News

Moles get an unfair press. As part of our native fauna, there’s a lot to be said for moles, and molehills are more useful that you might imagine… Moles (Talpa europaea) are a common insectivore, akin to hedgehogs and shrews, living an almost entirely subterranean existence. Perennial stories of the mole population ‘exploding’ usually originate …

The inescapable hedgerow blossom and emerging fresh, vivid green leaves make for rewarding hedgerow walks. Watching a hedge slowly wake up is a great way to notice how many species it holds. Honeysuckle is often first to emerge, joining the ever-steady holly in leaf. Next come the thorns. One easy way of telling hawthorn and …

…the barks, screams, snorts, and chatter of our wild neighbours, says David Wembridge In the roundup of local crime figures in St Elwick’s Neighbourhood Association Newsletter Podcast, Mike Wozniak reports a case of mistaken identity: ‘On the night of the twelfth, at about two AM, police received several reports of a fight between an old …

Survey hedgerows The lengthening days bring with them temperamental weather, swinging from showers to glorious sunshine that sparkles on waterways and bounces off fresh green growth. They also announce the start of People’s Trust for Endangered Species’ survey season. This time of year offers the chance for people across the UK to get involved in …

Mid-Cornwall Moors span some 1650 hectares of wet and dry heaths, mires and broad-leaved woodland, between Bodmin and Indian Queens. Although the area’s on the western edge of the dormouse range in England, it’s home to several National Dormouse Monitoring Programme (NDMP) sites and several incidental records have also been reported from the area. Monitoring …

Celia Carter has been monitoring dormice in Marden Park, a large area of Woodland Trust land, on North Downs in Woldingham, Surrey since 2005. She tells us how What3Words (W3W) has made searching for dormouse boxes, and hopefully dormice, easier. Searching for dormouse nest boxes The woodland here is dense and in summer there’s quite …

In the Chinese zodiac, 2023 is the year of the rabbit. If that means we think about them as more than just a pest in the countryside, that’s a good thing because rabbits play an important part in shaping the British landscape. Rabbits only really took off in the wild after about 1750. Before then, …

In 2022, nine organisations took part in a trial investigating the effectiveness of using floating rafts to detect water voles by providing them floating platforms for their latrines (droppings). Water voles are naturally inquisitive, and it didn’t take long for them to explore the rafts and use them as artificial feeding platforms where they would …

North-eastern Kenya continues to experience its worst drought in 40 years In Garissa County, East Kenya, our colleague Dr Abdullahi Ali Hussein is fighting against the effects of the drought. Many wild animals, especially those dependent on grass, are dying due to the severely dry conditions. Giraffes, hirola antelope, desert warthogs, Beisa oryx, Grevy’s zebras, …

The Wood Pasture and Parkland Network (WPPN) is a working group of conservation professionals from a number of different organisations who meet quarterly to share information, promote a wider understanding of the habitat and provide advice on its protection. We usually meet virtually, but once a year we meet in person at an exemplary or …

Countryside specialists Countryside Jobs Service (CJS) is an ethical business working in harmony with environmental professionals to conserve the British countryside and natural world. They’re motivated by conservation success not profits, and their website provides a one-stop shop for everyone in the countryside, conservation, ecology and wildlife sectors. We’re delighted to have been chosen as CJS’s featured …

Restoring Broadwater Warren Broadwater Warren – a 180ha nature reserve – was acquired by the RSPB in 2007. It’s a remnant of Waterdown Forest, a medieval hunting forest in the High Weald where, historically, the landscape would have been open heath with pockets of woodland. RSPB’s aim was to restore rare lowland heath and woodland …