Rewilding Mickleton

Many thanks to those who have responded to the call for photos showing what they have achieved either by planting native wild flowers, or allowing nature to take its course. This unusual weather appears to have made flowering later this year so you may yet find more colour in your patch.   This is the area planted by the children in the school play area. Jill emailed to say that the verges outside her house and the 'triangle' nearby (the only public space made available for rewilding) have a lovely range of grasses, vetch, buttercups and there are a few cornflowers coming too. As expected the grasses dominate but the habitat produced is a haven for many pollinators and invertebrates. She writes: 'I am pleased with the positive impact on the environment by creating an insect friendly area. Here's hoping we can have larger areas unmown next year. If we are to plant wildflowers we will need to scarify and remove turf, prior to Autumn seed planting'. Top left is the re

A report just published by the UK Government's own Environmental Audit Committee confirms that the  UK is now one of the most nature-depleted countries in a world where a million animal and plant species are threatened with extinction. A   't oothless Government policy and insufficient targets to stem the tide of biodiversity los s' mean the UK  has the worst nature record amongst all G7 countries.  T he ambition may be there, but a poorly-mixed cocktail of ambitious targets, superficial strategies, funding cuts and lack of expertise is severely limiting any tangible progress. There will be a new opportunity to challenge this when a strengthened CEE (Climate and Emergency Bill) gets its Second Reading in September with the cross party support of over 100 MPs. We should take every opportunity to lobby our MPs give it their support. So what can we do personally to help improve wildlife?  Well we've made a good start - just look at the earlier postings on this blog; we hav

Can you believe this was a building site in 2019! Fortunately the planners designated some of the area to be seeded with wildflowers. The landscape contractors are now following the management plan and not mowing for the growing season. We now have a lovely sea of oxeye daisies. However they are not alone, over the last 4 weeks I have been recording all the flowering plants I spot when walking the dog. These are just snaps fromthe phone, I have identified 28 different species! Some obviously were in the seed mix, some were already here and a couple are the native hedge. Such a wonderful mix to help our insects.  More species of plants are budding up and hopefully will feed the insects over the summer and autumn.  It has been quite challenging working but well worth the effort. It is a wonderful sight to see, but please remember not to pick the wildflowers. The management of the Oak Grange estate is funded by the residents alone. The Glorious Cotswold Grassland project has kindly given

How to get X10 more bees in your 'locked down' garden May is the time when many of us get on with jobs in the garden including competing with our neighbours for that classic British ‘bowling green’ stripe. Many of us have had no choice letting our hair grow during lockdown. Why not break with tradition and do the same for at least a small part of your garden? And that includes dandelions! Traditionally this is the time of year when a whole host of lawnmowers begin to appear in British gardens. I say ‘traditionally’ as the temperature here this morning is 6C!  Nevertheless I am already beginning to see some colour emerging on the wild flower patch I planted here a year ago.  Research undertaken by citizen scientists across the UK who have taken part in  the largest-ever survey of the humble lawn  Plantlife’s  Every Flower Counts   - reveal not only the astonishing diversity of wild flowers growing on Britain’s lawns, but that incredibly simple changes in mowing can result in eno

In his last letter to his wife before he died on the Antarctic Expedition to the North Pole in 1912, Captain Robert Scott included these words "make the boy interested in natural history if you can; it is better than games". In our present generation we might add 'computer games'! Sir Peter Scott, Founder of the Wildflower  and Wetlands Trust, and Co-Founder of WWF International (now the World Wide Fund for Nature)  eventually became the first conservationist to receive a Knighthood for his services to conservation.  Peter carried this passion for  communication throughout his life and took every opportunity to ensure that there was an educational element to all the conservation programmes with which he was involved. What better way to interest our youngsters at Mickleton Primary School in 'natural history' than to involve them in planting wildflowers. This is exactly what took place in school today with the encouragement of the Head Teacher and the enthusiast

Glorious Cotswold Grasslands is an exciting and ambitious project which aims to create the largest network of wildflower rich Jurassic limestone grassland in the country – around 100 hectares in total, over three years.  In the 1930s, 40% of the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) was covered in wildflower-rich grassland; today less than 1.5% remains.  This habitat was once abundant with beautiful wildflowers, and supported a vast diversity of wildlife, including butterflies, bees, bats, birds, and many other animals. Sadly, agricultural intensification and changing land management practices has led to the loss of almost all this grassland.  Over half of the country’s flower-rich Jurassic limestone grassland is found in the Cotswolds.  Glorious Cotswold Grasslands aims to reverse the decline in these habitats, by restoring and creating wildflower grasslands throughout the Cotswolds AONB. T he Cotswolds Conservation Board has been awarded a grant of over £200,000 from the

For many of us it’s spotting the first butterflies that mean Spring is really here. The 59 species of UK butterflies (including 2 regular migrants) are some of our most attractive insects, but like many other species, their n umbers have declined dramatically over the last 50 years perhaps by as much as 50%. Major threats include  loss of habitat (especially food plants), continuing use of chemicals pesticides, and climate change. The earliest species on the wing are normally those that have overwintered in a dormant state as adult butterflies. The yellow B rimstone butterfly , named after an archaic word for sulphur, is one of the first butterflies we see flying in spring. That's because it steals a march on many other species by over-wintering as an adult, often among clusters of ivy leaves where its pale underwings camouflage it superbly.  The Brimstone has a very long proboscis, so it can reach nectar on flowers which most other UK butterflies cannot, such as runner beans and t

Caroline: 'This is what I get beeing in my garden without pesticides' Most people are familiar with honey bees and bumblebees, but those who observe more closely will have noticed there are smaller furry bees moving from flower to flower. There are around 20,000 described bee species worldwide. Most of these bees are known as solitary bees with only 250 bumblebee species, 9 honey bee species and a number of social stingless bees worldwide. In Britain we have around 270 species of bee, just under 250 of which are solitary bees. These bees can be amazingly effective pollinators and as the name suggests tend not to live in colonies like bumblebees and honey bees. ' As a little head space activity I have been bee watching - something I started in lock down. This is what you get without pesticides' . (Caroline) Below are photos of some of the interesting early ground-nesting bees which were busy in Caroline's garden in the early Spring sunshine. I have also noticed many

Despite the bitter wind half a dozen enthusiastic rewilders turned out to give the 3Bs Community Wildlife Garden behind the Methodist Church some maintenance. Much of the rough grass on the banks was strimmed off (and removed) and the entire 'annuals' wildflower patch was dug over and re-seeded with what should be a brightly coloured display of poppies, cornflowers, corncockle and corn marigolds.  Meanwhile packs of wildflower seeds for families to plant in small plots in their own gardens were left out for collection outside the Methodist Church, in Oak Grange and outside Jill and Andy's at the end of the high Street. By lunchtime, the majority of the packs had been taken so we look forward to seeing some photos of  'private' displays in due course. A further strip of land has now been offered for planting close to the school. It needs some work but if you are prepared to remove turf from 1 sqm of this area, please let us know.  Jill has kindly set up a new email