22 August 2008 - Posts
Sorry about the title of this week’s column. Yes, I know it was a truly dreadful German Soft-Rock anthem, but it does sum up the content of the following few hundred words and as that’s what a title is presumed to do, so be it.
You might have heard on the radio last week that BTO (British Trust for Ornithology) and the RSPB (no need to expand that acronym) have published results of breeding bird surveys, carried out by volunteers I might add, which highlight a worrying trend. Over the last thirty years resident UK birds have been breeding earlier and earlier, to the point where the chaffinch is now a full 10 days ahead of previous averages.
Hold the phones! Ten days eh? Doesn’t sound very much, you may think. But it represents a leap of nearly four percent ahead of the assumed ‘norm’ and steals a march on migratory birds returning from distant shores.
Species like the willow warbler, garden warbler and swallow, which are tied to set breeding times because of long distance migration, are thought to be declining because of these early birds. And what is being cited as the cause for these accelerations? Climate change.
Over the past ten years there has been a great deal of speculation about climate change, indeed when I state that I firmly believe that it is a human-induced phenomenon, it still feels a bit like dogma. Perhaps it’s the use of the word ‘believe’ which gives it religious undertones, so put it this way; looking at the evidence provided by the IPCC (International Panel on Climate Change) I am convinced that it is happening, and we are at the root of it.
When the government’s chief scientific advisor, Sir David King states that climate change is “A bigger threat to the planet than terrorism” it is prudent to pay the issue some heed. We are taking the issue of climate change very seriously here at the District Council, with groups looking at ways in which a large employer such as the council can reduce its impact on the planet.
But there is still a great deal of uncertainty, and some very prominent figures, adamantly resisting the notion of our ability to alter the weather. That’s fine, in a democratic world people draw conclusions based on their own life experience. However, there are a few much-quoted clichés used to counter the climate change hypothesis and, using the very helpful New Scientist website, I would like to provide some peer-review scientific counter arguments.
Now I realise that this could be opening a great big can of local worms, but that’s great – discussion develops knowledge. So if you have questions or issues arising from this article, log onto my weekly newspaper blog on the devon24.co.uk website. The full online article counters 23 popular misconceptions, but I’ll only cover a few of those here, the full transcript can be found at the web address printed at the end of the column.
“Myth: It was warmer during the Middle Ages than it is now, with vineyards in England
English winemaking is once again thriving: the extent of the country's vineyards probably surpasses that in the so-called Medieval Warm Period. So if you think this is an accurate indicator of climate, it must be warmer now than it was then.
Historical anecdotes about climate have to be treated with caution. The frost fairs that were held in London when the Thames froze over are sometimes hailed as proof of how cold it was during the Little Ice Age from around AD 1500 to 1850. In fact, the slowing of the river by the old London Bridge, demolished in 1831, was a crucial factor in its freezing - which is why the Thames did not freeze in London in the winter of 1963, even though it was the third-coldest in England since 1659.”
“Myth: Carbon dioxide levels only rose after the start of warm periods, so CO2 does not cause warming
Samples of ice dating back hundreds of thousands of years have been extracted from the sheets covering Antarctica and Greenland. These cores show that at the end of recent ice ages, the level of CO2 in the atmosphere often did not start to rise until temperatures had already been climbing for some time.
What seems to have happened at the end of ice ages is that an initial warming due to [planetary] orbital shifts led to more CO2 being released into the atmosphere, resulting in further warming that caused still more CO2 to be released and so on.
Where did the extra CO2 come from? The evidence suggests it was from the oceans. The gas is less soluble in warmer water, so warmer seas release it into the air, but this can explain only a little of the increase. Another factor may have been biological: phytoplankton in the seas soak up CO2 as they grow and fall to the ocean floor, but as the world warmed changes in winds, currents and salinity would have cut the phytoplankton's growth.”
“Half-truth: Human carbon dioxide emissions are tiny compared with natural sources
YES, it's true that CO2 emissions due to human activity are small compared with most natural sources. Yet ice cores show that levels in the atmosphere have remained fairly steady at between 180 and 300 parts per million for the past half-million years, only to shoot up to more than 380 ppm since the industrial age began.”
As a graduate in a scientific discipline, I am won over by the fact that the world’s most eminent scientific brains no longer speculate over human-induced global climate change – they accept it. If anyone is perplexed about the issue, but does not want to bury their heads in the sand, do visit the full article online and make your own mind up so you can decide what you should be doing as an individual.
