Alongside the 2018 Great Wildlife Expedition (at Hengistbury Head on June 9th), Hengistbury Head are offering you the chance to have a BioBlitz in your own garden!
The winner of our Great Wildlife Garden Competition will have a team of experts take over their outdoor space on June 16th.
Using detectors, hand lenses and lots of books, the team will identify bats, mammals, moths, birds and plants that live in, or visit your garden. You will be able to spend time with the team and learn the difference between the species that thrive on the work you have done to make your garden a place for nature.
The team will show you where to go to record your finds, adding these species to Bournemouth’s wildlife map. There will also be a talented local film maker who will capture the day, the activities and the excitement of identifying the plants and creatures that live in your garden.
To enter, use the entry form to tell us about your garden, your household, and any wildlife that you have seen in, or nearby, your garden. Please send your entry via email: hengistbury.head@bournemouth.gov.uk
Closing date: 30th April 2018 (Winner will be chosen by the Hengistbury Head Ranger team)
‘Poole Harbour provides both for a diverse ecology and a productive maritime economy. The Harbour is exceptional in the extent to which it illustrates the interface between environment and economics in the coastal zones of North West Europe. Positioned at the eastern end of the “Jurassic Coast” World Heritage Site, the entire Harbour has various conservation designations while at the same time providing for commercial shipping, motor yacht manufacture, fishing & aquaculture, tourism, a military base, and a range of other significant maritime industries. It also lies over an oil field, receives effluent from both a large conurbation and an agricultural catchment, and supports a variety of recreational activities, not least sailing and angling. These features along with the intensity with which they interact make Poole Harbour a powerful case study for the elucidation of sustainable development in practice.
Thirteen years ago the Poole Harbour Study Group held a conference which resulted in the book The Ecology of Poole Harbour. This 2018 conference aims to expand the scope of that and last year’s Marine Protected Areas conference, by examining the relationship between the environment and the economy which it supports.
The conference is part of the Poole Maritime Festival and among the events during the day Borough of Poole council will present key findings from their forthcoming marine supply chain mapping report.
Presentations (15 minutes), mini-presentations (3 minutes) and posters may examine any aspect of the Harbour environment and/or its maritime economy. Particularly welcome are contributions which engage with the interactions between the two, whether from business, policy, or conservation perspectives. Presentations may also cover aspects of the river catchment or Poole Bay which have direct implications for the Harbour itself. Contributions subsequently written up will be published in proceedings
For further general information please contact the Conference Secretary Dr Alice Hall A.Hall@bournemouth.ac.uk.
To submit, a presentation or poster proposal, please send a 50 word summary to PHSG Chair, John Humphreys (email jhc@jhc.co), who would also be happy to provide advice on any early stage presentation idea.
Poole Harbour Study Group has been encouraging and disseminating objective research on Poole Harbour for over twenty-five years. Members include all the main statutory organisations along with universities, NGOs and commercial enterprises.’
The Common Bittern, Botaurus stellaris, a shy, secretive relative of the heron, was once extinct in the UK, however the bird has made a massive comeback over the years. Bittern numbers are now at their highest recorded numbers in the UK.
The bittern lives mostly in reed beds and is rarely seen due to the superbly camouflaged streaked plumage, which blends perfectly with the environment. However, the male’s booming call can be used to identify the presence of bitterns, and so researchers have been able to count these birds.
This year, the breeding population has been at it’s highest since the 1800s, with 140 singing males seen, compared to 11 in 1997. Somerset has the largest bittern population, with 20 males located at Ham Wall nature reserve,
According to the RSPB, one factor contributing to UK population increase in bitterns is due to restoration of quarries, which has helped bitterns to thrive. The bittern is still on the RSPB’s red list, but the development of these restored quarries is expected to increase the UK’S bittern population in the future.
According to an annual UK wildlife survey carried out by the BBC Gardener’s World Magazine, there has been a decline in hedgehog sightings across the country. 51 percent of the 2600 participants did not see any hedgehogs in 2016, compared to 48 percent in 2014. The British Hedgehog Preservation Society (BHPS) stated that one of the major components contributing towards hedgehog decline in the UK is habitat loss and fragmentation, an ever increasing problem in urban environments.
So, what can be done to save the hedgehog? There are several actions people can take to help hedgehogs thrive again. Creating a wild corner in the garden, letting grass grow tall and encouraging the growth of native plants such as Meadow Foxtail, Cock’s-foot and Ox Eye Daisy will encourage insect life and with it hedgehogs. Breaking down barriers presented by gardens by making small holes at the bottom of fences helps hedgehogs to travel in between gardens, and leaving extra food such as meat-based pet food, mealworms or raisins will encourage hedgehogs, and this is particularly important during cold winter months when invertebrate prey is scarce.
