DIY Pond Update - Dragonflies!

 The pond is flourishing and many of the tadpoles have now turned into froglets, which can make for a perilous journey when walking up the garden to view the pond with the little frogs adventuring all around the lawn. At this stage there are tadpoles and froglets in varying stages of development and most of the first froglets to appear have now left the pond it would seem and started to disperse.

 

The pond has also attracted dragonflies, which have been mating on the pond. Most of the those I have photographed appear to be Large Red Damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula) with a couple of Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum) also spotted on plants around the ponds edge!

Large Red Damselfly

Common Blue Damselfly

The larvae these mating pairs (pictured below) will produce will benefit from the submerged oxygenating plants I originally put into the pond and help to create a healthy habitat.

  

 

 I am very pleased the pond is attracting other wildlife, despite originally being designed to save the plague of frogs that had appeared! It gives a lot of enjoyment, going out to look at what is happening and seeing if anything new has appeared. I really would recommend getting a pond in your garden if you have the space for it and an interest in wildlife, I have spent numerous occasions sitting outside and watching all the goings on in there! As well as this, over the past century so many ponds have been lost, usually due to being filled in. By creating a pond for wildlife in your own garden, it will help replace lost habitats for species such as dragonflies and create a healthy network around the country, as well as providing a fantastic place for you to observe and enjoy in the comfort of your own garden.

Mumbling on : Land Management and Conservation in UK National Parks.

During my Master's degree, I took part in a trip to Snowdonia National Park in Wales, to learn about and experience land management practices and conservation work within this well known location. 

Agriculture and forestry are the 2 dominant industries within Snowdonia and are potentially the most likely to conflict with other land management and conservation efforts. There are departments set up within  National Resources Wales to oversee forestry business within the park which is very important to the local economy. The forestry sector looks to conserve, enhance and improve native broad-leaved woodlands by providing advice, grant aid and assistance. Work is carried out in liaison with the Forestry Commission and the forestry industries within the park on their felling and restocking programmes as well as the enhancement of the forest landscapes. From what we saw, this is a very regulated and structured industry that has little effect on the overall environmental objectives for Snowdonia National Park. The forestry industry here prides itself on its sustainability and has a good track record of effective restocking but also creating natural broad-leaved woodlands to become reserves for the benefit of biodiversity in the area.

Visiting the forestry sector in the park.
Forestry and agriculture are the two dominant industries in Snowdonia National Park.

Agriculture has been the biggest factor in shaping the landscape within Snowdonia National Park. Many areas are lacking in foliage due to intensive grazing and free roaming animals that graze throughout the park without boundaries, from the lowest areas up to the peaks. This practice is considered cultural heritage and this land has been farmed for hundreds of years with many of the current farmers being descendants of the first that started farming here. The landscape is damaged, quite noticeably, predominantly due to the farming practices that have been going on here for so long. When discussing the ideal number of sheep per square meters of land, conservation experts have been quoted, suggesting that the only way this habitat can ever recover and prosper, is through the removal of all the grazing livestock entirely. However this is very unlikely to ever occur, which means that there must be compromises to allow conservation efforts to continue alongside agricultural work.

As beautiful the scenery is, this landscape should ideally be covered in foliage,
instead it is barren and void of trees, largely due to grazing animals such as sheep.

There have been numerous initiatives in Snowdonia to help with this issue and balance the needs of local farms with environmental and conservation objectives. At the time of my visit, Tir Gofal, which translates to "Land Care", was the agri-environmental scheme which many farmers were switching over to. This scheme was jointly funded by the UK Government and the EU and would offer the farmers payment for careful management of their land. Farmers are encouraged to manage their land in a more environmentally friendly way and this is done by offering financial incentives to protect wildlife and existing habitats. Grants are also given to help with the creation of new habitats as well as to encourage better public access and protect the landscape including historical and archaeological features. One of the farmers I met was getting financial help through Tir Gofal and this saw him managing and improving a stream that ran through his land which sat in a large valley. The management of this waterway had brought back otters to the area, thus fulfilling his requirement to help wildlife as part of the scheme.

Agri-environment schemes are definitely the way forward. As well as giving local and family run farms much needed financial aid, they help to provide a balance, allowing agricultural practices to proceed whilst protecting the natural environment, habitats and wildlife.

The overgrazing culprit!

