The Big Butterfly Count 2021

It is that time of year again where the Butterfly Conservation Organisation are asking us to take part in the  annual Big Butterfly Count 2021!  This is a great activity to do over summer and will be especially useful this year as lots of us will be staying at home in the UK or perhaps travelling to different parts of the country too. You can collect data from wherever you are!  And the more data we collect, the more we can understand about how butterflies are doing in the UK and how we can help them.

Butterflies are a good indicator of the health of our environment.  The more species of butterfly we see, the healthier it means our environment is and the more varieties of plants and insects there are about.  There are thought to be around 60 types of common butterfly in the UK.  However, the numbers of butterflies and moths being recorded has significantly decreased since the 1970s due to land use change and habitat loss.  With the threat of climate change worsening and more extreme weather in the future, the outlook for butterflies does not look good.

The Butterfly Conservation Organisation therefore want us to help them survey butterflies in the UK and record where and when we are seeing them!  Visit their website https://bigbutterflycount.butterfly-conservation.org/about or download their app 'Big Butterfly Count' for more information on what to do.  The count lasts from 16 July until 8 August 2021.  Set aside 15 minutes to do a butterfly count (you can do more than one, perhaps even one every day!) and record your results on the app or website.  Even if you don't see any butterflies, you can still record it as this is useful information too.  The app also has a handy ID page to help you identify which butterflies you are seeing.  

Happy butterfly hunting!

For the love of bees

The celebration of World Bee Day this week drew attention to the plight of the world's bees and how our behaviours are contributing to their decline 🐝

Bees are some of our most important pollinators and they do a huge amount to ensure the diversity of our ecosystems.  We rely on them for the survival of our food crops most of which are pollinated by wild insects rather than by human intervention. Without them, this would cost us £1.8 billion to achieve!  Some bees provide us with other luxuries such as honey. These bees are often kept in hives but also contribute to the pollination of farm crops.  

Sadly, bee populations are now in decline. This is due to five main causes:

❌ Habitat loss - replacing natural areas with intense farming land or urban developments deprives bees of the wildflowers and meadows that they usually thrive on

❌ Climate change - changes in weather patterns are affecting the times that flowers bloom and bees are struggling to adapt to these changes meaning that they miss out on important food sources

❌ Pesticides - these are harmful to bees and often either kill them or prevent them from reproducing 

❌ Pests -  honeybees can be particularly susceptible to pests and disease which can spread through their hove colony; beekeepers should make sure they check on the health of their hives to stop diseases spreading to other populations

❌ Invasive species - some non-native bee species pose a threat to the survival of UK bees and so these species need to be kept an eye on to ensure their numbers don't become threatening

So what can you do to help?

🐝 Get planting!  Even in you just have a windowsill or window box, get some wildflower seeds and create a little pollen pit-stop for bees to refuel on as they fly past

🐝 Let the grass grow! Try not mowing your lawn or at least leave part of it unmowed for bees to feed and shelter in 

🐝 Leave off the pesticide! Pesticides do so much harm and there are easy alternatives such as using diluted washing up liquid water to remove aphids

🐝 Plant through the seasons! If you have a garden, try to include a range of plants that will flower and seed through spring, summer and autumn to give bees the best chance of survival

For more ideas, visit Friends of the Earth at friendsoftheearth.uk/nature/10-easy-ways-help-bees for some more tips and ideas 🐝

Protecting our coasts

The UK has around 18,000km of coastline which includes all kinds of valuable ecosystems from rockpools to sand dunes to estuaries.  Many of us will have been lucky enough to visit the coast on school holidays and some of us will even have the privilege of living with a beautiful beach or coastal stretch right on their doorstep.  Being an island, you are never more than 70 miles from the sea in Britain and our coastlines are beautiful landscapes that we need to appreciate and protect.  

Lots of UK beaches have Blue Flag Awards which means they have met the criteria for water quality, environmental management and safety.  This is fantastic as it means they are clean and safe to visit with our children and pets, and can support wildlife that thrive in their ecosystems.  However, our beaches are still subject to littering, whether that be from visitors, tourists or wild campers, or washed up by the sea itself.  Microplastics are a real problem as they are invisible and cannot simply be picked up out of the environment.  

