On Friday evening 16th September, supporters of Forncett Nature Matters were treated to a wonderful presentation by Norman Stevens on the subject of Ponds for Wildlife.
Norman's pond, looking very well established. Photo: N Stevens
Norman had previously had a small preformed pond in a compact garden in Buckinghamshire and was enchanted by the variety of invertebrates, amphibians and birds it attracted. When he and Ann moved to their much bigger garden in Forncett Norman was determined to make a much larger wildlife pond, and they settled on a position in an informal part of the garden that could be seen from their windows. Norman took us through the construction process of digging out to make different planting levels to suit a large variety of native species, then laying the protective liners, and finishing with a strong, waterproof butyl sheet. A pebbled area ensured an escape route (essential for adventurous hedgehogs), and is also used as a shallow bathing and drinking space for birds and other wildlife. The most exciting part was filling the pond, planting it up, and establishing plants for pollinating insects around the pond - helped out by his young grandsons. Once the water is in it’s always surprising how quickly the wildlife arrives, and before long the pond and its environs were alive with hopping, swimming, fluttering and buzzing creatures.
Norman illustrated the talk with many beautiful photos which showed how the pond developed over a few years, with examples from each season. Norman’s main message for us was that a source of water, whatever its size, is the very best thing you can provide for wildlife diversity, and watching its residents and visitors will give you endless pleasure.
Thank you, Norman, for an inspiring evening and for answering the many questions in the lively discussion that followed.
To watch a similar pond and a wildflower meadow being made, tune into ‘The Wild Gardener’ on BBC i Player
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- Written by: Christina Wakeford
RECENT EVENTS
Jubilee Celebrations Day - 4th June
We had a stall at this lively village event where we signedup eight more households, including young ornithologist Oscar’sfamily, bringing our number of biodiverse gardens to 55.Ourgiant Forncett map, where Supporters’ patches are marked, always attracts attention. Please
Pollinator Plant Swap - 20th May
This evening was popular; a wide variety of plants for all insects were donated for exchange or sale, and the four speakers kept to their brief of an interesting five to tenminutetalk. You can read some of the detail here.
St Peter’s Churchyard Plant Survey - 9th July
At St Peter’s on a hot afternoon thirteen of us recorded wildflowers in the churchyard. A total of 50 plants, including trees and grasses were identified. The close-mown areas were parched and yielded 13 flowers but we saw more in the hedge bottoms and longer grassy areas. Comparisons with last year’s forty species are unscientific as we’d surveyed a month earlier under a more favourable mowing regime looking only at flowering plants. Afterwards we enjoyed cold drinks and cake, shared with a woodmouse under the magnificent spreading oak tree.
MAKING CONNECTIONS
The Wildpatch Open Gardens around Surlingham and Rocklands St Mary were inspirational and it was heartening to meet so many people dedicated to our joint cause: improving biodiversity. The range of wildlife friendly gardens proved very beautiful and productive as well as good for Planet Earth.
Several of us have attended the excellent, free, Norfolk Wildlife Trust Wilder Connections workshops where in-depth information is shared by experts. Ongoing until autumn, it’s worthwhile looking at their programme of events.
We are delighted to report that the Eco play for children at Black Barn was well attended and enjoyed by all on a perfect June day. Full report on page 14 of the August issue of the Forncett Flyer.
WHAT’S ABOUT: Butterflies, Moths and More.
I had the good fortune to see Norfolk’s glorious Swallowtail butterflies on a trip to Hickling Broad in July; good place for bird life too. My companion introduced me to Cornell’s Merlin Birds UK (free app). Birdsongs are identified. Highly recommended!
The golden flowers of common ragwort are a valuable source of nectar and pollen for a huge variety of hoverflies, bees and butterflies etc. Ragwort leaves are also the food of the Cinnabar caterpillar, larva of the dramatic red and black Cinnabar moth. These unmistakeable gold and black stripy caterpillars are distasteful to birds, and according to Plantlife the cuckoo is the only bird that can eat them! Though this plant is usually avoided by grazing livestock, dried ragwort in hay is dangerous, and official advice is to remove it from pastures and hay meadows. A sensible compromise for gardeners: if your wildpatch is situated away from these areas, leave some plants so you can encourage and watch the Cinnabar lifecycle. I allow a few plants where feasting caterpillars strip the leaves before pupating underground in September, to emerge as beautiful moths the following May.
For information about best plants for butterflies see https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/actions-how-attract-butterflies-your-garden
We’re always keen to know about interesting wildlife that readers have spotted locally, so do let us know using our
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- Written by: Christina Wakeford
We love to hear what our supporters are seeing out and about in Forncett. If you have something you'd like to share here please tell us via our
August 2022
The Wildflower Meadow is cut and the hay stacked before the heavens open!
