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CURRENT
NEWS FROM BROOK MEADOW
For photos of Brook
Meadow workdays and events go to ... Work
and events
For more local wildlife
news and photos go to . . . http://www.emsworthwildlife.com/0-0-0-wildlife-diary.htm
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BROOK
MEADOW CONSERVATION GROUP - WEEKS 27-28: June 30 - July
13, 2008
CONSERVATION
NEWS - by Frances Jannaway
Work Sessions - Thursday
10 July
The regular work session
on the first Thursday in July was postponed until the
following Thursday to make final preparations for the
Open Day. Nine volunteers worked very hard to ensure that
all the paths were kept clear of stinging nettles,
brambles and overhanging branches. In addition, a
thorough litter pick was carried out, and the signcases
were cleaned and updated.
Several large branches of
a willow tree have fallen over the river and will need to
be dealt with at a forthcoming work session. A second
more urgent job will be to reduce the height of the
northern most Black Poplar tree on the eastern side of
the central meadow which is leaning over rather
precariously.
Forthcoming work
sessions: Sunday 20 July & Thursday 7
August.
Northern Parade Junior
School visits - taken from a report by Wally
Osborne
This was the fifth
successive year that the BMCG committee has organised a
field studies day for children at Northern Parade Junior
School in Portsmouth. However, this time we planned two
visits, instead of one, to compensate for the very
disappointing last minute cancellation of the 2007 event
due to wet weather.
The first one was
arranged for Monday 30th June and thankfully the weather
was near perfect. Twenty children from years 5 and 6,
each with their parent or guardian, plus 2 staff members,
arrived by coach at 10.15am. After a few words of
introduction to the meadow and the facilities, the
children dived into the arranged programme of activities
with enthusiasm.
The first was a nature
trail taking them to all the corners of the meadow. Then
in 2 groups of 10 pupils, the children were either asked
to find as many different types of grasses as possible or
had fun on the North bridge in a modified version of
'Pooh Sticks'. The groups swapped over after lunch. The
ever-popular 'wishing tree' and the 'mini bug hunt'
finished off the programme. The coach collected the
children at 2.15pm, all too soon for many and the whole
party joined to thank the BMCG volunteers.
The second visit
scheduled for Monday 7th July, unfortunately had to be
cancelled due to bad weather, a huge disappointment to
the school. We intend to make wet weather contingency
plans for 2009.
The full report with
photos . . .
http://www.brook-meadow.hampshire.org.uk/bm-work-events-2007.html
Brook Meadow Nature
Reserve Open Day
It's now official - Brook
Meadow is a Local Nature Reserve - the first one in
Emsworth. On 13 July, the mayor of Havant, Councillor
John Smith cut the ribbon over the main entrance into
Brook Meadow in Palmers Road car park and made a short
speech on the meadow. A group of about 20 volunteers
started work at about 7.30am, putting up road signs,
decorating entrances with balloons and streamers, putting
up a marquee and 3 gazebos, putting out nature trail
boards, moving in tables and chairs, putting up displays
and generally getting ready for the 11am opening. And the
weather was perfect too - warm and dry. Our tried and
tested method of counting visitors was used yet again -
the BMCG logo printed on a sticker with the addition of
the words Local Nature Reserve. We 'stickered' about 300
visitors. I can't be more accurate than this because we
ran out of stickers at about 3pm and Richard had to dash
back home to get some more! So we might have missed a
few.
All the activities were
popular, especially 'Making Bird and Bat Boxes' for which
there was always a queue. Many thanks to Pete Hodges
(chair of Friends of Park Woods, Waterlooville) for
organising this. One of the bat boxes was kindly donated
to Brook Meadow by Sarah Flamson, HBC's Open Spaces
Development team, whose daughter made the bat box.
About 40 families took
part in the nature trail, nature hunt and grasses
discovery. The four guided butterfly spotting walks were
also popular, the number of butterflies seen varying
between 22 and 9, mainly Meadow Browns. Hannah Charman,
medical herbalist from Southsea, had nine people on her
very successful Herb Walk. The displays provided by Steve
Taylor of the Medicine Garden attracted a lot of interest
as did the displays of photographs on the work the group
and the wildlife of Brook Meadow. There was a continuous
stream of children decorating butterflies and stars and
hanging their wish for the world on our Wishing Tree.
