WILD WARWICKSHIRE

• First Cygnets Arrive - VGY and ATZ have had one cygnet and APS and AUE hatched 6 cygnets earlier in the week but by today (20th May 2010) they had only 4.
  

  

• Mute Swan Breeding 2010 - This year looks to be a good year for Swans in the Warwick area. All the usual nest sites are occupied and some new ones utilised. VGY and ATZ originally from the Saxon Mill and Grand Union Canal have nested in a new location near Tescos. Old favourite ZTG has remained paired with ARK and nested at Kingfisher Pool. ALA and AUD have nested once more on the old castle bridge and the traditional nest site on the Woodloes has been taken up by APS and AUE. Elsewhere VUF and VAO at Warwick Castle , ARV and Untagged near the Saltisford and a pair of Untagged at Chase Meadows have all paired but not nested.
  

  

• New Resources Available for teaching A-level Biology for the OCR Curriculum - the owner of this website has just completed writing two support packs for ZigZag Education. These resources packs contain fact sheets, worksheets games and tests all designed to help students learn ecological topics in the classroom. The first pack - Ecology Support Pack for AS OCR Biology: Biodiversity, Variation and Classification is available now and the second, Ecology Support Pack for A2 OCR Biology: Ecosystems, Populations and Behaviour is due out in June.

• New Publications available - Two new publications covering Local Biodiversity Action Plan species.Assessment of suitable nest box locations for Barn Owls (Tyto alba) in Warwickshire and The Distribution of threatened Farmland Birds in Warwickshire

• Cygents Hatch - The first cygnets to hatch this season were ATZ and VGY they have had 5 cygnets all who seem to be doing well. Elsewhere ALA and AUD have hatched 4 at the Old Bridge nest site. ZTG and his new mate ARK have 4 eggs on Kingfisher Pool of which so far one has hatched. Unfortunately the other nest in the area - ALN near Myton Farm appears to be abandoned. Wildwar 13.02, 31 May 2009 (BST)

• The Breeding Season Begins - Throughout the district Swans are starting to pair up. ATZ and VGY have already built a nest on the Grand Union and ALN and his mate have started a nest at the Saxon Mill. Elsewhere a pair seem to have set up a territory at Chase Meadows and ZTG and ARK have paired at Kingfisher Pools. Also at St Nicholas Park amongst the herd of 1st Winters and non-breeding individuals an aggressive male called AVX has taken a shine to AVV. Inside the Castle VAO and VUF have paired again and in the Castle Park where breeding has yet to be confirmed a pair (XVG and an untagged individual) seemed to have established a territory. Wildwar 18.23, 22 March 2009 (BST)

• Where Peacocks Pace A new book on the natural history of Warwick is due for December release Click here to Order NOW .
  

  

• Wild Warwickshire takes on management of Saxon Mill Carr - Wild Warwickshire has just arranged to manage 1.75 acres of wet woodland and meadow in Warwick. The site whilst not open to the public aims to improve the ecology of the site by tidying up the woodland and reintroducing a meadow. More news as it occurs.

• Mute Swan Update - ATZ and VGY have hatched 6 cygnets, AJV and Untagged have hatched 7 and ALA and AKT have hatched 3. ALN and Untagged nest failed and ZOT seems to have disappeared leaving ZTG with ARK who was exhibiting some nesting behaviour.

• Wild Warwickshire Is one year old!!!

• VGY has a new mate after only two seasons with an untagged male. VGY has mated with a new male - ATZ and made a nest on the Grand Union Canal Wildwar 16:20, 1 April 2008 (BST)

• Oakley Woods Saved more information on my blog. Blog Wildwar 14:32, 14 February 2008 (UTC)

• Local Biodiversity Action Plans. In an attempt to make the work of the LBAP more accessible a link to the county website is now available : LBAP Wildwar 16:54, 30 November 2007 (UTC)

Read the News Archive

The Mute Swan Database is a comprehensive resource on the Mute Swan in Warwickshire. It contains information on the individual swans recorded in Warwick and the breeding success of several pairs.

It also includes a number of reports and short studies relating to the status of this species in the county as a whole.

Now you can submit your sightings to me. Click on this link to make your sightings count

The Song Thrush is a bird that has been in some decline of late. It is slowly beginning to recover. The species is listed as one of Warwickshires Local Biodiversity Action Plan Species. The County plan can be seen at Action Plan

'Song Thrushes inhabit a variety of habitats from woodland, fields and towns. Studies in 1989 showed densities in woodlands to be 25 territories per km2 and in farmland 5 territories per km2 (Brown and Grice, 2005). Work by Mason (2005) has revealed that extinction rates of Song Thrush in woods are 20-30% in woods less then 10 ha in size illustrating a requirement for large stable woodlands (Brown and Grice, 2005). Success in agricultural landscapes is variable, they have been shown not to select fallow in set aside despite the expectation that the increased invertebrates provided by them would be of benefit...'

Read the full report

Previous Featured Article: The Common Buzzard in Warwickshire The Saxon Mill and Guys Cliffe Meadows

It is always distressing to see a wild animal or bird in pain especially when there is something we could do about it. Over the years I have cared for a Starling, several Wood pigeons, a Blackbird, a House Sparrow and a Hedgehog. Of all of these only the Hedgehog and Starling made a full recovery. The difficulty is that if you are able to approach any wild creature it must be in a pretty serious condition in the first place to allow you to do so. In most cases the care I offered was purely palliative. I made them comfortable gave them warmth food and water and allowed them to die in peace.

This might seem rather doom and gloomy but there are ways in which you can help. There are several books on the market offering advice and hundreds websites. Whenever you find an injured animal professional help from a Wildlife Sanctuary like Secret World or a local Vet is invaluable.

Click here for more information

Bird Atlas 2007-11 is a huge and exciting project that will map the abundance and distribution of birds in Britain and Ireland during the breeding season and winter. It will be fascinating to look at the changes in distribution since the last breeding and wintering atlases.

We need your help Thousands of birdwatchers will take part in fieldwork throughout the Britain and Ireland. We need all your records – whatever you see, whenever, wherever!

Follow this LINK to find out more

Wild Photography is a collection of photgraphs taken by M.C Smith of the Natural World.

Mostly a bird photgrapher some images of animals, plants and insects are also in the growing collection.

The photographer uses both a Canon 400D with a Sigma 135-400mm lens but also uses a Swarvoski 80HD telescope with a Nikon 4500 for digiscoping.

To View the site click HERE