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Welcome to the very first Malvern Group Online Newsletter!

For more than two months we have all been suffering from lockdown, and

unable to attend our Indoor Meetings or go on planned trips and walks with

the group. Notably there were meant to be three trips to Mull (organised by

Margaret Vernon) and they have all been rescheduled for 2021 – let’s hope

everything is back to normal by then. It’s possible we may be able to resume

some activities in September, but at present it’s too early to say anything

definite.

Fortunately in April and May this year we have had some beautiful weather

and we have been able to enjoy the wildlife in our gardens and on our local

walks. I thought it would be wonderful to have an opportunity to share all the

things we have seen. An email sent to the group in early May produced a

fantastic response; I was inundated with articles and photos, far too much for

our usual Newsletter which is only two sides of A4. An Online Newsletter

was the obvious solution, and I have had enormous pleasure collecting all the

items and arranging them for you to see. Many of the articles are about

common flora and fauna which have given us joy and interest during the past

difficult weeks. We have everything from cuckoos to badgers, bees to stoats,

and orchids to butterflies. There are serious articles, and several fun items!

Thank you everybody for all your contributions and your obvious

enthusiasm.

Best wishes

Alison Uren (Chairman and Editor)

Socially distancing goldfinches in my garden - Alison

May 2020 www.malverngroup.btck.co.uk

malverngroup@live.co.uk

Malvern Group Online Newsletter – Special Lockdown Edition

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Bee Hotels – Christine Seymour With time on our hands we finally got round to creating bee hotels which we

attached to our garage wall, which is quite sheltered and in full sun. Mason

bees were already nesting in holes in the mortar of the brickwork, but

competition for holes was fierce. We made two types – the traditional one

with bamboo lengths of different widths, and one from hardwood with holes

drilled in it of between 5 – 10 mm. Within days most of the holes were

occupied; the hardwood hotel was the most popular. We created two more

hardwood hotels, again nearly full within days of sunny weather! It is

fascinating to watch the bees ‘casing the joint’, choosing a hole then reversing

in to lay an egg. They then block up the hole with mud. In the bamboo holes,

they often excavate the pith to their desired size. We are going to add roofs

to give added protection from rain and hope next year to see adults emerging.

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Yellow Archangel and Bluebell - Jim Bullett

Brimstone moth – Neil Homer-Forbes

Green alkanet is the foodplant of the scarlet tiger moth caterpillar (and others)

so don’t strim it! - Alison Uren

Walking on the Malvern Hills – Alison Pickford

During the glorious April we have just had, I have had the privilege of walking in the hills and watching the bluebells gradually reach the stage of the magnificent displays that we have every spring. This was followed by spectacular clouds of forget-me-nots which seem to come in several delicious shades of blue as well as white and pink and the cow parsley just adds to the delight. I always considered green alkanet a weed, but it is hard not to love the banks of it in full bloom on the sides of the hills.

I tend to walk early and have been rewarded with some unusual sightings (for me). A single nuthatch was sitting on a bare branch and singing his heart out. I glimpsed a peregrine falcon sitting in a tree on North Hill and I have seen lots of wrens. My knowledge of butterflies is very rudimentary and I had to search for the identity of what turned out to be a speckled wood. As it happened, the very morning I heard Brett Westwood on Open Country describing female orange tips, I saw one and was able to identify it from his description.

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Have we all gone Cuckoo?

Barry Tuck - April 8th: Surprised to hear an early cuckoo from Hangman’s Hill, this

afternoon. Lots of willow warblers singing and a whitethroat and three tree pipits.

Also a red kite spent quite a lot of time flying low over British Camp off and on

through much of the early afternoon before drifting off towards Midsummer Hill.

Isabel Beale – April 18th: cuckoo heard at the Ham at Upton-on-Severn (her house

overlooks the Ham).

Don Bradley and Jane Guinery – May 10th: On two recent visits to Castlemorton

Common, Jane and I have heard cuckoos (very loud and clear thanks to the

reduced traffic!). On the second visit, yesterday, we actually saw two of them

flying together. This is the first time in nearly 20 years we’ve actually seen a

cuckoo as opposed to just hearing them.

Not very exciting in the grand scheme of things, but they cheered us up!

Neil Homer-Forbes – May 12th: Neil lives at Birtsmorton and heard his first

cuckoo on this date.

Margaret Vernon - May 12th: First time out in the car yesterday (very exciting!) to

visit the nearby hills and again today. Around Midsummer Hill/ Swinyard Hill, in

particular: two cuckoos (first for me to hear one, but there were certainly two),

many chiffchaffs, a willow warbler, several whitethroats, two grey wagtails, and a

swallow (first for me).

Isabel Beale – May 13th: cuckoo was cuckooing in the middle of the night which

was very irritating!

Roger Bates – May 13th: There was a lot of manic cuckoo activity in the woods on

Swinyard this morning, much calling and chasing, and making of weird calls

including 'bubbling' and 'cackling'. There were three birds in total, perhaps a

female and two males?

Alison Uren – May 18th: Cuckdown has been eased a little this week so we can get

to places where there are lockoos. Chase End, Wood Street, Old Hills,

Castlemorton…... (Sorry, editor has gone cuckoo).

Cuckoo – Simon Evans

Jack has just correctly answered the £500,000 question on Who Wants To Be a Millionaire. He has only one question standing between him and the £1m jackpot.

"Which of these birds does not live in a nest?

A) Thrush, B) Kestrel, C) Blue Tit, D) Cuckoo"

Jack has one lifeline left, phone a friend. He decides to call Matt, the

owner of his local pub. Matt agrees, and immediately shouts "It's a

cuckoo!" Jack goes with that answer and wins the jackpot.

That evening, Jack was round at Matt's bar celebrating. He turns to

Matt and says "Matt, how did you know that cuckoos don't live in a

nest?"

Matt answers, "That's the easiest question you could have had!

Everyone knows a cuckoo lives in a clock!"

