October Summary

River Mole grasslands

The hysteria breaking out over the False Widow Spider was like watching the inevitable conveyor-belt-of-death scene in a Bond movie. Not everyone can be expected to know about individual spider species, but when something supposedly concerns public health then journalism should be better researched, factual and responsible. This very exaggerated and misleading press was damaging to arachnophobes and spiders alike! The truth about these False Widows is that they can nip, but then so do ants, bees, wasps and household pets. This article from Buglife concisely puts the record straight: Falsehoods about False Widows.
   Spiders play an important role in our ecosystems by keeping other invertebrates in check. Only since attempting to identify some out in the field, have I come to really appreciate the beauty and diversity in their colour, patterning and textures. I believe that the tabloids should be made to apologise to all UK spiders in person.

Walnut Orb-Weaver (Nuctenea umbratica), bedded down in the moss of a dormouse box

In more local news, Gatwick Greenspace Partnership (GGP) have a new team member in the form of Tom Simpson - a skilled countryside ranger and volunteer co-ordinator. This is fantastic news for our habitat management plan as there is a lot to be done and Tom is already on the case! He joins the GGP team consisting of Pete, Kev and Tom Forward who are based over at Tilgate in Crawley.

Tom Simpson - Assistant People and Wildlife Officer

This month has been the biggest so far in terms of our habitat management, with coppicing works on the River Mole in the North West Zone and thinning the young woodland in the Land East of the Railway Line. GGP led two departments from the airport, picking up the work at Goat Meadow which had been started several years ago; it is great to see it back underway. Two teams - BT Openreach and the BDO of City Place - were led by West Sussex County Council Volunteering, focusing on opening up the ride into Upper Picketts Wood and creating a dead-hedge. This makes a real difference through creating structural diversity, allowing more light to hit the ground and increasing the floral diversity. A massive thank you to all!

BT Openreach team building - Ashley's Field

GAL Planning and Development Team - Goat Meadow

GAL Communications Team and Corporate Sustainability and Affairs - Goat Meadow

Dead-hedge running along the footpath at Upper Picketts Wood, creating

 shelter for a variety of invertebrates, small mammals and birds

BDO Tax Team - Upper Picketts Wood

Recently, while collecting invertebrates from our Malaise trap, a local couple stopped to chat to me and were carrying with them this awesome gadget... a remote control helicopter with GPS tracker and high resolution camera mounted underneath for taking low-height aerial photos, picking up all the detail in the landscape. This could make my job somewhat easier! I want one.

Helicamera, aka my Ecology Drone

And finally... after discovering a population of Harvest Mice in the North West Zone, we will be carrying out nest searches and contributing to a study by the Sussex Mammal Group. Also, looking ahead to November we have a Fungi survey (not foraging for the cooking pot, but instead learning about the diversity of species) and a Winter Thrushes survey, supporting research by the British Trust for Ornithology. Seeing the Fieldfares and Redwings arriving will be a welcome reminder that life is still out there in the colder darker seasons.

Juvenile Harvest Mouse - River Mole Grasslands

September Summary: New beginnings

This has never been my favourite time of year as it usually signifies the end of things – life slows down, flowers disappear, invertebrate diversity drops, the grass turns yellow, evenings creep in earlier and the mornings take their sweet time to get going. Migrating birds, such as Swallows and Martins, ram this point home by flying thousands of miles, risking storms, starvation and predators just to get away from it all. This time last year, sitting in my portacabin next to an aircraft hanger, a sense of poignancy pervaded.

The last of the dragons - a female Migrant Hawker, one of the latest active dragonflies

However, this year feels a little different as September has signified the beginning of new things. With the added help of other naturalists I have been squeezing in as many different ecological surveys as possible and we still have some exciting new ones to come including fungi, small mammals and pond invertebrates. I have been trying to cover as wide a range of species as possible.

The rare Bechstein's Bat we found earlier this month in Brockley Wood, North West Zone

The removal of American Signal Crayfish continues in a section of the River Mole - they love the spam.

The most commonly found species in our dormouse boxes - a Copper Underwing Moth

So there is life out there other than Craneflies!

The two main components of our Biodiversity Action Plan consist of monitoring wildlife, then hands-on conservation work to improve habitats. As the main survey season ends, our autumn practical tasks are kicking off with activities such as dead-hedging, reptile and amphibian hibernacula construction (a dug pit filled with rubble, logs and brash) and thinning out of old and dense tree plantations.

Airport volunteers opening up a woodland ride into Upper Picketts Wood. This creates 

space for the remaining trees to reach their full, healthy potential...

...also allowing the sun's valuable energy to strike the woodland floor, benefiting groundflora and fauna

Our first airport staff volunteers of the season were the Accounts Payable Department, lead by West Sussex County Council's Volunteer Co-ordinator, Darren Rolfe and assistant Tom Weedon. The day was a definite success; no wind, no rain, no trees dropping onto volunteers plus only one piece of equipment went missing in the long grass - must be some kind of record!

Thinning out the young tree plantation, targeting the Crack Willow for removal

Ashley's Field with a well-supplied work station

I joke of course, all our volunteer days go more than smoothly here. This group were a fantastic bunch with bags of enthusiasm and together they made a great difference. I must say I’ve never seen conservation workers so well kitted out, I mean, a cafetiere in the middle of a field? Fair play... mine's an espresso macchiato, please!

Gatwick Greenspace Partnership (GGP) of the Sussex Wildlife Trust are the main conservation group here, carrying out community and environmental projects in and around Gatwick. I hear it has been nearly 20 years and they are still going strong. So when's the party, guys?

   Another aim of ours is to increase local awareness of GGP's work and to strengthen ties with the airport's numerous departments. Earlier this month, we set up a communications stand at the British Airways offices at Jubilee House, demonstrating the conservation works around Gatwick in order to engage the staff. 

Kevin Lerwill of Gatwick Greenspace Partnership and Phil Townrow of British Airways Engineering

Phil Townrow, aka 'Phil the Bin', also joined us on the day: an interesting British Airways engineer who is green of mind and passionate about reducing the environmental impacts of aircraft operations, through projects such as aircraft waste recycling and biofuel production. Another example of how much is going on behind the scenes of an international airport and how little is known about it!

British Airways has ground-breaking plans for a biofuel plant, due to start operating in 2015

And so looking ahead there will be no time to relax in October, with a final push on reptile and mammal surveys, a jam-packed conservation schedule and a brand new Gatwick Greenspace team member joining the ranks; the pace is now picking up on Gatwick's Biodiversity Action Plans.

A surprise visit by this Dunnock who flew into the portacabin - maybe it was after my hobnob biscuits?