Category: Nature Notes

So a new year and an opportunity for some New Year resolutions! Will we as individuals choose to make things worse, do nothing, or maybe, just maybe, do something to improve the environment. The choice is ours but what is clear is that within the parish if we do not do anything, no-one else will. Those working in conservation now refer to Shifting Baseline Syndrome and this means that each generation has a lower expectation of wildlife and the wild places that (for the time being) surround us than the previous generation. If you were alive in Wenvoe 20-30 years ago you would have heard the Cuckoo, regularly each Spring. You took it for granted – it was the norm. But the Cuckoo is no longer heard in the parish so the norm, the expectation is no Cuckoo. We still see hedgehogs but if their current decline continues they will soon be a thing of the past, read about in books like the Tale of Mrs Tiggywinkle but never seen pottering around our gardens. Remember the windscreen test? After a long summer car journey your windscreen used to be splattered with squashed flies, moths and other insects. Now you might just find one or two.

So are we part of the problem? The RHS reports that over a ten year period the percentage of front gardens lost to paving, gravel or concrete rose from 8% to 24%. And back gardens are changing as well as they shift to fake lawns, decking, paving and outdoor rooms – one estimate being that plastic grass in increasing by a rate of 10-15% each year. Not only is this bad for wildlife but it is bad for us and our health. Plants help to reduce the effects of climate change, roots absorb water and help to prevent flooding, branches reduce the velocity of wind and leaves help to lower temperatures during hot spells. People who can see trees and greenery recover from illness quicker and mental health can also benefit. Yet 5 million front gardens have not a single plant growing in them. It is said that we are shifting from green to grey.

Thousands of people have now signed up to the Greening Grey Britain campaign run by the RHS. They pledge to do something positive like planting a tree or shrub – even a small window box. So do we cut down that tree in the garden because it might appear at times to be a bit of a nuisance; do we plasticise our lawn so that we do not have to mow it or do we cover our gardens with decking or concrete slabs because it makes life just that little bit easier. It is worth thinking about – talk it through with your partner or a friend. Most importantly discuss it with the younger generation because they will inherit what you do.

NATURE NOTES

Whilst much of the news about wildlife is often negative and depressing, one interesting item that is bucking the trend is the Knepp Estate and anyone with a genuine interest in UK wildlife needs to be aware of it. This is a 3,500 acre estate near Horsham in West Sussex which was not making a profit and where from 2001 this intensively-farmed land was ‘rewilded’ by being grazed by Longhorn cattle, Exmoor ponies, Tamworth pigs and red, fallow and roe deer. These animals prevent the scrub land that emerges from becoming woodland, require little or no supplementary feeding, minimal veterinary costs and generally look after themselves throughout the year. There is a lot more to the process than we can do justice to in this short article but if you want to know more, either read the book Wilding by Isabella Tree or look at the website https://knepp.co.uk/ home. You can also visit the site and go on walks or safaris around the estate.

The results in terms of wildlife alone are dramatic. 90% of the UK nightingale population has been lost since 1970. In 1999 there were 9 nightingale territories in Knepp which had risen to 43 by 2013. Since the 1960s Turtle Doves have declined by 96% and the bird is predicted by the British Trust for Ornithology to be the likeliest to be extinct in the UK by 2020. There were 3 singing males at Knepp in 1999 which by 2017 had increased to 16. Our second biggest butterfly, the rare Purple Emperor, was not recorded at Knepp before 1999 yet is now well-established there with an increasing population. 13 of the UK’s 17 species of bat can be found on the estate including two of the rarest in Europe. All five of Britain’s owls have now been recorded there along with 600 species of invertebrates. Doing particularly well are those that feed on dung as this is uncontaminated by parasiticides which may be used in conventional farming. The rare Scarce Chaser dragonfly, which has been found at only 6 sites in the UK, has now turned up at Knepp with 18 individuals counted on a single day. Raptors include Buzzards, breeding Red Kites, Ravens (which had been absent for 100 years) and Peregrine Falcons are now also here.

Whilst there were many hurdles to overcome, interestingly some of the greatest opposition came from local residents who preferred to see fields that were all green with neatly-manicured hedgerows,

however devoid of wildlife they might have been. Comments like ‘It feels like a foreign land’ and ‘he has turned a fine working estate into a wasteland – someone needs to stop him’ are not uncommon. The most obvious point that the intensively-farmed estate was just running at a substantial loss was not acknowledged.

