Category Archives: Conservation

Big Butterfly Count, 20 July – 11 August

Conservation, Plants and Animals

Butterfly Count 2013

From the web site above:

The Big Butterfly Count is a nationwide survey aimed at helping us assess the health of our environment. It was launched in 2010 and has rapdily become the world’s biggest survey of butterflies. Almost 27,000 people took part in 2012, counting 223,000 individual butterflies and day-flying moths across the UK.

They have a nice butterfly ID chart as a free download from the site.

Here are some interesting and informative articles on butterflies that can be seen at Fleet Pond:

As an additional source of information, you can watch the Springwatch Guide to Butterflies and Moths this coming Friday (BBC2, 9 pm):

Join the Springwatch team for an in-depth view of the UK’s most colourful and fascinating creatures, with private lives that are often stranger than fiction. Living all over our countryside as well as in our own back gardens, butterflies and moths are the animal world’s ultimate transformers. Filming their extraordinary life-cycles in ultra-close up, the team bring you the latest science on their remarkable adaptations and lifestyles.

Fleet Pond Restoration Project In The News

Conservation

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This video gives a nice overview of the Fleet Pond Restoration Project and can be found on the EnvironmentAgencyTV‘s channel (the official YouTube channel for the Environment Agency in England).

There have recently been articles on the Sustainability and Environmental Management Award for this project in the technical press (click on links for details):

as well by the Environment Agency themselves.

Fleet Pond Restoration Project Wins Prestigious Award

Conservation

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Back, left to right – Steve Lyons and Louise Greenwood (HDC Countryside Service), Mavis and Colin Gray (Fleet Pond Society), David Ryan (WM Longreach) and Becky Burvill  (Johns Associates).

Front, left to right – Adam Green (HDC L&EP and Project Lead) and Damian McGettrick (Director, WM Longreach).

Visitors to Fleet Pond over the past year have been witness to the vast amount of work taking place as a result of the Fleet Pond Restoration Project. Now this outstanding work has been recognised by the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) which named the project winner of the ‘Sustainability and Environmental Management Award’ at the ICE South East England Engineering Excellence Awards 2013. Representatives of the project team were delighted to be presented with the trophy at the awards ceremony on 21st June in Southampton (see photo above).

This Award recognises the excellence of the works carried out by the Fleet Pond Restoration Project Team consisting of:

  • The Environment Agency
  • Fleet Pond Society
  • Hart District Council
  • Johns Associates
  • Natural England
  • WM Longreach.

The works involved dredging the lake and reusing the sediment to create islands to act as wind barriers to stop silt clouding the water. Retaining structures were installed to ensure the silt does not spread back over the pond base and the islands will allow colonisation by native reeds thus creating new habitats.

Cllr Sara Kinnell, Hart District Council portfolio holder for Leisure and Environmental Promotion said: “A great achievement for a well deserving project. I’d like to thank Johns Associates and WM Longreach for making this happen and to the partners for fifteen years of hard work in creating the right environment for success.”

Colin Gray, Chairman of Fleet Pond Society said: “The nominees for this prestigious award presented many high quality and high cost engineering projects. We had some strong competition so to win is a very clear recognition of the achievement by the Project Team. Johns Associates and WM Longreach deserve special praise for the design and construction work.”

More On Hairy Caterpillars

Conservation, Plants and Animals

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Garden Tiger Moth (showing the hindwing pattern)

Peter Martin writes:

“Writing the recent article about hairy caterpillars of the Oak Processionary Moth reminded me of the brown hairy caterpillars of the Garden Tiger Moth that I was always coming across during my youth.

The hairs from these creatures are loaded with histamines and can cause nasty irritations if handled. If more than one is kept together in captivity, they can be cannibalistic (don’t ask me how one can chew the other one without getting a mouthful of those nasty hairs).

I haven’t seen any of these hairy monsters (often called “woolly bears”) for many years and there is now real concern that they could become extinct.

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Caterpillar of the Garden Tiger Moth

“Butterfly Conservation” has a moth-night each year and this year it is making a particular request for anyone spotting a Garden Tiger Moth during the period from the 8th to the 10th August to report it.

More information on National Moth Night can be found here.

I am sure that, if you spot any of these caterpillars at any time and are sure that they are not one of the other hairy moth creatures, “Butterfly Conservation” would like to hear from you.”

Photos credits: here.