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A Cuckoo Encounter – Paul Chappell

(May 17th) I’ve just witnessed one of the most remarkable things I’ve ever

seen in a lifetime of watching wildlife. I was in Chat Valley on the eastern

side of North Hill watching stonechats, when a larger grey-backed bird with

a long tail glided very low over the gorse and then dropped down into the

bushes. The stonechats became very agitated and I thought it might be a

sparrowhawk. I watched carefully where it had disappeared into the bushes

and then after a couple of minutes, a cuckoo flew up into a dead gorse bush

holding one of the stonechat’s eggs, which it then ate in full view before

flying off. It probably laid an egg in the nest before removing the one that it

ate. The cuckoo was completely silent for the whole time so all the walkers

on De Walden Drive were unaware that it was there. I was fortunate enough

to have my camera with me this morning so was able to photograph the whole

event. You can just see the wing of one of the upset stonechats in the top right

corner of the third photograph.

I’ve never seen a cuckoo high on the northern hills before. I did see one in

the trees behind our house in West Malvern once, but that would have been

over 25 years ago. In recent years I’ve only seen one once near Colwall and

heard them in other places like Castlemorton Common and Midsummer Hill.

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Pied Flycatcher (photo taken in 2013) – Barry Tuck

Birds on Midsummer and Swinyard Hills – Barry Tuck

There has not been much good news this spring but, by way of distraction,

the bird life on the hills and in particular, the returning summer visitors, have

been magnificent. I am not sure if it’s been the good weather or just that I

have done far more walking on the hills. My daily exercise has consisted

almost exclusively of walks from home up onto the hills and there has been

a tremendous amount of bird life to see and hear.

Willow warblers, garden warblers, whitethroats and chiffchaffs have been

present in good numbers, and tree pipits have seemed particularly prominent

this spring. Their display flight is fascinating to watch, accompanied by the

distinctive song and finishing with a spectacular downwards parachute. Other

highlights have included pied flycatchers and redstarts on the southern hills,

though fewer than there used to be. There was as an early cuckoo on April 8th

from Hangman’s Hill. More recently, a nightingale (now rare in

Worcestershire) was reported by several members of the Bird Group. Red

kites have been regular visitors to the hills, and several pairs of stonechats

and lesser whitethroats have taken up residence on Castlemorton Common.

These observations are obviously very anecdotal. In all probability the

numbers of all our summer visitors are declining with the possible exception

of blackcaps.

Bluebells and a speckled wood butterfly – Barry Tuck

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IN A MALVERN LOCKED DOWN GARDEN

By Liz Lloyd (sung to the traditional tune “In an English Country Garden”)

How many kinds of butterflies go by In a Malvern locked down garden?

We'll tell you now of some you can spy Those we miss you'll surely pardon

Holly blue, brimstone, peacock, Orange Tip on lady’s smock

Brimstone in spring Speckled wood on the wing

Small and large white as well and the pretty tortoiseshell

In a Malvern locked down garden. ~

How many kinds of bees buzz on by In a Malvern locked down garden

We’ll tell you now of some you can spy Those we miss you’ll surely pardon

Hairy-footed flower bee Flying round your cherry tree

Box-headed blood And the common mourning bee

Carder and furrow too Mining, mason - join the queue

In a Malvern locked down garden. ~

How many sorts of moth flutter by In a Malvern locked down garden

We’ll tell you now of some you can spy Those we miss you’ll surely pardon

Angle shades and herald moth Beautiful, and don’t eat cloth

Muslin and mint Silver Y also glint

And the grand emperor Drawn in by a scented lure

In a Malvern locked down garden. ~

Note: Please send your monthly garden butterflies sightings on a form available from mbg.records@btinternet.com

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The Prickly Page

Hedgehogs – Nigel Woodall I feed hedgehogs in the garden but have a problem with cats. I have made a

hedgehog feeder designed by a charity called the Emily Jordan Foundation

based in Kidderminster. They have adapted one of their hedgehog homes to

be a feeder with a cat-deterring tunnel.

Two thoughts – Tim Lawrence First, although this lockdown is a pain for us it is great for the environment

and wildlife. Less disturbance and reduced fuel consumption, cleaner air

and less pollution.

Second, one each of fox, hedgehog, muntjac deer and badger have all been

seen recently in a garden that adjoins Link Top Common. A recently

constructed hedgehog house has already been inspected by the target

species, so that is something else that can be built during lockdown.

Hedgehog – Nicole Thomassin We live in the middle of Malvern. Here is a little something we found near

our little pond one morning in the second week of lockdown. It was a

young one, no idea where it came from or where it went, fleeting visit....it

certainly put a smile on our faces!

Malvern Hedgehog Rescue (Viv Smith in phone conversation with Alison) Viv told me that she has had as many injured and sick hedgehogs as usual

this year, despite the quieter roads. She explained that gardens are not always

safe places for hedgehogs; they suffer from disturbance by dogs and cats, and

garden implements (especially strimmers) cause many injuries. One of her

many problems this year has been the lack of her usual volunteer help and

she has had to cope by herself.

www.malvernhedgehogrescue.co.uk

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Wordsworth 2020 (Unattributed, provided by Margaret Vernon)

Daffodils near Chase End Hill

I wandered lonely as a cloud

Two metres from the madding crowd

When all at once my name was called

To enter Waitrose hallowed hall.

This was the pensioners’ special hour.

My wife said: “Buy a bag of flour”.

But I forgot, when through the door,

What I had gone to Waitrose for.

The Waitrose staff are very kind.

I told them it had slipped my mind.

They asked what else I had forgot

They clearly thought I’d lost the plot.

I phoned my wife again to ask.

She reminded me of this special task:

“I need some flour to bake a cake

With all that cream you made me take.”

“Ah yes, of course” I had to lie.

I dared not ask what flower to buy.

But then I saw them next the tills

A bunch of golden daffodils!