It will be interesting to monitor the progress of conservation work within Snowdonia National Park considering the huge obstacles they face in returning habitats to more natural states. The park authorities have come up with many new and innovative projects such as catchment sensitive farming, peatland restoration and hedgerow implementation, to help improve the environment of the area, conserve biodiversity and protect the park for the future. 

Overall, it was a great experience seeing conservation and land management in action in Snowdonia National Park. It is a beautiful location that makes for numerous enjoyable walks and days out as well as having lots of interesting history and culture.

More information can be found at : http://www.eryri-npa.gov.uk/home

Vultures! Misunderstood and in need of conservation.

Vultures are a bird that many people find repulsive due to their "ugly" appearance and scavenger feeding behaviours, but they are a vital part of many ecosystems and play an important role in stopping the spread of diseases.

White-backed Vulture (Gyps africanus)
[ Old World Vulture ]

Vultures will never hunt live prey, instead scavenging on dead animal carcasses. The rapidity that they are attracted to a new corpse has led to them sometimes being mistaken for killing livestock. The California Condor (Gymnogyps californianus) was a victim of this, on occasion being witnessed feeding off of cattle carcasses. This led to persecution and the strong opposition to conservation programmes to reintroduce them to areas as people feared they would kill their livestock.

The acid in a vultures stomach is key to making them such an effective scavenger, and it is this that helps them to be so important in reducing diseases in the ecosystem. The acid is highly corrosive and can digest diseases such as cholera, anthrax and rabies, removing them and so preventing the spread to other wildlife and people. This acid can also be used as an effective defence mechanism, vomiting at predators in order to drive them away.

California Condor (Gymnogyps californianus)
[ New World Vulture ]

The two groups of vultures are named "Old World" and "New World". New World Vultures, i.e California Condor , are generally found in the Americas and are characterised by their unusually good sense of smell. The Old World Vultures, i.e White-backed Vulture (Gyps africanus), are more widespread, found in Europe, Africa and Asia and rely on their sight to find food.

On a trip to South Africa a couple of years ago I was fortunate enough to visit a wildlife rehabilitation centre called Moholoholo, which among numerous different species would also rescue vultures, unfortunatly often persecuted in this part of the world. The vultures would be released back into the wild but supported by the centre for a short while after by feeding them every so often through putting out an animal carcass.

Photographs I took of the vultures feeding at Moholoholo.

I saw many vultures on this trip, a huge bonus for me as I find them particularly fascinating. On safari I saw critically endangered White-backed vultures and vulnerable Lappet-faced vultures (Torgos tracheliotos). These species work hand in hand together in the African wilds. When an animal dies and the vultures descend, the Lappet-faced vulture uses its specially designed beak for tearing open the thick skin and outer flesh, opening up the carcass for the White-backed vultures to get inside. Without this the White-backed vultures would not be able to penetrate the carcass and do their vital clean up job.

The photographs below are ones I took at Moholoholo of rescued birds, showing the differences between their beaks, it is very easy to see how they are shaped in order to carry out specific roles.

<-- Lappet-faced vulture, with its bigger, sharper, hooked beak.

White-backed vulture, -->
with longer reaching beak, designed for eating inner parts of the carcass.

A while back I watched a programme on vultures called "Vultures - Beauty in the Beast" which was aired on the BBC as part of the Natural World series. This show gave a wonderful representation for a quite poorly understood animal, and was educational as well as entertaining. 

It helps to highlight the need for greater education on this highly important and misunderstood animal and conservation efforts to protect them, as unfortunately the majority of vultures in the world have decreasing population trends and are classed as near-threatened if not already critically endangered in some cases, such as the White-backed vulture and the California Condor.

More information on Vultures - Beauty in the Beast can be found here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03sfvhd and I would highly recommend watching it, it's a great programme! 

To find out more about Moholoholo and the great rescue and rehabilitation work that they do in South Africa, their website is : http://www.moholoholo.co.za

One of my favourite photographs from my South Africa trip,
vultures captured resting at sunset.

World Migratory Bird Day! - Remembering Blakeney.

This weekend celebrates World Migratory Bird Day. This is an annual event held in the second weekend of May to raise awareness about migratory birds and highlight the issues faced and the need for conservation of the birds and their habitats. The event brought back a great memory of when I went to study little terns (Sternula albifrons), a migratory species to the UK, for my Master's degree thesis.

The poster for 2015's World Migratory Bird Day, with the theme "Energy".