Those behind the project would not argue that profitable and productive farmland should follow this route but for land which is losing money it is an option worth considering. Recent announcements in Wales refer to the Summit to the Sea project which will involve up to 10,000 hectares of land in mid Wales being rewilded. Whatever the future holds we can be sure that we shall hear and see more of rewilding in the months and years to come.

With the Wildlife Group fungi competition ongoing until the end of October it is worth reflecting on what fungi are and why they are so important to us. Most people think of fungi as the familiar mushroom or toadstool sticking out of the ground and, so far, competition entries have followed this line. But just as an apple is a small part of the whole tree, a mushroom is simply the fruiting body of a whole organism stretching out for many metres under the ground or through a tree.

These filaments are called hyphae – they release enzymes and absorb food. They can link to tree roots and greatly increase the spread of nutrients that a tree can get access to which is why gardeners and horticulturalists add Mycorrhizal fungus to the roots when planting trees or shrubs as we have done with the fruit trees in the Wenvoe orchards. The fungi take sugars from the tree and in return give them moisture and nutrients.

There are many 'amazing facts' about fungi. They provide us with medicines (and not just Penicillin) and were being used in the shape of yeasts to make mead 9,000 years ago. Think how many types of food use yeast! Truffles, Marmite, Quorn and cheese all depend wholly or partly on fungi. A fungus has been found which breaks down plastics in weeks rather than years and they are used to make bioethanol from crop waste. They are even being used to extract cobalt and lithium from old batteries. Synthetic rubber, even Lego, are made using an acid from fungi. But they do have a darker side wreaking havoc across the world to trees and crops.-,Honey Fungus can often be found in our local woods where it kills trees and shrubs.

So there is a lot more to fungi than the occasional pretty red and white spotted mushroom growing under a Birch tree or the punnets in your local supermarket. They deserve respect and we hope that the competition will help all of us to be more aware of what they can do for us

So what might connect a Wenvoe garden with the small island of Craigleith in the Firth of Forth? The answer – Tree Mallow. Gardeners will be familiar with the various Mallows grown in gardens and sold by Garden Centres. Or you might have tasted Marshmallow flavoured originally with an extract from the root of the plant that grows on our coasts, particularly Gower. The Tree Mallow is quite unmistakeable growing typically to 2 metres and even reaching 3. If you are visiting Gower there are a few near the Youth Hostel at Port Eynon and these are around 3 metres. One turned up unannounced in our garden so out of curiosity we let it grow. It is currently 1.40 metres and still shooting up vigorously but not yet in flower. It is native to the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts, in Britain mainly in the South and South West.

But why Craigleath? This small island near North Berwick and others close by are a haven for sea birds, especially puffins but in the early 2000s it was clear that the numbers were plummeting and the cause was – yes, you've guessed! – Tree Mallow. The plant can grow out of control forming a thick mini-jungle and preventing birds like puffins getting to their nesting sites. Few other plants can survive under the dense foliage. But the good news is that as volunteers have started clearing the Mallow the puffins are returning.

But how does a plant associated with the South West end up on remote islands in the North East? In this case it was introduced by soldiers serving on nearby Bass Rock because it was used to dress wounds. Also lighthouse-keepers elsewhere have planted it for similar reasons, to use in poultices and in ointments to treat burns. So there is your conundrum – if one turns up in your garden do you let it grow and risk it taking over and keeping out the puffins or remove it and lose a useful ingredient in nature's medicine chest?

You will see the logo of the Wildlife Group on noticeboards, leaflets, posters and social media. But what does it represent and why? The 6-petalled flower is Spiked Star of Bethlehem, also known as Bath Asparagus. It is related to garden asparagus and used to be eaten. More common in the Bath area there are records of it being for sale in greengrocers up to the 1970s – elsewhere it is localised from Wiltshire up to Huntingdonshire. Some say it was introduced by the Romans, hence being common around Bath. So why the link with Wenvoe? It is well-established growing in a hedgerow near Greave Farm and this is probably its main, if not only, site in Wales. Whilst isolated records do appear elsewhere these may be garden escapes but the Wenvoe plants were first recorded in the 1990s and are spread over 100 metres of hedgerow. It is a mystery how and why they should have become established here but there are many plants, the quick count for 2018 showing up around 20 spikes. It is also known as French Asparagus, Prussian Asparagus and Pyrenean Star of Bethlehem.

