What a glorious spell of weather we have had! It has certainly made all our wet days feel like a distant memory. With the arrival of warmer weather, it has been wonderful to see more insects back on the wing after a very slow start. There is also exciting news for Deer Park Farm: Audrey has the first barn owl chicks starting to fledge from a nest box that was put up on the farm 24 years ago!
In this months newsletter:
- Dragonfly and Pond ID Training
- Grass ID Training at Deer Park Farm
- Butterfly and Day Flying Moth Walk
- Turn the Tide Festival
- ACT Planning Tool
- Wildlife Gardening Talk for Your Parish
- DWT Pine Marten Update
- Bats in the Teign Valley
- Book Recommendation
- Dates for Your Diary
- Round Up of Wildlife Warden Activity Across Teignbridge
Dragonfly and Pond ID Training
Thank you so much to Dave Smallshire for leading a group of us for a dragonfly, damselfly and pond ID training session last month. We had such a glorious day and all came away with heads buzzing with new knowledge! We saw some stunning dragonflies up close and also witnessed nature’s brutal side when a freshly emerged Broad-bodied chaser took its maiden flight, only to be snatched mid-air by an incoming Emperor, leaving only the wings behind!
Thanks also to Jo at Oxen Park Farm for allowing us to run the training at his pond. We were able to collected a good set of botanical and invertebrate species list for him which add to the data we collected last year.
Grass ID Training at Deer Park Farm
Many of us feel a bit bamboozled when it comes to grass identification, so it was great to have a training session at Deer Park Farm last month to help boost our confidence. Top tips were to pick grasses right at the base to find helpful clues, observe known grasses throughout the season to appreciate how they change, and use your sense of smell and touch to help cement IDs in your brain!
Check out the Field Studies Council Grass ID Guide, which is really handy when you’re out and about.
Butterfly and Day Flying Moth Walk
Thanks very much to Pete Hurst from Butterfly Conservation for leading a well-attended butterfly and day-flying moth walk at Deer Park Farm this month. A lucky break in the weather allowed everyone to see plenty of butterflies and moths in flight, which was heartening given that numbers have seemed low this year.
Don’t forget to participate in the Big Butterfly Count, which runs until Sunday, August 4th. Simply record butterfly species for 15 minutes in your garden or a public open space and upload your observations to contribute to this nationwide citizen science survey. It provides a valuable snapshot of butterfly populations over the years.
Photo credit: David Tilsley
Turn the Tide Festival
Thanks to the Dawlish Team for putting on another superb Turn the Tide festival last month. The Dawlish Lawn had a fantastic atmosphere, with many environmentally-themed stalls and activities, including a giant walk-in whale where you could hear stories about turtles and other sea creatures! We had a wonderful day talking with many people about wildlife – a great event to be part of!
ACT Planning Tool
Did you know that you can sign up to receive alerts about planning applications in your local area? Check out the Action Climate Teignbridge planning area and planning tool. You can also find planning information for your area by clicking on your parish in the wildlife warden map feature.
While planning might seem like the less glamorous side of wildlife watching, it would be great if more wardens were involved in monitoring in their local area. We need to ensure that wildlife considerations are prioritized in planning decisions. Please contact Audrey and myself if you have any concerns about a planning issue. If you are going to use the ACT Wildlife Warden title to submit a comment on an application, please run these past us before sending.
Wildlife Gardening Talk for Your Parish
Wildlife Warden Elaine participated in the recent Ashburton Wildlife Gardening Festival in June. She was on the panel for a Wildlife Gardeners’ Question Time evening, which launched the event, and later gave a great presentation on the basic principles of wildlife gardening.
We are extremely grateful to Elaine for offering to give her presentation to other parishes and groups if there is interest. She would just need a room, a projector, and a minimum of 10 attendees. The presentation takes an hour, including time for Q&As, and covers the principles of wildlife-friendly gardening for private and community gardens, including schools and allotments.
For anyone interested in hosting the talk in their parish, we ask that you attend our “Leading Volunteers and Events” training so you are covered by our ACT insurance. Please email me if you would like to be connected with Elaine or to book on to the training.