The recent documentary 'Seaspiracy' highlighted the impact of the fishing industries on our seas, oceans and coastlines.  It claims that the majority of plastic waste in the oceans comes from fishing nets and that a huge amount of damage and devastation is carried out by trawler fishing.  When we buy and eat fish, we contribute to this industry and this in turn may have an impact on the biodiversity in our seas and the quality of our coastlines both at home and abroad.

We can take some simple steps to protect coastlines everywhere.  Making efforts to clean up the beach or change behaviours that prevent beaches from getting polluted or degraded are both equally effective.

🐬 Take part in a beach clean up - get a community group or a school group to do a litter pick along a stretch of coastline; this not only actively cleans the beach but it helps educate and raise awareness of how polluted our beaches can get 

🐬 Stop buying plastic items - we know this already but it's so hard to fully commit to; make one swap this week that will save  some more plastic

🐬 Wash your clothes with ecofriendly detergent - our waterways have a lot of chemicals in them from both households and industry; try a different detergent that us gentler on the microorganisms that live in the water

🐬 Reduce your fish intake - eating less fish will reduce demand over time; this will allow fish populations to grow back and reestablish natural balance

🐬 Visit the coast - if you don't live near the coast, take a trip there or plan a visit with your local school; there is no alternative for actually visiting a place to help bring about an appreciation and understanding of it

If you live near the coast, why not develop a Beach School either alongside or instead of a Forest School!  Any learning in the outdoors is so important and all environments have something valuable to teach us. Click here to find out more. 

Saving water

You might have noticed that it hasn't really rained much over these past few weeks.  Plants in the garden are looking a little drier than normal, and buds and leaves are seeming slow to burst and blossom due to the cold dry air that has been lingering for some time.  I've been out in my outdoor spaces trying to get things ready for early summer and get some seeds sown, but it hasn't escaped my attention that the soil is looking dry and cracked and in need of a good rain shower.

What we can do when nature needs a bit of a helping hand?  Turning the hose on and giving the garden a good old water is an obvious choice, but if water levels are low overall then we run the risk of depleting supplies even further.  Water demands are only getting higher with all the appliances that we run daily that use lots of water, and climate change is causing the supply of water available to decline. So what can we do?

Water conservation is the key and there are a number of actions we can take.  Year-round rainwater harvesting is a good option as it makes use of the natural abundance of water from the sky.  It is also a better choice than tap water as it doesn't contain chlorine and other chemicals that may exist in treated water.  You can also channel water from gutters and pipes that would otherwise go down the drain. Buy a water butt to store your water in and use a watering can to carry the water to the plants that need it.  

Grey water is water that has been used for washing and cleaning.  This water can also be used for watering plants though it's best to use it straight away rather than storing it.  Soil and compost can usually filter out any mild residue of soap and detergent.  Make sure you use this water on general plants and not ones that are going to be eaten.  

Finally, if water supplies are low then chances are that birds, insects and other wildlife are also struggling for a drink.  Consider putting a bird bath in your garden for birds to drink from or wash in.  Building a mini pond or even putting a large washing up bowl of water in your garden somewhere can also act as a vital drinking source.  Keep an eye on it and make sure it stays topped up as temperatures continue to rise and rainfall levels stay low.

For more information, visit the RHS website to find out how to save and store water.

The Wildlife Trusts website has some good information on how to build a pond.

Big Garden Birdwatch 2021

This weekend is the RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch! 🐦

Birds are such an important part of the UK's ecosystem and there are around 574 different species that have been recorded around the country.  Birdlife present in all different shapes, sizes and colours and live in a variety of environments from remote coastal outcrops to busy city centres.  Among other things, they help to pollinate plants, spread seeds and control pests, as well as being a critical part of the food chain that they both consume insects and are preyed on by larger mammals.  

The UK sadly has several bird species that are endangered, including puffins, skylarks, cukoos, and the lesser spotted woodpecker.  There are also thousands of little birds such as the willow tit and house sparrow that are under threat due to habitat changes (mainly to woodlands) and climate change which can affect bird migration patterns.  

