RSPB Events This Weekend In UK

The RSPB run an amazing number of wildlife events throughout the year, all over the country.

Fancy getting out and doing a spot of wildlife watching this weekend?

RSPB events happening this wekeend (March 31st and April 1st 2012) include:

* Date With Nature Heron Watch, Hertfordshire
* Geltsdale Black Grouse Lek Watch, Cumbria
* Peregrines @ Vyrnwy, Wales
* Caper-watch, Scottish Highlands
* Nesting Choughs on the Lizard, Cornwall


Find out more, plus find other events on the RSPB website

Also, don't forget the Dumfries & Galloway Wildlife Festival starts this weekend and runs through to April 15th, lots of events happening, visit the festival website for more details:
www.wildlifefestival.org.uk

Wildlife Centre Huntly Peregrine Wild Watch

Not-to-be-missed wildlife centre set for new season  

Spring is here and it’s time to get out and about and enjoy some fun, fresh air and fascinating fauna!
And if there’s one place where you’ll be guaranteed to get all you want from a day in the great outdoors, it’s the Huntly Peregrine Wild Watch.

Run by Forestry Commission Scotland, the centre is easily accessible on the A96 between Elgin and Aberdeen, and is the place to go if you want a peaceful, relaxing place to watch some of Scotland's amazing native wildlife – or if you want some fun, family focused activities.

Angie Smith, who manages the centre, said: “It really is a hidden gem of a place that offers an outdoors and wildlife experience that we reckon is unique in the North East. We get visitors here from all age groups – from under 5s to school groups to the over 70s – and there’s something that’ll suit everyone. You can go pond dipping or take part in some family orienteering, be creative or enjoy the walks and the amazing scenery. Or you can bring a picnic and just sit and relax.

“But most of all, this is the place to come if you want to experience some stunning wildlife. ‘Our’ peregrines are the stars of the show – this has been a nesting site for 30 years and since we set up Wild Watch in 2003 19 chicks have been hatched and flown the nest. But there are over 40 species of bird and animal living here in their natural surroundings. How many do you think you’ll be able to spot?”

As well as walking the site and seeing what you can spot with your own eyes, you can also take advantage of the remote viewing cameras and the screens in the hide and at the visitor centre.

As well as the peregrines you can keep a look out for red squirrels, pine martins, roe deer, foxes, sparrow-hawks, and loads of woodland birds…..and newts, frogs, common lizards and much, much more.

Friendly wardens and volunteers are always on site to help bring you closer to the wildlife that is all around us but rarely seen.

The centre is open seven days a week from 1 April until early September and is accessible to all.

Modest entry charges are applicable –and all funds raised go towards sustaining Huntly Peregrine Wild Watch.
The charges are: adults £3, children (5-15) £1, family ticket (two adults and unlimited children) £7, individual season pass £10 and family season pass £20.


For more information about the centre and what’s on offer, visit www.forestry.gov.uk/huntlyperegrines

Sand Dune Forest In Wales Re-opens Trail

Leaflet sheds light on new-look woodland trail  

A new leaflet is available for visitors to Pembrey forest to coincide with the re-opening of the Pines Trail following essential management work.

The trail was closed for three months while Forestry Commission Wales thinned out some of the trees in parts of the 1,000 hectare forest to improve the habitat for the wildlife and rare woodland flowers.

The new trail leaflet explains the history of the forest and gives visitors useful information on the trail and what they can see if they walk along it.

Pembrey is one of Britain ’s sand dune forests, woodland that is unusual and has become an object of great interest to naturalists.

Forestry Commission Wales Community Ranger Jonathan Price said, “The Pines Trail is a breathtaking walk of about five to six miles where you can witness sand dunes, sea views, butterflies and wildflowers.The forest is home to many rare botanical species such as bee orchids and evening primrose, 31 species of butterfly, many migrant songbirds as well as birds of prey which include sparrowhawk and goshawk.”

The new leaflet is available around the Pembrey and Pembrey Country Park Visitor centre areas.

More information on the woodlands of Wales is available on www.forestry.gov.uk/wales

Wildlife Festival Event This Weekend

The Dumfries and Galloway Wildlife Festival starts this weekend (March 31st) and runs through until April 15th.

There are loads of events scheduled over the coming two weeks of the festival and many of them are free of charge.

Here's our pick of the first events:

The Early Birds

Saturday 31 March, 10.00am - 12.00noon, Newton Stewart

Join Cree Valley Community Woodlands Trust (CVCWT) staff for an introduction to early spring woodland birds and bird song. Suitable for beginners.
Cost: Voluntary donation to CVCWT.
Meet: High Camer Wood picnic site, NX366733
Further information: Pete or Linda, CVCWT Tel: 01671 401423, enquiries@cvcwt.org.uk

Find out more on the festival website at:
http://www.wildlifefestival.org.uk/index.htm

It's Wild Garlic Time...