A job well done. Photo: C Wakeford
Kenny Sutton has been helping out several small-meadow owners in Forncett on his blue Fordson Dexter and his red International McCormack tractors. He is currently restoring a red Massey Ferguson 135, an even smaller and more powerful machine. As more people want to manage their bit of land for biodiversity, they often need a machine between the size of a ride-on mower and a big farm tractor when it comes to cutting in late summer. That is, if scything isn’t an option. The volunteers helping to cut the more inaccessible conservation area at St Peter’s churchyard did some of the work with scythes. All power to their elbow - and their midriffs!
There have been several sightings of Hummingbird Hawk-moths around the village this summer. They feed on a wide variety of nectar bearing flowers and because of their super-long proboscis they can reach deep inside their chosen flower. They are quite exotic in appearance, and as their name suggests, they hover and dart at great speed. This makes them difficult to photograph or video, because they move so fast! So we’ve also included a beautifully detailed photo by Ian Lindsay from Pixabay
Look out for Ivy Bees at this time of year.
26th August Ivy Bees in Forncett. Photo C Wakeford
First recorded in the UK in Dorset in 2001, this solitary bee has gradually spread northwards and eastwards. In late summer, newly emerged from their tunnels, they may be seen in gently humming clusters, busily gathering pollen and nectar on flowering ivy plants. They are active from late August until late October here in Norfolk. The males are 1cm in length and the females slightly longer. They have dense orangey fur on the head and thorax, with distinct black and yellow stripes on the abdomen. Please don’t trim ivy while it is flowering. It is the only food source for this little bee, and it also supports a great variety of other pollinating insects. And of course if you can allow your ivy to form berries it provides valuable food for birds in winter.
July 2022
Large-headed Resin Bee: Bee and bat man, Mick Finnemore, got in touch with us about another small bee for us to look out for. It’s not as rare as the Shrill Carder which he talked about at our Pollinator Plant Swap meeting, but nevertheless an unusual and interesting one.
Large-headed Resin Bee. Photo: T. Finnemore It’s the Large-headed Resin Bee (Heriades truncorm) which he spotted initially on Oxeye Daisies, and then later on yellow Fleabane, a fairly abundant wild plant around here at the height of summer. Mick says, “It has a curious bobbing motion as it picks up pollen on its pollen brush under the abdomen.” This characteristic movement helps to identify the species.
Ragwort: The golden flowers of common ragwort are a valuable source of nectar and pollen for a huge variety of hoverflies, bees and butterflies etc. Ragwort is also the main food of the Cinnabar caterpillar, larva of the dramatic red and black Cinnabar moth. These unmistakeable gold and black stripy caterpillars are distasteful to birds, and according to Plantlife the cuckoo is the only bird that can eat them!
Cinnabar Catapillars feeding on ragwort. Photo: C WakefordThough this plant is usually avoided by grazing livestock, dried ragwort is dangerous, and official advice is to remove it from pastures and hay meadows. A sensible compromise for gardeners (if your wildpatch is situated away from these areas) is to leave a few plants so you can encourage and watch the Cinnabar lifecycle. The caterpillars, working from bottom to top, will completely strip the leaves and eat the flowers too, but you may like to remove any remaining flowers before they go to seed (wear gloves to handle ragwort). Cinnabar caterpillars will also eat groundsel. These dramatically coloured invertebrates pupate underground in September, to emerge as beautiful moths the following May.
Cinnabar Moth. Photo Charles J. Sharp - Own work, from Sharp Photography, sharpphotography, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=42036616
Buff Tip Moth: One of our supporters sent us photos he’d taken of the brilliantly camouflaged buff tip moth (Phalera bucephela). They look just like short thick birch twigs, and although fairly common, they are tricky to spot. Mainly silvery grey, they have a square cut buffy head and a buff patch at the end of the wings, which gives them their common name. This photo is of a mating pair.
A pair of Buff Tip Moths Photo: K SuttonPurple Loosestrife and yellow Fleabane in abundance around Supporters’ Tony and Rachel Calver’s beautiful wildlife pond.
The beauty of a large wildlife pond Photo: C WakefordThe pond is inhabited by the Forncett edible frogs, that sound like quacking ducks in the breeding season! Read about them here. But size doesn’t matter. Here’s an example of a more formal, newly constructed and planted small pond for wildlife. Within weeks, great crested newts had moved in. Tip: for the smaller pond choose the less vigorous native plants - many species will completely take over!
Small, but full of life. Photo: C WakefordAnd remember to include shallower areas at the edge for bathing birds, and escape routes for inquisitive hedgehogs.
For more information about ponds for wildlife how about coming to our meeting on 16th September 2022? Details in Coming Events.
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On 21 August Forncett Nature Matters had a stall at Loddon Wildlife Activities Afternoon, organised by South Yare Wildlife Group. This was a great opportunity to share ideas and experiences with other groups and to enthuse members of the public with what we are doing. One of the strengths of our group is that we form an example of how others could start working towards greater wildlife diversity with their communities. We were inspired by several other groups, particularly in the creative ways in which they encouraged children to get involved. There were also connections which could lead to talks at FNM events - the first of these is likely to be a butterfly talk in February 2023. Our parish map, showing how we are plotting wildlife friendly management of gardens and other spaces, including farmland, attracted attention.