Some of wishes included: "More animals on Brook Meadow",
"No pollution", "Water Voles", a "Unicorn", "Happiness
and peace for all animals". And last but by no means
least, the Cakes!! Thank you so much to all who made such
a good selection of delicious cakes and cookies. A most
successful day. My heartfelt thanks to all the volunteers
who helped make this such a special event.
Dates for your
diaries:
Sunday 10 August: Ems
Valley Walks as part of Hampshire Water Festival. Two
walks starting at 10am and 2pm. Meet in Palmers Road car
park next to the Brook Meadow information
board.
LOCAL
WILDLIFE NEWS - by Brian Fellows
Breeding bird
news
This afternoon, I was
lucky to see, and get some good photos of, an adult
Whitethroat and two young Whitethroats in a tree on Brook
Meadow. This confirms that all three of our summer
visitors, ie Blackcap, Chiffchaff and Whitethroat have
bred successfully on Brook Meadow this year. Meanwhile,
on the river near the sluice gate a pair of Moorhen has
four tiny chicks, probably their second brood.
The local Mute Swan
family from Peter Pond now seem settled with three of
their original five children. I saw another Mute Swan
family with 4 small cygnets in Emsworth Marina on July 2,
but a few days later there were none! The other local
Mute Swan family with 6 cygnets which usually hangs
around the harbour by the quay are probably from Thorney
Little Deeps (and not Langstone as first thought).
Harbour news
This is the time of year
when the first of the "winter" migrants start to arrive.
Black-tailed Godwits are usually among the first to
arrive from their breeding grounds in Iceland. There
were 22 in Emsworth Harbour on July 11 plus another two
on the flooded fields of North Thorney, though numbers
are bound to build up. Godwits have also been seen at
Pulborough Brooks. Other birds of interest in the
Emsworth Harbour include Redshank, Greenshank, Curlew,
Common Tern and Mediterranean Gull.
Sadly, for the second
year running the Little Tern colony on Hayling Oysterbeds
has failed to produce any youngsters due to predation by
Black-headed Gulls and Kestrel. A big problem. Maybe
cages would be an answer? Common Terns have done well
and young Black-headed Gulls are everywhere.
Other bird news
The local Turtle Dove is
still with us, listen for its soft purring in the Lumley
area and look for it in the tall bare Willows in the
garden of Gooseberry Cottage. Listen also for the
repeated "hoo hoo hoo" call of a Stock Dove. A handsome
male Bullfinch was a very welcome visitor to my garden on
July 10. It stayed long enough for me to get a few snaps
of it through the window before it disappeared, not to
return. This was only the second Bullfinch I have had in
my garden, the last one being almost 10 years ago. There
have been fewer Swifts than usual over Emsworth. There
were only three flying around the houses in Bridge Road
today and eight is the most I have seen all summer. Do
they have a problem?
Butterflies
It has been a long wait,
but butterflies are coming out at last. I spent an hour
or so on Brook Meadow this afternoon, during which I
counted over 50 butterflies. Meadow Browns were by far
the most numerous, followed by Small Skipper, Gatekeeper,
Large and Small Whites and one each of Comma, Peacock and
Red Admiral. I also had a Holly Blue in my back garden.
Despite a lot of searching, I could not find the Ringlet
that Graham Walsgrove saw in the Lumley area during his
butterfly walk on the Brook Meadow Open Day on Sunday.
Ringlet is a very scarce butterfly on Brook Meadow, I saw
the last one on 12 July 2005. However, my best
butterfly of the past two weeks was a Small
Tortoiseshell, which Caroline French and I saw in front
of Stansted House on July 3. I had almost given up hope
of seeing again this once common, but now increasingly
rare butterfly.
Other insects
Brook Meadow is currently
dominated by huge Hogweed plants and their white flower
heads are especially attractive to red Soldier Beetles
which bask and mate in the warm sun. A lady visitor at
the Open Day on Brook Meadow showed me a photo of another
beetle with a distinctive yellow and black pattern on its
body, which maybe the Longhorn Beetle - Strangalia
maculata aka Rutpela maculata.
I have seen three
Harlequin Ladybirds in the past week, two on Brook Meadow
alone. These two were very dark and glossy with large
red spots and white "cheeks". Apparently, they are a
serious threat to our native Ladybirds and are spreading
rapidly throughout the country. For more information and
help with ID go to the web site at . . .
http://www.harlequin-survey.org/default.htm
Plants
Wild Angelica is now
growing well on the Lumley area of Brook Meadow, and will
soon be rivalling Hogweed in height. Great Willowherb is
another tall plant with bright pink flowers. It used to
dominate Brook Meadow before the conservation group took
over, but is now in manageable proportions. The white
fluffy flowers of Meadowsweet can be seen and smelt in
many areas of the meadow. The brown sausage-shaped
flower spikes of the Bulrushes are now showing well on
the river.
