Page 39 - br-September-2019

September 2019 September 2019
BERE REGIS WILDLIFE AND

ENVIRONMENT GROUP

We do hope you’ve enjoyed the Summer months,
whether it was spent locally or away. As we now enter
the Autumn season of mellow fruitfulness, we can take
pleasure in the darker and richer colours that are now
more evident in the landscape.

Autumn’s Bounty
As the strength of the sun reduces at this time of year its past energy is very
evident in the bountiful fruits to be seen in gardens, fields and hedgerows. You
may well have gathered and enjoyed eating blackberries at some time, but do
leave some for our wildlife. There are many other fruits, seeds and nuts to be
found in the area, sustaining wildlife and some for our enjoyment – hazel nuts
(although you’ll be lucky to beat mice and squirrels to any ones ripe enough to
eat); elderberries for wine, jam and syrup; and sloes for gin (but don’t pick them
until after the first frost – not too soon hopefully). If you have a garden you may
have fruit – apples, pears and perhaps a few ‘exotics’ like grapes and figs. Enjoy
them, but don’t be too fussy about picking up the windfalls, birds will feast on
them and late butterflies will enjoy the heady sensations as they drink the juices
from the naturally fermenting fruit. Seeds are of less obvious value to us, although
vital for wildlife – for example, finches and other birds love thistle seed. You may
not have thistles in your garden but you can still do your bit to attract birds. Help
birds survive the coming colder months by not pruning flower heads back until
the Spring or put out feed – finches love nyjer seed (why – because it is thistle
seed!).

Souls Moor
Take a walk through Souls Moor and you’ll see a mix of areas of short grass that
have been nibbled down by the ponies, areas that have been trampled by their
hooves and areas of longer vegetation. This mix of habitats is excellent - just what
is needed to sustain a rich variety of wildlife. This becomes very clear when
watching birds within Souls Moor. Some birds, particularly larger ones, will be
ferreting around on the ground for bugs, grubs and seeds while generally smaller
birds will be flitting from stalk to stalk within areas of longer vegetation feasting on
the ripening seeds.

Water Vole
Are you one of the lucky ones to have spotted a water vole in the stream? They

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