BROOK
MEADOW CONSERVATION GROUP
ANNUAL
GENERAL MEETING 8th October, 2008
CHAIRMAN'S
REPORT
Introduction
When I started writing
this report I was again amazed at how much the group
has achieved in yet another successful year. This
success could not have been achieved without our hard
working committee and our happy band of
volunteers.
Committee
The committee has
continued to address the issues of increased public
access and protection of wildlife habitats. With so
many different interest groups using the meadow, it is
difficult to get the balance right. You certainly
can't please all of the people all of the time.
In addition to helping
out at our twice monthly work sessions and our many
public events, the members of the committee have
settled into their new roles after last year's change
around. And most have even taken on further tasks and
responsibilities.
For example Wally
Osborne has become our brushcutter and power scythe
instructor. Pat Walsgrove helped carry out the plant
quadrat surveys in June and also bat surveys every
month between April and August 2008. Jennifer Rye has
taken over editing the Brook Meadow Through the Ages
booklet and has recently joined the Footpath group of
the Emsworth Community Board as the BMCG rep. Dave Lee
is the group's representative at Havant Conservation
Forum meetings. Barbara Wrigley only joined the
committee last year but has quickly got stuck in and
has helped out with all our events and is especially
enthusiastic about the Wishing Tree. In fact Barbara
has written an article for the October issue of The
EMS on this very subject.
I would like to thank
the present committee for all their support in making
my job as chair easier. I would also like to thank
Brian Fellows for continuing to write his informative
nature news for his fortnightly email notes and
bimonthly newsletter, managing the website and
updating the signcases with news and photographs each
month.
Brook Meadow Local
Nature Reserve at last
The highlight of the
year must be Brook Meadow being declared a Local
Nature Reserve (LNR) by HBC and Natural England in
March this year. This process has taken over four
years.
Brook Meadow is the
first LNR in Emsworth. The 4 other LNRs in the Borough
are on Hayling Island at Gutner Point, The Kench,
Sandy Point and Langstone Oysterbeds.
The declaration was
prominently displayed in the press and on notice
boards and can also be inspected at HBC
offices.
Three official brown
Nature Reserve road signs complete with duck went up
in June and the official opening ceremony was held at
the Brook Meadow Open Day on 11 July. More about this
later!
We now need to ensure
that our LNR status is included in the new planning
documents, the Local Development Framework. The
committee will work on this through the Open Spaces
Development team meetings.
Membership
At 336, membership for
the year 2007/2008 was only slightly down on the
previous year. This number includes 37 new members. So
far membership for the current year September 2008 to
August 2009 is 212 and includes 50 members who renew
by standing order. this means that well over 100
members have not yet renewed. So now's your chance. If
you have not yet renewed your membership or wish to
join, please see Wally Osborne during the break. BMCG
annual membership is still only £3 per person and
includes fortnightly email notes or a paper newsletter
every other month - very good value for money.
Management
Work sessions
We have an average of
10 volunteers (with a maximum of 13 and minimum of 6)
at our twice monthly work sessions including some very
energetic new members. Together with more than 20
volunteers helping out at our special events this adds
up to about 600 volunteer hours a year, worth
£6000 at £10 an hour!
This wonderful support
has enabled us to carry out several new conservation
projects as well as prepare for summer events and keep
up with routine management tasks.
Each work session
begins with the leader giving instructions on the
tasks to be carried out with a corresponding risk
assessment and tools talk.
Management of Brook
Meadow is according to the group's Management Plan
adopted in January 2006. Management is broadly divided
into 3 sections: grassland, trees and
river.
Grassland
The main management
task the Annual cutting of the meadow is carried out
by a contractor during the summer. This work is paid
for by HBC.
The first part of this
year's annual cut was carried out by Martin Cull in
July. Martin cut the northern part of the North Meadow
and the western side of the central meadow. The
arisings were removed and dumped on the eastern side
of the central line of willows to reduce the fertility
of the soil and ultimately the vigour of the coarse
grasses.
Areas such as the
'Orchid and Yellow Rattle' area, 'Sedgey' area and
'Lumley Wet' area will be cut by BMCG volunteers later
in the year when the various late flowering plants
have seeded.
