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Recording wildlife.

Updating my last post, I have started to use the SERC system and hopefully I have recorded a couple of "ordinary" sightings this week. Here is a link to the web site and the instructions you need to follow:http://www.somerc.com/submit-your-sightings/ You need to live in Somerset of course!!

Visiting a friends garden this week we were amazed to see a Blackbird somehow catch a Newt from the pond and fly off with it. Couldn't see more clearly than that and it all happened in a split second. It took its prey into some bushes and was obviously having difficulty dealing with it. We left it to it!

Will look more carfully at our own garden pond now where we know we have newts.

How can I record wildlife I see in my village?

On Tuesday this week our local group of the Somerset Wildlife Trust organised a talk to explain to members how we can do this.
I was interested to listen to an excellent presentation of the on line recording system developed by Somerset Environmental Records Centre.( SERC) I followed up the same evening by entering my sighting of a Orange Tip butterfly in my own garden two days ago. I expect many people have seen them recently. After a couple of tries I have entered this sighting onto the Somerset Records. Not remarkable but as was apparent from questions a common reaction to being urged to report common sightings is  why report something which is thought off as not worth the effort.

For me the reason is the same as led us to start our own local village system which you can see in operation if you visit Curry Rivel Community Website. Use this link :http://www.curryrivel.org.uk  A map is shown with the Parish boundary marked  using Google Earth maps and on the map are symbols to represent the reports we have receive, their location and description of what was seen. We set that system up because of our interest in wildlife and because as on of small group of volunteers said," if we want to protect out wildlife then we first need to know what wildlife is currently resident in our area!"

What I learnt form our talk was that SERC have given us the means to pass on our sightings so that they can be " officially" recorded centrally for Somerset where they are available for planning departments , developers and local councils who are considering housing and other projects.

So its a lot more than just local curiosity and interest and I hope we will be able to use this tool and well as keeping our local initiative going in parallel.

SERC web site and the way to make our reports are clearly shown at this web address link:   http://www.somerc.com/who-are-serc/

To see the Facebook page for our local area group of the Somerset Wildlife Trust try this link:http:://www.somersetwildlife.org/Heart_of_the_Level

Curry Rivel wildlife

I posted this short report on our Community Web Site and have already had several new sightings so happy with that.

The Wildlife Survey Group has set up a map of the village and we add a marker every time someone reports any form of wildlife. 
To view the map simply click here 

To report your sighting if you use a mobile phone or other computer device email to: davidgerman555@gmail.com or editor@curryrivel.org.uk or curryrivelnews@gmail.com
It will reach me, David German, eventually!

At the recent Annual Parish Assembly I was able to report that the Wildlife Survey Group is indeed still alive and well and collecting news of fresh wildlife sightings around Curry Rivel.

Most of the reported sightings so far have been added with an approximate location to the Village Wildlife Map on the website.

Reports for 2018 include the following:

5.3.18.I was contacted about an unusually large "creepy crawly"

I've copied how I asked SERC for identification!

Sent to SERC:
"Help please!
What is this? Sent to me this morning. Found on a slab sunbathing yesterday in a garden next to Batty Piece. Looks very pale and seems to have a pair of legs per segment. I've checked the length and was told it was about 10 cm.It seems to be a centipede but rather big? Mobile phone picture included.The person sending this didn't actually see it and will contact the originator for more info if possible.
Regards,
David"

Response from SERC:
"Thank-you for the creepy crawly photo, it is indeed a centipede. As to which is not so easy to say, there are 57 species of centipede in the UK!
Here is an interesting link

The Western yellow centipede (Stigmatogaster subterranea) seems plausible, up to 70mm, not so long as your specimen but possible. The Nature Spot website says there are several very similar species and they can only be identified conclusively with an id key and a microscope, not from a photo sadly! So, centipede sp. is as good as we can get.

Actually, some people keep non-native centipede species as pets so it could even be an escapee." 

8.4.18 Video clip of two stoats fighting in a local ditch. Very dramatic and serious with probably only one winner! Will try to show video complete with sound effects!


Tried but not working!

Other reports in April so far include ,Swallows,House Martins, early purple wild orchids, Bluebells, primroses and Cowslips in East Field and Batty Piece in large numbers.

By coincidence there will be a Wildlife Trust public meeting with a presentation of the recording work by Somerset Environmental Centre organised by the Heart of the Levels Volunteer Group 8th May in Somerton.
"It is the endless task of the Somerset Environmental Records Centre (SERC) to record the county's plant and wildlife. Why is this so
important, and what is this information used for? Come and find out how you can make a big contribution to counting our wildlife."