Earlswood Wildlife Partnership News Letter 5

Earlswood Wildlife Partnership

Newsletter 5

Welcome to our latest newsletter, we hope you have had a good wildlife summer so far. We have had some very dry weather on the whole, which has given good mothing nights.

 

Moth night in Clowes Wood (2^nd July)

Five traps were set up in various parts of the wood and 135 species of moths (including micro’s) were identified. We would like to thank Martin for identifying them and compiling the list, if you would like a copy of the list please contact us on ewp2010@btinternet.com.

Earlswood Heritage Project

Warwickshire Wildlife Trust has successfully obtained funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund to deliver a 12 month Youth and Community project in Earlswood. This project aims to involve young people and other members of the community in a unique attempt to capture the natural and human heritage of Earlswood through a 12 month program of diverse activities and events that will range from volunteering opportunities, to wildlife surveying, filming and producing two documentaries to recording living, breathing oral histories from the people that live in Earlswood and experiencing the natural environment at its most extraordinary.

We hope many of our members will want to get involved, if you are interested to find out more please contact Matt Cox on 07745 538159 or email matt.cox@wkwt.org.uk

Kayak Fishing on Terry’s Pool

Some of you may have seen kayaks on Terry’s Pool and British Waterways have told the local residents association:

“We are allowing Kayak fishing for a trial period of 12 months and will obviously review come the end of the trial. We will be able to learn what has gone well and not so well and look at things from then.”
The EWP will be following this closely but British Waterways will welcome everyone’s comments on this and can be contacted by email enquiries.westmidlands@britishwaterways.co.uk or by writing to British Waterways, Peels Wharf, Lichfield Street, Fazeley, Tamworth, B78 3QZ.

Bird life of Earlswood 2011

This year is proving to be an excellent one for birds at Earlswood, with two rarities found so far: an adult Night Heron present at the lakes for two weeks in May and a Hoopoe at Manor Farm briefly on July 4th. The Night Heron appears to be only the fifth confirmed occurrence of this species in Warwickshire! Other unusual birds recorded at the lakes during the spring were 13 Bar-tailed Godwits flying over (the first recorded at Earlswood for over 60 years), three Little Terns, three Sandwich Terns, two Pink-footed Geese and a Little Egret, plus a few Little Gulls, Black Terns and well over a hundred Arctic Terns passed through. Elsewhere, migrant Redstart, Whinchat, Stonechat and Wheatear were all recorded along Springbrook Lane, with Wheatears also to the east of Earlswood Common, and a Grasshopper Warbler was heard near the lakes.It has been a good breeding season for some bird species, especially Mallards, with two pairs of Lesser Whitethroats raising young being particularly notable. Great Crested Grebes and Coots have not done so well, due to falling water levels and disturbance. A number of butterfly species have been seen, including Essex Skipper, Marbled White and Common Blue, as well as day-flying moths like Cinnabar and a Ruby Tiger.The autumn passage of migrant birds is now upon us, having started in July, and apart from a juvenile Shelduck and another Little Egret, most of the more notable species involved have been waders, not surprising given how much lakebed has been exposed by the receding water at Engine Pool and Windmill Pool. Highlights so far have been a Whimbrel, three occurrences of Black-tailed Godwits and a Greenshank, whilst Oystercatchers, Redshanks, Dunlins, Little Ringed Plovers, Green Sandpipers, Common Sandpipers and Lapwings have also been seen.There will be lots more birds to see and hear this autumn, and if you find anything interesting in the area I will be pleased to hear from you.

Matt Griffiths (matt_avesmaster@hotmail.com)

You can keep up to date with local bird sightings at Matt’s blog:-

Birds of Earlswood - http://earlswood.blogspot.com/

Forthcoming events

Friday 26^th August Bat Walk - meet at 8.15pm Wood Lane Car Park (Engine Pool) – Part of European Bat Weekend with the Warwickshire Bat Group

Saturday 3rd September Moth & Bat night - meet at 8:30pm Malthouse Lane Car Park. Come along for an informal short Bat Walk and to see how a moth trap works.

Saturday 15th October Autumn Walk Meet at 2pm Wood lane Car Park. Cost £2 (towards upkeep of wood)