Back in October, I was lucky enough to be involved in some conservation work to manage a willow tit habitat beside a Staffordshire reservoir.  By simply altering the willow habitat slightly, it made it easier for the birds to fly into the safety and shelter of the trees, and it also helps them nest which make it more likely for them to breed successfully.  Conservation work like this is vital to giving native bird species a helping hand and a chance to thrive in the wild.

This weekend, the RSPB is calling anyone and everyone to take part in a bird counting survey in your back garden or from a balcony.  All you need to do is spend an hour watching the birds in your outdoor space and note down how many you count and what species they are.  It's a great opportunity to contribute to community science and learn a bit about what is happening with the wildlife right on your doorstep!  Visit their website here to find out more and to record your results.  Happy bird watching!  🐦

Activity: Make a hedgehog home

This is the time of year when hedgehogs start to hibernate. Hedgehogs are sadly in decline in the UK with less than a million left due to a decline in their habitats. Making a home or shelter for hedgehogs will help them by providing them with a secure place to shelter, hibernate, or even raise little hoglets safely.

Hedgehogs go house-hunting in the autumn and so this is the ideal time of year to set one up.  To make a really simple hedgehog home, all you need is a large cardboard box.  Cut two side vents into the two walls of the box and a large entrance for the hedgehog to walk in.  Next, find a place suitable to put the hedgehog home.  A quiet part of your garden under thick vegetation is best. Somewhere behind a shed if you have one would be perfect!  Place the box south-facing if you can.  Finally, tear up some newspaper and place it inside to make a cosy and dry floor.  Add some straw on top if you have it.  If you box is not under vegetation, you might want to cover it with a plastic bag (leaving the vents and entrance open) and then place leaves and deadwood on top.  

You can also make a hedgehog house out of a more sturdy plastic container or even pieces of wood if you have them.  Click here to read instructions from the Wildlife Trusts.

Linking gardens together is also a great way of making areas more hedgehog friendly.  Did you know that hedgehogs can travel up to one mile every night?!  Ensure that you have small holes at the bottom of your fence that are free of leaves and twigs for hedgehogs to pass through.  See if you can get your whole street on board to help make a hedgehog highway! Click here to find out more from the Hedgehog Street campaign. 

Red Squirrel Awareness Week

This week is all about the Red Squirrel!

Red squirrels have become increasingly rare in the UK with only around 140,000 left in the wild.  The non-native American Grey squirrel is much more numerous (thought to be around 2.5million) and it is this squirrel that we more commonly see in our parks, gardens and woodlands.  Grey squirrels were only brought to the UK around 200 years ago but they have now spread far and wide and are endangering the populations of red squirrels.  

Red squirrels used to be found all over the UK up until the 1950s.  However, they are now most commonly found in areas such as Scotland, the Lake District and Northumberland where there is a lot of conifer woodland.  This is because this habitat is in decline due to climate change and so the red squirrels are having to retreat even further north.   

So what is being done?  The Wildlife Trusts are working hard to help save the red squirrels from extinction.  They are actively involved in managing their habitat to make sure they have enough areas in which to live, eat and breed successfully.  They closely monitor squirrel populations and control grey squirrel numbers in areas where red squirrels are significantly in decline.  Through education and awareness projects, it is hoped that red squirrel numbers may start to rise again and thrive in all parts of the UK.

To find out more, click the links below:

🌰 The Wildlife Trust

🌰 Scottish Squirrels

🌰 Red Squirrel Survival Trust

Moth Night 2020

It was a strange coincidence this week when I happened to spot a beautiful angle shades moth on our garden bin, and on the same day hear that Moth Night was happening this week! We normally think of butterflies as beautiful and colourful creatures, whereas moths are often thought of as strange nocturnal creatures that fly transfixed towards lamps, windows and flames. But both are essential to any thriving ecosystem and have a valid role to play.

Moths are important pollinators as their fluffy bodies are great at picking up pollen from flowers.  They tend to pollinate white and yellow flowers are these are more easily spotted in the dark.  Moths are also a vital part of the food web as they provide a plentiful food source for animals such as bats.  Both adult moths and young moths in the form of caterpillars are eaten by a wide variety of nesting birds and other mammals.  We may think of moths as being dull brown cousins of the butterfly, but there are around 11,000 different species of moths displaying an amazing array of colours and patterns.  They are also fantastic mimics of their surroundings and other insects, an important evolutionary adaptation if they are to survive being predated on but so many other creatures!