For the full online web article, please go to: http://environment.newscientist.com/channel/earth/dn11462-climate-change-a-guide-for-the-perplexed.html
There comes a time in all of us, when we need to let our hair down and have some fun. I am fortunate enough to have a job which requires me to behave like a child for a lot of the time, and behaving like a child is sometimes the best way to capture the spirit of discovery in which children spend much of their time.
It’s a neat trick to pull, I have to remain professional and in control for the sake of the Council’s Health and Safety Officer, however if I am too stand offish and grown up about the events then no one has a good time except the man with the risk assessment folder, and that’s no fun for anyone. So by putting on activities which I find interesting and fun, and want to take part in myself, ensures that at least one person has a good time through the course of the afternoon.
It’s similar for the parents too. Certainly, the reptile ramble or minibeast hunt may have been billed for the children. They may have even brought their children, but don’t let appearances deceive you, they are no more here for their son and daughter’s benefit than the next person, they are getting as much fun out of it as anyone, and so they should be.
Which is why the next roll call of events should be looked upon as ‘family’ events. Kids will love it all, but if you allow yourself the indulgence, parents and grandparents will all get a kick out of them too so get the whole family kitted up and drag them down to Seaton marshes at the end of the month for a weekend of fun and frivolity on the marsh.
On Friday 29th there will be a wildlife quiz, minibeast hunting and birdwatching sessions running throughout the day, so no matter what time you turn up you will be able to take part in these activities. Between 10 and 11am there’s a guided walk over the grazing marshes to explain the District Council’s ambitious plans for the area and point out features of interest in the landscape which the Axe Wetlands Project will aim to reinstate.
In the afternoon of Friday people can join Fraser on a guided walk looking at wetland plants and then in the evening there is a guided bat walk, starting at 7.30pm and continuing on into the night – if you’ve never heard a bat through the interpretation of a bat detector, then come along as this is a truly fascinating experience.
Saturday starts early with a moth breakfast at 8am. This sounds like a gastronomic faux-pas but the moths will be there in a visual sense only and the only item on the menu will be bacon sarnies – which are much tastier than moths I can assure you.
The quizzing and bird watching continues throughout the day on Saturday, but today you will be bale to take part in fishing on the borrow-pit, an area which is normally out of bounds to anglers. Willow weaving sessions will run in the morning and afternoon, where you can make your own willow dragonfly to take home with you, and in the afternoon between 2 and 3pm there will be a talk on the social history of the area, as something of a counterpoint to all this natural history!
Finally, Sunday kicks off with a bird ringing demonstration from 8-10am, and for anyone who has not seen our wonderful wetland birds close up, this is a great opportunity. We are lucky to have a very active ringing group working on the Local Nature Reserves on the Axe Estuary, and they are producing lots of very valuable information about the bird movements from year to year in our patch. The other pleasing thing, is that the group is very keen for people to come along and see what bird ringing is all about, especially children. This will probably be your best bet for close up views of the kingfishers, so will undoubtedly be a really popular event.
The other all day events will be on offer once again, but this time there will also be a chance to learn some wetland survival skills. Find out how to create a fire with a friction saw and which plants are edible (and which are not) on the wetlands. This will be a great introduction to the rufty-tufty world of Ray Mears, however we were unable to get the man himself along, such is life!
After that little lot a few of the Countryside Team will be ready for a sit down and a nice cup of tea, to say the least. So put that dates in your diary, as you can see, not all the events are aimed specifically at children, but so what if they are, anyone can join in, whatever the age. The only thing I can guarantee is that you will have a superb time!
There is so much going on this week, that this column is forced to split itself into a few sections. So, apologies for disrupting the narrative flow of the story, but hopefully you bear with me as you read on.
Firstly I am in the middle of a steep learning curve, and one which I am finding totally engrossing. A few months ago I met the owner of the Devon Bird Of Prey Centre as I was filming for an ITV programme to be broadcast in a few weeks (more about that later). Karen and I got chatting and I quickly let her know just how fascinated with raptors I am. After a little while we came up with a plan to provide bird of prey experiences for schools in East Devon and in turn she would train me as a falconer. WOW! Falconry has been a passion of mine since I was tiny, and now I am getting the chance to learn all about flying birds of prey and caring for these incredible animals.
