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Have you ever heard someone say “I live in the city and don't have a garden; there's nothing I can really do for wildlife”? I wonder whether these people have ever stopped to think about what can actually be done in the smallest space to attract wildlife? Indeed, have you?
If you are lucky enough to have a balcony, there are numerous plants which thrive in pots and will attract insects, hoverflies, bees and butterflies. Lavender is easy to keep in pots, or even window boxes, and just needs cutting back at the end of the summer. Bumble bees love it and although you're unlikely to attract goldfinches to a balcony there's always a chance you'll be lucky since the seed heads are one of their favourite foods.
Teasel loves wasteland so is easy to grow too. You could plant it in the same pots as the lavender, though it is too tall for those window boxes! Sedum's pink or white blooms arrive later in the summer, and red admiral butterflies love it. Thyme, rosemary and marjoram (oregano) will give you not only flowers covered with bees and other insects, but also a beautiful scent, and organically grown herbs to add to your cooking. You can cut them and hang them to dry to be used through the winter. If you grow chives, be sure to let some of them flower too, as the bees also love them.
If you have a small yard, or a larger balcony, you have the option of small shrubs such as dwarf buddleia or lilac, which will attract butterflies. And with a little DIY skill you could fix some brackets to the wall for hanging baskets. Try marigolds for the butterflies alongside hanging varieties of tomato for yourself, or bird feeders. Remember not to wash the balcony railings too often either, as a little moss growth will provide shelter for insects and spiders, and you'll soon find blue tits visiting to take advantage of this easy food.
Even with all this wildlife, there's no need for you to vacate your balcony. Keep a couple of chairs out there, sit out regularly and quietly enjoy the sunshine and you will be surprised by the extent to which the delightful buzzing activity is comfortable with your presence.
When thinking about carnivorous plants, it is hard to imagine them existing in the wild outside of tropical jungles. Actually, there are species found right here in Cumbria, although generally much smaller and often overlooked.
Drosera is a carnivorous plant that inhabits boggy, wet ground. It is more commonly called sundew, a name that came about due to the glistening properties of a dewy substance that covers the leaves. This dewy substance is called mucilage, and is vital in catching insects, the main food source for this plant.
Insects are attracted to the glistening, sweet-smelling mucilage, which is secreted from glands on the plant, but upon landing become trapped in the sticky substance. The struggling insect triggers thigmonasty, a process in which the outer tentacles of the plant bend in towards the centre, bringing a greater volume of enzyme-secreting glands towards the insect. Some species of Drosera have also evolved in such a way that they are able to fold their leaves around the unfortunate creature, ensuring the insect is completely smothered in mucilage.
Glands then exude a number of digestive enzymes, which break down the fleshy sections of the insect’s body, and free up nutrients which can be absorbed through the leaf surface. The leaves then unfold, exposing the remaining exoskeleton to be removed through wind or rain, and once again prepare to ensnare their next victim. Sundews most commonly consume small insects as they lack the muscle power to escape, however, sundews have also been known to consume craneflies, damselflies and butterflies. These fleshy meals supplement the poor nutrient levels found in the boggy grounds in which they grow, enabling the plant to complete its life cycle.
Sundews are found on many Cumbria Wildlife Trust nature reserves around the county, including Drumburgh Moss and Butterburn Flow. To find out more, visit http://www.cumbriawildlifetrust.org.uk/discover-cumbrias-nature-reserves.html.
Round-leaved sundew
This winter has been exceptionally cold in Cumbria, with long stretches of time where even the daytime temperature has not climbed above freezing and the night temperatures have plummeted well below. Any gardener or nature watcher can see the effects of cold weather on plants – when the temperature hovers around freezing, leaves droop. This is partly due to the effect of ice crystals forming within the cells and damaging them. In addition, the tiny pores on the leaves - which allow water vapour to pass in and out - lock open in cold weather. This means that the plant loses too much water and the leaves wilt, as if there was a summer drought.
On the other hand, many plants benefit from cold weather. Native bulbs such as wild snowdrops and daffodils need a lengthy period of low temperatures in order to flourish.