The committee are in
the process of reviewing the group's Management Plan
for example to decide on the cutting programme for the
marginal areas. These areas were not cut in July
because this would have destroyed the habitat of
nesting birds and other animals such as mice, voles,
frogs and the many invertebrates. It has been decided
not to get Martin Cull back again for a second cut
this year because the machinery he has is not
considered suitable to deal with the marginal areas in
the way set down in the Management Plan and we are
considering hiring other machinery in the
future.
In addition, to
increase the biodiversity of the meadow the group
has:
· Sowed Yellow
Rattle seeds in the southern section of North Meadow
by strimming one-metre circles and bullying the soil
with our boots. The seed was obtained from a more
reliable source (Sticky Wicket in Dorset) than in
previous year. This technique certainly worked and we
harvested 50grms of Yellow Rattle seeds in July from
only part of the area. Yellow Rattle is semi-parasitic
on grass roots and so helps to reduce the dominance of
the coarse grasses.
· Planted Ox-eye
Daisy and Common Knapweed
· Put up notices
to ask people to keep off the wildflower area in the
North Meadow.
· Continued to
control Hemlock Water-dropwort in Lumley wet area and
Bramble in the North meadow
· The group has
also cut the community area in the central meadow with
our power scythe for summer events and kept the
occasional paths clear of overhanging nettles and
brambles.
Trees
In addition to general
care of young trees by cutting away rank vegetation
from around the base of the trees and removing broken
and fallen branches both in the meadow and over the
river, the following tree work has been
completed:
Volunteers planted 8
cuttings on the edge of the North Meadow taken from a
failing Osier near South entrance
We also erected a
small hazel hurdle fence at the entrance to Palmers
Road copse near the bottle banks in an attempt to
prevent litter being blown into the woodland. This was
done with the help of Pete Hodges (chair of Friends of
Park Woods, Waterlooville)
But all the major tree
work is carried out by tree surgeons paid by HBC.
The view of the
northern riverbank looked very different after Tree
surgeons finished pollarding the Crack Willows on 8
February. At the time, it looked very drastic but the
Willow branches soon started to shoot. Pollarding
revitalises old trees and prevents them from splitting
and blowing over. The supervisor, Nick, said the work
was a bit of a challenge because the willows had not
been managed for some years.
Before the work
started, a hole was noticed in one of the taller trees
and as a consequence the pollard line was cut quite
high. While the men were working a pair of Blue Tits
were seen flying to and fro probably making a nest in
the hole.
Most of the brushwood
was chipped and the large branches cut into logs. The
arisings were left on site for the group to use as
path material, tree mulch and to create wood piles for
invertebrates.
Leaning Black Poplar
At the beginning of July, it was noticed that one of
the native Black Poplars planted by the group at the
end of 2004, was leaning over rather severely to the
east. Black Poplars are very fast growing trees and
have a natural tendency to lean and if left would
result in the tree falling over. Andrew Skeet, the
arborist at HBC, advised reducing the height of the
tree by about a half to one third to reduce the weight
of the branches and then pulling the tree upright.
Seven BMCG volunteers
met Andrew on 22 July equipped with a ladder, ropes
and padding to protect the tree. Andrew quickly
climbed the ladder into the tree. He used a bow saw
and easily cut off about half of the height of the
tree in one fell swoop, he then proceeded to reduce
all the lateral branches by about half. Then attached
a long rope. It took only seconds for the team of six
to pull the tree vertical - and it stayed there!
Many thanks to Andrew
Skeet for helping us with this very delicate
operation. He will help with future pruning to ensure
that a single stemmed tree develops.
River Ems
Towards the end of
March, despite the heavy rain and flooding, water
levels in the River Ems were quite low, especially
along the northern section next to the railway
embankment. Whereas, levels in the Lumley Stream were
very high. This was due to the fact that the rather
poorly repaired 'gates' of the Lumely sluice had been
raised for quite some time. As a consequence, most of
the water flowing downstream was going into the Lumley
Stream. The owners of Constant Spring, who are
responsible for maintaining this sluice, were
requested to lower the gates. As a result, water
levels in the River Ems returned to 'normal'. The only
way to solve this perennial problem is to replace the
old, dilapidated Lumley sluice gate with a new one!
Levels in this
northern section are again low but as yet this section
has not dried up completely as it has done in previous
autumns.
Volunteers have kept
the river clear of rubbish- removing a car wing blown
over from the industrial estate during high winds,
plus a car tyre and large amounts of litter such as
beer cans and bottles. We have also cut and removed
branches, usually Crack Willow which had fallen over
the river and/or footpath.
