Monthly Archives: July 2017

Group Meeting – 28th July 2017

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At our July meeting, and due to popular demand, we welcomed back David Plummer, an expert international wildlife photographer. David continued to share with us his fascinating accounts of photographing animals and birds in their natural environment. David explained that many of his photographs are the result of many hours and sometimes days of patience, often in uncomfortable situations. Also the photographs that appear to be endearing are frequently quite the opposite. As an example David showed us a photograph of two lion cubs that looked as if they were snuggled up together but in reality they were licking the blood from each other after sharing a kill.

David spends around six months of the year travelling worldwide acting as a guide to novice wildlife photographers, and conducting bespoke private tours in India, the Galapagos Islands, Kenya, including the Maasai Mara and Rwanda to film target species with particular expertise in the Pantanal region of Brazil and Hungary. These trips spare no expense in securing the very best wildlife experience and time is spent studying and understanding the animals to obtain the best possible shots.

When David is not travelling he works at the Sussex Wildlife Trust, Knepp Castle Estate and the BN5 Owl Project, a community based project in Small Dole near Henfield. He also runs non-photographic wildlife safaris and guided birding on the North Kent and Welsh coasts.

It was not until recently that David chose to disclose the fact that he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2009, aged 40 years old. This event has not deterred David but instead spurred him on to make the very best of life and he has achieved some of his greatest work since his diagnosis.

Following a break for tea and biscuits Tricia Hall delivered her Nature Notes and advised us that fringed lilies were evident on the Rife and that the ‘Big Butterfly Count’ would take place between Friday 14th July and Sunday 6th August. This is a nationwide survey aimed at helping to assess the health of our environment. It was launched in 2010 and is now the world’s largest survey of butterflies. In 2016 over 36,000 people took part counting almost 400,000 individual butterflies and day-flying moths across the UK. Tricia gave us a list of butterflies that we may spot in our area of West Sussex; meadow brown, gate keeper, common blue, holy blue, comma, speckled wood, small tortoiseshell, peacock, red admiral, brimstone, painted lady, clouded yellow, green-veined white, small white and large white. To take part in this count and for further information visit: www.bigbutterflycount.org

Ed Miller concluded the meeting with news that there were no new planning applications for Ferring and that the revised parking space plan for Sea Drive Flats was to be decided by Arun DC later this month. Ed also advised us that over 700 houses were planned to be built either side of Water Lane in Angmering.

Summer Social

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The Group’s annual Summer Social takes place at Ferring Village Hall on Sat 26 August, starting at 6.30pm.

As usual, this will include a hot buffet style meal and a dessert, as well as a your first drink. The menu this year will be as follows:

Choice of Chicken breast in cream and mushroom sauce, or Beef bourgignon, or Goats cheese and mediterranean veg tarts, plus selection of seasonal salads (apple coleslaw, tomato and mozzarella, green mixed salad) and French bread and butter

Followed by choice of gateaux selection and cream, fresh fruit salad and cream, or Banoffee pie and cream.

There will also be a good quality prize raffle, a variety of interesting prize quizzes for your entertainment, and of course good company and conversation.

Tickets priced at £10 per person will be available at our next members’ meeting on Friday 28 July also at Ferring Village Hall, starting at 7.30pm, and also from our treasurer, Gloria Moffatt on 502139. Tickets are limited, so please get in quick!

Information on helping hedgehogs

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Our hedgehogs are really struggling. Have a look at a new short article in the Nature Notes section of this website, written by committee member, Graham Tuppen, to see what you might be able to do in your garden to help them. A number have been seen recently around the village in gardens, so there is some hope for them if we all do our bit.

Making your garden Hedgehog friendly

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Avoid using slug pellets.

Make it easy for them to come in by making holes in/gaps under fences. If you have hedges, avoid having chicken wire barriers in them. They need holes of approx 15cm/6in diameter. They can climb, but are unlikely to scale a 6 foot fence.

Have water available in your garden for them (and all other wildlife) to drink. If you have a pond, give them an escape ramp of some sort, they can swim but are not able to do so indefinitely.

If you want to feed them, don’t leave bread and milk for them, as this is actually bad for their tummies. Dog or cat food is better, left out overnight. Apparently they like chicken flavour,  but avoid all fish. They will eat unsalted peanuts and apparently some cheese. The risk of dog/cat food is that you will simply be feeding foxes (and possibly dogs and cats). It is possible to buy dried foods (eg Spike’s and Ark wildlife) specifically for hedgehogs which should avoid this problem (eg Shoreline pets in the Mulberry parade, Goring stock some).

For hibernating, a loose woodpile is ideal, but you can either buy hedgehog houses, or make one. The basic requirement is a dry chamber, with an entrance tunnel approx 13cm diameter, long enough to prevent a fox from reaching into the chamber. Ideally the tunnel should slope down slightly from the chamber, to prevent water running in. The chamber should be covered with a waterproof material, and preferably then covered in earth or vegetation, and a supply of suitable bedding material such as straw and leaves nearby is useful. The home should be in a quiet, cool, shady spot, with the entrance facing away from cold winds (not North or Northeast). An old plastic milk crate with the internal partitions removed is suitable. If making one of wood, avoid material which is treated with preservatives, other than water-based. Approx 30 x 30 x 40cm/15 x 15 x 19 in. internal size. Avoid disturbing it if there is a resident!, one way to check in the Spring is to put a light obstruction over the entrance and see if it is pushed out of the way overnight. In the summer it is a good idea to clean it out, an organic pyrethrum powder suitable for caged birds is ok.

For further information, do have a look at an excellent website – www.hedgehogstreet.org

Information provided by Graham Tuppen (5.7.2017)