This month, Moth Night is being celebrated from 27th-29th August 2020. It is an annual celebration of moths and an opportunity to record data to help ecologists track and understand how moth populations are doing.  To find out more and how to get involved, visit mothnight.info and learn how to trap moths and identify different species.  

Help a hedgehog!

Hedgehogs are one of the UK's most loved wild animals but sadly they are in decline with over a third of hedgehogs lost over the last 20 years.  Hedgehogs can be found in both the countryside and in towns and cities, and the reasons for decline may be different in both.

In the countryside, the use of pesticides may reduce the availability of food for hedgehogs and a loss of field margins and hedgerows may limit the number of places where they can live.  Additionally, increasing numbers of badgers may reduce hedgehog populations as the badgers predate on them.

In the cities, garden fencing can make it more difficult for hedgehogs to move around and overly managed gardens or artificial grasses make it harder for hedgehogs to find the habitat and food sources that they need. Busy roads can also lead to more fatalities as hedgehogs may try to cross when migrating.  

The People's Trust for Endangered Species are doing lots of work to try to help protect hedgehogs, and you can get involved too!  There is a whole heap of information on their website about how to help hedgehogs and how to survey them so we can have a more accurate idea of their numbers.  

Use the links below to find out more:

🌰 People's Trust for Endangered Species

🌰 How to be a hedgehog champion

🌰 Facts about hedgehogs

🌰 How to help hedgehogs

🌰 Hedgehog activities

World Orangutan Day

Orangutans are one of the world's most amazing primates with their soulful eyes and intriguing personalities. Sadly, they are also one the world's most threatened species and are on the critically endangered list. There are now only around 100,000 orangutans still remaining in the wild and their habitats are still under as much pressure as ever.

Orangutans are vitally important in the rainforest as they help to spread seeds around and this makes the forest a richer and more biodiverse habitat.  However, rainforests are often cut down to make way for palm oil plantations instead and this means that the orang-utans have less and less space in which to live. They are also often hunted for meat or the pet trade.  Climate change is further altering the rainforest's natural cycles, meaning that there may not be enough food available to meet the orangutans' needs.  

We can help by doing simple actions such as making sure we don't buy products that contain palm oil as this will reduce the amount of plantations needed.  The WWF also have an 'Adopt an Orangutan' scheme where you can pay to make sure an orangutan is looked after in its natural habitat.  Charities like the WWF are also investing in schemes such as Forest Certification and Tree Planting to make sure that the habitats of orang-utans are restored.

Click here to find out more about how to help orangutans:

🐵 The WWF - Orangutans 

🐵 The Orangutan Foundation

🐵 Save the Orangutan

Large blue butterflies return to the UK

The Cotswolds have seen the return of a butterfly called the large blue. This butterfly had not been seen for around 150 years, but a very careful reintroduction strategy has helped it successfully return to the area.

To help it survive, the habitat had been had been managed and turned into a thriving grassland which is ideal for large blues to live in.  Scientists and ecologists also studied the butterfly's life cycle and feeding habits in order to best understand its chances of survival.  Some 1,100 larvae were then released with around 750 butterflies now existing Rodborough Common in Gloucestershire.

This is one of the first very successful projects which has seen a previously extinct insect species successfully introduced.  The National Trust, Butterfly Conservation, and Back from the Brink organisations worked together along with local groups to make it all happen.  

🐛 To find out more, click the link here to read about the project.

🐛 To learn more about the large blue butterfly, click the link here to visit the Butterfly Conservation website.

Big Butterfly Count 2020

If you haven't already got involved, try and make time to take part in the Big Butterfly Count of 2020! You have one more week to do some counts, and you can do them anywhere near where you live whether in a garden, park or just looking outside your front door.  

Use the app 'Big Butterfly Count' or log onto their website at https://bigbutterflycount.butterfly-conservation.org

Find a warm and sunny spot and count the number of butterflies that you see in 15 minutes.  It doesn't matter if you don't even see any! The Butterfly Conservation still want to know :)