Finally, there is a rare
plant in flower on the pavement outside number 18A
Victoria Road. This is only the second site in the area,
as far a Ralph Hollins is aware, for Least Yellow Sorrel
Oxalis exilis.
For more information and
photos of the wildlife mentioned in this report and lots
of other local wildlife news please go to my web site -
http://www.emsworthwildlife.com/index.html
BROOK
MEADOW CONSERVATION GROUP - WEEKS 25-26: June 16-29,
2008
CONSERVATION
NEWS - by Frances Jannaway
Report on Work Session -
Sunday 15 June - by Pat Walsgrove
On a lovely sunny
morning, 8 volunteers turned out (Pat Walsgrove, Frances
Jannaway, Jennifer Rye, Pam Phillips, Barbara Wrigley,
Dave Lee, Tony Wilkinson and Graham Walsgrove), and they
carried out the following tasks (some in preparation for
the visit from Northern Parade School).
Clearing the South Meadow
bramble path of overhanging nettles and then cutting with
the power scythe, also cutting the diagonal path and the
area around the wishing tree using the power
scythe.
Planting the rest of the
Ox-eye daisies, and the repair of a gap in the hurdle
fencing along the riverbank.
Weeding of the areas
around the Alder Buckthorn, and carrying out a litter
pick of the area around Palmers Road car park.
All in all this was a
very successful and enjoyable morning of work and thanks
go to the willing volunteers for all their hard work and
enthusiasm. The highlight of the morning was when Pam
heard a Red Kite and several of us watched it 'floating'
over the Meadow with its tail twisting.
Wonderful!
Report on Work Sessions -
Friday 20 and Thursday 26 June 2008
These two extra work
sessions were organised to complete the preparation for
the two school visits on Monday 30 June and 7 July. Tasks
completed included strimming round the seats, steps,
signcases and bins. Cutting the Community Area and
occasional paths with the power scythe. Cutting back all
the main paths and occasional paths with shears to remove
overhanging Brambles and Nettles. Removing overhanging
branches along the south path and several branches across
entrances in Palmers Road copse. Some of the smaller
branches were used to reinforce the hurdle fences along
the riverbank. Cleaning all the signcases and information
boards. Extending and tidying up the area around the
Wishing Tree. Clearing a patch of Nettles from the
western side of the North bridge. Putting up two new
Water Vole notices. Watering the recently planted Ox-eye
daisies. Trimming back Butterbur leaves overhanging the
path. Clearing vegetation from around the young Osier
saplings. Litter picking in Palmers Road copse.
Forthcoming work
sessions:
Please note that the
regular work session on Thursday 3 July has been
cancelled but there will be an extra one on Thursday 10
July to prepare for the Brook Meadow Open Day. This work
session will be followed by a short meeting at Pam
Phillip's house, 2 The Rookery, to finalise arrangements
for the Open Day. Please come along if you can help out
on the day.
Dumping of garden
rubbish
A small amount of garden
rubbish consisting of grass cuttings and variegated ivy
has again been dumped onto the hedge next to the Seagull
Lane kissing gate. This happened several times last year.
And although the type and amount of rubbish dumped is not
serious, Brook Meadow should not be used as a dumping
ground for rubbish of any kind. If you see the culprit,
please ask them to take their rubbish to the amenity tip.
Vandalism to Wildflower
notices
The two Wildflower Area
notices put up in the southern part of the North Meadow
to protect the Orchids and Yellow Rattle were vandalised
on Saturday evening. Replacement notices were put up this
morning.
Brook Meadow Open
Day
Brook Meadow Open Day is
on Sunday 13 July, 11am to 5pm. Activities planned for
the day include: Nature Hunt, Nature Trail, Lumley Trail,
Herb Walk (starting at 2pm), Guided Walks, Butterfly
transect, Grasses ID, Bat and Bird Box workshops and
other wildlife activities. There will be lots of
photographs of wildlife as well as the conservation work
carried out in Brook Meadow. Homemade cakes and soft
drinks will also be provided for a small charge. The
event will be opened with ceremonial ribbon cutting by
the Mayor of Havant at 11am next to the Brook Meadow
information board in Palmers Road car park. We hope you
will join us to celebrate the Brook Meadow Local Nature
Reserve.