Major work on the
river is the responsibility of the Environment Agency
(EA).
During 2007, I had
several site meetings with Charlotte Murray of EA and
Graham Roberts of HWT to plan the appropriate
riverbank management with the aim of creating a
variety of habitats for Water Voles, Kingfishers,
Bats, and other wildlife with minimum disturbance. A
mosaic pattern of cutting was completed by the West
Sussex division of the EA at the end of September
2007. The benefits of this very good cut were quickly
seen in the tremendous increase in Water Vole
sightings this year; more about this in the wildlife
section.
I was understandably
very nervous when I heard several months ago that
management work would now be carried out by the
Hampshire division. I duly contacted the Operations
Delivery Team Leader for Hampshire and a site visit
was arranged for the beginning of September. At this
meeting it was agreed that sections of the riverbank
would be cut with scythes and raked off to reduce the
growth of nettles. Branches overhanging the riverbank
would be removed to reduce shading and hidden in the
undergrowth and some of the in-stream vegetation
removed so as not to impede the river flow. All well
and good I thought. They couldn't have been nicer,
full of promises on what they could do for us - we
just had to ask.
The reality was
somewhat different! No information on the previous
year's river management work seems to have been passed
on from one part of the EA to the other. When EA
Hampshire carried out the annual river cut last week
it was very difficult to get them to say what exactly
they would and wouldn't do. In the end Wally told them
point blank what we would like done as far as several
of the trees were concerned and they said NO!!
I have since been in
contact with West Sussex and it appears that the
Hampshire division should have contacted the West
Sussex division for a site visit before they did the
work! And they clearly had not done so!
It is interesting that
last Friday I received a report of a survey -
Environmental Quality Appraisal of the River Ems
carried out for EA Sussex area by Dr Nigel Holmes June
2007. This report will be used to review the
management of the River Ems to prevent ecological
damage to this Biodiversity Action Plan habitat of a
chalk river. The plot thickens so watch this space!
Training
Several training
courses were given free of charge as part of the
Havant Conservation Action Project. Several members of
BMCG attended these courses:
First Aid September
07- Barbara Wrigley
Brushcutter course
October 07- Jennifer Rye and Dave Lee
Using and maintaining
hand tools - 5 January most of BMCG committee plus a
few other volunteers.
Hedgelaying January
08 - Jenny Thomas
Green woodworking
February 08 - Wally, Frances and Jenny
Leadership Skills
February 08 - Ann Jolly
Introduction to
Woodland Management June 08 - Jenny Thomas
Havant Borough
Council
The committee works
very closely with HBC in managing Brook Meadow.
Management matters are discussed at quarterly meetings
with the Open Spaces Development team. Freda
Devonshire who was the OSD team leader took early
retirement in April this year. Many thanks to Freda
for all her support. The OSD team now consists of Rob
Hill, Sarah Flamson and Andrew Skeet.
Three committee
members attend these meetings and over the last year
have discussed topics such as LNR status, the annual
cut and major tree work. As well as routine work such
as strimming the edges of the main paths, HBC have
moved a litterbin in Palmers Road car park, topped up
path gravel on steps, cleaned the surface of the south
bridge, replaced the Lumley gatepost and provided
boxes of dog bags.
Havant Conservation
Forum (HCF)
Havant Conservation
Forum, set up by BTCV (British Trust for Conservation
Volunteers) on behalf of HBC, brings together
voluntary conservation groups from around the Borough,
including 3 from Emsworth. As a result of the
persistence of several individuals, Public Liability
insurance (now also including the admin charge) of all
the conservation groups in Havant Borough belonging to
HCF is now paid by HBC each year. This has saved Brook
Meadow around £187 a year.
Dogs
· The 2 notices
put up on the riverbank last year seem to be having an
effect and dogs are generally keeping out of the river
between the two bridges. Putting up small willow
hurdles at the top of the riverbank has also
discouraged access to the river.
· The dog bag
dispenser installed by HBC last year at the Lumley
entrance has been a great success, thanks to Pam
Phillips who keeps the dispenser filled with dog bags.
The bags are also paid for by HBC and Pam refills the
dispenser with 150 bags every 5 days. Since January
2008, she will have used 9 boxes of 800 bags by the
end of October. One box lasts approx. 4 weeks. Pam
tells me that the use of the bags has increased
sharply over the last few months possibly since
Emsworth has become plastic-bag free.
