All Day Birdwatching and Biodiversity

On the 7^th May it was the annual spring birdwatching all-dayer. It is a friendly competition between different birding sites across the west midlands. The aim is to spot as many different species as possible in the course of the day. This therefore meant getting up at first light and driving the few short miles to the outskirts of Worcester to the village of Grimley.

Sun Rise Over Grimely at 5am

The day was successful, we as a team spotted 89 species and I personally saw 78 species. This was in fact a record breaking day. Of the 89 species seen there were some very exciting birds. The two standout highlights were 2 male breeding coloured ruff and a singing grasshopper warbler. I get excited about seeing different and varied wildlife as I walk around my birding patch partly as it add to the year list (Ruff) or even life list (Grasshopper Warbler) that I collect.

Ruff Along the Shore. Stunning Summer Plumage

Often you do feel driven by the numbers and lists. Number of species seen in a day, in a year, your life. Bird lists, garden lists, patch lists, butterfly/moth lists; the lists go on. But, there is something quite important behind these personal quests. That is biodiversity!

Great Spotted Woodpecker Feeding off Grubs in the Decaying Wood

Ecosystems are complex environments where plants, animals, fungi and bacteria coexist and rely on each other for survival in complex networks of fascinating interactions. Biodiversity is key to these ecosystems working properly. When a species is removed from the ecosystem that role is not carried out. This has a knock on effect through the food chain. Some species might do really well initially but they do cause an imbalance which only leads to the loss of species. The end product is a dysfunctional ecosystem with low biodiversity.

Ringed Plover 

Comfrey

Seeing 89 species of bird alone might sound like a lot and therefore suggest a healthy ecosystem. But it is surprising how many more species there could/should be in the area: yellowhammer, corn bunting, lesser spotted woodpecker, willow tit to name a few. The primary reason why they are not present is simply habitat destruction and intensive farming methods. Take the yellowhammer and corn bunting. They rely on large bushy hedges to breed and feed. Farmers are inclined to cut their hedges too thin and too frequently. This does not suit those birds and they are lost from the area.  

Orange-tip Butterfly

On the plus side the sighting of the grasshopper warbler did fill me with a little excitement. They do not breed in the area, but they do close by at coney meadow, and they are doing very successfully there. My hope is that they will spread out to Grimley. However, the habitat in the area is perhaps not ideal as they like short dense vegetation where they can nest near the ground and stay concealed from view. It is the range of different habitats that helps increase biodiversity. If the habitat was right I do feel that there would be Grasshopper warblers present. This can only benefit the ecosystem as a whole.

Wasp Showing Why Dandelions are Important

Whilst I was focused on birds on Saturday I did notice a Black-headed Cardinal Beetle. This is slightly rarer and indeed a more striking beetle than the common red-headed Cardinal Beetle. They are very startling to see, this is as a result of their comparatively large size and their colour. They, like many other species have evolved a bright stunning colouration to prevent predation, they are in fact harmless. They spend most of their lives in and around decaying trees, mainly oaks. They feed off smaller insects that live in woodlands such as small flies, other beetles and their larva. They lay their eggs under the bark of dead oak trees. The larva, which have adapted flattened bodies to live under the bark feed off insects that live in the dead and decaying wood.

Black-headed Cardinal Beetle

Clearly a Black Head and a Bright Red Wing Case

It is clear that there are several important ecological connections that are required for these beautiful beetles to exist. First they need the Oak woodlands that have mature trees in them. These trees need to have died (and not been removed!) so the cardinal beetle can lay its eggs under the bark. In addition, they need a multitude of larva of other species to feed off. The adults will require flies and beetles as well to feed. They in turn will provide food for some of the bird life in the area. Birds such as Treecreaper, Nuthatch and Woodpeckers will feed off the larva. You can often see them pecking away at the bark searching for various grubs.

Wild Radish Found In the Farmland 

We need to be increasing biodiversity not reduce it. Simple things to do this are allowing hedges to grow bigger, leaving dead wood on the woodland floor and creating areas of scrub. If we do that we will see an increase in the wildlife present. 

