Growing young naturalists

Standlake Primary School's after school Eco club came to visit Standlake Common Nature Reserve on Thursday. It is always such a joy to see these special places through children's eyes. They have been studying endangered species so it was a pleasure to be able to show them some of the fifty or sixty lapwings that have been on the reserve for a few days, including one that obligingly strolled around under the window for a while.

 

They also really enjoyed the large number of swans (they gave up counting there were so many) and the twelve little egret.



Pencil and paper never fails and they loved drawing the birds that they could see and even the fish that they couldn't.

 

Then it was off to find some rare plants even though it was starting to rain and the grass was taller than them.

 

Great burnet-found it!

I hope you will all come again and bring the rest of the school with you. 

Matty's study of the River Windrush

I am very lucky to have Matty Spiers with me over the summer. Matty is a student at Plymouth University studying marine biology so it seemed logical to get him into the river as much as possible. There is a wealth of information around about the Windrush and this seemed a great opportunity to gather it together into a format that is accessible for the general public.

 

'I’m currently studying Marine Biology and Coastal Ecology BSc at Plymouth University. Throughout the course it has been instilled into us how important conservation, study and management of nature is in order to fully protect it. This summer I will be undertaking a research project on the lower section of the River Windrush for the Lower Windrush Valley Project. This study will take a look at the social, historical and scientific aspects of the river with numerous ecological surveys being performed by myself at locations along the lower Windrush to look at bio-indicators of water quality. Another strong focus of the work is the social history of the river, things such as works of art and literature based upon the Windrush itself. It is so far proving a pleasure to work on such a beautiful piece of water and I will be displaying some of my work at the Wychood Forest Fair on Sunday 1st September at Foxborough Wood, Witney'.

 

If anyone has any information about the river that you think would be useful for Matty's study please email him at Matthew.spiers@oxfordshire.gov.uk

Where do you have your lunch?

Sometimes I am very lucky and manage to have my lunch in one of the bird hides. And what better way to get to your lunch spot than to walk along this path serenaded by invisible songsters.

But days like today it is hard to get time to eat anything as there is so much going on. I am just reading Dragonflight: In Search of Britains Dragonflies and Damselflies by Marianne Taylor  and although I am finding it an entertaining and manageable way to learn more about these amazing creature it is a bit of a chatty ramble; rather like I am doing now. So I was delighted to watch a pair of common blue damsels pair up as she describes and try to get into the  'cop' position that is commonly called a wheel but Marianne likens more to a heart shape. The male grasps the female behind the head and the female then has to get the tip of her abdomen with a receptacle called a 'spermatheca' into position below the base of the male's abdomen to collect his sperm. That might sound relatively simple but the male has already transferred his sperm from his primary genitalia at the tip of his abdomen into the secondary genitalia at the abdomen base from where the female will collect it.  But this pair found it all too much hard work and flew off together to try again later.

Then there were the common terns flying to and fro a few metres in front of the hide (quite impossible for me to photograph) diving constantly to collect fish to feed the young on the island over on the far side of the lake;  a pair of canada geese with three chicks passing by and a swan having a wash and brush up just under the window.

 

And that was just what was going on outside. Inside the hide it was just as busy with a spider joining me as a lunch companion. I haven't got round to ID for spiders yet; I think the dragonflies and damselflies are going to keep me busy this summer, oh and there are a few grasses to get to grips with as well.

 

 

 This might look like just a strip of grass but clouds of common blue Enallagma cyathigerum and  possibly blue-tailed damselflies Ischnura elegans flew up as I walked through later on.



Geology walks in the Lower Windrush Valley

I met with Lesley Dunlop from the Oxfordshire Geology Trust this week and we have planned two walks that will show how the geology has influenced the landscape of the valley that we see today.

 

Wednesday 10^th July from Stanton Harcourt to the Devil’s Quoits

Wednesday 21^st August from Rushy Common Nature Reserve car  park    

The walks will start at 7.00 pm and cover 2-3 miles over flat ground that might be rough and have long vegetation in places.

Places will be limited so to book your place on one, or both, walks please email jane.bowley@oxfordshire.gov.uk or call 01865 815426.

 There will be no charge for these walks.

 

     The Devil's Quoits

                                                                             Typical willow scene along the Windrush

Lower Windrush Valley bird watch

Many thanks to everyone who joined in with the first LWVP birdwatch. Thirteen local birding experts were out in the Lower Windrush Valley in mid May recording across a variety of sites. We regularly collect records from the hides at Rushy Common and Standlake Common nature reserves but do not, as yet, collect records from other locations in the valley. Mostly we were recording along public footpaths and in the nature reserves but a couple of landowners allowed access to their land for the purpose of the survey.

Valley bird watchers at the hide at Rushy Common

This was an experimental session and hopefully we will be able to repeat the survey with more recorders and gain access to more sites in the future. A few logistical problems were encountered and will be ironed out next time round but it seems that everyone enjoyed their morning out in the valley and will be happy to take part next time.

Thanks to Graham Lenton for the photographs of Rushy Common bird hide.

Celia and Jane and the splendid oak tree at Rushy Common bird hide

In total 83 species were recorded with Barry Hudson recording the highest number on any one site with 49 at Rushy Common. Blackbird were recorded at all 14 sites with mallard, wood pigeon and robin being recorded at 13 sites. Sadly no redshank were recorded and only one curlew, with lapwing at four sites. John Melling noted an absence of little grebe so any sightings of them in the valley will be welcome news. If you would like more details about the records or would like to take part in a future valley birdwatch (late autumn?) please contact me at the project office jane.bowley@oxfordshire.gov.uk.

 

 

 

Thanks to Antony Collieu for photograhs of sightings at Standlake Common Pit 60.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Greylag Nursery

I am trying not to be too disappointed at Standlake Common Nature Reserve that we have no lapwings or redshanks nesting this year. Even the mute swan has given up. But we do seem to be the most des res for greylags. Eleven or twelve families are in full nursery mode and are a delightful sight to see as they move around the lake and shoreline.

I haven't yet seen where they nest, they just suddenly appear with their broods of 10+ chicks in tow.
I was feeling quite sorry for this couple as they only appeared to have two chicks left then I realised that the others had found a nice cosy shelter.

Soon afterwards they were off for some swimming practice.

 

Over the last few weeks I have been working with Luke Dawson, Assistant Field Officer with the Public Rights of Way (PRoW) service of Oxfordshire County Council (http://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/cms/public-site/public-rights-way) to improve the footpaths around Northmoor.

This is a joint funded project between the OCC PRoW, National Trails (http://www.nationaltrail.co.uk/ThamesPath/) and the LWVP to replace two bridges, replace five stiles with gates and to add waymarkers to clarify the route.  Once completed the work will significantly improve the route between the village and the Thames Path. Local people will benefit as the route will be more accessible for those with limited mobility and the village pub might find an increase in trade as people, either walking the Thames Path or using the river will be encouraged to stop off and visit the village on their travels. The next stage of the project will be to work with people in Northmoor to design a leaflet and web information about a circular route from the village to the Thames.

We met with the landowners and parish councillors Robert Florey and Graham Shelton to work out what needed to be done and how the work teams would access the different locations.

Then it was back to the office to decide on the order of work. The bridge replacement work is the most urgent so Luke has put the request through for that work do be done as soon as posible and it should be completed within the next five or six weeks.

The replacement of the stiles will go into the general work programme of the PRoW task team so we will probably have to wait until the autumn as, apart from urgent repairs, their summer is mostly taken up with mowing and soft vegetation clearance around the 2,600 miles (4,200km) of rights of way across Oxfordshire.