. I immediately thought "Buzzard alert!", and I was right - a few seconds later a pair of buzzards appeared above the wood, being mobbed by the rooks.

One buzzard fled immediately, but the other was inexperienced enough to try to stick around. It soon realised the error of its ways! A rook is very agile and can very nearly turn within the wingspan of a buzzard. An outnumbered buzzard is not going to be successful.

Actually this was slightly different from previous occasions - the rooks were using different tactics. I normally see the rooks zooming up towards high-flying buzzards, but this time they got above the buzzards and were forcing them down towards the tree canopy where they wouldn't be able to manouvre easily. Isn't nature fascinating?

Go batty with the BBC!

A BBC Autumnwatch film crew are coming along next Wednesday to the bat walk at Goose Green at 7pm. They wish to film the walk and interview participants. They are hoping to get people to ask wildlife related questions to the camera which will then be aired during the Autumnwatch ‘unsprung’ show, where the questions will hopefully be answered by the team.

We are therefore hoping for a good turnout of local people and a handful of questions to ask. Here's what South Glos say about the bat walk:

"Walk around Goose Green Fields and along the River Frome in search of our magical native bats that can eat up to 3000 insects a night! Meet at the site entrance off Oak Close, Yate. 7pm to 9pm.

Free event! Children should be accompanied by an adult. Please wear sensible footwear and warm clothing. Bring a torch. No dogs allowed.

For more information call ✆ 01454 863592 text 07950 080 111”

Go batty with THREE local bat walks this month

• Tuesday 20th September, 7pm – 9pm. Ridge Wood & the River Frome - meet at Jubilee Park, Chipping Sodbury BS37 6BQ
• Thursday 22nd September, 7pm – 9pm. Yate Common - meet at main entrance of the Road to Nowhere BS37 8RZ
• Wednesday 28th September, 7pm – 9pm. Goose Green Fields, Yate

More details on the South Glos website here

Lower Woods Dormouse Safari - Sunday 25 September

This will be a guided two mile walk around Lower Woods nature reserve with dormouse surveyors Gef and Genny Lucena who have been studying the dormouse populations of Lower Woods. There will be the opportunity to learn about coppice management and to watch dormouse box inspections. Places are limited and so advance booking is essential on 01452 383333 quoting booking code 11SAF. Directions to the meeting point will be sent upon booking.

Report from Wapley work morning 4th September

We had an excellent work morning today. Around 15 of us pitched in and achieved a lot. Our main target was to clear out the leaf mould and debris from the small stream that runs down through the middle of the main wood. It may not look much, but when it rains hard the water really flows. If we didn't clean out the stream it would overflow and destroy the adjoining habitat, in particular affecting a very rare species of sedge.

We did a litter-pick right round the Woodland and the Common, and we were pleased to see that there was less litter than we expected. We checked out the new orchard trees, and these seem to be doing well apart from from some damage by wandering goats (!) - we've been assured that the goats have now been relocated toa field further away.

We cut back trees that have been intruding onto the woodland paths, which was very much needed due to the amount of growth because of the wet weather. We'll have to return to this task on another work morning because there are patches of dense bramble that will need to be attacked with slashers, rather than the croppers and bowsaws we were using today to clear the woody branches.

A big thank you goes to everyone who took part, both the regulars and the people who were taking part for the first time - we hope you enjoyed yourselves undertaking this very valuable work!

Our next Wapley work morning will be on Saturday 19 November - please watch this blog for details of Wapley and other events.

Please don't forget our work morning on Sunday!

10.00 at Shire Way Gate - please see our previous post for details

Work at footbridge over railway to Wapley Bushes

On Wed 31 August  Network Rail will be carrying out survey work for electrifying the railway line, so they will be digging a couple of test trenches in the approach slopes to Sergeant's Farm Bridge.

Despite the warning notices the footpath will not need to be closed, so you can still get across from Shire Way to Wapley Bushes. Network Rail will also attend to the sunken patches in the path near the Radar Gate when they reinstate the survey trenches.

How do you like our new design?

I thought it was about time this blog had a more modern design. Please let us know what you think (our contact details are in the right hand column)

Bat Walk on Yate Common, 22 September

Walk around the Common and its woodlands in search of bats. Meet at main entrance of the Road to Nowhere. Thursday 22/09/2011 7pm to 9pm.

And have you seen the new Friends of Yate Common blog?
http://yatecommon.blogspot.com

Wapley Bushes Work Morning - Sunday 4 September

This workday will be our annual stream clearance where we hope to clear the central watercourse through the main woodland. This work is required to preserve the habitat of the rare local thin-spiked wood sedge. You are welcome to come along and please wear walking or wellington boots and bring some gloves. Meet at the Shire Way entrance to the woodland, South Yate, 10.00am.

Butterflies in the Meadow

Isabel Ryan took these lovely photos during the Wapley Wander:

This wide shot shows the richness of the meadow, which is what attracts the butterflies and other insects.

This close-up of a pair of marbled whites shows clearly that the markings on the underside of the wings are different from the tops.