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Lockdown Observations – Mary Horrobin

In the garden:

I had a bee-fly in the garden, and lots of butterflies including holly blue,

peacock, brimstone, orange tip and small tortoiseshell. I have two

blackbirds’ nests, one in the beech hedge currently feeding young, and the

other in the fir hedge making a new nest.

There is a pair of goldfinches, but I don't know where their nest is. I think

it's in a neighbour's garden. Last year they produced two young which were

unfortunate swiftly dispatched by the sparrowhawk.

I haven't seen the fox who chewed up my shoes and several pairs of

gardening gloves last year!

On a walk in early May:

I walked through Blackmore Woods yesterday and saw a muntjac, lots of

peacock butterflies, one speckled wood, some orange tips and masses of red

clover.

I heard one buzzard, but in general there seem to be fewer buzzards around

this year. Has anyone else noticed this?

On Poolbrook Common there is a lonely green-winged orchid. As I walked

over the railway bridge up Peachfield Road a kestrel landed on the lamppost

right above me and didn't seem the least bothered by my presence. I have

seen more kestrels this year. A heron landed on a rooftop nearby and he also

showed no concern about me.

The hawthorn blossom has been in full swing for more than a week.

A freshly-emerged lime hawk moth in Malvern

Wells.

A single green-winged orchid on Poolbrook

Common.

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Wildlife in the Garden - Jenny and Brian Bradford There have been a number of interesting events in our garden in Poolbrook.

About one week ago at about 11 pm I found a hedgehog wandering across

our front lawn. It went round the side of the bungalow and left some poos in

the slabs. We have previously seen these poos but did not know what left

them. It is great that we apparently have the hedgehog living nearby.

We have a bumblebee nest in among the rocks around our pond. I think they

are buff-tailed and they are flying regularly in and out of the nest.

However there is a mystery.

Around the pond area there are other bumblebees which are WALKING

about on plants and rockery, not flying, and appearing to have little idea of

what they are doing. Can anybody come up with an explanation of this

phenomena? It has been evident for several days. They are similar to the bees

in the nest, their tails have two off white bars. They do not seem to be

interested in entering the nest.

Reply from Andy Pearce on Facebook:

When beekeeping I noticed honey bees would mooch around the soil

seemingly aimless. I concluded that they may have been looking for minerals

or dirty water, which they do collect as well as seemingly clean water. Also

it was in the time of neonic pesticides so they could have just been lost.

Female broad-bodied chaser – Brian Bradford

We were sitting in the sun by our pond yesterday when we were visited by

two broad-bodied chasers. First came a female with its glorious gold

body and then a brilliant blue male. Spectacular dragonflies.

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Swallows and Martins – Sadie and Tim Densham

We live at North Piddle, roughly mid-way between Pershore and

Inkberrow. We have stables where swallows and martins nest every year.

Our nextdoor neighbours have an old perry orchard which is "listed" and the

Wildlife Trust assists with management.

When we came here in 2014 we put up two "artificial" nests and each year

the birds have added a layer to the top. Last year a magpie got into the stables

and took the entire first brood of the nest on the right and they are not using

that nest this year. In the photograph you can see the current inhabitants

building up a layer on the nest on the left.

To deter the magpies this year (which sadly for us have increased to 3 pairs

- all nesting close by) we have yellow baler twine strung just above the top

of the stable door so that it is difficult for them to perch on top of the

door. We think they observed the swallows going in and out last year and

then at the crucial time swooped. We also spread a "get off" gel layer on top

of the door as a further deterrent. The birds ignore our two ponies completely

but they don’t like visits from us!

A diary of events in 2020:

April: During lockdown I have been communicating by email with Jean

Young and I mentioned our concern that the swallows that usually inhabit

our stables had not arrived. They normally arrive between 8th and 16th April

but by the 24th none had turned up. We now have just one pair and Jean sent

me some information about thousands of birds being found dead in Greece.

Apparently the night of 5th to 6th April was disastrous for migrating birds

because of strong winds, low temperatures and rain in some regions. This sad

event probably explains their absence.

Of our nine house martin nests, eight are now occupied.

May 1st: we were kept awake for several hours by a pair of tawny owls "t'whit,

t'whooing" right outside our bedroom window. A very small price to pay for

country living!

May 11th: We're incredibly upset. As we were mucking out the ponies this

morning about 6.45 the martins were flying about and "chattering"

loudly. Suddenly a sparrowhawk came out of nowhere at great speed and

took one of the martins. It was horrendous hearing the bird scream. The

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others flew noisily after the hawk - and it is now 6.35pm and we haven't seen

any of them all day. We had all nine nests occupied plus five or six more

birds who "overnight" in one of the stables. The one pair of swallows we

have were on the beam in Paddy's stable when the martin was taken and

thankfully not affected. If the martins return we are worried that now the

hawk knows they are all here it will come back. We have always fed all the

other birds some way from the stables so as not to attract predators, but can't

protect the martins and swallows in the same way.

May 12th: Happily the majority of the martins appeared this morning. There

is just one of our nine nests they are not interested in, but as you will see from

this photograph, arguments appear to have broken out over who gets which

des-res!!

May 18th: This year we have four blue tits in residence in their

boxes. Another worry - a spotted woodpecker was carefully noting their

comings and goings this morning, and if that isn't enough our cat is paying

close attention to a nest of recently hatched pied wagtails.

There is good news though - the martins' nests are once again all fully

occupied. Every year in November when all the summer visitors have left,

Tim sprays inside the nests with an avian anti-mite spray in the hope

unwanted visitors - such as fleas - will be killed off before the birds return

the following year.

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The Mammals Page

Fox in the Garden – Mel Mason

Hare near Wood Street – Alison Uren

Two pictures from his trail camera – Simon Evans

Three Videos from Mike and Alison’s trailcam Badgers with cubs and two foxes, at a badger sett near Malvern.

Click here. Or use the link:

https://1drv.ms/u/s!AjVW9pGzh4OfiRSEQ5ZV0oBMu17e?e=zBvZV8

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Photographs by Dave Cook

Green Carpet moth (Colostygia pectinataria)

This one is probably newly emerged as the bright colouring soon fades.