Spotted on a visit to a Cumbrian woodland last week... loads and loads of ransoms (otherwise known as wild garlic) carpetting the woodland slopes....

Nature Watch - The Countryside in April

Wildlife Watching In April
This month look out for:
*Badgers - out and about more now that spring has truly sprung; you might see some cubs emerging from the sett too. Badgers can be found pretty much anywhere that there's some woodland on a hill, even close to the edge of towns.

Birds In April


*Arrivals - plenty of birds are now arriving back to the UK's shores including swallows swooping and diving in the sky, as well as swifts and warblers

Flora In April
Spring is a great time for spotting wild flowers including:
*Bluebells - the masses of beautiful blue flowers carpet woodland floors this month, usually peaking towards the end of April.
*Cowslips - a pretty yellow 'upright' flower, often found in meadows.
*Snakeshead fritillary - a rarer sight than most wild flowers as there are reportedly only around 30 'significant colonies' of these pretty flowers in the UK.*Dawn chorus - this is the time of year that birds are at their most vocal as it is, of course, the breeding season. If you fancy an early start (usually between 4am and 5am) then there are events all over the country where you can join a guided walk and learn to identify the various types of birdsong.
*Cuckoo - the 'traditional harbinger of spring' - its distinctive call can be heard all around the country this month.
*Ospreys- these birds arrive back to the UK in March/April and by the end of April the female will usually have eggs in the nest, the chicks putting in an appearance in May.
*Black Grouse - see its impressive 'lekking' mating display this month in parts of Wales & Scotland.

Living The Dream

Johnsons Living The Dream With Remote Forest Enterprise  

Just as Concorde was making its first commercial flight, another fledgling enterprise was preparing for take-off in the forests of deepest mid-Wales.

George Johnson bought Coed Trallwm woodlands, near Abergwesyn, Powys, in 1976 with the ambition of turning the 165-hectare commercial conifer forest into a thriving rural business for his young family.

With the help of grants and advice from the Forestry Commission, the Johnsons slowly set about transforming the remote forest and assorted old farm buildings into a business that would provide a secure future for their children, Mary and Will.

Thirty-five years on, George and his wife, Christine, are the proud owners of a multi-purpose forest complete with a mountain bike centre and café for walkers and cyclists.

The evolution of Coed Trallwm into a successful commercial enterprise and valuable tourist asset to the local economy set the standard for forest design that is followed by Forestry Commission Wales today.

Rachel Chamberlain, Operations Manager for the Forestry Commission Wales Grants and Regulation team, said, “George’s long term vision to create jobs and opportunities in the rural economy – both through timber production as well as recreational activities – is the perfect model of sustainable woodland management. With the help of Better Woodlands for Wales grants over the past 35 years, he has successfully taken on a commercial conifer woodland producing high quality timber and added tourism and mountain biking. We’re delighted to have just approved his management plan for the woodland for the next five years, so we look forward to Coed Trallwm going from strength to strength.”

The secret of the Johnsons’ success is to have created a wild destination for adrenaline junkies and those seeking quiet relaxation, while embracing best practice in woodland management which delivers employment and income.

Several derelict buildings were converted into eight self-catering holiday cottages during the 1980s, along with a reflexology treatment room.

A visit to the Forestry Commission Wales centre at Coed-y-Brenin, North Wales, provided the inspiration to invest in a mountain bike trail in 2001 to attract visitors to the cottages and, with the addition of a café, parking and toilets, as well as the other biking essentials such as showers, bike wash and maps, the trail centre was born.
Coed Trallwm has now established itself as a location for all sorts of activities, hosting walking, mountain biking and enduro events. The centre has also been used for meetings by groups such as vintage car clubs, Women’s Institute and the National Trust.


Coed Trallwm’s new-found status as a recreation magnet is underpinned by a solid commercial business which generates up to 10,000 cubic metres of timber every year for local sawmills such as BSW at Newbridge, or for biomass and round fencing.

“Managing the forest as both an attractive place for walkers and cyclists and as a productive forest has equal importance,” said George. “Some areas of the forest are being slowly converted to Continuous Cover Forestry (CCF), which involves gradual thinning of different sized trees to create an interesting, productive and attractive woodland with trees of different ages and sizes. But we still re-stock around 10,000 trees a year after felling so it’s important to make it clear to holiday guests, who may not understand what’s going on, that this is a working forest, while at the same time try to minimise the impact on their enjoyment.”

Balancing these conflicting demands has become a real family affair. While son Will and son-in-law Chris oversee the forestry side of the business, daughter Mary and Harri, who are due to be married in May, took over management of the recreation facilities in 2009 and, with the help of a new website, have raised the turnover by 20%.

George said, “Coed Trallwm now supports three families, including Christine and me. With the support of Forestry Commission Wales – and a lot of hard work over the years – we are finally living the dream we had all those years ago.”