Vandalism
I am pleased to say
that vandalism in Brook Meadow is now restricted to a
few minor incidents each year.
Travellers in car park
18 November for several days leaving rather a lot of
mess behind them. At meetings with the OSD team and
through the Environmental Quality Ranger, the
committee has been campaigning to get a height
restriction bar put on the car park, as yet to no
avail. Apparently, this comes under parking department
and not the OSD team.
Fly tipping at Seagull
Lane entrance various amounts of garden rubbish were
dumped onto the recently planted native hedgerow in
March and June. We removed the garden rubbish as
quickly as possible. This also 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.
Water Vole
conservation area notices along the riverbank were
broken off and thrown into the river several times
last year but only once this year at the beginning of
September. The notices were replaced as quickly as
possible.
Wildflower area
notices were also broken off and thrown into the
undergrowth at the end of June but were quickly
replaced.
Graffiti on Sycamore
tree. Red and blue acrylic car paint was sprayed on
the trunks of a large Sycamore tree in Palmers Road
copse in August. We were able to remove the paint
slowly but surely by scraping off the graffitied bark
platelets and by using wire wool on the smooth
sections of bark without causing too much damage to
the tree.
All these incidents
have been reported to the police which means that
either the beat officer or the PCSOs will patrol these
areas regularly.
Children and Brook
Meadow
Hampshire Wildlife
Trust Watch Group are now only coming to carry out
conservation work once instead of twice a year. This
year's visit on Saturday 9 February included some very
young conservationists. A group of new young members
of the Watch Group plus parents and one grandparent,
together with 2 leaders, quickly got stuck in. The
group, assisted by five BMCG volunteers spread out
wood chippings (from the recent tree work) on several
very muddy paths in Palmers Road copse as well as in
the North Meadow. The children also prepared and built
their own woodpile using branches cut down by the
group a few days before. These wood piles will be
appreciated by the many invertebrates who live on
Brook Meadow. It was hard work but everybody enjoyed
themselves.
Glenwood Special Needs
school - In the afternoon of Thursday 20th March we
welcomed a small group of 5 students and two teachers
from Glenwood Special Needs School, Washington Road
for a work session on the meadow. With their
enthusiastic help, we finished clearing the fallen
willow from the line of crack willows in the central
meadow, and made a log pile habitat along the eastern
edge of the sacrificial dump. We also cleared two more
piles of wood chippings left from the tree clearance
work in the North Meadow, and used them to mulch round
the young Rowan trees. The kids worked splendidly, and
enjoyed their visit so much that they wanted to book
another one immediately! It was good to have help from
youngsters with such a positive outlook.
Northern Parade Junior
School - 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. Activities
we put on for the school included a nature trail
taking the children and adults to all the corners of
the meadow, grasses ID activity with the task of
finding as many different types of grasses as
possible, a modified version of 'Pooh Sticks' from the
North bridge, the ever-popular 'wishing tree' and a
'mini bug hunt' finished off the programme. The coach
collected the children at 2.15pm.
The second visit
scheduled for Monday 7 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.
Thanks to all the
volunteers who helped out at these events, especially
Jennifer and Wally for organising them.
Public
Events
Guided Spring Walk led
by Brian Fellows scheduled for 27 April was postponed
due to bad weather and was held on Sunday 25 May
instead. Many thanks to Brian for a very pleasant and
instructive amble through Brook Meadow.
Herb Walk - Herbal
First Aid led by Steve Taylor on 29 May - attracted 8
people. Thanks to Steve for a very informative and
enjoyable walk.
Brook Meadow Open Day
on 13 July to celebrate our new LNR status attracted
more than 300 visitors who were stickered with the
Brook Meadow Local Nature Reserve logo. Activities
included Nature Hunt and Nature Trail, Grasses ID, 4
guided butterfly spotting walks, Wishing tree, making
bird and bat boxes thanks to Pete Hodges for
organising this very popular activity, Herb walk led
by Hannah Charman, herbalist from Southsea, and lots
of lovely homemade cakes and cookies.
Thanks to the group of
about 20 volunteers who helped set up the marquee and
gazebos, put up posters on the roads, decorated the
entrances and manned the various activities.
