============================================ || || Wildnews Bulletin 18th December 2024 || News of Lincolnshire Wildlife || LNU: http://lnu.org/ || || Please email Editor on: philporterento@outlook.com || ============================================ In this issue... 1. Information, events, news and requests - mostly local. 2. Wildlife Highlights from Rare Bird Alert. 3. Wildlife reports around the county. Contributions welcome... 4. NNRs, RSPB and LWT Reserves : Saltfleetby/Theddlethorpe. 5. Bardney Limewoods NNR: Chambers Farm Wood. 6. Other Reserve Reports - links. 7. Sending in Bulletin Reports - contributors please read! 8. Contact information - recorders and specialists... 9. Notes about these wildlife reports. 10. Bulletin publicity policy. 11. Events Diary - what's on. 12. ...and finally. Mostly national/international wildlife stories. ============================================ Reports here are open. They are available to county recorders of the Lincolnshire Naturalists' Union; Lincolnshire Bird Club and Lincolnshire Environmental Record Centre [LERC]. Compare earlier years/months. Past Bulletins archive [in text format] from 2009: http://rogerparsons.info/bulletinportal.html Views expressed by contributors are not necessarily those of the Lincolnshire Naturalists' Union or associated organisations. Please copy and paste URLs if/as necessary. ============================================ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1. INFORMATION, EVENTS, NEWS AND REQUESTS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Editor writes: Mary and I were very sorry to hear of the death of Brian Tear on 3rd December at the age of 92 in Grantham Hospital. He was a champion of wildlife education at Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust with which he was associated from the 1960’s onwards as a Trustee, Chair of the Education and Public Relations Committee, Deputy Chair and finally Vice President. He was a leading light in the formation of the Lincoln Area Group and a stalwart presence for 30 years in the Trust’s Wildlife Gift Shop with a particular interest in bringing knowledge and enthusiasm to the younger age groups. He also had a strong connection with the establishment of Whisby Nature Park and gave me unending support during my time there. The funeral is on Tuesday 7 January 2025 at 11.30am at Lincoln Crematorium (East Chapel). Brian’s family requests flowers only, with donations to be divided between Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust and St Barnabas Hospice and there is an invitation to get together afterwards at The Generous Briton, 2 High Street, Brant Broughton, Lincoln, LN5 0RZ https://www.thegenerousbriton.co.uk/ As next Wednesday is Christmas Day, the editorial team has decided to skip a week and have a larger bulletin on Wednesday 1st January. Send your contributions in the usual way, as they occur, so there is not a glut of material on New Year’s Eve, please. Thanks for your support in 2024, and please encourage others to contribute in the future whenever you get the opportunity. Christmas Greetings from retired editor, Roger Parsons: I wish you all the very best for Christmas and the New Year. Phil and Alex have been doing a terrific job on the Bulletin, so a big thank you to them - and to contributors too. Note: We are now under Bird Flu restrictions. Please read the useful links about it below. I have relocated our birdfeeders to a clean area of garden and started a more frequent and serious cleaning routine. *** Donna Nook Seals ***: Information from Ruth Taylor. For "Pupdates" on the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust website, see: https://www.lincstrust.org.uk/get-involved/top-reserves/donna-nook Parking is currently in Stonebridge car park at the end of Marsh Lane. The local landowner will be opening his field car park in November, £5 for all day parking and port-a-loos will be available. Currently the nearest toilets are the public ones in North Somercotes. No dogs allowed along the seal viewing area when the seals are in to avoid disturbance and disease transference between the species. If possible, avoid visiting at a weekend as it can be very busy with several thousand people arriving over the two days. There are seal wardens on site to answer any questions you might have. There is private catering on site although not guaranteed to be there every day. There is also a little shop with all proceeds coming to Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust to support our work at Donna Nook. Phil Porter's email is: philporterento@outlook.com Roger Parsons' email is: old.museum@yahoo.co.uk BTO's tracked Cuckoos - 9 south of the Sahara - in the Sahel. https://www.bto.org/cuckoos *** This week's mostly-local news stories: *** Bird flu restrictions imposed across four counties https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c74xnxjw3pmo Avian Flu information from RSPB https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/avian-influenza-updates Residents to have their say on solar farm plans https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp83y4rn3dzo 'I got a ticket for being stuck in a car park' https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1mrnzzx3ylo Face masks reintroduced in Lincolnshire hospitals https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cnv35rn6dqjo Free paint scheme aims to stop DIY waste https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c80vyzjmp1po Council row over £3m in 'dirty nuclear' funding https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cly25d3el5po Council confirms new bid to buy RAF Scampton site https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5y8pypy07do Communities could get new powers over 20mph zones https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2n0xk707xo Roads to be resurfaced for first time since 1930s https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ced8y517xp8o *** Weather News and Forecast *** https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/ https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/warnings-and-advice/uk-warnings#? East Midlands weather forecast Thursday 19th December - Sunday 22nd December Headline: Rain, occasionally heavy, clearing later. Winds becoming briefly strong. Thursday: Rather windy and colder on Thursday, although dry for most with sunny spells. Isolated showers fringing the coast at times. Maximum temperature 7 °C. Outlook