In turn, when Karen is happy that I am adept enough to work with her birds and not pose a threat to them, we will be touring schools in the District allowing the bird’s incredible charm to engage the children with a message of local conservation. It’s one thing to show people slides of barn owls and explain why they are scarce, but to be able to have the owl there in the same room, looking at the kids, flying over their heads – well, it’s a magical way to win new hearts and minds to the conservation cause.
So at the moment I am a mess of fiddly knots, chopped up chicks and in the process of winning the confidence of Karen’s birds. People say elephant never forget, but they’ve got nothing on a raptor. If you make a mistake with a falcon, at best you’ve forever messed up any chance of you building a bond with that bird and at worst you can do the animal serious injury. I’ve got a long way to go, but under Karen’s expert guidance I am making great headway. Anyone can come down to the centre and meet the birds, you might even see me tying myself in knots with a 30 metre creance line. The Devon Bird of Prey Centre is located at Fermoys Garden Centre, Newton Abbot.
Next for a first, if that isn’t a grammatical or existential contradiction. Through the winter this column noted how many cattle egrets had wintered in Devon and Cornwall, and I think I speculated that breeding wouldn’t be far off. Well, Somerset has grabbed the glory and recorded the first successful breeding attempt of this bird, know in the UK. A single chick was fledged from a single pair of birds, but considering that this is a bird more commonly seen sitting on the back of an elephant in East Africa, it’s a really huge event.
Heath Week 2008 has been chugging along for the last five days, if you are reading this on Friday that is, and if you are then you can still get to a few of the last activities. The festival comes to an end this Saturday, with events throughout the day on Aylsebeare Common, starting with an early morning bird watching session and finishing with a moth trap and bat walk. For more details check out the RSPB website.
Finally, a little news from the wider District. Last week EDDC’s Arts Development Officer, Ishbel Ramsey, local environmentalist Chris Holland and myself spent the afternoon in Honiton canvassing opinion about a proposed new nature area for the town. The consultation was a great success, people had concerns yes, but the overwhelming feeling was in support of the venture.
We’ve not got hundreds of yellow Post-It notes covered in scribble, which we will sort through an influence the project for the town. When I look at the spread of Nature Reserves in East Devon we look after here at the Countryside Service, there’s always been an unsatisfying gap on the map around Honiton, so this should go some way to filling that gap.
Oh yes, the telly – catch me introducing graveyard wildlife on Richard O’Brien’s Dead Strange, broadcast on ITV Westcountry on Thursday 7th August at the prime-time slot of 11.30pm. Yes, I’d set the VHS if I were you!
Last night I gave a lecture (sounds a bit grandiose, but it was billed as such, so lecture it is) for the Bicton Summer Lecture series at Darts Farm. I looked at the idea of the edible seashore and cooked paella with various seafood ingredients to illustrate my point.
The question and answer session at the end of the talk threw up some interesting points about the ethics of a self-service seashore snack bar, which I thought would make a good start for this week’s column.
There has been a great deal of coverage recently about local sea fishing, especially with the closure of the rocky reefs in Lyme Bay. A couple of people were concerned about the sustainability of collecting items for the pot from the seashore, was I promoting a reckless practice.
My perspective is this, I am not advocating people substituting wild food for every meal, but rather explore the potential of adding to meals with a little of what you can find in our sea. Moreover, this is one way you can take first hand responsibility for the impact of your meal on the local environment; if you wander down to the pools and fancy periwinkles look a little thin on the ground – don’t collect them! Try something else, or pop to the fishmonger.
I think that if we were more approachable to different kinds of seafood – taking our cues from the more adventurous palettes of continental Europe, perhaps we would celebrate our local produce more highly, to say nothing of cutting down on the terrible waste of fishing by-catch.
Spider crab are landed locally, periwinkles are harvested in considerable numbers locally, however all of this wonderful seafood bypasses the local markets and is hurried away, back across the channel, to grace the tables and tapas of our European neighbours.
So if an introduction to new tastes begins by grilling a few limpets in the hot embers of a beach BBQ, I think it’s a step in the right direction. With that in mind, here are a few of the recipe ideas I proposed at last night’s presentation. The measurements are a rough guide, as are the ingredients – I leave it to you to judge for yourself whether you want to gather your own wild harvest.
Seaweed crisps. Find a fresh length of oarweed, also known as belt-wrack. A freshly beached frond is fine, or you can snorkel for a fresh leaf just off the low water mark. Allow the seaweed to dry in a warm, well ventilated area for a few days until it is dry but not crispy. When rubbery, cut into tortilla shaped triangles before deep frying. Be careful as this will make the fat spit like crazy! Serve immediately with sea salt, as these interesting dippers soon lose their crispiness.