It was last summer that I spent a month living and working at Blakeney Point, which is located on the north Norfolk coast in England. The area is a reserve and is currently owned and managed by the National Trust.  The location is renowned for being a great wildlife hotspot for a variety of species, but particularly its migratory birds. The little tern is one of the many species of migratory seabirds that can be found here alongside others of the tern family including the sandwich (Sterna sandvicensis) and common tern (Sterna hirundo). As a result of this, Blakeney Point has been designated as one of the most important sites in Europe for ground nesting terns.

One of the many signs surrounding
the colonies at Blakeney.

The Point received its Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) designation in 1954 and is now also protected under UK law as a Special Protection Area (SPA) and is also a RAMSAR site. 

Little Terns have been a regular summer visitor to Blakeney Point since records began and nest in colonies at a few locations spread out up along the beach as well as sharing colonies with other terns at the tip of the point. Currently the biggest threats to the birds are high tides, natural predators, dogs and human disturbance. Some of the colonies have previously been lost due to being washed away and destroyed due to storms and high tides that lead to flooding, a threat that will increase in severity with the challenges associated with climate change. 

My study, "Sternula albifrons sheltering behaviour and preferences; is there potential for artificial shelters to increased productivity at Blakeney Point?" gained purpose due to a storm and tidal surge that occurred in the winter of 2013 which caused heavy damage to the shingle ridge that is commonly used by colonies of little terns. This left the ridge barren and void of foliage, which the terns rely upon for shelter. As a result it was decided that they may benefit from artificial shelters being put into the colony to reduce the impact of the loss of foliage. This has been carried out in the past in other countries and locations with varying success, and my study was going to discover whether this could be a viable technique to increase little tern productivity here and lessen the impacts of any more extreme weather events.

My home for the month,
the old lifeboat house owned by UCL.

In order to cause less disturbance, I visited Blakeney in the spring, to put out the shelters before the birds started to arrive. Fences and signs were put up around the usual colony locations to stop the public from walking through and disturbing the nesting birds or treading on and destroying eggs and nests.

Out every day to get data,
no matter what the weather is like!

Research began in June, once all of the terns had arrived, started nesting, and chicks were beginning to hatch. It was important to monitor if the chicks were using the shelters to hide, as this was key to my research. Little tern chicks rely heavily on their superb camouflage during their early stages of life to protect them from predation. This tends to be reasonably successful, but it can make your life very difficult if you are trying to keep track of numerous chicks at the same time and monitor their behaviour!

 

My view, monitoring the colony.

For the first part of the study, I was observing 6 chicks in the colony where the shelters were placed and towards the end of the study, unfortunately only one was left. This tern chick was affectionately named "Beast" due to its aggression towards neighbouring nesting ringed plovers (Charadrius hiaticula), consistently facing up to bigger birds, perhaps the reason for its success. 

Little tern chick being fitted with coloured leg rings.

The project also involved placing camera traps in the colonies, to attempt to catch footage of birds using the shelters. This gave some good entertainment, with inquisitive starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) and oystercatchers (Haematopus ostralegus)  poking around in front of the lens. Towards the end of my time there, some members of the RSPB turned up during research and we were able to be involved in the catching and ringing of chicks in the larger colony so that their migration and success can be monitored.

My study learnt that little tern chicks spend the majority of their time in some form of shelter but this slowly decreases in time with age. Nearer to their time of fledging, chicks spent on average 15% less time sheltering than they did post-hatching. Unfortunatly, strong conclusions could not be drawn on whether the use of artificial shelters would increase the productivity of little terns due to the small sample size and the fact that only Beast fledged successfully from this colony, the same as the previous year with only one successful individual.  The whole trip was a once in a lifetime experience, though i'll definitely go back there if I can.

Little terns on the beach.

I would recommend Blakeney Point to all bird enthusiasts or anyone who enjoys beautiful locations and interesting varieties of wildlife. For more information about the Blakeney National Nature Reserve and planning trips there, visit the National Trust website at: http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/blakeney/

Protecting plants from cats entering your garden.

When growing vegetables or flowers in the garden, it is often the same offenders that keep coming in to damage beds, uproot seeds, dig holes and defecate. So how best to deal with a problem like free roaming cats? In the area around my partners home this has been a big issue for us as there are huge numbers of domestic cats in the surrounding area.

Here are some ideas and options available, most have been tested by me, with a couple of other ideas that I am potentially going to try in the future.

