Our human world may be in the grips of a national lockdown during the recent Covid 19 pandemic, which has sadly meant that the Winterbourne Downs nature reserve has had to close its gates as part of the RSPB's contribution to reducing the spread of the disease and keeping the NHS functional. However, this has not stopped the progress of nature this spring with its relentless vigour at RSPB Winterbourne Downs. As the remaining member of RSPB staff holding the operational reigns in the Wessex Chalk Country I have been privileged to witness some of this and thought I would share some notable nuggets of nature news with you.
Photo courtesy of Patrick Cashman
Stone-curlews have arrived back, indeed the first birds overlapped with a flock of 750 golden plover the reserve was briefly hosting in early March. The gorgeous spring weather since has enabled the stone-curlews to make a good start to the year. As I write in mid-May we have six nesting pairs, three of which have got their clutch of two eggs each successfully through to chick stage. Although time can only be devoted to priority bird monitoring I hope you will be pleased to hear that the fields are filled with the joyous chorus of ascending skylark, jangling corn bunting and chatting whitethroats and the sights of tumbling lapwing and lolloping hare. The rolling panorama of green cowslip studded fields is now gently filling with even more yellow of buttercup, dandelion and yellow rattle. The first flashes of lipstick pink sainfoin and red clover and the verdant swaying stems of ox-eye daisy hint at what is in store for June.
The colours of spring butterflies are all around my feet as I move from job to job, and I must confess to stopping occasionally to take in the delicate movements of the small blues, the indulgent orange, custard and black latticework of the marsh fritillaries and the dizzying dash of the black and white checkerboard of the grizzled skipper. The big news to share this spring is the return of the Duke of Burgundy butterfly, first recorded last year in small numbers. However, this spring it has not only been seen again in the same location but now further along the Portway where we had been targeting habitat restoration work for this butterfly.
Photographs courtesy of Patrick Cashman
Years of volunteer work parties have continued to keep scrubby clearings open by cutting back the thorn bushes and Budddleja, raking the willowherb and planting cowslips and primroses. I even managed to rope my daughter to devote a number of Saturdays last winter to scrub bashing and primrose planting as part of her Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award. On behalf of our warden, Nicky Quinn, who has led much of the work on the ground I would like to thank all of you who have helped make this possible. This is part of a plan to provide a network of refuge areas around the reserve to provide resilience for wildlife that makes its home on the fringes of grassland and scrub.
The work to provide a home for nature is continuing even in these difficult times and the reserve team on furlough. Our neighbouring farmer has stepped up as an invaluable contractor to sow, roll and fertilise our wild bird seed margins for the coming winter, and spray half the stone-curlew plots so they will retain open areas later this summer to encourage the stone-curlews to stay on for a second brood.
Looking ahead before we can open the reserve, we will need to bring some staff back from furlough to undertake works to remove vegetation from the nature trail and put in social distancing signage at the car park and viewing screen. We ask you to bear with us and check our reserve web-site regularly for the latest information, as well as the RSPB Covid-19 updates here.
Although all our facilities (including car park) are closed, the Public Rights of Way across the site are still open, as they come under government authority. Anyone choosing to use the Public Rights of Way that cross our site, should observe all current government measures around non-essential travel, social distancing and hygiene. Thank you. We look forward to being able to welcome you back when it can be done safely and responsibly for all people and wildlife concerned.