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Sally Nex

Tag Archives: wildlife

We are all scientists

26 Thursday Nov 2015

Posted by sallynex in education, wildlife gardening

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citizen science, hedgerows, natural history museum, OPAL, wildlife

OVER-18s-GENERAL-WILDLIFE_Paul-Steven_dormouse-on-forsythia-taken-in-St-Ives-Cornwall

‘Dormouse on Forsythia’ by Paul Steven, St. Ives, Cornwall: winner, over 18s ‘General Wildlife’ category, OPAL Devon & Cornwall wildlife photography competition

Recently I found myself sitting cross-legged staring into my hedge.

I have particularly fine hedges. Good thing too as there are rather a lot of them: half a mile, to be exact.

They are ancient Somerset hedgerows and were old before I was even born. As is the way in these parts they’re built up on banks of churt flint and are mainly hazel: some are laid, but most are not, relying on the density of the species which grow in them to keep animals in and people out.

They are wildlife superhighways (as I know to my cost, having lost more just-sown broad bean seeds to the field mice in my hedgerows than I care to remember). You can tell how healthy your hedge is by counting the number of different species of plant in a three metre stretch, plus noting down evidence of animal activity (holes) and food (berries, nuts) as well as actual animals themselves (in my case, mainly snails, woodlice and centipedes).

My hedges got a silver award for structure (they’re getting a bit gappy here and there) and a gold for animal diversity and wildlife value. I felt quite proud.

In case you’re wondering what I’m on about, I was doing a biodiversity survey for OPAL (Open Air Laboratories), the citizen science project run by Imperial College London, the Natural History Museum, the Met Office, half a dozen other universities, and oh, loads of august institutions.

Its surveys have collected over 55,000 records of evidence collected by ordinary people like you and me, involving us in investigating the effects of everything from soil activity (worm-hunting) to water quality (ponds) and air quality (lichen – that was another one which had me peering at bits of my garden, this time the apple trees). There are now nearly 10 separate surveys, and anyone can join in: take a look and choose one you’d like to have a go at here.

They’re great fun, they get you looking at your garden in a whole different light, and what’s more you’re contributing to some really important research, feeding in to the great sea of knowledge from which ground-breaking insights occasionally pop up to influence governments, formulate solutions and generally change the way we think.

Citizen science is a fantastic way for scientists to gather huge quantities of information. The RSPB now has decades of detail about garden birds thanks to the Big Garden Birdwatch in January; the Big Butterfly Count in mid-summer is doing the same thing for butterflies; and the Ladybird Survey is keeping tabs on invasive alien harlequins via records of insects visiting people’s houses, sheds and gardens.

Isn’t it interesting that so many are garden-based? I’m sure it’s partly because that’s the outside space most of us have access to; but I suspect it’s also because gardeners are closet scientists by nature.

I don’t think of myself as much of a scientist; far too woolly of thought. But when it comes to plants and gardening I’ve taken science on board almost without realising it. I test my soil and know all about pH and geology; I can tell you the difference between xylem and phloem and wax lyrical on the ultra-violet patterns on foxglove flowers.

And I think that’s why I like doing OPAL surveys. I’ve become a scientist without noticing. Surprisingly, in the light of my almost overwhelmingly negative memories of science from school, it’s really interesting, too. Citizen science is taking off the lab coats, stripping out the inexplicable jargon and taking down the barriers dividing us into ‘artists’ or ‘scientists’. Turns out you don’t have to choose: it’s just about finding out about the world around you, after all. And it gives you a really good excuse to look at your garden for absolutely ages.

Wordless Wednesday: Crow

20 Wednesday Feb 2013

Posted by sallynex in wordless wednesday

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Tags

crow, photography, wildlife, wordless wednesday

(c) Gabrielle Nex

(c) Gabrielle Nex

The wonderful year that was 2012

04 Friday Jan 2013

Posted by sallynex in news

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Tags

dragonflies, garden birds, national trust, slugs, wasps, waxwings, wild orchids, wildlife

slug…as long as you’re a slug.

Last year is now officially the second-wettest on record (though I have to say I have absolutely no memories at all of 2000 – the wettest-ever – being particularly damp. Maybe my mind has mercifully wiped the horror from my internal hard drive).

But The National Trust‘s annual lowdown on the year just ended makes intriguing reading – partly at least because it hasn’t been a bad year for everyone.

We’ve all heard quite enough about how terrible all the rain has been for apple trees (half-drowned), squashes (what squashes?) sweetcorn (grass-sized and no corn) – but how about the winners from 2012?

Slugs: as we all know they’ve been having a party. B&Q’s slug pellets went up by 75%, the fast-breeding Spanish slug may now outnumber natives slugs in many sites for the first time in its 20 years in this country, and – now here’s a scary thought – there is a native variety of slug, the Ashblack slug, which grows to 1ft in length – yes, you read that right: 30cm, one foot, nearly as long as your forearm. It’s rare (phew) but they’ve just found a new colony on the Isle of Wight. Be afraid. Be very afraid…

Wild orchids: bee orchids in Blakeney in Norfolk and Stackpole Warren in Pembrokeshire; fly orchids on Dunstable Downs. One of the best moments of my year last year was when I found a wonderful carpet of brilliant pink marsh orchids growing wild on a woodland walk in early summer: what a sight.

Wasp-phobics: did anyone else notice the lack of wasps last year? We have a big nest somewhere around the house every year: one year they found a hole in the roof by the chimney (we found the nest later: it was a good 80cm-1m across), then they built one in a bird box, and in 2011 they discovered the hole in the windowsill and built one in the cavity wall. But last year? Not so much as a buzz. I kind of missed them, actually.

Dragonflies: they recorded 22 different species at Scotney Castle in Kent: I didn’t know there even were 22 species of dragonfly.

Autumn colour: fabulous this year, and hanging on in there far longer than usual. My butter-yellow Ginkgo biloba was eyecatching for weeks on end.

Waxwings: they’ve had an uncommonly good year, apparently driven ever further westwards by the general lack of berries and other fruit to eat in the rest of Europe. Thousands of them went on a detour to Northern Ireland, too, where bemused shoppers on Enniskillen High Street got to watch them stripping the rowan trees.

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