Shore crab bisque. Fry some diced carrot, celery and leek in olive oil until tender, add a dash of brandy and boil off the alcohol. Add some fish stock and bring to the boil. Drop in some large crabs, if you are so inclined you can render them torpid by putting them in the freezer for an hour or so before cooking. After about 10 minutes of boiling let the liquid cool before zizzing it in a food processor, you want to whiz up all the shell, but not turn it into grit so not too much zizzing! Pass the mixture through a conical sieve and mash with the back of a ladle to extract the maximum flavour. Serve warm swirled with double cream and a few drops of cognac for the grown-ups!
Rockpool paella, the original surf-and-turf! Fry a chopped medium-sized onion, add some diced chicken and brown. Add some sliced peppers and beans and fry briefly, before adding paella rice and turning in the hot oil. Add a good pinch of saffron and enough stock to cover the rice. Scatter your own selection of shellfish on top; I like mussels, cockles, a few periwinkles and some furrow clams. Cover with foil and leave to simmer gently for 20-25 minutes.
So there you go, a few ideas for simple dishes with a wild twist. Who knows, perhaps I should commit more of these to a book!
…Under the sea. But not in an octopus’s garden, octopuses at best make scattered piles of crab carapaces outside their burrows, but one could hardly call it gardening. And not technically under the sea – more like floating on top of it. With the East Devon Coastal Festival kicking off at the end of next week, I’ll turn my attention to the waves once again.
This is my favourite way of rockpooling. On a bright sunny day, when the tide is being uncooperative and covering the pools during the day, I like to peel on a short wetsuit, pull on a snorkel and mask and float above the pools watching what goes on when the creatures have their pools to themselves.
If you have the time and patience, and this is where the wetsuit come into its own, I can strongly recommend perching yourself at the low water mark as the tide encroaches and following the shallow water back up the beach, floating about a foot above the rocks, towing yourself forward with the tide. As the water rescues each pool, you can almost hear the gasps of relief from the shannies and crabs.
Life in a rockpool is a very difficult one, full of danger and environmental stresses which make climate change seem tame. There are few other places where conditions can change so dramatically, it is surprising to find anything that can live in rockpools and truly amazing considering the vast diversity of life that flourishes in them.
Chit rocks, below Jacob’s Ladder in Sidmouth is one of my favourite places on the East Devon coast. A little sandy cove full of flat fish and bass, with a rocky outcrop acting like an oasis in the sand for interesting creatures. This is why I’m kicking off the Coastal Festival here on the 1st August.
But why are rockpools so difficult? Well, a key principal to bear in mind is that all marine life, excluding mammals, rely on oxygen dissolved in the sea water to breathe. As water temperature rises, so the amount of oxygen in the water drops off exponentially, making a warm rockpool a difficult place to breathe. The pools at the top of a beach may be about 17 degrees on a hot sunny day, as the tide first leaves them high and dry. Over the course of the next 12 hours – six hours out, six hours back – the temperature in this pool could have increased by 10 or even 20 degrees depending on how shallow the pool is.
Then there is also salinity to bear in mind. Rockpools are always in danger of being diluted by rainwater, an all too common occurrence in the summer months! Add to that dilution any beach streams and then factor in the evaporation of the sun, making some of the pools much, much more salty – didn’t I say it’s a surprise anything at all lives here?
But to counter these dramas some of the rockpool creatures come up with incredible ways to survive, and this also explains why you find more things, the lower down the beach you go. Basically, the less time the pools spend out of the sea, the less fluctuations they have to withstand.
Take the humble shanny for instance. Nothing much to look at, although it can change colour depending on where it is hiding – dark black/brown for kelp-strewn rocky overhangs and blonde for open sandy shallows. Shanny’s are territorial and normally like to frequent a familiar nook. If this nook happens to be 3 meters above the low water mark, as was the case with a shanny on Wembury VMCA, then no matter as they can breathe through the skin as long as it remains moist. So this means it’s really important to return any little fish you catch while rockpooling, to the spot where you found them – you probably plucked them from their home!
What about crabs? Crabbing is the staple introduction for most young rockoolers and (normally) their fathers. Although mums or grandparents make excellent crabbing guides too, my grandma taught me to crab as a young boy, and now look – I do it professionally!