1. Strong smells.

1.1. Coffee and Orange. An option that has been recommended is using orange peels and coffee grinds as they are smells that cats hate. Many people have said that they did not find this works, and I am reluctant to be putting food  in the garden like this due to potentially attracting foxes which could be as much of a nuisance as the cats! These also need to be replenished often, especially after rain, so it is not a particularly long term or sustainable option for most people.

1.2. Fragrant Plants. We tried this using Lavender plants for a double purpose of attracting bees to the garden as well as keeping the cats away and haven't found it to be particularly effective for the latter. It has been said that plants such as Lavender, Geranium, Pennyroyal and Lemon Thyme can be good for deterring cats, whilst the top option and believed to be the most effective is Rue, which we have not tried out yet.

One of the newer lavender plants added to the garden.

 2. Netting over beds.

If you have a raised bed, which is a good idea to have when growing vegetables in particular, placing garden netting or chicken wire over the top can directly protect seedlings and small plants whilst they become established. This has worked well for us in the past, but once the plants grow large enough, it needs to be removed so no longer offers protection.

Our raised bed ready for planting, but also potentially an oversized litter tray in the eyes of a cat!

3. Direct barriers.

 The single most effective way I have found of protecting the beds was using garden wire and fairly lightweight fencing to construct a temporary fence around the edge of the bed. This is not a cheap option but will definitely keep your plants safe from animals looking to dig a toilet. Furthermore it can be re-used each season if you create a mobile fence that can be lifted off and placed back down when required.

4. Uneven surfaces.

It has been said that cats dislike walking on uncomfortable and uneven surfaces. Placing bush clippings such as brambles, rose bush branches and the like around the planting patch could stop cats from coming any closer. I have not tried this out myself but it seems that this is definitely a viable option, although it could be a bit untidy, so it depends on your preferences!

Thorny clippings.

5. "Cat Repeller."

I have been looking at the motion sensor repellents that use a high frequency sound that is only able to be heard by cats as it is off the spectrum for most people. With a motion sensor rather than a continous sound, it is hoped that a cat will be less likely to become desensitised to the noise which can occur if they notice that the noise is just random and not associated with them entering a particular area. I am going to research these further to find out more about them and to be sure they are not going to effect any other wildlife. If I am confident it will not have any negative impacts, I will buy one and write a review on its effectiveness in the future, so watch this space! :)

Conservation of Smelt in the River Thames.

In March I went to a training day to become a volunteer citizen scientist for the project, "Conservation of Smelt (Osmerus eperlanus) in the Tidal Thames. which is currently being run by the Zoological Society of London. My role is to carry out regular weekly surveying at our allocated site in Westminster. 

The project was given funding in order to locate the areas that Smelt are breeding in the Thames. The fish was once very common in the river but due to pollution and habitat destruction they disappeared, recently seeing a return due to improvements in water quality.  This project is necessary as the species is still threatened and is very important as an indicator of good estuary health as well as for a balanced ecosystem.

Myself and Charlotte surveying.

Our bag of equipment contains items such as a ruler,
charts for the identification of species and a magnifying glass.

Surveying is carried out at low tide, so we may also try and find any eggs or hiding elver under rocks in the water. So far we haven't found any Smelt fry or eggs, but they have been found at other locations being surveyed across the river such as Putney and Hammersmith. Unfortunatly it is beginning to look like our site isn't very attractive to fish!

We have however, found many snails, amphipods and worms! Often when we turn up there are some interesting visitors, such as these ducks which are usually seen swimming nearby or napping on the river bank before we come down and disturb them.

For more information on the project, feel free to visit: http://www.zsl.org/conservation/smelt-osmerus-eperlanus and the ZSL Twitter for updates.

My Red-eared slider find.

I currently volunteer locally at a place called Lee Valley Regional Park. Here I meet up with the regular bunch of conservation volunteers carrying out practical tasks and activities in the parks green and open spaces.

Last week on a clean-up of Walthamstow Marshes, I was surprised when I spotted a Red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta elegans) on the bank of the stream! I brought this to the attention of the ranger leading the activity and he phoned the management to see if they would need it removed. This area is a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest and this sub-species of pond slider is invasive in the UK, so it was to be taken away to a wildlife centre who had agreed to collect it and take care of it from there onwards.

"Terry."

