Wild About Gwent April 2012.pdf - Gwent Wildlife Trust

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NEWS IN BRIEF Trevor Evans MBE Warbler Arrives Just in Time for Six Nations The common yellowthroat, with its deep yellow chest and a black mask about its head is a familiar sight to many birdwatchers … in Florida. So just hours after someone walking their dog on a February morning spotted one in a Rhiwderin hedgerow and posted images online, hundreds of birdwatchers from all over the UK flocked to the scene with their cameras and binoculars. Continued from page 1 T: I had intended to for a long time but could not embark on the project until I retired in 1984. Then I held meetings, wrote letters and encouraged recording in every tetrad (2km by 2km square) in the vice county. We had an annual meeting of local botanists, and I led many field meetings and sent out identification tips for difficult plants. I entered all the data I received from volunteers onto master cards – this was before computers. There was a delay when my wife, Thelma, sadly died of a brain tumour in 1999 after a long illness, and it took me many months to feel motivated again. Eventually, the atlas was published in 2007. S: When did you join the Gwent Wildlife Trust? T: It must have been in the late 1960s. I was Chairman of GWT’s Scientific Sub- Committee for many years with [Secretary] Beatrix Broadfoot, Patrick Humphreys, cofounder of the Trust, and Barbara Thorne who initiated the purchase of Magor Marsh. S: What changes have you seen in Monmouthshire in your lifetime? T: The loss of flower-rich fields and their replacement with large monocultures has had a major impact. Peoples’ obsession with tidiness in the town and countryside has destroyed much of interest. Chepstow Cemetery used to have hundreds of Autumn Ladies Tresses but now these are mown off to make the grass look tidy and flower beds have extended into the rich turf. Many of the broad-leaved woodlands that I knew in my youth, such as The Minnetts (now Slade Woods) and Hardwick Wood where I recorded three hundred species of plant including many Greater Butterfly Orchids, were felled and conifers planted instead. This afforestation destroyed many woods and their flora. I used to see flooding on the Gwent Levels and high water levels in the reens [the drainage ditches that criss-cross the wetlands]. Now the sea wall and pump drainage has destroyed former rich habitats. S: Finally, what do you feel are the main issues facing conservation in the UK and globally? T: The growth of the human population has to be curbed. We live in a world with finite resources and must live more simply. The world will suffer shortages of water, food, housing and work. This is already happening. An abridged version of Trevor’s interview – for the full transcript, please visit our website – www.gwentwildlife.org. New Airfield Opens Lapwings in flight (Scott Grant Crichton) Common yellowthroat (Wolfgang Wander) Scott Grant Crichton, of Llanvihangel Crucorney, has been receiving some unusual company this year. Enormous flocks of lapwings have made a field near his home their personal Heathrow. Scott estimates the flock to be possibly three hundred birds when normally he might see thirty or forty at a time. GWENT WILDLIFE TRUST x WILD ABOUT GWENT
NEWS IN BRIEF Wasp spider (Steve Davis) Iolo & Alice at the Blaenau Gwent Environmental Awards 2011 (Veronika Brannovic) Young Volunteer Embraces Opportunities Alice Hadley started volunteering at Ebbw Vale’s Environmental Resource Centre (ERC) when she was seventeen, knowing she’d like somehow to weave her way into a career in conservation. “When I first started going into the field of conservation, it was just an idea”, she says, “I didn’t know a lot about wildlife and the environment”. But she knew it was a field she wanted to explore. So with the support of the ERC staff, Alice started to soak up practical experience, learning how to display and analyse data. She put her records into spreadsheets and sent them to the local biodiversity records centre. She also learned how to get others engaged, leading her own walks around the ERC grounds and introducing people to the diverse species of plants around the ERC. Alice prepared activities for school workshops and taught people how to make their own bird boxes. The staff allowed her to nurture her skills independently by giving Alice projects such as surveying the ERC habitats and drawing a plan for an upcoming pond monitoring project. “Because they gave me the responsibility for carrying out tasks of my own”, Alice says, “and involving me in their events programme, I am more confident in my abilities and feel capable of coping with a range of different situations”. Alice picked up additional skills such as willow weaving, felt making, spinning wool, sowing, constructing bird feeders, and nest boxes. She also learned what makes the local ecology tick by getting up close with dozens of different species, such as amphibians and reptiles, bees, hedgehogs, and bats. Alice also volunteers at the Silent Valley Nature Reserve, carrying out wildflower surveys and a nest box round. When the ERC was nominated for an award at the end of 2011, Alice was asked to be filmed and speak about her participation in the ERC. This led to her attending the Blaenau Gwent Environmental Awards 2011 where she met Welsh naturalist and TV presenter, Iolo Williams. Alice is just finishing up her A Levels. She says her experience volunteering played an enormous part securing a place at university where she plans to study conservation. “I would recommend volunteering with the ERC, Silent Valley or any of the GWT’s centres and reserves”, she says. “It gives you a hobby, something to be interested in and care about. It allows you to develop knowledge and understanding about nature, make some lifelong friends and most importantly have a lot of fun!” Lottery is a Big Boost for Wildlife Trusts People’s Postcode Lottery (PPL) was launched in England in 2005. Their lottery brand and concept was already well-known in Sweden and The Netherlands where 40% of households play and have raised to date £16.3 million for its charity partners alone, with many more millions being given to other small local projects. Wildlife Trust Wales (WTW) was lucky enough to be chosen as an official charity partner after the lottery branched into Wales in 2010. Recently, Gwent Wildlife Trust Fundraising Manager, Alison McGachy, represented WTW in Edinburgh where she received a cheque for £80,470 (of which £11,000 is given to GWT) for our first charity draw. If you want more information on the work of PPL, please go to their website at www.postcodelottery. com. April 2012
Page 1: Gwent Wildlife Trust Ymddiriedolaet
Page 5 and 6: Lauri tackles one of her team (Anne
Page 7 and 8: Summer Fun Day at Magor Marsh Hosts
Page 9 and 10: NEWS IN BRIEF Waxwing (Margaret Hol
Page 11 and 12: Coppicing at Magor Marsh NEWS IN BR

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