Daniel Brown from Devon Wildlife Trust recently updated wildlife wardens in the Teign and Wray Valley areas on the Two Moors Pine Marten project. The update aimed to bring everyone up to speed as the project enters the reintroduction phase during late summer and autumn this year. We hope wardens will share this information with their local communities and direct any concerns or questions from landowners to Daniel, who is eager to engage with everyone about the project. Click here if you would like to watch this meeting.
Bats in the Teign Valley
Fiona Mathews, who was a speaker at the recent Wildlife Warden Spring Celebration, has reached out to see if wardens in the Teign Valley would like to participate in a project focused on Barbastelle and Bechstein’s bats in the area. Fiona is looking for contacts among woodland landowners and any wardens interested in deploying bat detectors. If you haven’t yet expressed interest in this project and want to be involved, please do email me.
Book Recommendation
This book is a compelling and engaging read about an important topic – how we try to manage the imbalance caused by species we have introduced to places where they simply do not belong. The author is a hedgehog specialist, telling us about the problem New Zealand has with hedgehogs introduced to make settlers feel less homesick back in the 19th century and which have caused havoc with the indigenous wildlife.
Warwick addresses at each turn, whether he is talking about rats, squirrels, mink or pythons, the challenges of getting it right for nature, getting people on board, managing the cost, and avoiding unintended consequences. It is a fascinating and complex issue that we increasingly have to face, and Hugh Warwick has created a very readable, entertaining, and important book which I highly recommend. Shira (Ashton WW)
Dates for your Diary
Thank you to everyone who has helped run WW stands throughout the summer. These stands are a fantastic way to engage with people and ignite an interest in local wildlife within communities. We have a few more events scheduled this month, so if you’d like to help please get in touch. The more, the merrier!
| 30th August | Nature-based children’s activity training for WW interested in helping school groups/scouts/brownies etc. |
| 10th August | Kingsteignton Community Day Public event with WW stand with children’s activities |
| 17th August | Christow Show Public event with WW stand |
| 21st August | Bowden Pillars Walk and Talk (for WWs and Small Woodland Group): Find out about the new DWT site with a plan to grow an Atlantic Rain Forest on land that was recently a commercial farm! |
| 24th August | Kingskerswell family day Public event with WW stand |
Round Up of Wildlife Warden Activity Across Teignbridge
Ashburton Elaine was a panel expert at the recent Ashburton Wildlife Gardening Festival and also gave a talk about wildlife gardening. Check above for her kind offer to share her presentation with other interested groups.
Ashton Shira has been out and about with the County Wildlife Site (CWS) survey team assessing several new grassland sites over the past month. In June, she met with the Swift project team at Ashton Church to check out the tower installation, and for the first time, swifts showed interest in the boxes thanks to the swift sound recordings being played. This month, Shira has met with several local landowners to discuss CWS surveys, management practices to support skylark nesting, and to gain permission for bat surveys. We are also extremely grateful to Shira for helping out on the WW stand during the recent “Nature on Your Doorstep” event in Newton Abbot.
Bovey Andrew joined the Bovey Cubs for the National Trust ‘Balsam Bash’ at Parke, where they enthusiastically cleared a corner of a meadow of the invasive plant. The kids really got into it and did an amazing job!
Andrew also attended the Great Big Green Week in Bovey, which was well attended. His kids had great fun cycling for smoothies!
Christow Jane and Mike are planning to run some nature-based activities for children at Christow School, including a possible moth trapping experience. Jane will be attending our upcoming training session to gather more ideas for these activities.
Chudleigh Val and Tess have been involved in several grassland surveys with the CWS survey team. It’s great to have everyone’s collective knowledge for these surveys, and we all learn a lot from each other too!
Dawlish WWs in Dawlish continue to be busy in so many ways! Ric and Jo are working hard on their community orchard and rewilding project. Dave and Scott are engaged with the “Our Green Futures” project, which aims to get local people thinking about how they can address the twin challenges of climate change and nature depletion. There has also been success with wildflower and yellow rattle planting earlier in the season in several areas in the town. Mariya has been growing violets to be transplanted into Ric and Jo’s site, researching Dawlish’s history with violets, and discussing her ideas on this topic with the Mayor.
Doddiscombleigh Jo has been busy out and about with the CWS survey team this month and also helped Julia and Jess survey Dunsford churchyard.
