Newsletter No.32

March 2011

It’s time again, to remind you of the annual general meeting and to nag you about subscriptions. One piece of good news is that you can now take out a standing order to pay your subscriptions instead of having to be harried by someone from the committee. A form is included at the end.

We still have to rely upon a small band of regular volunteers on our work parties. It would be nice to have more help; offers and suggestions welcome. The Town Council has helped out considerably recently by providing cutting machinery and operators on Mill Meadows. The Green Gym has also worked on our sites from time to time.

Community service help may soon become a reality. It has been offered previously but supervison could not be arranged. Now we hope it will be made available, with supervision.

We thank the Town Council for their help and support. We are also grateful to all the volunteers who come out on work parties regularly and reliably.

SUBSCRIPTIONS ARE DUE NEXT WEEK, FIRST OF APRIL

As before, you can pay your subscription, by cheque, to “Henley Wildlife Group”,.and send it to Chris Bond, 47 St Andrew's Road, Henley on Thames, RG9 1JA.
However, the group now has a new bank account which enables you to pay your subscription by standing order. By including the name of the member as the standing order reference, it will show up on our statement to match your contribution. We need to register you as a member before we receive your first standing order payment.
If you would like to pay by this method then please complete a ‘new standing order instruction’ form. The form is available from your bank or download as a PDF form.

Paper vs. Internet
If you are still receiving the newsletter on paper, please bear in mind:
1. that you will not be able to look up any Internet references and,
2. the extra cost and time required for paper printing.
If you have Internet access please let us have your e-address and you will share in the joys of hypertext and networking.

Membership
There is a membership form with this newsletter. Please think whether any one you know would be interested in joining the Group and let them have the form.
There must be many more people who would be interested but just don’t get round to it. Help them to do so.

Events

For details of other events at the River & Rowing Museum, see the link to “What’s On” .

Also a link to BBOWT events.

See the Events calendar for HWG events.

Group news

GREEN FLAG COMMUNITY AWARD
We have entered Mill Meadows for a Green Flag Community Award. This is a national award that recognises high quality green spaces in England and Wales that are managed by voluntary and community groups. The award is part of the Green Flag Award scheme, the national standard for quality parks and green spaces. It is administered by BTCV for Keep Britain Tidy. We are waiting to hear when the judging will take place.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Two members of the committee wish to resign: Patricia Dixon and Tim Woods. Both have been valued members of the committee and Tim has belonged since March, 1994 We thank them both for their commitment and service.
We shall be electing new members at our AGM (see above). Please let the secretary know (see "Contacts") if you are interested in taking a place on the committee. We meet bi-monthly on Thursday evenings for about two hours. Each member has a particular area of interest.

Group activities

MILL MEADOWS
Ragged Robin leaves were clearly visible near the ponds at recent work parties so we look forward to an attractive display of its pretty pink flowers before long. The best time to see them is mid-May to mid-June when they and the buttercups are flowering profusely.
Volunteers planted 105 trees and shrubs on Mill Meadows on Sunday 13 March. They were provided by the Woodland Trust and the Royal Horticultural Society as part of a project to encourage more native tree planting up and down the country. Wild Cherry, Silver Birch, Hawthorn, Hazel and Dogwood were amongst the things planted. It was good to see a nice clump of primroses in flower on our return to the Mill Lane car park.

The Green Gym tackled the pond nearest the railway line last month. As with the small pond last year it was heavy work. The matted roots of the pond sedges made it very difficult but we had more appropriate tools this time so we were able to get out much more of the roots. We now have more open water than we have had for a long time although we left a good proportion of the pond untouched for the sake of the wildlife. Those who found the pond work too heavy cut back brambles for us, another useful task. We are very grateful to the Green Gym this work. The Council workmen have also been helping us more in recent times, for which we are also very grateful.

VALLEY ROAD CHALK BANK
There have been two work parties scheduled in the last six months. Some of the brush on the bank overlooking Valley Road was cut back to maintain air and light to the ground cover. As usual, there was a large amount of litter to collect.
The birdlife on the Bank is extensive, given the mix of grassland, brush and tall trees. We would like an ornithologist to carry out a survey, if possible. Please contact David Parry with any ideas (see "Contacts").

There is now an agreed circular walk around the Chalk Bank, the Wootton Manor estate, Greys Road, Makins recreation ground and?? the new feature??, a right of way being confirmed, going from and to Haywards Close.

The path from Knappe Close onto the Bank is now open again. We hope to have the rest of the chainlink fence removed soon, subject only to health and safety considerations.

BIRD SURVEY
Kites up, Sparrows down.
Results from the Garden Bird Survey are still coming in. We are now in the last quarter of the year-long survey. Analysis of the data has begun and we are able to compare the results for the period July-September 2010 with the corresponding period of 2000. Some species have shown a distinct increase in sightings over the 10-year period but others have shown a marked decrease. Red kite, goldfinch and jackdaw, in particular are up while house martin, house sparrow and swallow are down. Many of the common garden species, for example blackbird, blue tit, chaffinch, magpie, robin and wood pigeon have shown little change. In the current survey, the most frequent sightings for the July-September period were for wood pigeon, blue tit, blackbird, red kite, great tit, dunnock and robin.