Studying our Forncett mapping of wildlife friendly spaces. Photo: A RaeIn August members of the Steering Group had a very pleasant meeting with Lynne Middlemiss, the founder of the recently formed Mulbarton Environmental Group, part of the longer established MALGA (Mulbarton Allotment and Leisure Garden Association). The new group is well organised and active, and is planning a family activities day in September. Lynne will send us details of this shortly and we will publish dates and times.
Making connections with Mulbarton Environmental Group. Photo: A RaeMay 2022 saw us making connections with other local groups. Tim Ward, a wildlife enthusiast and parish councillor of Tharston and Hapton, got in touch with Forncett Nature Matters, having heard about our activities in our community. Two of our steering group subsequently met up with Tim and fellow councillor, Nick, at one of their parish sites in Hapton. This area, next to the church, is a small, secure and sheltered meadow where dog owners are welcome to train their pets. There are mown paths through and around the meadow, hedges have been laid and the brash kept for a dead-hedge wildlife habitat. Owl boxes have been fixed in the trees, and one is already occupied. Opposite the church is another larger field being developed as a children’s play area combined with wildflower patches and newly planted trees. A long native hedge has been planted for shelter and is growing well. A roomy building is the latest addition and is used for meetings as well as being available for hire, as there is no village hall.
We then moved on towards Tharston to a large area of unspoilt woodland and an old lime pit, and walked the public footpath. This land has been gifted to the parish council, and is going to be very lightly managed by volunteers under the guidance of the Norfolk Wildlife Trust. Some new paths and seating areas will be created so that people can peacefully absorb the wide variety of birdsong and wildflowers. A real treasure of a place.
An outstanding concern that the parish wants to address is the state of the river; we are all aware of the flooding problems, but they are also very concerned about pollution levels, having conducted their own tests, and witnessed the dramatic decline of all species that used to be seen in the Tas. (Similar concerns have been noted by FNM: see the article about the river here). It was a very well-spent and informative morning and FNM will keep in touch with our friends down the river.
On 31 May some of the Steering Group, plus Bob Hosea, Forncett’s tree warden, met up with a couple of interesting people ‘found’ by Billy further down and around the Tas Valley. Both are Tree Wardens and have been dedicated wildlife enthusiasts for many years. Sarah Long lives in Shotesham and has much experience working with landowners, advising them which species to plant in their hedgerows and then doing it for them. Ross Jolliffe lives in Saxlingham Thorpe and has a particular interest in mapping ancient trees and signs of their presence, identifying stooled remains of coppiced trees, often many feet in diameter. He is working independently, creating a Google map of his findings in his parish.
Connecting with Tree Wardens. Photo: A RaeThey are very knowledgeable and friendly people to learn from, and both have wide interests in the natural world. They were also very pleased to hear about our active Forncett Nature Matters group - especially liking the idea of our map and the creation of flowery hubs and corridors around the village to help out the pollinating insects. We thoroughly enjoyed a morning of swapping ideas together, and plan to keep in touch.
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A magnificent thirty different pollinator-friendly species of plants found new homes at our evening at Forncett Village Hall on 20 May, 2022. There were many old favourites like Ox Eye Daisies, Cornflowers and Lungwort (Pulmonaria) as well as a rarity – the agricultural ‘weed’ Shepherd’s Needle (now rare due to changes in farming methods). Plants which are good for pollinators don’t need to be native wild flowers – many garden plants are great sources of nectar and help maintain a good supply for pollinators from season to season.
Poached Egg Plant Photo: C WakefordWe started off with light hearted informal talks about some of the plants – Christina Wakeford introduced the poached egg flower (Limnanthes douglasii), a colourful early flowering annual which is a great source of nectar for many insects when they need it most. Foxglove was next under the spotlight as Billy Hosea told us about its many benefits and its use in herbal medicine. Pam Merrick brought a good supply of Honeywort (Cerinthe major 'Purpurascens'), a garden plant with lovely grayish foliage and purple flowers on eye-catching purpleish bracts. As its name suggests it is packed with nectar. Pam recommended “Plants for Bees” by W.D.J. Kirk and F.N. Howes published by International Bee Research Association, 2012.
Cerinthe Photo: P Merrick Mick Finnemore, a local ecologist, is involved in a project to see if the Shrill Carder Bee is alive and kicking in South Norfolk. This is one of our rarest bumblebees with only two recorded populations in the UK. After a photograph of a Shrill Carder Bee, believed to have been taken in South Norfolk came to light, Mick has been developing a project to investigate possible sites, including one in Forncett and others locally, using instrumentation developed from bat detectors. The Shrill Carder Bee emits a distinctive high pitched sound and queens in particular can be identified by sound alone. If you’d like to help track it down Mick would welcome more volunteers. Just email us -
It was a great evening with a lovely group of 21 people sharing plants, refreshments and information. Thanks to everyone who brought plants and helped with the organisation. It’s exciting to think of all those insect food banks spreading through Forncett and beyond.
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- Written by: Ally Rae