Can be seen flying just before dusk. Wing span is about 25mm.

Its caterpillars feed mainly on bedstraws.

Ruby Tiger moth (Phragmatobia fuliginosa)

Mainly flies at night but can be seen in the daytime.

Named after its wing colour but it does vary.

The red of its body is very obvious when it flies.

Comma butterfly (Polygonia c-album)

The female lays eggs singly, toward the edge of a leaf upperside, usually on

common nettle. She can lay around 250 eggs in total. The larva is said to

resemble a bird dropping

Cinnamon Bug (Corizus hyoscyami) or black and red squash bug

Apparently they get their name from the odour they produce when threatened,

which smells a bit like cinnamon.

Adults can be seen all year but mainly active April to October with a new

generation in August.

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Photographs by Richard Newton

Bee-fly (Bombylius major)

Mating green shieldbugs (Palomena prasina)

Ichneumon wasp (Ophion obscuratus)

Daddy-long-legs spider (Pholcus phalangioides)

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In search of stoats and weasels - Hilary Macmillan

I am at the edge of a small mixed woodland in Herefordshire with Lizzie

Croose, Vincent Wildlife Trust’s Senior Carnivore Conservation Officer. We

are experimenting with a ‘Mostela’. This is a small wooden box with a plastic

drainpipe tunnel running through it and a trail camera inside. The camera is

set to video and focused on a cut-out section of the drainpipe.

“The Mostela is based on the idea that stoats and weasels are curious and they

like to investigate tunnels and holes – because that is where they find their

prey,” explains Lizzie. “The Mostela was designed by a member of the Dutch

Small Mustelid Foundation and is one of the tools we use to try and find out

more about the current status of stoats and weasels.”

Although stoats and weasels are believed to be common and widespread, they

are hugely challenging to study and as a result are categorised as data-

deficient: radio-collars have a habit of slipping off their bullet-shaped bodies.

The collars are also expensive – and the animal has to be caught in the first

place.

Scat surveys are also difficult because although both weasels and stoats will

scat on landscape features such as logs or rocks, they tend to use latrine sites

near their dens – so first you have to find the den! Surveying for pine martens

using scats is far easier because they scat predominantly on tracks and paths

as they mark their territory. “We have had some success with monitoring the

Irish stoat using hair-tubes,” explains Lizzie, “but these tubes have not

worked so well in Britain.”

Hair tubes rely on some of the animal’s hair adhering to a sticky pad inside a

tube as the creature passes through. The tubes are baited to attract animals

inside. The hairs can then be DNA tested – but this is costly.

Installing trail cameras in suitable habitat may result in footage of a passing

stoat or weasel, but when foraging, however, these two species move rapidly

and often the camera simply captures the animal disappearing out of view.

Road casualty surveys are not easy either because the animals are small and

easy to miss. Anything, therefore, that might help to further stoat and weasel

research is worth a try.

A success story

Stoats and weasels are mustelids and belong to the weasel family. Other

family members include polecats, pine martens, otters and badgers. They are

all carnivores, but somehow stoats and weasels are considered more akin to

serial killers. The rather beautiful pine marten is also a consummate hunter –

but never the bad guy. Is it just a matter of looks? In history and literature,

stoats and weasels are always the villains – look no further than The Wind in

the Willows and its “skirmishing stoats and bloodthirsty weasels.”

Inside a Mostela showing the tunnel and camera positions ©Lizzie Croose

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There must be an assumption that their negative image is linked historically

to their predation of game and poultry, but do they really deserve such a bad

press or is this just fake news? Admittedly a male weasel is not one to be

intimidated and can take down a rabbit 20+ times its own weight – although

their first choice is the more manageable field vole. “Gram for gram they are

much stronger than any lion,” according to New Zealand’s weasel expert

Professor Carolyn King. “They are bold and powerful predators, but they are

also fearless in self-defence,” explains Lizzie. A remarkable video Lizzie

took on her mobile phone while out cycling shows a stoat fighting with a

sizeable and very irate rat. The stoat clearly had no intention of giving up his

next meal. You can watch it here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=HE0Vd-

Oaesg. Sadly, the phone battery died after some minutes and the animals

disappeared into the hedge, but from the sounds heard, it is likely that the

stoat was the victor.

Under optimal conditions, stoats and weasels co-exist quite happily, weasels

preferring a diet primarily of field voles, while the larger stoat has a

preference for rabbit. Other prey species are taken in the absence of voles or

rabbits. Stoats and weasels are highly competent climbers and will eat birds

and their eggs, but this will generally be of bird species that are common in

an area. Weasels are by and large too small to take adult gamebirds, but a

stoat will have no problem in predating a pheasant or partridge and, as a

result, remain a target for gamekeepers. Stoats and weasels are therefore

generalists in the sense that they eat a variety of prey species and can live in

a range of habitats as long as prey is present: farmland, moorland, marshes

and woodland. Both species frequently den in the burrows of their prey but

old stone walls or other structures with suitable cavities will also do the job.

Stoats and weasels are fast breeders, unlike their now-protected pine marten

cousin, and this helps to explain their survival, even with intensive control by

gamekeepers. Juvenile female stoats, for example, mate in the nest and have

an average litter size each year of nine. This contrasts with the slow-breeding

pine marten – a female marten does not usually breed until her third year and

will only have two or three kits. This slow rate of breeding explains the pine

marten’s near extinction in southern Britain as a result of highly efficient

gamekeeping during the Victorian heyday of game shooting.

In the absence of any national survey on stoats and weasels, the only data

available is via the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust’s National

Gamebag Census. Stoat numbers certainly fell as a result of the myxomatosis

outbreak in rabbits but began to recover in the latter part of the 20th century.