Special thanks to all
those who made all the yummie cakes and cookies and
especially Beryl Young for serving teas and coffees
all day so efficiently.
Ems Valley walks as
part of Hampshire Water Festival held on 10 August.
The morning walk led by Brian Fellows was attended by
6 people and looked at the complex waterways and
millponds of the lower Ems Valley, including the River
Ems in Brook Meadow, Lumley Stream, Peter Pond,
Slipper Millpond and Emsworth Marina. The afternoon
walk led by Jennifer Rye was enjoyed by an amazing 26
people, including several members of Jennifer's
family. This walk went round the northern section of
the Ems valley including Brook Meadow, Lumley sluice
and mill, mill race up to Westbourne and back down the
Ems valley to Peter Pond. Both walks were enjoyed by
all those taking part. Thanks to Brian and Jennifer
for leading the walks.
Incidentally, I have
heard that Havant Borough Council will be hosting the
Hampshire Water Festival next year at Staunton Country
Park.
Emsworth Show on 25
August. Despite the cloudy, showery weather, resulting
in visitor numbers being down by 2,000, we had a
steady flow of visitors to our stall. Many members
renewed their membership with 4 new members joining.
There was quite a lot of interest in the photographic
displays and we sold several ID guides. Our improvised
Wishing Tree with squash and biscuits went down very
well with both children and adults with donations
covering our costs. All the decorated wishing stars
and butterflies were later put on the real Wishing
Tree in the Meadow.
Changing Weather
The storm surge in
Emsworth on 10 March affected Brook Meadow when the
seawater backed up the Lumley Stream and flowed over
its very low banks into Brook Meadow. The whole of the
Central Meadow was under water - this is the first
time I have seen the central meadow flooded to this
extent. Lumley Road was flooded nearly up as far as
The Rookery and the footbridge over the Lumley Stream
was also flooded.
Snow fell quite
heavily in Emsworth for an hour or so on 6 April. The
last snowfall of this magnitude was on 29 January
2004.
Wildlife
We may have to get
used to this unstable weather as climate change kicks
in. This also applies to the plants and animals of
Brook Meadow. Some become more numerous, some new ones
appear and regretfully some disappear, depending on
the conditions. I am indebted to Brian Fellows who
keeps detailed nature notes of all these changes.
Information also comes from other people, Tony
Wootton, Robin Pottinger, Caroline and Ray French to
name but a few.
Water
Voles
The most important
wildlife news this year is that the Water Voles are
back!
During 2007, there
were only 27 sightings of Water Voles down for the
second year running, a real cause for concern. I
enlisted the help of Graham Roberts, Water for
Wildlife Officer at HWT and speaker at last year's
AGM. Graham organised and funded a survey of the River
Ems which was carried out by Andy Rothwell on 19
October 2007.
Andy found a lot of
signs of Water Vole activity, such as recent burrows,
latrines and larders. He located two hot spots. One on
either side of the channel where the Lumley Stream
flows into Peter Pond and the other one near the dry
sluice and amongst the bulrushes and reeds on the
River Ems, where the signs were more numerous. Water
Vole activity on the river was highest in between our
two Water Vole notices, where most of the sightings
have been. There were few signs either south of the
sluice or north of the North bridge. He estimated that
there were about 13 Water Voles in this section of the
River.
The first Water Vole
sighting in 2008 was on 10 February - reported by me!
Since then, Water Vole sightings have come in from
four main areas of the river, evenly spaced out about
100 metres apart.
It is thought that
these areas could indicate the territories of four
females which are being served by two or more males
whose territories overlap those of the females. Hence,
sightings outside the main female areas are probably
of males. Females usually have only one mate, but
males are polygamous and may have more than one
mate.
The grand total of
sightings this year stands at an amazing 145. But this
does not mean that there are this number of Water
Voles on the river, since many of these sightings will
have been of the same animal. This increased number of
sightings has undoubtedly been enhanced by the
riverbank clearance work carried out by the EA last
September and increased observer coverage particularly
by the dedicated efforts of Caroline and Ray French
who have accounted for nearly half the sightings.
Water Vole sightings are still coming in, mostly from
the north and south bridges. Several people have
reported seeing Water Voles climbing trees and even on
the South bridge. Apparently leaves, buds, fruit and
bark are an important part of their diet. And they may
retreat into trees in winter to avoid being washed
away in floods.
