First of all let me apologise for the lack of newsletters this year. I will try and get back to at least four newsletters per year. It’s not as though nothing has been happening – in fact it seems to have been a very good year for wildlife and there has been a lot going on!
Wildflower Meadow
Tanworth-in-Arden Parish Council and the Earlswood Wildlife Partnership are working together to create a wildflower meadow at the far end of the recreation ground.
We have sown a mix of native wildflower species which flower between June and September, making sure as many flowers as possible are available to the bees and butterflies at their most active time of year. In order to commemorate the outbreak of WW1 we have also sown wild poppy seeds
Bat Survey
An excellent year with over 20% of boxes in use and record numbers of live bats found.
Survey Date
|
31/03/2012
|
08/09/2012
|
13/04/2013
|
21/09/2013
|
20/09/2014
|
No. of boxes checked
|
76
|
77
|
73
|
78
|
89
|
Bats found
|
9
|
24
|
9
|
24
|
50
|
Boxes in use
|
5
|
7
|
8
|
9
|
20
|
Evidence of bats in
|
16
|
20
|
17
|
27
|
7
|
Three different species of bat were found roosting in the boxes – Soprano Pipistrelle, Brown Long-eared and, for the first time, Noctule.
(Thanks to Caroline Glennon for photos)
Dormouse Survey
The inserts from the tubes have now been collected and cleaned for winter storage. There was some excitement at the last check as three potential nests were found.
(Thanks to Tony Philp for photo)
One has already been identified as a Wood Mouse nest but the other two are still being examined. We will keep you updated.
Butterfly Survey
Thanks those people that have already returned their 2014 Butterfly Survey forms – to anyone else that has a form to return please return it to 122 Malthouse Lane or scan your form and send it to ewp2010@btinternet.com . Please remember to include your address. The 2014 results will be included in our next newsletter.
Birding For Beginners
Once again we had a very successful day introducing newcomers to the delights of bird watching thanks to Tony, Barbara and Matt. This popular course will be run again next year on 25th April so if you would like to come along please let us know in advance as places are limited.
EWP Website
It has been suggested that the EWP set up a website. To run well this will need to be maintained and updated regularly. If anyone has the expertise to set up a website and has the time and commitment to keep it updated would you please contact us. This can then be discussed with the committee to decide how best to move forward on this.
Events for next year
Bat walks, Wildflower walk, and a special “Springwatch” walk (to coincide with the popular BBC “Springwatch” programme).
Dormouse, Bat and Dragonfly surveys.
Matt has agreed to run an “All Day Birdwatch” – a fun event to see how many bird species we can spot in one day around the Earlswood area.
Owl boxes and more bat boxes to put up.
Dates for above events to be confirmed in next newsletter.
Merry Christmas! - Bob Roberts