Dates for your
diaries:
Sunday 13 July: Brook
Meadow Open Day, 11am to 5pm.
Sunday 10 August: Ems
Valley Walks as part of Hampshire Water Festival. Two
walks starting at 10am and 2pm. Meet in Palmers Road car
park next to the Brook Meadow information
board.
LOCAL
WILDLIFE NEWS - by Brian Fellows
Water Voles
This has been a bumper
year for Water Vole sightings on Brook Meadow, with the
three seen yesterday by Caroline and Ray French taking us
over the 100 mark for the first time ever. Of course,
this does not mean there are this number of Water Voles
on the river, since many sightings will have been of the
same animal. Nevertheless, they certainly appear to be
having a very good year. Interestingly, the Hampshire
Wildlife Trust have just launched an appeal to save the
Water Vole, but Emsworth does not get a mention in their
literature!! All the local Water Vole news and sightings
are on the Group's web site at . . .
http://www.brook-meadow.hampshire.org.uk/bm-water-voles.html
Little Terns
Sadly, news from Hayling
Oysterbeds is not good. For the second year running the
Little Tern chicks have been predated, this time by
Black-headed Gulls and Kestrel. Just two chicks were on
the islands when I was there for my wardening session
last Tuesday and I expect those to have vanished when I
return this week. Clearly, something has to be done about
the Black-headed Gulls which nest on the islands if the
Little Tern colony is to survive, but what? Removing the
vegetation last winter clearly did not work. Solutions
(legal) to the Black-headed Gull problem are very
welcome. Meanwhile, young Black-headed Gulls are on the
move, so look out for them on the millponds.
Other bird
news
A Red Kite was spotted
over Brook Meadow by a work party on June 15, a first for
the meadow, but an increasingly common bird over our
area. Caroline French even had one over her garden. Just
shows the value of looking up! That Turtle Dove is still
purring from the garden of Gooseberry Cottage. The local
Mute Swan family on Slipper Millpond has lost another two
cygnets over the past fortnight, now down to three. I saw
the latest casualty half-buried in mud in front of the
Slipper Mill. I wonder what happened to it. Another Swan
family with 6 cygnets in the harbour are probably from
Langstone.
Butterflies
Butterflies are starting
to emerge at long last. Meadow Browns, in particular, are
out in force on Brook Meadow and elsewhere and Gatekeeper
should follow soon. Also, on Brook Meadow there are some
very bright Commas, possibly of the 'hutchinsoni' variety
and on June 28 I saw a Marbled White, which is a rare,
though not unknown, visitor to Brook Meadow. In general,
White butterflies seem scarce, though a Large White was
sniffing around the cabbages in our back garden at the
weekend.
The main local news was
the emergence of White Admirals in Hollybank Woods. I saw
four on June 23 and a couple of days later Tony Wootton
got a great photo of two together, the first I have ever
seen. Tony's photo is on my web site. Pauline Bond has
also seen Silver-washed Fritillary in Hollybank Woods and
Tony Wootton probably had a Dark Green Fritillary on
Hayling Oysterbeds.
Other insects
A very distinctive
metallic green flower beetle with swollen hind legs,
known as "Thigh Beetle" (Oedemera nobilis), is now fairly
common on Brook Meadow, usually seen inhabiting the large
white trumpet flowers of Bindweed. Unlike the carnivorous
Soldier Beetle this one feeds on pollen.
Wading through the
grasses on Brook Meadow, I came across nine silk webs of
the "Nursery-web spider", usually with the parent spider
in close attendance. They must be having a bumper year!
Plant news
Harebell is a new and
unexpected addition to the Brook Meadow flora. Frances
found some next to the Southern Marsh Orchids, which
suggests they came from the same source, ie Nigel
Johnson's garden. Frances also spotted a single flower
spike of Marsh Woundwort pushing up through the jungle at
the northern end of the Bramble path. The Hedge Woundwort
is abundant north of the causeway. Great Willowherb,
Spear Thistle and Broad-leaved Everlasting-pea are also
newly flowering.
On Saturday afternoon, I
ploughed my way through the dense vegetation on the
Seagull Lane patch for the first time this year. I found
Black Horehound in flower and Stone Parsley was also
present, though not in flower. From the river bank I
could just make out the Blue Water Speedwell (hybrid
form) near the outfall and Branched Bur-reed with burrs.
As for the grasses, there is a very good crop of the
hybrid Fescue (x Festulolium loliaceum) along the west
side of the main path through the South Meadow and Marsh
Foxtail is growing well on the (now dry) "Lumley puddle".