There is no current reliable population estimate, but it is thought to be

something around 440,000. Weasel numbers increased with the arrival of

myxomatosis: fewer rabbits meant less grazing and this led to more rough

grassland and therefore more voles. As vole populations regularly fluctuate,

however, so too does the weasel population. An unreliable estimate for the

weasel population is gauged at 450,000. Even allowing for inaccuracy in the

figures, stoats and weasels, like most of Britain’s carnivores, are doing well.

This is a real success story against the general gloom at the state of our

wildlife and wild places, and well-summarised in a paper by Dr Katie

Sainsbury, one of Vincent Wildlife Trust’s PhD students. It is available at:

https://onlinelibrary.wiley. com/doi/epdf/10.1111/mam.12150

Encouraging stoats and weasels

The 2019 BBC2 programme Weasels: Feisty and Furious tells the story of

the artist Robert E Fuller and his remarkable stoat and weasel community.

Robert has helped the animals to thrive in his garden by creating additional

denning sites and other habitat features – and has captured much of it on

camera and in his artwork. The programme is currently available here:

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0009mvb and may well give some ideas for

Weasel ©Frank Greenaway

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attracting these animals to your woodland. Certainly, leaving plenty of brash

and log piles around the wood benefits both the small mustelids and other

small mammals.

Using a Mostela

We position the Mostela at the edge of the wood along a hedgeline and cover

the top with pond liner to keep out the worst of the rain. There is evidence of

rabbit activity nearby. “Stoats and weasels tend to follow linear features in

the landscape, such as hedgerows, woodland edges, streams and field

boundaries, so if you place the Mostela in the middle of a wood, you are less

likely to record the animals,” explains Lizzie. Inside the box, we place a tiny

container of rabbit scent to act as a lure. Outside, we lay some branches either

side of the tunnel entrances to try to funnel in these inquisitive animals.

Finally, we camouflage the box using some nearby brash. We will check the

box in a couple of weeks and, in the meantime, keep our fingers crossed that

a stoat or weasel has indeed passed by.

If you would like to try and detect the presence of stoats and weasels using a

Mostela, construction details can be downloaded at

https://stichtingkleinemarters.nl/bouwplan-mostela/ (Google translate will be

needed if your Dutch is not too hot). Rabbit scent can be purchased widely

online. Even if you do not discover any stoats and weasels in your wood, the

Mostela will give you information on other small mammals present. A variety

of non-target species has been recorded by Vincent Wildlife Trust staff,

including grass snake and adder, rabbit, American mink and small birds, and

in Ireland pine martens too have been filmed visiting Mostelas. In another

recent experiment with a Mostela, I had 250 camera triggers in two weeks –

all mice and voles but rather fascinatingly it included a vole carrying a

mushroom in its mouth. An ecologically healthy woodland will include an

abundance of small mammals – so this is one way to discover more about

your small mammal population – even if no stoats and weasels show up.

Weasel captured on the Mostela camera

More information

Read Lizzie’s blog at www.vwt. org.uk/blog/searching-for-stoats-and-

wondering-about-weasels/. A Vincent Wildlife Trust paper on the use of

Mostelas in a pilot study can be read here: www.vwt.org. uk/wp-

content/uploads/2019/02/MonitorWeaselsAndStoatsInBritain.pdf

The definitive book on the two species is probably Carolyn M King’s The

Natural History of Weasels and Stoats: Ecology, Behavior, and Management

(1989). Also available is a very useful booklet published by The Mammal

Society: Stoats and Weasels by Robbie McDonald and Stephen Harris

(2006). This costs just £4.99 from NHBS. Although published some 20 years

ago, it is still pretty much up-to-date in terms of what we know about Kenneth

Grahame’s villainous rogues.

This article first appeared in Small Woods magazine. Small Woods is the

organisation for everyone who is involved in hands-on management of small

woodlands, whether as owners, managers, volunteers, woodland and coppice

workers or community woodland members. Visit www.smallwoods.org.uk for

more information.

Hilary Macmillan

Head of Communications, Vincent Wildlife Trust

20

A celebration of local wildflowers in May Can you identify them? (answers on p.21)

Photos – Alison Uren

21

Lockdown Life – Margaret Vernon

For me, the unexpected time that I have had at home has meant some of the

many jobs on my extensive ‘to do’ list have been done/started/planned ……

Several of the outdoor ones have been accomplished or are ‘in progress’,

usually in the company of the singing robins, blackbirds and woodpigeons

with the blue tits nest building and subsequent feeding of young very

apparent, plus the increasing number of house martins overhead and the

wonderful sound of the swifts arriving.

The vegetable patch has been resurrected. As I was due to be away a lot over

the spring and summer, I had decided that was not conducive to growing

vegetables, but as it is……

Living in Upper Welland has meant not using the car to go for walks, so

several new footpaths have been discovered and the gradual emergence of

wildflowers and tree cover has been a welcome and positive learning curve;

the peace of the countryside providing therapy and an ever reminder that

wildlife continues whatever – and often for the better without human

interference.

There are just a few benefits to this lockdown, but I have no wish to

experience another one!

Malvern Link Station – Brian Iles

Malvern Link Station has been officially adopted by a group consisting

members of Malvern Community Forest and Malvern Civic Society. This is

part of a national initiative for local communities to adopt railway stations.

Station Coppice

This is the area alongside the path from Osborne Rd.

The large area has been cleared and transformed into a mini nature reserve

complete with new native coppice trees underplanted with native wildflowers

and a new wildlife pond.

The small area behind the waiting room has been planted with a cordon of

local apple trees.

The separate small areas at the top of the ramp have been planted with insect

friendly garden flowers.

We have installed a small 'bug hotel' and are planning a larger one.

The Platform Hedge

The redundant filled in bay platform is being cleared and has been partly

planted with different types of wildlife friendly hedges. The soil is very thin

here being on top of a lot of demolition material and we are importing some

soil to spread over the area. We also hope to plant a short run of hops to

commemorate that this was where the trains carrying hop-pickers from

Birmingham and the Black Country dropped off the hop-pickers who picked

on the local hop farms. (This would also have been their local annual

holiday).