 This one could have been an escapee, or was deliberately released. Originally found in southern USA and Mexico, the first sliders were introduced to the UK as unwanted pets that grew larger than expected. A boom came about from the popularity of the children's television show "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" and this species in particular has become the most widely traded pet turtle in the world.

FrogFest continued..

 The pond was completed just in time as it was only a couple of days before the pond was full of frogspawn!

At this stage I left the pond well alone to allow the spawn to develop and see what happens. I was hoping the pond would be well enough established by the time the tadpoles were ready so there could be enough food for them to be successful.

There was fairly warm weather during this period and so the tadpoles began to come out in a couple of weeks and suddenly there was a boom of activity in the pond.

Hundreds and hundreds of tadpoles all started spawning. It appeared that the majority of the frogs had dispersed by this time, only one was seen occasionally popping up to the surface but there is a possibility that there were more still in there.

 

I was concerned considering how new the pond was, that there was not going to be enough food availability yet. After some research I went and bought some fish flakes and sprinkled some in, triggering what can only be described as a feeding frenzy. Originally I wasn't sure how they would take to them but clearly tadpoles are quite keen on goldfish flakes!

Currently the tadpoles seem to be developing well, the weather has been incredibly good and has created ideal conditions for them. So hopefully they will have some success and I will see a few froglets in the near future!

FrogFest

Being the beginning of spring, it was time to start planting some seeds in the garden. The garden hadn't seen much activity over the winter so it was great to get out there again. Disturbingly, a dead frog lay on the lawn. Upon further inspection, it would appear the frog may have been attracted to a small collection of filthy water that had gathered at the back of the garden, reserved as the re-wilded nature area. I poked around in the water to see if anything was in there, and was confronted by another dead frog floating in the water. Concerned that perhaps this was attracting unsuspecting frogs to their doom, I decided to empty it out and fill in the hole. Whilst netting out the dead frog, it became apparent that this was home to live frogs as well! A total of eight individuals were found living in this tiny bit of water, including two currently breeding pairs.

Competition for the female.

The frogs were briefly transferred to a box filled with cleaner rain water whilst I scooped them out of the sludge in order to make a count. Contemplating this predicament, the logical next step seemed clear ..... Make a proper pond! And so started a new garden project. Aware that there was potential that the two breeding pairs were ready to lay their spawn any time soon, time was of the essence. I researched pond creation online and created a plan of action.

Digging!

The next day I rose early to get started on the pond. I began by marking out the area and shape using string and proceeded to dig it out for a good 3 hours. The pond ended up a lot deeper than I planned, I must have got a bit carried away! I created different levels of depth and the front area had a sloped shelf that would hopefully allow for easy access as well as escape for any other wildlife that may fall in.

The completed hole.

Considering this was the first project of this sort I have ever attempted, the dimensions were not perfect and it wasn't entirely flat at the bottom due to limited tool availability. However, a trip to B&Q got me some nice cheap bags of sand as well as a pond liner, which was *JUST* big enough! Phew. The sand worked well to smooth out the hole and prepare it for the pond liner to avoid it getting punctured, and using a bag of large pebbles I also bought from the store, I placed the liner and secured it with the pebbles placed around the edges.

At this point, it was starting to get dark, and there was only time to half-fill the pond and begin to put in the shingle base, so the rest had to wait until the next morning once it was light again.

I went out early in the morning to check on the frogs, and all 8 had moved from the temporary container to the half-filled unfinished pond.. along with 12 extra frogs that had arrived over night!!!

The shelf design was definitely going to be a hit.

I can only assume they were pleased with what I had so far created considering they all got in immediately despite it only being half done! I proceeded to continue filling up the pond before heading out to buy some aquatic plants from a specialist shop nearby I had looked up. I was mainly interested in oxygenators to keep the water healthy as well as providing food and shelter for the frogs and, hopefully, tadpoles. I ended up with a nice variety of oxygenating plants, native to the UK.

My submerged plants included Hornwort (Ceratophyllum demersum) and Curled Pondweed (Potamogeton cristpus). A Slender Club Rush (Isolepis cernua), which is a small oxygenating grass, was planted on the main shelf. The submerged plants were planted in pots and stones were used on top to keep them in place and sink them to the bottom of the pond.

Hornwort

The next step of the project will be to make the edges of the pond tidier and more natural, with an overall aim of planting some other varieties of flora around the sides for aesthetics as well as protection. But for now, the pond is completed and the frogs have somewhere decent to stop by, and hopefully this will mean a reduction in fatalities in the garden!