Southern Marsh Orchid
counts at Fishbourne Meadows and South Moor, Langstone
are down for the third year running. Climate change or
bad management? But the expansion of orchids at
Fishbourne from zero to nearly 800 in 13 years must auger
well for those on Brook Meadow.
For all the news and
photos of local wildlife go to:
http://www.emsworthwildlife.com/index.html
BROOK
MEADOW CONSERVATION GROUP - WEEKS 23-24: June 2-9,
2008
CONSERVATION
NEWS - by Frances Jannaway
Report on Work Session -
Thursday 5th June 2008 by Wally Osborne
The very welcome dry,
sunny weather encouraged a good turnout of 12 volunteers
on the meadow, which was looking especially lush with
spring growth.
The morning's tasks were
again aimed at preparation for our planned summer events
and keeping control of vegetation encroaching on the
occasional paths. Firstly, Tony Wootton set about cutting
and extending the community area with the Power Scythe
with Jil Meeson, Barbara Wrigley, Pat Walsgrove and
Graham Walsgrove, raking and removing the arisings. Tony
discovered some deep 'pot holes' during the cutting
process, later filled in by Dave Lee.
Meanwhile, Pam Phillips,
Gaynor Wells, Patrick Murphy, Frances Jannaway and Dave
Lee attacked the south meadow 'bramble path' nettles with
hand tools, removing the arisings along this popular
route. This proved to be quite a difficult task so that
later, Jennifer Rye donned the protective gear and used
our power strimmer to complete a very good overall
job.
After a well earned
refreshment break, work on the 'bramble path' continued,
whilst Frances led a small group in carefully cutting
down with hand shears and removing, some of the many
Hemlock Water Dropwort plants trying to take over the
Lumley wet area. Later, this group moved on to carefully
weed out, around the new hedgerow plants next to the
Seagull Lane 'kissing gate'. Graham and Tony traversed
the whole network of occasional paths of the north and
central meadows, cutting a single pathway and removing
the arisings. This work is aimed at gently persuading
visitors not to walk on the fine meadow vegetation. There
were many visitors and dogs during the morning and some
appreciative comments were made, in recognition of the
volunteers' unstinting efforts.
Photos of the work
session are on the group web site:
Go to . . .
http://www.brook-meadow.hampshire.org.uk/bm-work-events-2007.html
Forthcoming work
sessions: Sunday 15 and Thursday 26 June (an extra one
for school visits).
Plant Survey
A plant survey is being
carried out in June to record the distribution of the
variety of wildflowers including herbs, grasses, sedges
and rushes on the various areas of the meadow. A metre
square is thrown at random into the specified area and
the plants within the square are identified and the
frequency of each plant is recorded ranging from Rare to
Dominant. This will provide useful information when
deciding on the cutting programme for each of the areas.
Wildflower Conservation
Area
Two notices have been put
up in the southern part of the North Meadow asking
walkers and their dogs to keep to the paths at all times.
This is to protect the more delicate native wildflowers
such as Orchids, Yellow Rattle and Ox-eye Daisy growing
in this area.
School Visits
The annual visit by
Northern Parade school (junior school in North End,
Portsmouth) will take place on Monday 30 June &
Monday 7 July, with a bad weather day on Friday 4 July.
The activities provided include: Nature Trail, Grasses
ID, Pooh Sticks, Bug Hunt and Wishing Tree. The children
arrive at about 10.15am and leave at about 2.30pm
Brook Meadow Open
Day
Brook Meadow Open Day is
on Sunday 13 July, 11am to 5pm. Activities planned for
the day include: Nature Hunt, Nature Trail, Herb Walk
(starting at 2pm), Guided Walks, Butterfly transect,
Grasses ID and other wildlife activities. In addition,
there will be lots of photographs of wildlife as well as
the conservation work carried out in Brook Meadow. The
event will be opened with ceremonial ribbon cutting by
the Mayor of Havant at 11am next to the information board
in Palmers Road car park.
Dates for your
diaries:
Emsworth Trees mounted by
Emsworth Tree Wardens, Emsworth Museum, North Street.
Saturdays (10.30am to 4.30pm) and Sundays (2.30 to
4.30pm) in June.
Sunday 13 July: Brook
Meadow Open Day, 11am to 5pm.
Sunday 10 August: Ems
Valley Walks as part of Hampshire Water Festival. Two
walks starting at 10am and 2pm. Meet in Palmers Road car
park next to the Brook Meadow information
board.
