Badger Watch @ Caerlaverock

Watch Wild Badgers Feeding

As part of the Dumfries & Galloway Wildlife Festival you can watch wild badgers feeding at a series of special events running nightly from April 4th to 17th at the Caerlaverock Wetland Centre.

For more information or to book a place (booking essential) call 01387 770200

A Wildlife Mothers Day

Mothers Day Wildlife Festival Event

As part of the Dumfries & Galloway Wildlife Festival there's an event this Sunday April 3rd (Mothers Day) where you can join the Buccleuch Rangers on a guided walk to learn all about how wildlife mums care for their young.

The event starts at Drumlanrig Castle visitor centre. For more details or to book a place call 01848 331555 or email: rangerservice@buccleuch.com

Crossbills @ Kielder

Wildlife Watch: crossbills numbers soaring @ Kielder  

According to the Forestry Commission nature lovers are flocking to Kielder Water & Forest Park in Northumberland to see a spectacle of nature.

Thousands of crossbills have appeared in the 155,000 acre Northumberland wilderness, apparently attracted by the abundance of seed offered by an excellent cone crop this year.

Martin Davison, Forestry Commission ornithologist who has worked in Kielder for over 30 years monitoring and protecting bird life, said: "Some years the bird fails to show up at all, so getting such large numbers is something special. It all depends on how good the cone crop is and this year it is very good indeed. It's impossible to say how many have arrived, but a guess could put it as high as 10,000 pairs. That could be the biggest breeding population in the country at the moment.”

Crossbills have chicks in January and February, which take to the wing in March, by the of May they begin to leave. Look out for the bird hanging upside down like a parrot stripping seed from cones.

To find out more go to www.visitkielder.com/ or call 01434 220242.

Wildlife Festival in April

Dumfries & Galloway Wildlife Festival

If you're in Scotland next month (April 2011) then you might want to plan a visit to Dumfries & Galloway which is holding a Wildlife Festival between the 2nd and 25th of the month.

There's loads of events planned and we'll blog about some specific ones over the next week or so, in the meantime you can find out more by visiting the festival's website.   http://www.wildlifefestival.org.uk/

Tree Planting Volunteers Sought

Wellies on for wildlife at Alice Holt Forest  

The Forestry Commission is welcoming volunteers to take part in a tree planting morning at Alice Holt Forest, near Farnham, on Saturday 26 March.

 A unique tree planting event, it is part of a national wet woodland and pond conservation project, so wellies are essential.

Forestry Commission staff, the Alice Holt Community Forum and local volunteers will be planting native trees around a network of new ponds to create wet woodland habitat, both priority wildlife habitats in the UK.

The new habitat will benefit frogs, newts, grass snakes, dragonflies and damselflies.  It will also provide a suitable refuge for the return of the water vole to Alice Holt Forest.

The project is part of a national programme to create new ponds and restore wet woodland, as part of the Million Ponds Project.  Action is required particularly in the south of England as there is an increased risk of drought with hotter drier summers predicted in the future as well as other climate changes.


Meet at 10am on Saturday 26 March at the Forestry Commission entrance off Gravel Hill Road. Tree planting will commence at 11am. 

For more information and to book a place contact Tori Wright on 01420 23666.

Spring Flora - Daffodil Walks

I wandered lonely as… Daffodil Walks

Spring flowers really cheer up the countryside (and us!) so when it’s a sunny day it’s great to get outside and enjoy those pretty wafting daffodils in all their wonderful yellowy-ness!

The following are great walks where you can delight in the daffodils (and the wildlife!):

Wales - Wentwood Forest, Gwent

Devon – Dunsford Wood

Sussex – West Deans Wood

North Yorkshire – Farndale

Cumbria – Grasmere

Midlands - Golden Triangle / Daffodil Way - in Gloucestershire & Herefordshire around the village of Newent and Dymock.

Wildlife Watch In March: Herons

Herons

March – this month is a great time to see courting and nesting grey herons in the UK as they perform their greeting and courtship displays. These large birds (wingspans of as much as 5ft) can be surprisingly graceful in flight.

They love water and can be found near wetland marshes, lakes, reservoirs, estuaries and rivers. They can also be seen in urban areas and have even been known to be seen around garden ponds!

Wild & Green top places to spot herons include:

• Muncaster Castle, Cumbria
• Northward Hill RSPB Reserve, High Halstow, Kent – UK’s largest heronry with between 100 and 150 pairs.
• West Sedgemoor RSPB Reserve, Somerset levels, one of largest heronries in the UK.