Bats
After completing a
preliminary bat survey with the help of Nik Knight of
HWT in September last year and equipped with a new
digital bat detector box purchased by the group, Pat
and Graham Walsgrove have carried out monthly bat
surveys from April to August this year. They followed
the same route as the preliminary survey and heard
Soprano Pipistrelles near the Lumley gate, along
Lumley Road and near Seagull Lane. Common Pipistrelles
were heard near the south bridge. They also heard the
so called 'feeding buzz' which bats make when getting
very close to their prey.
Other
Mammals
A Harvest Mouse nest
was found during clearance of vegetation on Seagull
Lane patch in December last year. This is the second
harvest mouse nest we have found. The first was found
in the central meadow in October 2004.
While looking for
Water Voles, Tony Wootton spotted a Weasel and a Wood
Mouse on the banks of the River Ems in April.
And a Water Shrew was
recorded by Patrick Murphy near the sluice gate on 30
April. This was the first clear sighting of a Water
Shrew on Brook Meadow. Some of our earlier Water Vole
surveys have found signs of Water Shrew but we have
not had a sighting before.
Raised ridges of soil
about 10 metres long with a tunnel only 2-3 inches
below the surface were discovered during January.
These shallow tunnels were clearly the work of the
Common Mole. These tunnels do not require the physical
removal of earth nor the formation of the familiar and
ubiquitous molehills.
Birds
Brian has recorded 44
species of birds this year out of a total of 68 seen
since he started recording them. Two new birds have
been added to the list this year: a Red Kite was seen
hovering over Brook Meadow during a work session on 15
June and a Turtle Dove which was seen and heard
'purring' for about 6 weeks from the beginning of June
in the area around Brook Meadow. Red Kite is an
increasingly common bird in this area.
The Turtle Dove
attracted a lot of interest from local bird watchers
and was the subject of an article in The News by
Frances Sweeney. As pointed out in the article a
substantial population decline has put the Turtle Dove
on the RSPB Red Data list of endangered birds. Let's
hope it survives its hazardous journey to Africa and
brings a mate back to breed here next year.
As usual Chiffchaffs
were the first of the summer migrants to arrive in
early March. But Blackcaps kept us waiting until the
beginning of April and Whitethroat was the last to
arrive towards the end of April.
Brian was very
surprised to hear a very early Reed Warbler singing in
the reedbeds on Peter Pond opposite Gooseberry Cottage
on 4 April. The Reed Warbler is a regular visitor to
Peter Pond but this is the earliest Brian has ever
heard.
We have also had
sightings with photos of young Chiffchaff, Blackcap
and Whitethroat proving that all three of our summer
visitors bred successfully this year.
Resident breeders such
as Blackbird, Robin, Dunnock, Great Tit, and Chaffinch
were all active and breeding. Blue Tits were seen
entering two of the nest boxes put up for them in
Palmers Road copse. There is a large Woodpecker hole
in one of pollarded Willows on the northern riverbank
path visited by a pair of Blue Tits looking for a
suitable nesting site.
There have been many
sightings of Kingfishers flying up and down the River
Ems and around the Hermitage millponds. Grey Wagtail
and Grey Heron are also regular visitors to the river.
Brian spotted a Water
Rail in the bankside vegetation along the River Ems in
February. This is a rare bird for Brook Meadow, only
previously seen on the Lumley Stream. But it did not
stay long and probably left after a few weeks for its
breeding grounds on the continent.
Two male and one
female Mallard seem to have taken up residence on the
River Ems. With three pairs of Moorhens nesting along
the River Ems. The Moorhen pair nesting near the
sluice gate had four tiny chicks at end of June,
probably their second brood.
Butterflies
Only 17 out of the 23
butterfly species previously recorded have been seen
on Brook Meadow this year. Missing were Essex Skipper,
Clouded Yellow, Small Copper, Small Tortoiseshell,
Painted Lady and Small Heath. But some of these have
been seen elsewhere in the area.
Several butterflies
were seen locally as early as the end of March,
including Brimstone, Peacock, Comma and Red Admiral
with a very early male Orange Tip seen flying over the
River Ems on 4 April. They were slow to emerge through
the rest of April and well into May, with only a few
Whites on the wing, including Green-veined whites.
Peacock, Speckled Wood, Holly Blue (which lays its
eggs on ivy) and the occasional Comma were also about.