We also hope to plant other areas with herbs, soft fruits, etc as part of the

'Incredible Edible' initiative.

We have seen various butterflies, particularly on the ivy, ivy bees, earthstar

fungi and over the last few weeks there has been evidence of badger activity

on the site. When we put the small pond in we had pond skaters within two

weeks.

Apparently Malvern Link Station is the only railway in the UK with its own

nature reserve.

Wildflowers on p.20

Ramsons (wild garlic), early purple orchid, bush vetch, red campion.

Cowslips, bogbean, cow parsley, yellow archangel.

Wood spurge, bluebells and stitchwort, woodruff, greater butterfly orchid.

22

Puss moth

A moth trap – Karen and Rhys Leonard During lockdown we have enjoyed using our moth box in our Malvern garden

to attract moths, practise our macro-photography and learn more about these

night-flying insects. We read with interest an article published in Biology

Letters on 13/5/20 by Walton et al which highlighted the importance of

nocturnal macro moths in pollination. Pollen transport was found to occur on

their hairy bodies rather than their mouth parts. There are concerns about the

decline in these moths (as with other insects) and the need to include them in

future conservation strategies.

Muslin moth

Green carpet moth

Pale tussock moth

Buff-tip imitating a broken birch twig

23

Malvern Garden Butterfly Watch 2020 WMBC Malvern Butterfly Group

The natural world seems to be oblivious to the corona virus and Covid-19 but

we are trying to adapt to a “new normal” and other ways of observing and

monitoring our local wildlife. “Stay at Home” and “Stay Alert” limits our

access to the wider countryside but presents a new opportunity to look more

closely at the wildlife on our door-step or in our garden. This idea led to the

MGBW 2020 - a citizen science project set up to discover the butterflies,

moths, bees, hoverflies and other insects in and around our gardens. Just eight

weeks into the project and local recorders have reported some unexpected

sightings.

February / March 2020

Following a mild and wet winter, Storm Ciara, Storm Dennis and Storm

Jorge brought gales and the wettest February on record. Nothing was reported

in February 2020 compared with almost 200 sightings in February 2019.

However, in March the four hibernating adult butterflies were the first to

emerge in gardens – peacock, comma, brimstone and small tortoiseshell –

followed by small white and holly blue. Very few moths were reported but

bumblebees – early, buff, tree, common carder and white-tailed – were in

good number, along with tapered drone fly and dark-edged bee-fly.

Further afield early spring sightings of orange underwing around the birch

trees on the slopes of the Malverns heralded the start of spring before the

lockdown began.

April 2020

“Stay at Home” seemed

more bearable as April turned

out to be the sunniest for at

least a century. Many more

peacocks were reported but

in second place to orange-tip,

one of the first to emerge

from its chrysalis. Later in

the month, orange eggs of

this species were easy to find

on nearby lady’s smock and

garlic mustard. Holly blue was the third most abundant species, a common

garden butterfly.

“The Buckthorn Blue Returns...” last year I was surprised to see a holly

blue lay eggs in the flowers next to brimstone eggs on the leaves of alder

buckthorn in my garden. But it wasn’t a one-off as this year I was even more

astonished to see eggs laid on a standard grafted fine-leaved buckthorn

Rhamnus frangulla - planted last autumn - in preference to the many hollies

in the vicinity.

Small white, large white, green-veined white, speckled wood, small

tortoiseshell and comma were well reported, and red admiral, our first

migrant species, was seen on six occasions – these are possibly survivors

from a late emergence last autumn and a mild winter rather than early

migrants that usually arrive from the Continent at end of May or in June

around the Malverns.

More moths were reported including many bee moths and herald moths. The

first migrant silver-Y moth arrived this month.

Perhaps most exciting are

the numbers of emperor

moths reported by several

recorders using a pheromone

lure. Arguably the most

majestic and attractive of all

our day-moths, this species is

rarely seen or reported

around the Malverns with

some historical records from

Castlemorton Common.

However, recent sightings of

males in the middle of Great Malvern might suggest this mysterious moth is

not really scarce, as once believed, but very good at hiding and only willing

to emerge in response to a pheromone from a female. There is some

discussion on the WMBC Facebook site about the ethics of a growing number

of recorders using lures and possibly upsetting local populations of moths

that may be travelling over long distances. However, Mike Williams from

WMBC carried out a very interesting experiment in Stourport-on-Severn this

month to show that marked emperors may quickly learn and do not always

return to the same lure site – but Mike is an expert, and I would warn against

such experiments without some expertise and a very good reason.

This very warm month caused a lot of insect activity. It seems the open hills

and commons are not the only places to find a wealth of insects, particularly

24

Hymenoptera – bees, wasps and ants – including 31 different species of bees

during April, some solitary like the Andrena genus and others cleptoparasites

like the Nomada species. One, called little nomad bee is about the size of an

ant and lays its eggs in the nests (containing grub and pollen) of the common

mini-miner bee – both recorded in local gardens.

Many wasps are out and about

including the brilliant metallic and

colourful jewel wasp, also known as

a cuckoo wasp because it lays eggs

in other solitary wasp nests where

its grub eats the host grub and

pollen food store.

Further afield small coppers

emerged at the end of March, and

small yellow underwing, a notable

moth species, appeared in

Woodford’s Meadow.

May 2020

A local recorder [Jess Sly] discovered a very interesting caterpillar named

“Peter or Petra” in a packet of mangetout or sugar snaps on 17th April. It

looked like a member of the Lycaenidae family (hairstreaks, coppers, blues

and metalmarks) but developed into a pupa on 24th April and emerged as a

male long-tailed blue on 10th May – so, Peter rather than Petra - originating

from the Continent.

Further afield Dingy skipper was recorded at a new site in Lulsley - next to

a local recorder’s garden – between two of its known sites of Knapp and

Knightwick. Then the last of the spring species appeared on local sites

including common blue, brown argus, small heath, small copper and green

hairstreak - also speckled yellow, a widespread moth.

Looking forward to more surprise sightings from local recorders at the end

of May...