I reckon over the next month, I will explain one thing more than any other – why are there so many dead crabs on the beach? Well, in short, there aren’t, but first impressions can be deceiving.
As I am sure you know, crabs have an exoskeleton, like a suit of armour. Their leathery skin is reinforced with calcium from the seawater, making it a hardened carapace for protection. When the crab comes to grow it needs to shed this skin and crawl off to harden up its new skin. The shed skin stays whole for a couple of days, floating about in the shallows, tricking people into thinking there’s been a case of crab genocide. But pick up an empty crab shell and have a look for the tell tale signs.
Firstly, does it stink? If a crab dies it will start to pong rather quickly. Is it heavy? Dead crabs feel heavy in the hand. Finally, look in its eyes. A dead crab’s eyes remain dark, while a shed skin will have clear eyes, like glass. The creature has popped them out of the old sockets and they are probably watching you from a safe distance, slowly getting bigger...
There are many, many other interesting things to be found of East Devon’s coastline, but I won’t go into detail on all of them here. Over the course of the next month, while the festival is in full swing, I’ll be dealing with coastal ecology most days and will keep you abreast of what’s been found through this column, before then if you have any specific question, come down and find me on the beach!
In case you haven’t noticed, East Devon’s countryside was a little quiet last week. This was because I spent the week in the Mediterranean Alps watching golden eagles and black kites; sitting amongst drifts of harebell and broom; the sky punctuated by swallowtail and purple admiral butterflies. Its was bliss, I hope you didn’t miss me.
But now I’m back, and looking forward to the next few weeks, as schools shut up shop for August holidays and the next phase of East Devon Countryside Rangering swings seamlessly into action. Once school’s out for summer, my attention turns to family events, to keep everyone entertained and making the most of our marvellous natural playground.
Next Sunday, the 27th, sees the launch party of East Devon Heath Week a joint venture to celebrate the District’s heathlands by providing guided tours, walks, rambles and night time cycle rides across this globally threatened habitat. The weeks gets started up on Woodbury Castle, where from a central base camp, people can take part in activities including story telling, willow weaving and treasure hunts. This day is very much an open invitation, just come on up to the common and get involved, however the rest of the week’s activities are limited in the numbers they can accommodate, so you should ring the booking number to reserve your places. Here’s just a few of the week’s events, for the full programme visit www.rspb.org.uk/events.
On Monday morning you can join the RSPB’s Charles Reed and myself on Aylesbeare Common, for a tractor ride and pond dipping in the heathland ponds, later that day there’s a guided mountain bike ride while in the evening is a chance to see nightjars on a twilight walk.
The Devon Wildlife Trust’s East Devon Local Group host an open day at Bystock Ponds on the 29th July, so join the group for a personalised tour of this magical little site. That morning, I’ll also be leading a reptile ramble on Fire Beacon Hill.
A night time mountain bike ride across Mutters Moor takes place on the 31st, while first thing that day I am leading an early morning bird walk across Trinity Hill Local Nature Reserve.
On the final day of the festival week, you can kick start the day early with Toby and Charles at Aylesbeare Common, looking for Darties at Dawn, and for the true bird buffs, there’s another chance to meet nightjars and moths that night at Aylesbeare. So from dawn till dusk, the wardens will be welcoming you to the common, I only wish I could be with them!
However, on the first of August the East Devon Coastal Festival kicks off and I will be up to my neck (sometimes literally) in rockpools along the East Devon coastline. This annual festival has become a regular favourite in the Countryside Events programme, and this year will be another success as long as the summer weather decides to put in an appearance! However, more about our summer rockpooling treats in a future article.
In preparation for the Coastal Festival, I will be giving a Bicton Summer Lecture at Darts Farm on the evening on Thursday 31st July. My lecture will be looking at the edible treats lurking in our rockpools and give a few hints and tips for finding a seashore feast.
I’ll cook a wild seafood paella in the Darts Farm demonstration kitchen, and while that’s cooking away, I’ll present a slide show about some of the colourful denizens of our shoreline with some gastronomic tips. There will be tasters for everyone, but make sure you’ve had your supper before coming along, as it will only be a taste, I can’t afford to feed you all! For more information about the Bicton Summer Lecture Series contact the college on 01395 562311.
So just because the schools are shut, doesn’t mean the education has to stop and, as East Devon’s Education Ranger, I’ll be on hand to help you enjoy our countryside and the plants and animals we share it with.