Category: Nature

Nature Notes

Discover our 5 Community Orchards

With more and more people discovering one or more of our 5 Community Orchards, all designed and planted by the Wenvoe Wildlife Group, the question is often raised – What has this got to do with wildlife?

Orchards are a priority habitat in Biodiversity Action Plans whether at UK Government levels, Welsh Government or Vale of Glamorgan County level. And as with wildflower meadows, what once were common are becoming rarer. Since the 1950s, Britain has lost 90% of its traditional orchards and of those that are left in Wales, 35% are in a poor condition and only 7% excellent.

Orchards, particularly traditional, established ones, attract many species of wildlife. The obvious ones like Fox, Rabbit, Badger, Blackbird and Thrush take advantage of the fruit but our cameras at the Goldsland Orchard also recorded Greater Spotted and Green Woodpecker, Tawny Owl, Jays, Chiff-chaff and Goldfinch all visiting regularly. And some much rarer species such as Noble Chafer Beetle, Shaggy Bracket Fungus and Red-belted Clearwing Moth are almost exclusively associated with orchards. There is even a European Orchard Bee which only arrived on our shores recently.

Our orchards, although still young and immature, are already attracting Field Mice and Voles, Moles, Grass Snakes (which do not bite!) and a legion of plants and insects. It is worth distinguishing between traditional orchards where the trees are allowed to live their full lives which may be 100 years or more and are not sprayed with chemicals and commercial ones where the trees are grubbed up after 8 or so years and may be sprayed 20 times a year. The commercial orchards have only minimal wildlife benefit.

The second reason for planting an orchard is to help conserve the old varieties of apple, pear, plum and cherry along with less common fruit like Medlar, Quince and Mulberry. Names like Catshead (photo) and Tom Putt apples, Jargonelle Pear and Morello Cherry go back hundreds of years.

The orchards are also there for you to enjoy thanks to the generosity of farming families like the Readers and the Vale of Glamorgan Council. Orchards have played an important role in our history and literature from the Garden of Eden, through the Romans, Normans, mediaeval monasteries and the fruit-growing bonanza of the 18th and 19th centuries. And when the fruit is getting riper from August onwards why not try sampling the odd apple and let us know your favourite.

Red Kites spotted flying over the Parish

A number of residents have spotted Red Kites flying over the Parish recently which is great news. Once upon a time they were quite common and Shakespeare referred to London as a ‘city of kites and crows’. They were the street cleaners of the time and even had a degree of protection However steady persecution led to a massive decline and by the end of the nineteenth century there were just a few pairs hanging on in Wales. Gamekeepers played a major part in the persecution along with Victorian egg and skin collectors. Some farmers believed they took lambs and that view can still occasionally be heard today. However research has shown that Kites are essentially scavengers and are ill-equipped to take animals as large as lambs. They may be seen in fields when lambs are being born but they are attracted by the afterbirth and end of the tails that have fallen off. Even dead lambs will be ‘opened up’ first by ravens and crows, followed by the buzzards. At Gigrin farm near Rhayader where many people have watched Red Kites being fed, young lambs were allowed to graze in the field where the kites were feeding and at no point did they appear as a threat. But persecution continues and in April three Kites were killed at Tregynon near Newtown.

The most likely threat may be to your frilly knickers – if you happen to own some! Shakespeare said ‘When the kite builds, look to lesser linen’. Particularly in the days when washing was spread on bushes to dry, kites were in the habit of helping themselves to items that they felt might enhance their nests. Items found in Red Kite nests recently included flags, handbags, magazine pages, tea towels, lottery tickets and socks. One was even adorned with – yes, you’ve guessed it! – frilly knickers. In one case a Kite swooped down into a suburban garden and pinched the squeaky toy from under the nose of the shocked family pooch.

From a low point at the turn of the last century, re- introduction programmes using eggs from nests in Sweden and Wales have caused the numbers of Red Kites to increase significantly and the UK now has 48,000 breeding pairs – around 15% of the world’s population. Without any local re-introductions it has taken a while for the Kites to reach here – Rhayader is only 80 miles away – but the signs are promising. And, hopefully, we can all look forward to finding the occasional disappearance of an item from our washing lines.

