Holt Copse Conservation Volunteers
Newsletter Number 18
This morning, I received a ( paper) copy of the Biodiversity News issued by the WDC Countryside service. As it contains a number of items that may be of interest to HCCV members, I have obtained permission from Andy Glencross to reproduce parts of them here.
Lots of “toady” points for HCCV
here –thanks, Andy
Wokingham Town Council has designated Holt Copse and Joel Park as a Local Nature Reserve (LNR) and become the third Parish/Town council to do so in Wokingham district. This is the culmination of some 4 years of work by the Town Council, the Holt Copse Conservation Volunteers, and the district’s Countryside Service. Holt Copse itself is 2.7ha of Ancient Semi-natural Woodland and is part of a larger woodland (Joel Park). The total area of the LNR is 5.27ha. In addition to its woodland interest, the site contains an area of wet grassland with abundant cuckoo flower and a large noctule bat roost.
The Holt Copse Conservation Volunteers group was formed in 1999 and is affiliated to the BTCV. Although the site belongs to Wokingham TC it is the HCCV that carry out most of the site management. Six to seven Work Parties are held each Autumn/Winter period when coppicing management is carried out to improve the site’s wildlife value. Recent efforts have also been directed at improving the site for visitors. A short section of boardwalk has been constructed to allow visitors to cross a marshy area in the woodland and an interpretation board is in progress. HCCV and Wokingham Town Council have recently secured £2700 in grants from various sources to help fund the new signage for the LNR. This includes money won as prizes in two conservation awards.
LNRs are sites of high wildlife interest in the local context, which are important for informal enjoyment or environmental education by local people. They must be owned or leased by the Local Authority wishing to designate them. The principal Local Authority (County, District and Borough Councils), in consultation with English Nature (EN), normally designate them. However Parish and Town Councils can also designate them providing the principal authority is willing to delegate these powers to them.
The process for designating LNRs is fairly simple. Once the site has been identified, a management plan is developed to ensure the maintenance of the wildlife interest of the site. This plan can then be sent to EN along with a letter requesting LNR status for the site. Once EN have written back in support of the proposed designation, the Parish or Town Council needs to write formally and ask the District Council for powers to designate LNRs to be delegated to them. This normally involves formal approval by the relevant council committee (Environmental Services in the case of Wokingham). The council can then designate the site by placing a formal notice in the local press for 2 consecutive weeks. Wokingham District Council's Biodiversity Officer Andy Glencross is willing to assist any of Wokingham’s Parish or Town Council's to navigate their way through the process.
I have included the following item as there may be an increased interest in amphibians amongst HCCV members if we get our pond in the park.
The inaugural meeting of the Berkshire Reptile and Amphibian Group (BRAG) was held on Wednesday April 2nd at Dinton Pastures Country Park in Wokingham. Local volunteers and members of organisations such as English Nature, the Environment Agency and Local Authorities gathered to decide what needed to be done to help protect Berkshire’s amphibians and reptiles.
The Group hope to undertake a wide variety of work such as gathering data and co-ordinating survey work for key species such as the great crested newt, or by carrying out toad patrols along roads during the breeding season. Members of the group have already undertaken amphibian surveys in the Hurst, Ruscombe and Farley Hill areas this year. It is hoped that the group can act as a spur to spread some of the recent successes experienced in Wokingham into the rest of Berkshire. In 2000 there were just 2 known sites for great crested newts within Wokingham district, at the end of the 2003 season there are 35 known breeding ponds!
To make the group a success we are looking for people with an interest in local wildlife to come along and get involved. The group will meet three times a year and the next meeting will be held on August 6th 2003 at 7:30pm in the Loddon Room at Dinton Pastures Country Park, Davis Street, Hurst, Wokingham. If you are interested in helping to conserve local reptiles and amphibians please come along. If you would like to help with survey work or would like to find out more please contact Andy Glencross (Tel: 0118 9342016 or andy.glencross@wokingham.gov.uk )
Oh, and don’t forget the FREE Pond Wildlife & Management course at Dinton Pastures on 12th July. It runs from 10.00am to 4.00pm. Contact Susan Jones on 0118 934 2016 or countryside@wokingham.gov.uk to book a place.
Biodiversity
Forum and the TVERC
I have mentioned, in the past, that the HCCV is a member of the WDC Biodiversity Forum. I also said about the establishment of the Thames Valley Environmental Records Centre (TVERC). The next meeting of the BDF will have Philippa Burrell, Director of the TVERC, giving a short presentation on the centre and its work. She will also cover the standards required for submitting biological records to the TVERC and answering other related questions.
The meeting will be on July 9th, starting at 7.30pm, and will be held in the St. Paul’s Church Meeting Rooms, Reading Road, across the road from Joel Park. I have confirmed that HCCV members are welcome to attend this meeting.
There will be a bit of official business but that should be quickly seen to. Even so, it should be an interesting evening all round.
Work
Party
Don’t forget the work party scheduled for 28th June. While it was thought that some of the tidying up would be in the area where we finished last Winter, this is exactly where our Noctules are at present. However, there’s plenty of other fallen branches to be tidied into insect and beetle havens. Meet at the bottom of the copse, next to Jubilee Avenue, at 9.30pm.
Bats
The bat evening held the other week was a great success with 18 adults and 11 children attending. The Noctules performed spectacularly, evoking a chorus of “Oooohs” and “Aaaahs” from the visitors. We then went out into the park area and passed the bat detectors round, again stimulating a healthy interest in bats. Our thanks go to Colin Melhuish whose preparatory work ensured (as much as one can ensure with wildlife) the evening’s success.
Beetles
Further to my notes in the last Newsflash, I’ve received the following report from Bob Tizzard:
“You'll probably like to hear
that our back garden (Clifton Road, backing on to Emm Brook) seems to be a
breeding ground for stag beetles. We first spotted them two years ago. There was no sign of them last year but
they're back this year (this obviously says something about the amount of
tidying up I don't do in the garden....).
Not only are they big, they also
make a really eerie sound when they are flying through the bushes -
especially noticeable after dusk, when you can't see them as easily.”
One flew over my garden the other evening while it was being attacked by a female house sparrow. As you can imagine, the sparrow’s beak wouldn’t open wide enough to get hold of the beetle. Consequently, with an audible mini-crash, the beetle just bounced off and flew on, leaving a mystified sparrow. I’m sure she would have rubbed her beak had it not meant she’d fall out of the sky!
It really does look as though this
year has been good for Stag Beetles. Is
this part of a natural cycle, due to weather patterns, or are there more log
piles being left out?
Reports
If you do spot something interesting in your garden, on the estate, in Holt Copse or in Joel Park, please email me and I’ll put it in the next Newsletter/Newsflash. Not only will this help to avoid me writing everything but it will help us to build up a picture of the wildlife in our immediate area.
Jack Meatcher