Report on January 2011 Quarterly Meeting

 

“OF BIRDS AND BEASTIES…”

Dorset Wildlife Trust

It was an Open Meeting where we almost ran out chairs (and cake!) as 94 members and visitors came to hear Steve Davis, Volunteers’ Manager of the Dorset Wildlife Trust, talk about wildlife in Dorset and the work of the Trust.  He had kindly stepped in as Jane Adams was unfortunately indisposed.

The beautiful photographs shown on a large screen were taken by Steve having used either his small digital camera or his much larger camera with its telescopic lens.  He assured us that excellent wildlife pictures can be taken on small digital cameras.  Birds are the best subject, but we should always remember that the animal is the priority, not the overall picture, which means trying not to get too close.  Our local parks are good places to start off (not to mention the 42 Nature Reserves the Trust runs in Dorset) as the wildlife there are used to having people around.  A few tips – be quiet, stay in one place and remember to be warmly clad.  Hopefully then the wildlife will trust you as an individual, but they don’t like groups of people.

Feeding wildlife has, as ever, advantages and drawbacks.  The Sika deer at Arne can get quite aggressive when no apples are forthcoming!  Similarly by feeding birds in nature reserves it makes them less inclined to hunt for food.  Also, ecologically, any uneaten bird seed often takes root throwing up an astonishing variety of plant life!  Sunflowers and cannabis amongst others  - truly the wrong plants in the wrong places.

The DWT is happy to receive photos with details, particularly if there is something unusual or different about the subject.  Flash photography is a “No No” as the smaller animals can drop dead from shock.  

The change in weather patterns makes for some interesting observations.  Last summer, during that very early hot spell, there was a huge influx of several million Painted Lady butterflies from Spain, which probably wasn’t much of a problem.   However, the arrival of egrets over the last 10 years isn’t such good news with their taste for the poor water vole, which has enough predators already.

Steve reminded us of the forthcoming Garden Birdwatch, beach clean-ups and how volunteers get together to make bat boxes, dormouse boxes etc. There is much more information on the DWT website, which is ably designed and run by Jane Adams.  

Steve’s brilliant photography really brought home to us the excellent work which the Trust does, and we have every reason to be so very grateful for all that they that they do.

In his vote of thanks, committee member John Rees said, in the interests of wildlife, “One of my first thoughts was hearing of the importance of what we should avoid doing.”  I hope we all will!                    Anne Robinson