Please join this project by submitting your garden butterfly sightings on

the simple recording form available from mbg.records@btinternet.com.

The more recorders the more reliable the data and information about

our local butterflies, but it is also meant to be fun. It’s never too late to

join.

Mel Mason

WMBC Malvern & Malvern Butterfly Group / May 2020

Nb. A more detailed report with monthly sightings and images of all

butterflies, moths, bees and other insects is available from

mbg.records@btinternet.com

Go to Facebook Malvern Butterfly Group to view more images, videos

and information about our local butterflies & moths, bees and other

insects around our gardens

25

The Knapp and Papermill Reserve 2020 – Garth Lowe

(Garth lives in a house right next to the WWT Knapp and Papermill Reserve

at Alfrick. Special sightings are in bold.)

The coronavirus has brought the world into chaos, starting in China at the

start of the year and then spreading to pretty well every country. By the

middle of March, Britain had gone into lockdown procedure with built up

areas suffering the worst and deaths starting to mount.

Access to the countryside was limited supposedly for locals to take

exercise once a day and driving far to well-known scenic spots was soon

outlawed. Here in Old Storridge we soon realised just how lucky we were,

with wonderful walks right on our doorstep.

With so much time on my hands I decided to do a week by week log of

any wildlife highlights that occurred in my garden or in the reserve. The first

week was from Sunday March 21st which turned out to be a relief from the

very wet conditions that had thrown low-lying parts over the country into vast

areas of floods. It gave sunny days bringing out the first butterflies: brimstone

and peacock in the garden and a walk in the Knapp Reserve close by produced

five small tortoiseshells and two more peacocks. The Leigh Brook runs along

the bottom of the valley and another pleasant surprise was finding the dipper

was nesting again. Our garden had a nocturnal visitor - a badger, who

seemed to know there were apples put out for the birds. Muntjac took off the

heads of a bunch of false oxlip just over the road and I noticed the first purple

honesty with many more white already out.

By week two northerly winds had brought temperatures down to give a

few frosts. While working at the log pile on the edge of the woodland one

morning the subsong of redwings was picked up in the ivy-covered trees

and two were looking for the last of the ivy berries. This low song seems to

occur about the time when they would be thinking about their forthcoming

easterly migration. Spring flowers were now well in evidence, in a wood

close by, the floor looked like a carpet of snow with thousands of wood

anemones. A walk down the lane showed there was still a patch of white

violets, having already seen blue ones which are far more numerous. At the

bottom of the lane I saw the first ladys’ smock. A check on the dipper’s nest

in the reserve revealed she was sitting well on five eggs, almost identical

timing to last year. By the end of the week temperatures were rising and the

first bluebells were showing.

Now we are in April and it does feel like spring has arrived. A lovely

surprise was walking into the woodpile to find a female goldcrest looking

for insects in the logs at knee height just a few feet away. It slowly worked

round my legs looked at me but was impervious to my presence, a good start

for the week. By the middle of the week spring had definitely arrived,

hawthorn leaves bursting everywhere, the first oak leaves appearing and a

holly blue and a brimstone in the garden. Three orange tips were seen early

in the week in the reserve with the first commas. The wood anemones are

hanging on enjoying glorious sunny days some reaching 20C. A dunnock was

sitting on eggs in the roadside hedge next to the car; this was why the male

had made such a mess attacking his reflection in the car’s wing mirror. A

cover put a stop to more attacks. On the morning of the 10th (Good Friday),

our blue tit finally laid, this is over a week later than 2019. On Saturday 11th

the first redstart was singing in an old cherry orchard near the wood,

carrying on a long tradition. Its sweet disjointed song is very recognisable,

and it was on the same date as last year.

The week following Easter began with a cold spell but with clear days the

temperature rose, and there was no stopping the flora. The wooded hillside

across the valley imperceptibly started to take on a green tinge. Birds moved

into breeding mode and suddenly the two pairs of garden blackbirds were

seen carrying food. Chiffchaff alarm calls were heard from the undergrowth

as I passed by, a sure sign they have found a nesting site. Two plants I am

always pleased to see appearing with lovely names are wood goldilocks from

the buttercup family and yellow archangel, one of the nettle family. Even the

humble dandelion graced most places; it is a good pollinator for lots of

26

insects. With the warmer spells thermals soon attracted buzzards with three

at one stage floating effortlessly above. In an old quarry nearby the bats made

their annual appearance, dashing rapidly about in search of insects and moths.

Against the sky their aerobatics are fascinating to observe. On 17th a check

on the dipper’s nest showed there were four chicks. The end of the week

saw welcome rain arrive, but the end of the week saw the mercury dip with

the last day only reaching single figures whereas on previous days it had

climbed to well over 20C.

This was just a short blip with the temperature the following week going

over 20C on some days, again well above the seasonal values. Noticeable this

week was the appearance of the May blossom on the hawthorn and with the

cherry trees in full bloom, everywhere was really looking spring-like. The

unseasonably warm weather also saw a small copper emerge at least two

weeks earlier than in the last thirty years and the first buds of green-veined

orchids were spotted in the meadow in the reserve. I also found the emergent

black-spotted leaves of many common spotted orchids. The garden

blackbirds are still feeding apple to their chicks, one of which made a brief

appearance still with head tufts. The apple season for them will soon be over

as there are only a few left but they did well lasting in the shed from last

autumn.

A female pied flycatcher briefly appeared at the same box as last year

by the wood pile, most likely the same bird that bred there last year, but oddly

no male is evident. A few days later while I was working in the garden, I

heard the alarm calls of the pied and I feared a visit from a cat or magpie; on

investigation it was only a very irate female annoyed at a pair of blue tits

prospecting her box! The next day April 24th she was taking nest material in

and in a couple of days had finished it.

Wild garlic is everywhere in white frothy masses and the scent is

overpowering. A visitor to our garden one night must have been the badger

as it was obvious it had been digging in a builder’s bag of rotted manure for

worms. On the reserve in the orchard I found the mandarin duck sitting in the

same hollow apple tree as last year.