NATURE NOTES

Wildlife Photos In The Parish

Those who follow us on Facebook will have seen the large numbers of photos of wildlife taken in the parish. Many are coming from gardens, others from the countryside, as more adults and families are walking the footpaths around the village. Species sent in include moths such as the Cabbage, the Silver Ground Carpet and Grass Wave; beetles including the Red-headed Cardinal and Wasp beetle; a rare form of Early Purple Orchid known as ‘var. alba’ and fungi such as Dryad’s Saddle. The Cockchafer beetle has been snapped – Thomas Gray referred to this in his Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard – ‘Save where the beetle wheels his droning flight’. A Dormouse was believed to have been seen up Pound Lane – we are not aware of any formal records of this in the parish although it has been identified near Wrinstone on the parish border. Gardens have revealed everything from the modest Vine Weevil (not great news for gardeners) and the Grey Squirrel, which can attract all sorts of reactions.

First imported from America between 1876 and 1929, they proved to be great colonisers and can be found all over Great Britain. Unfortunately the spread of the Grey coincided with the retreat of the Red Squirrel which, despite claims that they have been seen locally (probably Greys with a bit of russet colouring) cannot be found anywhere near here. The nearest Red Squirrel populations to Wenvoe are around Llyn Brianne reservoir in mid Wales with populations also established on Anglesey and elsewhere in North Wales. In the south of England they can be seen on Brownsea Island near Bournemouth. The Isle of Wight has also stayed Grey-free and Reds are surviving. Most people find the Red attractive and lovable but it is worth noting that the Squirrel Hunt (and this was before Greys ever set foot on the island) was part of the Boxing Day or St Stephens Day celebrations.

Wild Life – Consider Making Them Welcome

In response to the Nature News piece in the April magazine, I recall that the only time I have seen a fox in the village was many years ago at night time, running down the road outside my house, no doubt hoping for some easy pickings from rubbish bags. Quite often there is evidence of nocturnal foraging with the contents of bags strewn across the road. So it’s a bit of a mess but foxes have to eat, don’t they?

Our village is home to all kinds of wild life, from a variety of birds – wood pigeons, doves, woodpeckers, pheasants and so many more, but sparrows and starlings are very rare these days. On the ground we have frogs and toads from garden ponds, squirrels, hedgehogs, rabbits, foxes, to name but a few. I have never seen a badger but I’ve heard they are round and about in the village.

Several years ago we were pleased to be able to hand feed a lame pheasant which turned up daily in our garden for several weeks. We looked forward to seeing it and we can’t know what happened to it but sadly, it probably fell prey to the gun or a predator.

Quite often our neighbour’s security light flicks on at night. No doubt an animal has triggered the beam when passing from garden to garden.

It’s likely that our gardens will be visited by wild creatures, living as we do in the countryside so consider making them welcome, even the much maligned fox!

Stoats near Burdons Hill

Several people have spotted a pair of Stoats near Burdons Hill. Usually quite unobtrusive this pair were either amorous, antagonistic or play-fighting resulting in a fair bit of noise and rustling in the hedgerow. Stoats are bigger than Weasels, are chestnut brown above and white underneath with a clear demarcation line. If you manage to see their tails they have a black tip. In the colder parts of North Britain Stoats turn white in Winter where they are referred to as Ermine, possibly derived from Armenia from where their fur was once imported. You will have seen ermine, the fur, because on state occasions the lords wear robes edged with white ermine – look out for the black dots as well each of which represents the tail of an ermine. The number of bars of dots represents rank, a duke having four bars. New peers these days tend to use artificial fur but hereditary peers may re-use the family heirlooms. There is a famous portrait of Queen Elizabeth I by William Segar posing with an ermine on her left arm.

If you have children, say six or over, a story they might enjoy is Trouble in New York (The Travels of Ermine (Who is Very Determined)) by Jennifer Gray. Whilst the kids are unlikely to see an Ermine in Wenvoe (if they do see a cream-coloured animal it is probably a Ferret), they might just see a Stoat if they get out in the countryside on family walks and do not make too much noise!