Category Archives: Helping wildlife

Helping wildlife, News

‘Bee saviour’ sugar cards could save starving insects

Leave a comment

The Guardian reports if you’ve ever felt a pang of pity for a starving bee struggling on the pavement in front of you, then help may soon be at hand. Or more precisely, in your wallet.

A community development worker has invented a credit card-style reviver for bees containing three sachets of sugar solution, which can be placed beside the insect to feed it.

Dan Harris, 40, is now crowdfunding to produce the “Bee Saviour” cards after the success of his prototype, with community groups and businesses in his local city of Norwich, including the Book Hive bookshop and a local pub, pledging to stock the £4 bee revivers.

Each card contains three indentations containing a beekeepers’ formula, secured by foil-backed stickers which can be peeled off.

Photo by Jim Smart under creative commons.

Helping wildlife, News

Patrols are on hand to help toads hop to safety

Leave a comment

The Times reports they are the grassroots environmentalists. Volunteers are collecting thousands of toads and frogs in buckets and placing them near rivers in a bid to save them from cars and trucks thundering along Scotland’s roads.

Dozens of new “toad patrols” are being set up to help amphibians avoid being squashed flat as numbers decline. It is estimated 20 tonnes of toads a year are crushed by cars and lorries as they attempt to reach their breeding sites around the UK. Experts say the patrols’ efforts are saving about 80,000 toads annually.

Helping wildlife, News

Tell us: have you spotted any netting to stop birds nesting?

Leave a comment

The Guardian reports the RSPB is urging the public to sign a petition to help change the law on the practice of bird netting in the UK.

We would like your help exploring the practice of netting trees so they can be removed for construction.

Across the UK there are reports of builders and developers using nets on trees to stop birds nesting so that they can be removed in order for building work to take place.

Helping wildlife, News

Get your garden and its wildlife off to a good start this spring

Leave a comment

The OBSERVER reports that the seasons seem topsy-turvy, but this is still a time of new beginnings. Here’s how to help your flowerbeds and veg plots thrive. Flower power – as soil warms, it’s time to plant perennials, but don’t just impulse-buy the first thing you see that promises pretty flowers on the label. If your garden got frazzled by the weather last summer, put drought-resistant plants that double as pollinator magnets to the top of your list.

Hungry hedgehogs breaking their winter hibernation can roam up to 2km in a night in search of food, but only if their path isn’t blocked by fences and walls. Consider cutting a hedgehog hole into existing fences or, if winter storms mean you need to replace panels, fit hog-friendly gravel boards at the base.

Once hedgehogs are in your garden, make them welcome by setting up a feeding and watering station in a sheltered spot: a dish of cat biscuits or specialist hog food are ideal. Dishes of fresh water will help hogs and other wildlife: an old dustbin lid set into the ground will make for easy access; add a pile of stones on one side so bees can come for a drink, too.

Helping wildlife

People’s Walk for Wildlife – please join!

Leave a comment

Everybody who cares about wildlife will be gathering in central London on 22nd September 2018 for the first People’s Walk for Wildlife.  And we know you care about wildlife because your reading this, so please join us there.

Watch this short video for one of the most passionate and yet down to earth explanations of why we have to wake up to what is happening to British wildlife and act. Chris Packham says of our wildlife population’s downward trends “those statistics about those declines become normalised. Like it’s just another part of the conversation”.

He continues “We’re in trouble, we’re in big trouble…… It’s time for us to act. I think it’s time for us to stand up and be counted, and to ask, politely, for things to be fixed”.

Please join this polite, passive walk (it’s not a demonstration or rally) and show your concern for what is happening to our wildlife – whether your interest is for birds, hedgehogs, dragonflies, ferns, trees, fungi or any other of the diverse, beautiful and essential plants and animals that keep our environment healthy.

 If your interested in going and want to travel by train with other members of FNW please let me know so we can co-ordinate travel arrangements or arrange to meet in London.

10am: Gather – Reformers Tree, Hyde Park, London
12 noon: Infotainment
1pm: Walk
2pm: Finish – Richmond Terrace

Helping wildlife

It’s National Insect Week – count bees to help protect pollinators

Leave a comment

It’s National Insect Week! You can celebrate the wonder of insects and take part in the Great British Bee Count.

Set up by Friends of the Earth, and supported by Buglife, this count has run since 17 May and will continue until 30 June.  Download the app to make a note and report any bumblebees and solitary bees you see. It has a handy guide for identification as well as advise on how to create habitats for pollinators.

[Photo by Rob Gallop under creative commons
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/legalcode]

 

Helping wildlife

Help map the mammals of Normandy

Leave a comment

While you’re out on your dog walk, cycle or stroll through the countryside you could also be helping our local mammals.  The Mammal Society have launched a new app, Mammal Mapper, to record mammals sightings or signs of mammals and send them to a national database.

The app is simple to use and provides a very handy detailed guide to identifying British mammals.

Most wild mammals, including rabbits and hedgehogs, are poorly monitored.  Records from the app could provide vital information about locations and population trends of our precious mammals, aiding better management and protection.

Learn more about the app here.  The app is free to download and available on android and iOS in app stores now. For more information and to download from the Mammal Society website go to http://www.mammal.org.uk/volunteering/mammal-mapper/.

Helping wildlife

Avoid the bin! Repair and re-use!

Leave a comment

It’s annoying when something breaks and you’re not sure how to fix it. No need to give up and throw it away.  Learn to repair your broken items for free at the Guildford Repair Café.  Volunteer experts are on hand to help you repair a whole variety of items.  Save money and the environment – save on waste and reduce the manufacturing of replacements.

Please visit the Guildford Repair Café website for more details.  At time of writing, the next session is the morning of Saturday 7th April, 10-12, at the Park Barn Community Centre, Cabell Road, Guildford, Surrey, GU2 8JH.

Helping wildlife, News

Feed the birds, but be aware of risks, say wildlife experts

Leave a comment

Feeding our garden birds can provide vital energy resources for our feathered friends, but we are also responsible for making sure it doesn’t have unexpected harm. The BBC report on research by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) on the risks of disease in wild birds from garden bird feeders.

ZSL and the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) recommend:

  1. Do keep feeding your birds, especially in winter, but just be aware of the risks and how you can minimise them
  2. Clean bird feeders regularly
  3. Rotate feeding sites to avoid build up of droppings and/or regurgitated food
  4. If you notice a sick bird (e.g. unusually fluffed-up plumage and lethargic):

Learn more about what you can do to help Normandy’s wildlife.