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Our Projects. 

Watch this space for further developments and news about our project

Project 1. Birdboxes

Members of our group have made lots of bird boxes from recycled pallets and scrap wood and taken advice about different designs for different birds. We hope they will all have feathered residents this spring and summer.

Contact us if you would like one for your garden or can suggest a suitable site for one.

Common spotted orchids  Wickridge Street
Project 2. Wildflower planting

We hope people will set aside a wildlife area in their gardens or plant plants which are attractive to pollinators. We held a plant sale of pollinator friendly plants in May and hope this will become a regular event.

Plugs of wildflowers have been planted in selected areas which won't be disturbed and we hope these will establish themselves, varieties include; ragged robin, cowslips, violets, stitchwort and birdsfoot trefoil.

Project 3. Wildlife surveys

In order to work out what types of butterflies and birds we have in our village, we have created some small groups of interested residents into 3 groups -

1. Birds - have organised walks to view birdboxes and identify bird calls

2. Reptiles and amphibians - research being carried out

3. Wildflowers and plants - walks to look at specific areas of the village have been organised.

These groups will help us to establish baselines and measure how we have improved numbers and varieties during the project.

4. Butterflies

 

First the bad news – it seems our little friends are struggling to survive in modern Britain according to a recent report. The 1st attached link will take you to the recently released and updated  “Red List of species”, published by Butterfly Conservation scientists in co-operation with the “UK butterfly monitoring” and “Butterflies for the new millennium” recording schemes. It makes unhappy reading.

 

Half of British butterfly species on new Red List | Butterfly Conservation (butterfly-conservation.org)

 

And now some better news. Your chance to take part in the annual “Big Butterfly” count – a very important bit of citizen science, the results of which are important in informing where the conservation efforts might be best concentrated.

 

The count takes place from July/August and all the details you will need in order to take part are to be found on the “Big Butterfly Count” web-page – see second attached link, below.

 

https://bigbutterflycount.butterfly-conservation.org/

 

It is basically a simple census, taken over 15 minutes, (I suggest a sunny 15 minutes for best results), in your garden, in a local field, in fact anywhere around the village (on the many footpaths we are lucky enough to have access to?) .

The results can be pinned to a digital map when reported. There is a down-loadable identification chart and the results can be reported to the BC web-site direct or via the inevitable mobile phone App.

 

You can report as many 15 minute counts as you like, in fact the more the better.

 

What’s stopping you!!

Project 4. Community Activities

We have done some planting of wild flowers around the village and held a successful Palnt Sale of pollinator friendly plants

Project 5 - Guided walks

Our first Guided walk was in October 2021 and a small group met at the Hub and ventured through the village footpaths towards Longridge Lane where we walked through the old orchard - a rich habitat for birds and insects. We saw lots of interesting fungi during our walk. Look out for details of our next walk!

Project 6 - Bird Box Workshop

Our first practical workshop for local residents. A Bird Box Workshop held in February 2022 attracted local interest with families coming to make a bird box for their garden. Templates of boxes for different birds had been prepared by Frank Bowe and volunteers helped people use the tools to assemble the boxes. Look out for details of our next workshops!

Project 7 - Woodpeckers Jubilee Garden

Project 8 - Tree Planting

Go Wild in Ashleworth were lucky enough to receive 150 sapling trees from the Woodland Trust, these arrived in March 2022 and were planted around the village in consultation with local landowners. We hope these survive despite the extremely dry weather in 2022. The trees were native species including oak, rowan, and hazel. 

Project 9 - Guided walk 02

Our group invited members to join us on a village walk starting from Woodpeckers past the sunflower fields towards Berrow Hill to the Ham. The 3 mile walk enabled us to see the sunflowers which have been planted especially for wildlife by Chamberlayne's Farms. Thanks to Richard we spotted linnets, skylarks and heard a meadow pippet. Look out for further planned walks in the future! 

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