LOCAL
WILDLIFE NEWS - by Brian Fellows
Water Voles
Water Vole sightings on
the River Ems continue to pour in, including some from
people who have never seen them before, surely a sign
that they are having a good year.
For all the Water Vole
news and recent photos, go to the dedicated web page at .
. .
http://www.brook-meadow.hampshire.org.uk/bm-water-voles.html
As always, I would appreciate hearing from you if you see
a Water Vole. Phone: 01243375548 or e-mail to
brianfellows@tiscali.co.uk
Bird news
On June 9th, I finally
managed to track down the Turtle Dove that has been heard
purring in the vicinity of the garden of Gooseberry
Cottage for the past couple of weeks (see web site for
photo).
The long-standing 12
Mallard ducklings, now quite mature and without Mum, are
still on Emsworth Millpond. This week they were joined by
another Mallard family with 10 young ducklings.
I am pleased to say, the
Blackbirds and Blue Tits have successfully fledged from
nests in my garden, though the latter went without saying
goodbye! A range of young birds are now coming into the
gardens, so it is important to keep putting food out for
them.
It was good to see Swifts
screaming around the houses in the past week, though the
UK breeding population is in big trouble due mainly to
human interference in their traditional nesting habitat,
ie. in our homes and other buildings. So, do not block up
holes in your roofs and under the eaves.
Little Tern
news
There is great excitement
on Hayling Oysterbeds at the moment, where nine broods of
Little Tern chicks have recently hatched out of 27 or so
pairs on nests. But, it is too soon to celebrate, as it
was this time last year when rats got onto the tern
islands with such devastating effect. Another threat to
the terns comes from the 150 or so Black-headed Gulls
nesting on the islands and there has already been some
conflict between them. Also nesting on the tern islands
are Common Terns and Ringed Plover. As for the
Oystercatchers that we thought may be sitting on Ringed
Plover eggs, well, they have produced 4 healthy chicks,
all pure Oystercatcher!
Insects
In general, butterflies
continue to be scarce, though Peacock, Speckled Wood, Red
Admiral, Comma and Small Heath have been seen locally and
the first Meadow Brown of the year was on Brook Meadow on
June 7th. Gatekeepers and Skippers should be out very
soon, but I have given up hope of ever seeing a Small
Tortoiseshell again.
The very attractive
Banded Demoiselle damselflies are now fluttering around
the streams like large butterflies; the males are blue
with a dark band across their wings. Other interesting
sightings on Brook Meadow include a 14-spot Ladybird,
"Thigh Beetles" (Oedemera nobilis), Peacock caterpillars
and two sightings of a "Nursery-web Spider" (Pisaura
mirabilis) which carries its young in a large white
cocoon.
Orchids
This looks like a good
year for orchids. On Brook Meadow we have made a small
but hopefully significant start with Common Spotted,
Southern Marsh and Bee Orchids showing well for the
second year running. But you must go to Fishbourne
Meadows or Portsdown Hill for larger numbers.
Grasses and
sedges
With the grasses on Brook
Meadow already at head height, the time must be close
when we shall need a search and rescue service for lost
walkers! Seriously, the star grass is False Oat-grass
which makes a great spectacle as it sways in the wind,
but for sheer pleasure you must feel the silky shafts of
Yorkshire Fog. Overall, we have 35 different species of
grass on Brook Meadow of which 22 have been found so far
this year. Sedges and rushes are also doing very well
with Divided Sedge, Distant Sedge and False Fox Sedge
abundant and Saltmarsh Rush around the "Lumley puddle".
Slipper Millpond
On Friday morning Gavin
Miller and I had our annual mooch around the shores of
Slipper Millpond. Red Fescue is flourishing on the west
bank and a host of wild, and not so wild flowers, are on
the east bank. Newly flower were Bristly Ox-tongue, Wild
Carrot and Mugwort with Perennial Sow-thistle and Stone
Parsley not quite out. We spent some time poring over the
docks, finding three species. We also found Russian
Comfrey but, there was no sign of the Common Calamint
which Gavin found near the Strawberry Tree last year. A
puzzling grass growing in a pot outside Gavin's front
door turned out to be Creeping Bent-grass and there is a
lot more of it on the path to the west of Dolphin Quay.
