Page 57 - br-dec-2022
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December 2022                                                                       December 2022

                                                      As  we  entered  the  cool,
                                                                                            BERE REGIS WILDLIFE AND
                                                      clear water I could feel the
                                                      tingling  salty  water  rising up     ENVIRONMENT GROUP
                                                      my  legs.  First  ankle  deep,
                                                      then  up  to  my  knees  and
                                                      then my thighs. At this point I       We  have  been  treated  to  some  marvellous  Autumn
                                                      mentally  count  to  10  and          colours  this  year.  By  now  the  vast  majority  of  tree
                                                      dive  straight into the  water.       leaves  will  have  fallen.  Despite  the  winter  months
                                                                                            ahead  of  us,  look  closely  and  you  will  see  some
                                                                                            hopeful  signs  of next  year’s Spring  –  one  of the  most
                                                                                            obvious  being  the  small  developing  catkins  on  hazel
                                                                                            trees.
       It’s a wonderful feeling and truly liberating.                                       The  birds  and  mammals  that  remain  active  through  the  winter  need  food  and
       I  have  seen  swimmers  gradually  immerse                                          water more than ever. If you have a garden please put out a bird feeder – it is
       themselves and to me it looks like torture.                                          always a joy to spot the birds enjoying an easy meal. Water is just as important as
       The rest followed and for the first couple of                                        food to birds and mammals, especially during periods of frosts. So, please ensure
       hundred metres they have to play catch -                                             there is unfrozen water available in a bird bath and at ground level. Seed heads
       up.                                                                                  from the  summer’s flowers are  a good  food source for  some  birds. There is  real
                                                                                            benefit to wildlife by leaving or piling up leaf litter in the flower beds. It provides
       Dave  and  Les  then  as  usual  ploughed                                            cover for insects which in turn is another food source for birds and mammals whilst
       ahead  with  the  rest  of  us  bringing  up  the                                    suppressing weeds and, in time, the leaf litter will rot down and enrich the soil. It’s
       rear. Well Dave is a fit young man of 58 and Les is not much older! These days, I    a win win for all!
       refuse to take myself too seriously. I am the old boy of the group – but it still gets to
       me when I am taken by the arm and told very kindly “you are doing very well” Pic
                                                                                            Acorns
       The  swim  down  to  Sheps  Hollow  took  us  around  15/20  minutes.  We  passed
       hundreds of brightly coloured beach huts lining the beach. The occasional early      This autumn has been a bumper one for acorns, known as a ‘mast year’ for oak
       morning  stroller  ambled  by.  When  I  breathed  to  my  right,  I  got  the  occasional   trees. The nature of the seasons will have influenced this with great conditions for
       glimpse of the Isle of Wight standing regally in the distance. On the skyline I could   pollination  in  the  spring  producing  more  abundant  numbers  of  acorns.  Some
       see the occasional motor boat or yacht mast.                                         acorns have also dropped earlier than normal which was caused by the hot, dry
                                                                                            summer. If you are out and about you’ll still notice plenty underfoot. So, why not
                                        On  and  on  we  swam  towards  our
                                        destination.      We   encountered   the            pick some up and try going them on into oak saplings for plenty out in a year or
                                        occasional  patch  of  seaweed:  was  that  a       two. An easy way to get good germination is to put the acorns in a plastic bag
                                                                                            with some damp soil or compost and leave them there until March. Then, when
                                        crab scrambling sideways?  Small fish darted        you open up the bag you should notice small shoots extending from the acorn.
                                        hither  and  thither.  Every couple  of  hundred    They  are  then  ready  to  plant  out  in  a  nursery  bed.  You  can  plant  them  quite
                                        yards  we  would  pass  the  wooden  groynes        closely as they will be dug up in a year or two for replanting in their final positions.
                                        which protects the beach from erosion from
                                        the sea.

                                        When  we  all  got  there  it  was  time  to  re-   Wasps
                                        group  and  have  a  short  chat  “That  was  a     OK,  they  may  not  be  your  favourite  insect  especially  when  they  are  buzzing
                                        cold  patch  halfway.  Did  you  see  that  big     around  and  annoying  you  whilst  having  a  late  summer  or  autumn  picnic!  But,
                                        barrel  jelly  fish?”,  that  sort  thing.  Then  we   they  are  an  important  part  of  our  ecosystem,  both  as  pollinators  and  pest
                                        were  off  again,  striking  out  for  home.  The   controllers.
                                        swim  back  always  seems  shorter  but  in

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