Common Vetch Growing Close to Ground

Broadway Tower and The Cotswolds Ecology

I love living in Worcestershire. One of the many reasons is the proximity to the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. On a spring day when the sun shines there is nothing better than to go for a walk in the Cotswold Hills and admire the beauty of the natural world. The soft rolling hills, the orange stone and the idyllic English villages. What more could you ask for?

High Street, Broadway

Walking up the Broadway Tower 

The Cotswolds are an area of hills that rise up from the Severn valley and are made of an outcrop of oolitic limestone. It is this Jurassic limestone that gives the villages their characteristic appearance and it also gives the hills a unique ecology. This means there is often something interesting to see from a wildlife point of view. Our recent walk up Broadway tower was no exception. The tower itself sits at the top a the limestone escarpment (313m above sea level) above the picturesque Worcestershire village with houses built from the Cotswold stone. The walk is pleasant and it gave us plenty of opportunity to enjoy views across the Severn valley and of the village of Broadway. 

Broadway and the Seven valley

Enjoying the View

It is the rock that gives the area their appearance and their ecology. It was formed in the Jurassic period 150-200 million years ago in warm shallow seas. Like all limestone they are made predominately of calcium carbonate. This will have formed from the shells of dead sea creatures that were deposited on the sea floor. It can be fun to put this to the test. Pour a few drops of vinegar onto the rock and if calcium carbonate is present it will fizz. The acid is reacting with the carbonate to produce carbon dioxide.

Red-tailed bumble bee Queen

Common Field-speedwell. Small blue flowers with triangular leaves

From an ecological perspective the area is primarily made of rare limestone grass land broken up by arable fields and beech woodland. In fact the Cotswolds hold 50% of the UK's unimproved limestone grassland. It is therefore a haven for a range of plants and insects that are not found anywhere else. Unfortunately we were a little early in the year to spot the Chalkhill Blue and the Duke of Burgundy butterflies!

Dandelion and hoverfly

Forget-me-knot. Seen everywhere in the Cotswolds 

However, there was still plenty to see. The flowers that predominated on our Broadway tower were Forget-me-not's, Ground Ivy, Cowslips and in the woodland there were Dog-violets and lots of Bluebells. All of these are species that can be found on any bare patch of ground or road verge. It was nice to see them and the range of pollinators that they rely on to produce seeds for the next generation.

Ground Ivy: Creeping plant with Small Blue 

Dog Violet: Small blue flower with heart shaped leaves

There were plenty of bees and hover flies. In fact I spotted one of my favourite flies the Bee Fly. They are identified by being a fly (short antenna and one pair of wings) that looks like a bee and having an impressively long probosces. They feed on nectar and pollen, it is that long probosces that they have evolved that gives them the advantage. It enables them to reach the nectar in flowers that have long and narrow floral tubes, such as cowslips and bluebells. The larvae stage is a little more sinister. The adults will lay their eggs in the nests of solitary bees, such as the mining bee, the it will consume the bee larvae before hatching out into the stunning bee fly adult. Therefor the bee flies need to live in an area rich in flowers like cowslips and where mining bees live.

Bee Fly. Notice the long ridged probosces

Cowslips. Perfectly evolved for Bee Flies

It is great to see this range of plants and animals. I sometimes feel that in Britain the countryside is very sterile. This is as a result of the intensive farming that takes place across most of it. Indeed the cotswolds are not exempt from that. There is a lot of sheep grazing and that has a detrimental affect on the range of wild flowers present. This then has a knock on effect up the food chain. Sheep do have a negative effect on biodiversity as they eat a much wider range of plants than other grazing animals.

Broadway tower and the heavily grazed grassland

The Cotswolds. Sheep eat everything!

The key word is biodiversity: the more species of flower the more variety of insects there will be to pollinate them. An increase in the numbers of invertebrates will give rise increases in birds and small mammals. We all benefit from the existence of pollinators as without them the majority of our crops can not produce fruits and seeds. It is also fascinating to learn and understand the complex and interwoven lives that all these animals and plants live. No species lives in isolation and the interactions between cowslips, mining bees and bee fly highlight that. 

Bluebell 

Cuckoo Flower

Hawthorn