The first Meadow Brown was not seen on Brook Meadow
until 7 June and numbers only started to pick up
towards the end of June. Brian recorded 8 species and
over 50 butterflies in Brook Meadow on 6
July.
Although not an
exceptional summer for butterflies, there have been
good numbers of Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper, Comma and
Small Skipper along with Red Admiral, Peacock,
Speckled Wood (in shaded areas) and all three Whites -
Large, Small and Green-veined. Large and small Whites
are both commonly known as 'cabbage white' Most
gardens have been crawling with Cabbage White
caterpillars, I know mine has!! Marbled White, Common
Blue and even Ringlet also made brief appearances but
sadly there has been no sign of any Small
Tortoiseshells on Brook Meadow. What used to be a
common meadow butterfly is now a rarity. The only one
Brian recorded this year was at Stansted on 3 July.
Very windy conditions during the spring and summer may
have been a contributory factor.
Butterfly
transects
I personally recorded
9 species and a total of 67 butterflies mostly Meadow
Browns and Whites during a butterfly transect carried
out on 22 July. This compares with a total of 74
recorded at the same time last year. Wally Osborne
will analyse the data collected from the butterfly
transects which 6 volunteers have carried out every
week between April and October this year.
Dragonflies
Banded Demoiselles are
common and regular visitors to the waterways around
Brook Meadow, but the much rarer Beautiful Demoiselle,
the male of which has totally blue wings, was seen and
photographed for the first time on Brook Meadow by
Caroline French in August. Southern Hawker, Emperor,
and Common Darter can be seen especially in September
and October.
Grasshoppers
The grassland in Brook
Meadow has been alive with grasshoppers this summer,
mostly Meadow Grasshoppers, along with Dark
Bush-crickets and Short-winged Coneheads.
Other interesting
sightings on Brook Meadow include:
14 Spot Ladybirds, the
dreaded Harlequin Ladybird which is spreading fast and
is a threat to our native ladybirds, Thigh Beetles - a
very distinctive metallic green beetle with swollen
hind legs which feeds on pollen, bright red
carnivorous Soldier Beetles which are attracted to the
white flowerheads of Hogweed where they bask and mate
in the warm sun, Peacock butterfly caterpillars and
Nursery-web spider which carries its young in a large
white cocoon.
Flowering Plants
The total plant list
for Brook Meadow currently stands at 333 different
species. This is exactly the same as last year, in
spite of the addition of 4 new plants: Harebell,
Pyrimidal Orchid, Tufted Hairgrass and Red Campion
which appeared this year. The reason for this
discrepancy is that Brian has removed 4 plants from
the list as they had not been seen for years or had
uncertain ID at the time. The total number of species
found this year is 244 compared to 259 recorded last
year.
Spring got underway
early this year with bright yellow Lesser Celandine
flowers all over the place by the end of January and
the first male Butterbur flower spikes of the year
appeared by the sluice gate on Brook Meadow much
earlier than usual.
However, the more
delicate plants struggled again this summer because of
the huge growth of vegetation, especially bindweed,
due to the heavy rainfall.
The conservation work
carried out on Brook Meadow over the years has yielded
a number of new varieties of wildflower, and this year
we had the first ever Pyramidal Orchid adding to the
three which appeared in earlier years, Common Spotted,
Bee and Southern Marsh Orchid. All these orchids are
gradually increasing in number. The spread of Yellow
Rattle on the southern section of the North Meadow has
encouraged the growth of many wildflowers, such as
Common Fleabane and Red Bartsia.
Other wildflowers
which also did well include: Cow Parsley lining the
riverbank path near the North bridge, Meadowsweet,
Creeping and Meadow Buttercups, Hogweed (with some
plants growing to 8-9 feet tall), Water Mint, Common
Comfrey, Garlic Mustard, Wild Angelica with record
numbers in flower (more than 200) in the Lumley wet
area and Marsh Woundwort also did well in the south
meadow. Common Sorrel with its splendid red flower
spikes did much better this year, especially in the
Lumley wet area, whereas last year Brian had
difficulty finding any at all.
It has been a good
year for grasses, sedges and rushes, of which Brook
Meadow boasts well over 50 different species. All the
common grasses were well represented in Brook Meadow
including Meadow Foxtail, Barren Brome, Soft Brome,
Tall Fescue, Timothy, False Oat-grass and Yorkshire
Fog. Tufted Hair-grass has recently been added to the
grasses list. Divided Sedge, Distant Sedge and False
Fox Sedge were abundant and Greater Pond Sedge also
did well. With Bullrushes and Branched Bur-reed
growing well in the River Ems.