Most plants are highly sensitive to ‘thermal time’, which means that in order to flower, a bulb needs to experience a fixed amount of low temperatures. When this chill requirement (the vernalisation period) is achieved, the plant then produces a hormone to trigger flower production. From then on, the plant needs warmer spring temperatures for shoots to grow and blossoms to flourish.
The longer the cold period, the better the resulting display of flowers is likely to be. The plant has had a lengthy period of dormancy (resting), so its growth is more vigorous. Severe frosts and snow also kill off harmful fungi and bacteria, so the plant remains healthier.
So while we shiver through the next month, we can look forward to a spectacular display of native flowers carpeting our woodlands when the weather warms up.
It is definitely on the chilly side at the moment and I am fighting the urge to stay safely snuggled up by the fire with a generous supply of chocolate. Birds are migrating to areas with a good food source, such as the influx of winter thrushes and waxwings to our shores. Many other animals are hibernating or doing their best to survive. But what happens to our insects when the temperatures plummet?
Insects form part of the arthropods, animals with exoskeletons, which make up around 80% of the world’s biodiversity. They exist in enormous numbers but are rather small in size when compared to us. And if you think we struggle to survive in sub zero temperatures, much smaller insects must have developed efficient coping strategies.
The main problems for terrestrial insects are to protect themselves from the cold and to find enough food to keep going throughout the winter. Some strategies are seemingly harsh. Only fertilised female bumble bees survive the winter by hibernating, whilst the remaining bees die. Other insects migrate. This year summer numbers of painted lady butterflies migrated from the continent over to the UK. Another of our favourite summer migrants is the red admiral butterfly, which breeds here then heads over to milder southern Europe or positively balmy North Africa for winter. Interestingly though, the numbers of red admirals over-wintering is on the increase.
Some insects in the UK have evolved so their breeding cycle is during the winter months. The winter moth is seen from late Autumn until January and February. They have evolved to breed in the winter so that the eggs hatch when the spring buds begin to burst and the larvae can feed on the fresh young buds of trees, shrubs and moorland species.
If you want to help our insects survive over the winter you can build a range of habitats in your garden by leaving out piles of dead wood, placing sections of bamboo canes in a frame or by putting a section of plastic pipe on the ground. Loose chipped bark and piles of leaves can provide shelter for beetles, centipedes and woodlice. There are plenty of ready-made insect hibernacula but it’s great fun to construct your own minibeast homes.
With the icy fingers of winter stretching into Cumbria, much of the native wildlife has either migrated to warmer climates, or has bedded down to hibernate through the chilly months to come. Yet not all is still and quiet: there is one elusive creature that can still be seen prowling the waterways, and winter can be one of the best times to see them.
The European otter suffered severe declines in numbers from the 1950s to 1970s due to habitat degradation, insufficient prey, and water pollution. However, populations have recovered, with numbers now at their highest recorded levels in 50 years. But where could you see them, and what should you be looking for.
Otters are notoriously shy, nocturnal creatures, and to find one either takes time and patience, or a great deal of luck, but the changing scenery of winter months can make this much easier. Otters are often found adjacent to still waters such as reservoirs and lakes, and also along rivers and streams. They make their holts under the roots of trees such as ash and sycamore, and tend to favour riverine stretches where there is sufficient cover to hide and rest. All of this vegetation can make looking for otters rather difficult, but there are a few tricks that can be used to make this search a real adventure.
Otters use spraints to mark their territories, and spotting these can be an easy way to discover if otters are present in an area. These droppings are greenish black in colour, and often leave oily stains once washed away by rain. They also have a distinctive smell of jasmine tea! Spraints are often deposited on prominent features, and good places to look include under bridges, on large rocks or tree stumps, or on gravel or sand banks. Such droppings usually contain small bones or fish scales. Scales can also be found in piles where the otter has just devoured its catch.
