Holt Copse Conservation Volunteers

Newsletter No. 10

Editorial

Well, here we are with a new season of "slash and burn" opening up before us. By this I mean that we are about to start our 2001/2002 Winter programme of conservation activities. For the same reasons as last time I've put a list of the activities and their dates on the back page. Don't forget to put the dates in your diary and/or pin the list up in a prominent place.

Summer Events

I was about the write that we've not been that active through the Summer but a quick look at our events list in the last Newsletter proves me wrong. The evening wildflower walks in the copse were very popular and were well supported. They turned out to be pleasantly social affairs with people breaking up into small groups and helping one another to improve their identification skills. I noticed a reluctance to leave and go home as darkness fell - so this type of event looks as though it should become a regular Spring and Summer activity.

These evenings were supplemented by some rather exciting bat events. The training at Dinton Pastures was an amazing evening with attendees having the opportunity to actually hold our three most common bats - Pipistrelle, Daubenton's, and Noctule. Meanwhile, Colin Melhuish had located the then current roosting site for our Holt Copse colony of Noctule bats. Early counts showed we had some 143 bats in the roost but this number gradually diminished over the following weeks. They also moved to another roost. Meanwhile, I had a Hobby fly through my garden in a Copse direction. Then Pete Johns, in Marks Road, commented that he had seen a Hobby hunting along the top of the grass park area. This was where the second Noctule roost was at the time. The "loop" was closed when we discovered, during the training evening, that Hobbies have a "window of opportunity" with Noctules as the latter emerge before it is fully dark and don't fly very quickly. So, they are ideal prey for a Hobby. Did this account for the diminishing numbers?
We did have one Work Party and that was to do some general tidying and to put up the bat boxes that Colin Melhuish had made. This was a fine, sunny, morning, made all the more pleasant by the "lightweight" nature and objectives of the event. Another worthwhile morning.
As you know, we were supposed to have a Work Party in July to build the boardwalk over the "stream" that crosses the main footpath. However, a decision was made to postpone it because we had a sudden spate of vandalism in the Copse. Several large trees were felled, seats were damaged and log piles spread about. The matter was reported to the Police but, to my knowledge, no culprits were identified. Interestingly, a similar sized tree was felled, also with a small hand axe, near the Tern hide at Lavell's Lake shortly afterwards so the "mad axeman" may have moved on. The boardwalk Work Party is now scheduled for Saturday, October 24th (see below for details).

Surveys

Birds breeding in the Park and Copse this year included Chiff Chaff, Whitethroat, Blackcap, Song Thrush, Tree Creeper, Nuthatch, Green and Greater Spotted Woodpeckers, Mistle Thrush, and Jay and as well as the more common species like Robin, Blackbird, Dunnock, and Stock Dove.

Nic Hopkinson has started to compile a wild flower species list for the Copse. I'll try to include it in the next issue.

Holt Copse - a Local Nature Reserve.

In the last issue, I described the process for getting Local Nature Reserve status for Holt Copse. During the Summer, the Town Council considered a proposal for such an application and approved the idea in principle. On the 11th September, the Council met again and heard a short "presentation" from Andy Glencross, WDC Countryside Service, on what was involved and the benefits of LNR status.
The presentation was well received but the Council were unable to approve the matter to go forward as it wasn't on the Agenda for approval. It was therefore approved to go on the agenda of the next meeting as a motion for approval. Coming from the oil industry, this sounded like prevarication to me (I attended as the HCCV representative) but the rules for Council meetings are clearly defined and well established.

Dates for your Diary and Bookmark for the HCCV Website.

Saturday, 24th October - Work Party to build the boardwalk. Start - 9.30am

It is vital that members intending to help advise Nic Hopkinson (901 9392) and commit themselves to it as we will have a lot of valuable timber delivered to the site in the Copse and it can't be left overnight. This will be an all-day session but "part-timers" are also very welcome. However, still let Nic know your intentions.
It has been suggested that, after the bridge building, we have a bit of a social gathering such as a barbecue

Saturday, October 13th - Work Party Start - 9.30am
Saturday, November 10th - Work Party Start - 9.30am
Saturday, December 8th - Work Party Start - 9.30am
Saturday, December 29th - Work Party Start - 9.30am
Saturday, January 19th - Work Party Start - 9.30am
Saturday, February 16th - Work Party Start - 9.30am

Visit the HCCV website at: http://website.lineone.net/~hccv/

Jack Meatcher 1^st May, 2001

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