For all news and photos
of local wildlife go to:
http://www.emsworthwildlife.com/index.html
BROOK
MEADOW CONSERVATION GROUP - WEEKS 21-22: May 19 - June 1,
2008
CONSERVATION
NEWS - by Frances Jannaway
Work sessions in
June
Tasks for future work
sessions include: Cutting and raking 'community' area in
central meadow; Cutting occasional paths; Weeding native
hedge at Seagull Lane entrance; Weeding round young trees
such as Horse Chestnut; Planting rest of Ox-eye daisy
seedlings; Building willow hurdle fences to fill in
several 'gaps' along the riverbank path; Litter picking
and removing rubbish from River Ems.
Forthcoming work
sessions: Thursday 5 and Sunday 15 June.
Path cutting
Strimming the edges of
the main paths in Brook Meadow is carried out by HBC on a
regular basis during the summer. I usually contact Les
the strimmer operative when I think the paths need doing
which depends on what events we have planned, such as
guided walks and school visits. This year, the work
started a bit later than usual because Les was on
holiday. This work has now been completed and will
continue on a regular basis.
Guided Spring Walk on
Sunday 25 May
It was a cloudy but warm
Sunday morning for the 4 ladies who accompanied Brian
Fellows on a Guided Spring Walk through Brook Meadow. The
Crack Willows were just starting to produce their fluffy
seeds which fill the car park with 'snow'. From the south
bridge the group had a good sighting of a Water Vole
swimming north. Chiffchaff and Blackcap were heard
singing along with many common birds. This is an exciting
time in Brook Meadow with many wildflowers blooming, such
as Ragged Robin, Cut-leaved Cranesbill, Hedge Mustard,
Winter Cress and Common Sorrel. Brian also showed Common
Spotted and Southern Marsh Orchids and the masses of
Yellow Rattle which the Conservation Group sowed last
year. Other plants included Divided Sedge and grasses
like Meadow Foxtail and Timothy. Many thanks to Brian for
a very pleasant and instructive amble through Brook
Meadow.
Evening Herb Walk -
Report by Jennifer Rye
On 29 May, a miraculously
dry Thursday evening, eight people gathered in Palmers
Road Copse to learn about Herbal First Aid from Steve
Taylor, our local Emsworth herbalist. With a wealth of
personal experience, and a deep knowledge of his subject,
he introduced us to the many medicinal uses of common
plants that grow literally on our doorstep.
Without dismissing the
usefulness of modern 'scientific' medicines, he
demonstrated that common folk remedies, which our
ancestors relied upon, are frequently shown to contain
those very elements, which are synthesised by
pharmaceutical companies. Often the folk name for a plant
can suggest its use - 'eyebright', 'woundwort', plantain
also known as 'ploughman's woundwort', and comfrey which
is also known as 'knit bone'.
Probably, many of us know
that dock leaves are good for nettle stings, but did you
realise that the most effective way to use them is to
squeeze the juice out and mix it with saliva for
application? It's good for other skin conditions, too,
like burns. A concoction of boiled dock roots was
traditionally used for boils and abscesses and a hot
poultice made from the seeds of the plant for
tumours.
Willow leaves and new
bramble tops contain salicylic acid - he proved this to
us by making us taste the leaves. Pain relief from the
plants around us - what's new about that? Old and yet
ever new, as fresh generations learn to hark back to
earlier wisdom.
Your help is needed for
the Brook Meadow Open Day
Brook Meadow Open Day is
on Sunday 13 July, 11am to 5pm. Activities planned for
the day include: Nature Hunt, Nature Trail, Guided Walks,
Butterfly transect, Grasses ID and other wildlife
activities. In addition, there will be lots of
photographs of wildlife as well as the conservation work
carried out in Brook Meadow. The event will be opened
with ceremonial ribbon cutting by the Mayor of Havant at
about 11am. Help is needed setting up and taking down the
gazebos, etc and manning the various activities during
the day. If you would like to help out, even if only for
a few hours, please contact me, Frances, or any of the
BMCG committee.
Dates for your
diaries:
Saturdays (10.30am to
4.30pm and Sundays (2.30 to 4.30pm) in June: Emsworth
Trees, mounted by Emsworth Tree Wardens, Emsworth Museum,
North Street.
Sunday 13 July: Brook
Meadow Open Day. To include Nature Trail and Hunt,
Displays of Photographs, Guided Walks, etc. Details of
activities to be confirmed nearer the time.