Another sign to look for are tracks and this is where the winter weather really helps. Tracks can be left on muddy river banks and often in snow as well, and appear as webbed, five-toed prints roughly three inches in width. The short days of winter also really help you to spot an otter as activity centres around dusk and dawn; much more viable times of the day to be out and about in winter.
Armed with these tracking skills, a secret life can unfold, showing feeding, playing and resting spots, and may even result in the prize sighting of one of these elusive and fascinating creatures.
Photo by Andy Graham
Wreay Woods is a 20-hectare nature reserve that, historically, has been heavily influenced by man, although records do not reveal precisely how far back in time management of the site began. The land surrounding the nature reserve is littered with the remains of Roman roads and a Roman fort, so it is possible that the coppicing of wood began then.
Wreay (a Norse word meaning ‘bend in the river’ - which is exactly what the river Petteril does as it curves through the valley) is a peaceful and beautiful nature reserve. A walk by the river, enclosed by steep, red sandstone slopes, can reveal the likes of dippers and grey wagtails, maybe a kingfisher, and a lucky few may even see otters. The force of the river, especially when it floods, causes the sandy riverbanks to change constantly. As the water washes in and erodes away the soil behind tree roots, whole banks and trees can be seen strewn in the river once the water has abated. The debris remains until the next flood when it can then be washed a few more metres down stream. Thus, continual erosion, creation of holes behind root plates, and build up of debris and fallen trees is an ideal riparian habitat, forming excellent hide-aways for otters.
Along the trail you find your eyes are constantly being drawn to the flowing river. But if you happen to look up the slopes of the clough, you may catch a glimpse of fleeing roe deer. In the spring the slopes come alive with bluebells and, although no longer grazed by cattle, the flat open areas that were once traditional hay meadows burst with marsh marigolds, flag iris and willows.
For those wanting a longer walk it is well worth parking at the Golden Fleece picnic spot (Grid ref: NY435 513) or near Scalesceugh Hall (Grid ref: NY448 496) and turning the visit to the nature reserve into a circular walk. Following the public footpaths allows you to take in the village of Wreay itself, where the Church of St Maryand its amazing architecture is a ‘must see’. The extra height gained by walking up out of the gorge affords views down over the nature reserve and gives the walker a much more complete experience of the nature reserve and its beautiful surroundings.
The recent wet weather has reminded us of how severe weather events are making a huge impact on the environment. The fields around are sporting new water features and the rivers are running high with roiling chocolate brown water.
But there are impacts on the wildlife of the county and not all of them affect the wildlife in adverse ways.
The extreme flooding events that have been experienced in the UK over the past few years have happened at differing times of the year, creating a multitude of problems. Extreme spring and summer events are arguably the most devastating for our wildlife, destroying nests, flooding dens and stripping areas of important food sources particularly invertebrates that our birdlife depends upon. Wet weather means that the softly feathered barn owl cannot hunt and the young animals can be left exposed to both the environment and predation. Winter flooding can destroy habitats and aquatic wildlife such as fish can find themselves literally high and dry as floods recede.
But to some extent flooding is not a new phenomenon and occur naturally. We have increased the frequency and effect of flooding by changing the climate and by building upon and altering the natural coping mechanisms that nature has cleverly designed. Even us humans have exploited these natural seasonal events, water meadows were used to make the most of increased water levels to enrich the soil and create lush meadows. The floodwaters also help redistribute certain plant species transported to new areas on the flood water.
Ironically, at the moment there is much concern over the numbers of wintering and breeding waders and many fields are being flooded in a controlled way to increase habitats for lapwings, curlew, snipe, redshank and other waders. Water levels are raised to create splashy conditions over the winter and spring; these levels are reduced in the summer. Shallow pools of water are created which increases the numbers of invertebrates. This not only benefits the wader population but also species such as the increasingly threatened tree sparrow, which has a stronghold in Cumbria.
Why not visit one of Cumbria Wildlife Trust’s wetlands, Drumburgh Moss Nature Reserve? Find out more about what you can see at the nature reserve and how to get there at http://www.cumbriawildlifetrust.org.uk/drumburgh-moss.html