A second aspect of the study was to record the less common birds seen within the town boundary but outside the gardens taking part in the Garden Bird Survey. Although several river birds such as mallard, moorhen and great crested grebe have been noted, there have been relatively few reports under this heading and so more observations would be welcome (please let David Whitehead, dcwhitehead@thamesinternet.com, know). The stretch of river within the town boundary extends from Marsh Lock to Phyllis Court.

One unusual species that has been seen in Henley during the recent winter is the waxwing, though it was not recorded in any of the gardens in the survey. A flock of at least 65 was seen in Waitrose car-park by one observer on 22 December; and smaller numbers were seen from time to time by other people during the following few weeks. Henley was last visited by waxwings during the winter five years ago.

Summer visitors will soon be arriving, so look out for chiffchaffs, willow warblers, house martins, swallows, swifts etc during the coming weeks.


This picture of a Waxwing was taken by Mr. Ashley Stow, whom we thank.

GILLOTTS FIELD
We continue to mow by the road over the summer. This should help to avoid further grass fires such as we had last year.

Ragwort remains a problem but we hope to have Community Service people as well as other resources pulling Ragwort this year.

FORENSIC BOTANY TALK
The talk by Dr. M. Ketih-Lucas, University of Reading, on the forensic uses of botany was authoritative and absorbing. The principal subject was pollen and how it differs between species and is preserved indefinitely; in the case of some Shetland excavations, for thousands of years. Botanical data can provide very precise time and location information.

Wildlife news

OTTER SURVEY
The Environment Agency has published the results of its 2009-10 survey of the otter population in England.

The report says,
“There was a very high percentage increase in the Thames catchment where there has been both consolidation of the population in the upper part of the catchment as well as re-colonisation eastwards”.
Does anyone know of successful sighting(s) around Henley?
See link

TOAD RESCUE, FAWLEY
The annual toad patrol is underway at its usual location, on the A4155 by the bluebell wood near the management college– see earlier newsletters for details or contact Alan Parfitt, Henley 572660 .

Links

See "Links" page.

Paying by standing order
The Group has a new bank account. The foremost advantage of this is that enables you to set up a standing order instruction to pay your subs, cutting out the hassle of writing cheques or delivering cash to the treasurer each year. With the previous account, if you paid by standing order, the money would be credited to the account with no mention of from where it came! Now, if you include your name in the reference on the form, it will show up on our statement next to your contribution.
If you would like to pay by this method then please complete a ‘New Standing Order Instruction’ form.

To complete the form, follow these instructions:
- Enter the name of your bank or building society at the top of the form
- Fill in the details of your account in section 1
- In section 2:
o The name of the organisation you are paying is ‘Henley Wildlife Gp’
o The payment reference should include your name, such as ‘Fred Bloggs subs’
o The sort code of our bank is 60-10-35
o The number of our bank account is 13160273
- Enter the frequency and amount in section 3. For example
o Payments to be made yearly
o Date and amount of first payment: 01Apr11, £5.00
o Leave the date and amount of ongoing payments blank, so that the payment is the same each year
o Tick the box for ‘Until further notice’
- Sign and date the form in section 4, then deliver it to your bank or building society.

Please join us ...
.... and help improve Henley’s wildlife

The main aim of the Henley Wildlife Group is to improve Henley’s open spaces for wildlife and people. We have an agreement with the Town Council to manage some areas on Mill Meadows for wildlife and we have returned a small part of the Meadows to wet flower-rich meadow and reed bed, an example of the type of vegetation which would once have been common along the banks of the Thames. We manage other wildlife sites in Henley such as Gillott’s Corner Field.

Many lovely wetland plants grow on Mill Meadows but they need a more natural environment in order for them to flourish. Increasingly threatened plants such as Cuckoo Flower, Ragged Robin and Marsh Marigold grow on the Meadows, and Southern Marsh Orchids used to grow there. A wildlife area has enabled these plants to spread, and it provides a home for a variety of invertebrates, and a good feeding place for many resident and migrant birds.

The Henley Wildlife Group organises meetings and work parties to care for the conservation areas in the town and anyone with an interest in nature conservation is welcome to come along. A newsletter is circulated to members advertising the dates and times. The group is affiliated to BTCV (the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers) and the Urban Wildlife Partnership.

For more information about the Henley Wildlife Group contact the chairperson on Henley
578 633.

Please join us and complete the coupon below, returning it with the membership subscription (=£5 annually on the 1st of April) or a standing order mandate to the treasurer: Chris Bond, Corner House, 47 St Andrew’s Road, Henley-on-Thames RG9 1JA
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Address:_____________________________________________________
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