The last few days of April brought an end to the long fine spell with a day

of rain on the 28th. By the end of the month the last four days had produced

an inch of rain, most of the month’s total rainfall. On a warm day the sound

of the seaside occurred - five lesser black backed gulls appeared calling to

one another, then found a thermal, went totally silent and must have risen

from 500 feet to over a thousand in less than five minutes! The blackbirds are

still out there eating apples, though there must be plenty of worms appearing

in the rain. The two chicks are still doing well and looking as if they are

finally learning to peck for themselves. On a dead cherry stump near the edge

of the wood once again the first growth of a fungus called “chicken of the

woods” has appeared. From a lumpy orange mass it eventually bursts open

into feather-like growths.

On the last day of the month the female pied flycatcher laid an egg, but

did she find a mate or not? It will be at least three to four weeks before we

will know. Acres of bluebells in the woods are looking glorious this week

and there are still a few anemones. Good to also hear a stock dove “who-

upping” outside as I write. The first week of May’s weather was nearer the

average with a bit of everything so not too disastrous for many of the young

birds leaving the nest. The robin chicks made us smile when after watching

the parents diving into a rhododendron to feed them, a look into its depths

found three chicks in a sort of lockdown until they feel confident enough to

leave its protection! The blue tits were now on their conveyor belt of a

continuous daylight supply of caterpillars from the nearby leaf canopy, to a

box near the front door. They seem oblivious of humans standing or sitting

in the sun close by. A pleasing find was a pair of stonechats on the rough

grassy banks just through the wood. Their agitated behaviour made it clear

this was their chosen nesting site amongst the brambles. This was a first for

this part of the world.

Update from Garth on May 19th: the pied flycatcher is sitting on six eggs.

Complete story in the summer Malvern Group Newsletter!

27

My Lockdown Experience – Brietta Pinder

I`ve really enjoyed lockdown because it’s given me time to appreciate

Malvern Common and the beautiful weather to the full. In particular I have

noticed the smells of the may blossom, the bluebells, the rowan trees and the

wild apple blossom. It was very intoxicating like aromatherapy! In April I

walked from the Common through to the golf course and the woods were full

of white violets with more lovely smells, and the many cherry trees were

covered in blossom. Lady’s smock flowered well after all the early spring

rain and attracted lots of orange tip butterflies.

(Last week of May) There has been almost no rain for weeks and Poolbrook

Common looks rather sad at the moment. The usual display of orchids is not

developing well and most of them look stunted. It’s still pretty with other

flowers though including grass pea, yellow rattle and pignut. The skylarks

have been busy and I think there are two pairs as usual. Starlings are

chattering noisily with their young in the trees near the stream.

Southern marsh orchids on Poolbrook Common.

They are only about 15 cm high this year whereas they usually grow to at

least twice that size. The ground is hard-baked and dry.

28

Lockdown in the New Forest – Ann Bowker

I have spent eight weeks of lockdown with my partner in the New Forest and

decided to write about things around the garden that are new to me and might

be of interest to the group.

First of all I was surprised to find woody nightshade grown as a most

decorative bush! And that was followed by discovering that the bit of topiary

in the second photo, which had no leaves when we first arrived, was in fact

produced from a stray oak sapling.

This was my most exciting find, as kindly identified by Gerry Davies - a

pasqueflower, which duly appeared at Easter and now has the lovely seed

heads in the picture below. Apparently it turned up unexpectedly on the bank

above the pond 3 or 4 years ago, and is the County flower of Gloucestershire.

The buttercups here are a revelation - shiny yellow and more upright than

the creeping ones that bedevil my flowerbeds. There are some lovely displays

by the roadside where the ponies cannot reach.

I have never come across WHITE herb robert before but that is what it seems

to be along the shady edge of the garden.

So now on to birds. For over three weeks in April the mallard pair in the

next photo came and spent the day with us feeding in the little canal and

associated ponds that surround the lawn, preening, resting and mating, (I

29

thought the female might drown!). The bird life here takes me back forty

years or more. Starlings nesting in a ridge tile where it adjoins the gutter and

a colony of house sparrows round the side of the house. Their young have

just left the nests and the noise is almost deafening. The tits that nested in

the box on the wall seem to have fledged when we were not looking. Finches

are much in evidence with up to four greenfinches, chaffinches, goldfinches

or siskins on the feeders at once. I hardly see them in Malvern Wells now.

There is a rookery in the trees by the crossroads nearby. The dawn chorus is

impressive. In spite of this abundance, there are some things I miss. There

was a pair of blackcaps in the Wells when we left, the long-tailed tits were a

joy, ravens and buzzards often heard and, at this time of year, house martins

to be seen swooping through the air over the valley below. I have seen one

buzzard over the heathland here and there is a little gang of swallows feeding

over the fields about half a mile away where the grass is longer.

And what about mammals.? Well there are wild ponies of course, though

they don’t look wild, they are so quiet and slow. I have seen deer when

walking the dog but they do not come into our garden. We have a hedgehog

which we watched trundling across the lawn last week at 8:30pm looking for

slugs, etc. It investigated under a bush and suddenly flipped onto its back and

then back onto its feet again the same way. We are still trying to work out

why? Also there is a little field mouse living under a paving stone in front of

the French window which zips across under the flower pots to grab food from

under the bird feeders. All good fun.

Last of all - insects. There were several of these bees (?) on the hogweed

by the road nearby. I have missed the butterflies I might have seen in

Malvern. There have been many brimstones here and white species which I

cannot identify. No orange tips but one or two speckled wood and holly blue

on the heath and I am pretty sure I saw a small heath last week.

I was relieved to find that the ants here are minute little black ones. In

the garden in Malvern I have to wear Wellingtons, even when I am watering,

to avoid being attacked and severely bitten. Altogether I have had a

wonderful holiday down here in the New Forest during lockdown and feel

quite guilty when others are finding it so difficult.