Other flowering plants
did not fare so well for example the Ragged Robin
count of 95 flowering plants was slightly up on last
year but was the third lowest since 2002, the highest
number recorded was 332 in 2006.
Butterbur produced 201
flower spikes, the lowest number since 1999 when Brian
started recording. Numbers have been gradually
declining since 2003 when the highest number of 451
flower spikes was recorded. This is a decrease of 55%
in 5 years. The reason for the decline is not known.
Cuckooflower was first
seen flowering on 8 April which was several weeks
later than last year and also fewer flowering plants
than in previous years.
Pepper-saxifrage (old
meadow indicator) and Amphibious bistort both did well
in 2007 with record numbers in flower but this year
both had fewer numbers in flower. Marsh Arrowgrass,
also an old meadow indicator is the rarest plant on
Brook Meadow is now generally in decline Brian has
found it with difficulty the last two years. The
'berries' of Strawberry Clover, not a common plant on
Brook Meadow, could be seen prominently on the path
round the Lumley wet area in August.
Autumn
fruits
Blackberries are still
going strong after 4 months of steady pickings. The
Alder Buckthorns planted 7 years ago are covered with
red and black berries and Dog Rose and Hawthorns have
plenty of red hips and haws. However, some of the
trees appear to be having mixed fortunes. For example,
the Horse Chestnut in Brook Meadow near the Lumley
gate has lots of conkers while others in the area have
none at all. Horse Chestnuts all over the south of
England are being affected by a number of pests and
diseases, namely leaf-mining moth, a leaf fungus and
bleeding canker. The first two are not so serious but
the third may eventually lead to the death of the
tree.
Quadrat
survey
A plant survey was
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. I have still to write a report
of the findings but to give an idea of the range: the
greatest variety of flowering plants in a 1 metre
square was 18 in the area north of the causeway. The
lowest number of 3 and only grasses was in the north
meadow near the diagonal path. This will provide
useful information when deciding on the management
programme for each of the areas.
Fixed-point
photos
In January and June of
each year, I take what are called fixed-point photos
of Brook Meadow. The photos are taken from specific
points (fixed points) around the meadow and provide us
with a visual record of how the meadow has changed
over the years. I have been taking these photos since
June 2003.
Fungi
The period between
October and February is always very good for fungi
with a variety of colours and shapes some with very
descriptive names. Examples of fungi found in the
Brook Meadow area included Shaggy Inkcaps along the
edge of Palmers Road car park. Agrocybe rivulosa was
found on a pile of wood chippings in Palmers Road
copse in November. This fungus always grows on wood
chippings and has spread rapidly in the last 3-4 years
from Europe. A crop of Velvet Shank was also recorded
in Palmers Road copse on dead roots alongside the
path. A large bracket fungus was noted on one of the
Willow logs cut down by tree surgeons in February.
Concluding
Remarks
You can see it has
been another very busy year in Brook Meadow. The focus
has shifted away from large public events to
conservation projects and wildlife surveys. There are
still potential conflicts between increased public
access, protecting wildlife habitats and enhancing the
biodiversity of the meadow - which we will continue to
work on in the coming years.
Thanks
Finally, a big thank
you to all those people who have helped us over the
past year, especially:
· All the willing
and cheerful volunteers at work sessions and at public
events
· Fred and Ruth
Portwin for looking after the power scythe.
· Ted and Penny
Aylett for storing most of our tools and
equipment
· Brian Fellows
for his enthusiasm and knowledge about wildlife and
for taking such wonderful photos
· All our members
without whose support we could not continue
· OSD team at
HBC, especially Rob Hill and Andrew Skeet
· Graham Roberts
and Nik Knight (Hampshire Wildlife Trust)
· Pete Hodges
(chair of Friends of Park Woods)
· Martin Rand,
Botanical Society of the British Isles (BSBI) recorder
for Hampshire
· Rachel Moroney
(BTCV)
· Hampshire
Biodiversity Information Centre (Hbic), especially
Andy Barker and Nicky Court
· Environment
Agency, especially Charlotte Murray.
Frances
Jannaway, October 2008