Dunsford Julia has been busy with the CWS surveying team over the past few months. She, Jess, and Jo also surveyed Dunsford churchyard and found over 90 species of wildflowers! Julia continues to organise and take notes at the popular Teign Valley monthly wildlife meetings, along with conducting water testing and riverfly surveys. Jess writes regular, engaging articles for the parish Unity magazine. This month, Pip and Julia have also participated in the RSPB Cirl Bunting surveys.
Exminster On a midsummer’s evening, the Exminster Greenspaces team hosted a bat detection event at St. Martin’s Church in the village. The event was supported by Hannah Worthington, who is currently leading the ‘Connecting People and Landscapes‘ project. With a collection of detectors beeping away, attendees were thrilled to see pipistrelle bats zipping around and, later, to pick up high-flying noctule bats overhead.
Part of the Exminster ‘Nature Recovery Project’ is looking to make connections with the wider landscape. In June, a small group from the new Brook Academy school in the Matford development, the ranger from Teignbridge’s Ridgetop Country Park, and representatives from the local NHS facility at New Leaf in Exminster walked the route of what is hoped will become a ‘green wildlife corridor’ between Matford and the core village.
Ideford Robin organized a bat walk, which was kindly led by the Chudleigh wildlife wardens. Many local residents attended and were excited to see and hear bats flying overhead. Robin and Dom are also in discussions with the county council about making the street lights in the area more bat-friendly.
Hennock Becky and Chris continue to do fabulous work with the Climate and Sustainability group. Chris writes a regular, vibrant newsletters for the parish, filled with information about local wildlife, and encouraging people to upload their sightings to the parish database. They have also created wonderful “Spotters Activity Sheets” for children to enjoy as a holiday activity—great fun!
Ilsington Linda, Sheree, and Dawn had great plans to attend the local village show with a wildlife gardening stand this month. Unfortunately, a very wet day led to many stallholders being rained off, which was a real shame given all the time and preparation that goes into these events. Dawn will be running a second walk for local residents this month, visiting a private site in Liverton. This site, formerly a conifer plantation, is being converted to broadleaf woodland. Fingers crossed for better weather for this one!
Ipplepen WWs in Ipplepen and the Ippleplanet team held a stand at the local village show. Despite the wet weather, there was still a steady flow of visitors interested in local wildlife. The team focused on encouraging residents to fill out a questionnaire about their thoughts on the planned community orchard.
Kingsteignton Hanna has been involved in launching a new nature trail in the town, engaging with local schools, the library, and the town council to spread the word. She also ran a stall at the local “Ram Roast Fair,” where she talked to residents about the nature trail and accompanying spotter sheets. The stall featured nature-based activities for children, including making nature crowns, a scavenger hunt, and creating stickers from ink stamps with images of bugs, butterflies, and more. The event was very well supported, and Hanna will be hosting a similar stall at the upcoming Kingsteignton Community Day on August 10th. If anyone would like to help Hanna with this event, please get in touch.
Kingskerswell George met with two church wardens at a woodland and wetland site, where he is working with them to regain access to the wildlife pond. The plan includes reinstating the path around the pond, placing a bench along the path, and considering bird and bat boxes. George also met with a parish councillor to discuss applying for nature and tree grants. They are considering projects such as creating a willow tunnel and den at the children’s play park, adding a pond, and planting trees at the local allotments.
North Bovey Susan had a stand at the local village show this month, but unfortunately, it was another rainy Saturday. She continues to promote recording hedgehog sightings in the local area, and it’s great news that the population seems to be thriving. Susan’s husband, John, has been busy making hedgehog feeding stations, which have now been distributed throughout the village. She also regularly walks and records local wildlife sightings in her area and has spotted many scarlet tiger moths in her garden!
Ogwell Wardens and members of Ogwild held an event at the Community Rectory Field to celebrate 50 years of the Woodland Trust owning the site and its current management by Ogwild. The event featured numerous children’s activities and stands, making it a great success.
Stokenteignhead WW Gill successfully got the Biodiversity Plan onto a recent parish council agenda. There was a positive discussion and a “Biodiversity Champion” assigned which is a great step forward. Well done Gill!
It’s been a busy couple of months for everyone, with many positive stories, actions, and events happening around Teignbridge. Thank you all so much for your hard work and continued support – you really are a fantastic bunch!
Vicky