We often refer to the Marble Gall at our talks and on our walks and usually comment that they are regularly confused with Oak Apple Galls which we have never seen. On the Orchard Walk in May we saw one for the first time and this was on the border of a patch of woodland near New Wallace Farm. Seen in the photo it was as described in the books – much larger than the Marble Gall (about 4 to 5 times its size) and soft and spongy rather than the hard and smooth of the Marble Gall. Parts of England still celebrate Oak Apple Day and this is often associated with the restoration of the Stuart monarchy after the Commonwealth period under Oliver Cromwell. Towns and villages like St Neot in Cornwall, Upton Gray in Hampshire and Upton upon Severn all celebrate the occasion in different ways but often involve parading through the village, wearing or carrying oak sprigs and ending up at the local pub. It is sometimes referred to as Shick-shack day (a term for the Oak Apple) or Oak and Nettle Day. The gall is caused by a wasp which lays its eggs in the tree and the larva injects chemicals which cause the gall to form and provide the larva with a food supply.

The discovery of a small plant of Mistletoe growing in a front garden in Wenvoe was quite notable as it is only the second recorded for the Vale of Glamorgan. That is not to say that there will not be some growing elsewhere but if it is, it has not been officially recorded. Whilst the Wildlife Group have been trying to get mistletoe to grow on apple trees (so far unsuccessfully) this one turned up on a Japanese Maple. Mistletoe is often associated with Apple trees and therefore orchards and a drive through Monmouthshire, Gloucestershire and Herefordshire will reveal many old orchards covered in it. A survey in the 1990s found it growing principally on Apple but also Lime, Hawthorn, Poplar, Maple, Willow and Crab apple. In fact between 70 and 100 trees and shrubs can act as host. Walking around the Brecons near Tretower we found a large area of Hawthorn heavily infested with it.

Everyone has their own theory on how birds help to spread the seeds of Mistletoe but research indicates it varies with the bird. The Mistle Thrush, hence its name, swallows the berries whole and secretes them in a half-digested berry pulp. Most fail to germinate but any landing on a branch stand a chance of getting established. By contrast the Blackcap separates the seed before swallowing and wipes it off its beak directly on to a branch making it a much more efficient Mistletoe-planter than the thrush. In London the Ring-necked Parakeets have been seen taking the berries so may play a role in spreading it around the capital.

Mistletoe was supposedly sacred to the druids and particularly when found growing on Oak although, if true, this presents something of a problem for the Welsh druids as it is not present in most of Wales, least of all in their final stronghold in Anglesey. It is also very rare on oak throughout Europe. But as the main source for this information was the Roman writer, Pliny the Elder, it may be of questionable validity.

The final question is what sex is our plant as only the female plants carry the berries – watch this space!

We mentioned Lichens in a previous issue of Whats On and with the launch of the new Lichen Trail down at Goldsland Farm in the next few months it is worth reviewing why they might be on interest to anyone. As soon as you walk out onto the pavement you will find yourself treading on round or irregular white and yellow blobs. They are on walls, roofs, fences, trees and the gravestones in the churchyard. In fact they are the dominant species on 8% of the world's land surface whether on the frozen tundra, arid deserts or forests.

They have their uses. They are eaten not only by reindeer but by people – Iwatake is a delicacy in Japan. They have been used for dyeing for centuries and are mentioned in the Old Testament. They were once a considerable cottage industry with the lichens being scraped off rocks by people with metal hoops or even seashells and then processed in factories. One near Glasgow covered 17 acres and worked its way through 250 tons a year.

They have been used in the perfume and cosmetics industries since the 16th century and if you use Calvin Klein, Estee Lauder or Yves St Laurent you will have been applying some lichen extract to yourself. Some have antibiotic properties and were used in babies nappies in New Zealand. Popular in folk medicines and used to indicate pollution levels and the presence of metals, they are now being considered to help clear up or extract toxic or valuable metals.

Despite the fascination of lichens very few people study them so experts are few and far between. If you are a teacher, particularly at the Primary level, the topic opens up all sorts of possibilities linking into other disciplines such as design, medicine, art, environment and nutrition. If you are interested, get in touch with the Wildlife Group who will be happy to work with you to produce audio-visual presentations, teachers notes and short outdoor activities.

The Wildlife Group commissioned a survey at Goldsland in preparation for the Trail and this identified 21 different species close to the barns. Interestingly, there were no examples of the lichen featured in the photo which is an Usnea species. These are intolerant of high levels of nitrogen which is exactly what you would expect in and around a dairy farm. This photo was taken on the trees close to the library in the centre of Wenvoe.