LOCAL
WILDLIFE NEWS - by Brian Fellows
Water Voles
Water Voles seem to be
flourishing on the River Ems in Brook Meadow. So far this
year, I have logged an astonishing 84 sightings, which
far exceeds that of previous years. This, of course, does
not mean there are this number of Voles on the river,
since most of these sightings will have been of the same
animal. But we think there are at least 4 females holding
territories along the river, along with two or more
males. This year's sightings have undoubtedly been
enhanced by increased observer coverage and, in
particular, the dedicated efforts of Caroline and Ray
French who have accounted for almost half of all the
sightings. Especially exciting is the sighting of young
Water Voles, ie smaller than the full grown adults. Last
Thursday Pam Phillips watched a couple of young voles
playing and "wrestling" near the sluice gate. For all the
details along with photos go to the dedicated web page at
. . .
http://www.brook-meadow.hampshire.org.uk/bm-water-voles.html
As always, I would appreciate hearing from you if you see
a Water Vole. Phone: 01243375548 or e-mail to
brianfellows@tiscali.co.uk
Millpond news
The Mute Swan pair still
have their 5 healthy cygnets on Slipper Millpond. There
is another Mute Swan pair with 7 small cygnets ensconced
beneath the quay in Emsworth Harbour; I'm not sure where
they came from, possibly from Thorney Little Deeps. The
Coot pair nesting on the raft nearest the bridge on
Slipper Millpond have raised a second brood of chicks and
there is another Coot family with 5 small chicks on the
pond. Coots are trying yet again to build a nest in the
centre of Peter Pond, but like all others before, it is
doomed to failure. But better news concerns the amazing
Mallard family of 12 ducklings on the town millpond; they
are still present and growing rapidly. That must be a
record!
Young birds
Young Starlings appeared
about a week ago and are now gathered in noisy flocks
around the town. House Sparrows have also fledged.
Caroline French spotted a brood of three young Blackcaps
just out of the nest, in Palmer's Road Copse on Saturday.
Caroline's lovely photo of them perched on a branch is on
my web site. I suspect young Chiffchaffs are also on the
meadow, but I have not heard or seen anything of the
Whitethroats for some time and I fear they may not have
nested. I am still waiting for the Blue Tits and
Blackbirds to fledge from nests in my back garden.
Good news is that the
Little Terns are prospering at Hayling Oysterbeds, where
about 26 were sitting on nests when I was there last
Tuesday. Great birds and well worth a visit. Also nesting
on "Tern Islands" are Common Terns, Ringed Plovers,
Oystercatchers and (sadly, too many) Black-headed Gulls.
Meanwhile, Ralph Hollins has seen Little Egrets nesting
for the first time ever in the trees behind Langstone
Mill Pond.
Other bird
news
Swifts are generally
regular birds in Emsworth, screaming around the houses,
but they have not been nearly so evident this year. Ralph
Hollins says the same applies to Havant. So I was
particularly pleased to find about 30 of them actively
feeding over the lakes on Milton Common last Wednesday.
Jean and I were looking
for Water Voles in Brook Meadow this evening, when we
heard the distinct purring of a Turtle Dove in the South
Meadow near the Bramble bushes by the garden of
Gooseberry Cottage. This was a first for Brook Meadow and
it will be interesting to see if the bird stays around.
Wild flowers
The orchids in Brook
Meadow are coming along nicely with three Southern Marsh
Orchids showing well (only two were planted last year)
and three Common Spotted Orchids (only two last year, but
no sign of any Bee Orchids as yet. If you spot one let me
know. Ralph Hollins reports 70 Southern Marsh Orchids are
flowering on the South Moor at Langstone. Could be a good
year. Grasses on Brook Meadow are also doing well, with
False Oat-grass looking particularly fine around the
meadow. An unusual grass to look out for is Festulolium
loliaceum (a hybrid between Meadow Fescue and Perennial
Ryegrass) which is currently showing well on the north
east path in the same area as last year. Other recently
flowering plants on the meadow include Hedge Woundwort,
Nipplewort, Hairy Buttercup, White Clover, Silverweed,
Saltmarsh Rush and Jointed Rush. There are at least three
plants of the rare Narrow-leaved Water-plantain in the
Westbrook Stream, though they are not yet in flower.
Other wildlife
news
Amazingly, a White
Admiral was seen in Hollybank Woods on May 11 by Jane
Brook, the first ever recorded in Britain before June 1.
During a Bird Atlas Survey in the Up Marden area,
Caroline French and I came across a group of 8 Fallow
Deer, including two pure white animals - photo on my web
site.
For all news and photos
of local wildlife go to:
http://www.emsworthwildlife.com/index.html