for Friday to Sunday: Friday, chilly start, turning milder with some rain. Breezy. Saturday, bands of rain and showers clearing later. Winds increasing, colder later. Sunday, windy and colder, occasional heavy showers, perhaps wintry. UK long range weather forecast Sunday 22nd December - Tuesday 31st December Likely starting off very unsettled, with blustery showers, a mix of rain, sleet, some hill snow and soft hail being driven in by a strong to gale force northwesterly wind. Southeastern areas most sheltered from these but widely feeling very cold. Gradually turning more settled through the following week, with cloud, stronger winds and outbreaks of rain increasingly becoming confined to northwest Scotland, as an area of high pressure becomes established across at least the south of the UK. It may even become settled here too, but confidence in the north/south boundary between settled and unsettled gets steadily lower through the period. Becoming widely mild, perhaps exceptionally so in some places, although clearer spells overnight may lead to localised frost and fog. *** For Astronomers and Sky-watchers *** 'Christmas lights' galaxy reveals how Universe formed https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cdr0j7625kzo Sky At A Glance https://skyandtelescope.org/observing/sky-at-a-glance/ Night Sky - highlights - December https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/blogs/astronomy Full Moons – 13th January Wolf Moon https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/full-moon-calendar Meteor shower dates 23rd December, sparse https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/meteor-shower-guide BBC Sky at Night Magazine website https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/news *** EVENTS *** *** Lincolnshire Naturalists Union Field Meeting *** *** L.N.U. / LINCOLNSHIRE BIRD CLUB JOINT MEETING *** On Saturday 25th January 2025 at Whisby Nature Park Education Centre Lincoln SK910662 at 2 pm. Refreshments will be available. Parking £2 Illustrated talk by LBC Chairman Phil Espin, “The Birds of a Lincolnshire Market Town” This talk is based on the book of the same title recently published by L.B.C. and written by Phil and his great friend John Clarkson who tragically died before publication. An appreciation of this book can be found at https://thewryneck.blogspot.com/2024/08/birds-of-lincolnshire-market-town.html *** Lincoln Area Group LWT *** Richard Davidson writes Lincoln Area Group Talk 19th December 2024 : The Natural World and Textile Art, at Christmas An illustrated talk by Sue Fysh about the artistic aspects of nature conservation and the natural world. Including making your own natural Christmas decorations. Contributions of seasonal food to share would be appreciated. The event is at Whisby Nature Park in the Lafarge Education Building starting at 7.30 pm. Admission is £2.50 which includes refreshments in the interval. *** GRIMSBY AND CLEETHORPES AREA GROUP LWT *** The Shorebirds of Gibraltar Point On Monday 13th January 2025 at 7.30pm we will be holding our next indoor meeting where we will be welcoming Richard Doan who will be giving an illustrated presentation about the shore birds of Gibraltar Point including the protection of Lincolnshire's only breeding colony of Little Terns. This will take place in Grimsby Town Hall DN31 1HU. Admission £4, all are welcome. There will be a raffle, book sale and refreshments available. For further information on indoor meetings please contact Jackie Kirk 07464 636926 Bird walk - Resident and Wintering Wildfowl of Covenham Reservoir On Saturday 18th January 2025 at 8am you are invited to join us on a bird walk at Covenham Reservoir with Graham Hicks where we will be looking for resident and winter wildfowl. Meet Graham at the main car park Grid Ref TF317009. Please dress suitability for the weather and terrain. This is a free event however donations will be welcomed for the Trust. For further information on the walks please contact Graham Hicks 07979 089890 For further information on all our events visit our website www.grimsbywildlifetrust.org.uk and we are also on Facebook *** SOUTH LINCOLNSHIRE RSPB GROUP*** "The Amazing Life of the Swift". An illustrated Slideshow Talk by Alasdair McKee of the RSPB showcasing these amazing birds and what we can do to help them. Wednesday 9th April 2025 at 7-30pm at Boston Tennis Club. Full details at https://group.rspb.org.uk/southlincolnshire/ "Waders of The Wash". An illustrated Slideshow Talk by local RSPB Volunteer and photographer Jeremy Eyeons showcasing the wide variety of waders which can be found around the Wash estuary. Wednesday 24th September 2025 at 7-30pm at Boston Tennis Club. Full details at https://group.rspb.org.uk/southlincolnshire/ *** SOUTH LINCS RSPB GROUP *** have announced the dates for their 2025 programme of "Bird and Seal Watching Cruises" aboard The Boston Belle into The Wash estuary. There are 12 cruises scheduled for 2025 starting on Easter Monday and ending in October. Full details including availability, dates, costs, booking etc. are on the website. https://group.rspb.org.uk/southlincolnshire/ STAYING SAFE Please copy and paste URLs if/as necessary.... Cold-weather alerts - 1 Nov 2024 - 31st March 2025 https://ukhsa-dashboard.data.gov.uk/weather-health-alerts/cold Bird flu: Defra advice to the general public is to leave corpses alone and report the findings - but that landowners should dispose of birds themselves. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/bird-flu-latest-situation-avian-influenza-prevention-zone-declared-across-great-britain Lyme Disease reminder https://www.hse.gov.uk/agriculture/zoonoses-data-sheets/lyme-disease.pdf Road works and hold-ups https://roadworks.org/ Met Office Severe Warnings https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/warnings-and-advice/uk-warnings Met Office Severe Weather E-mail Service - sign up http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/about-us/guide-to-emails EasyTide http://easytide.ukho.gov.uk/EasyTide/EasyTide/index.aspx Environment Agency Flood Warnings - Lincolnshire https://flood-warning-information.service.gov.uk/warnings?location=lincolnshire Environment Agency Flood Information/Floodline - sign up https://www.gov.uk/sign-up-for-flood-warnings ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2. WILDLIFE HIGHLIGHTS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ *** Bird News from Rare Bird Alert *** Rare Bird Alert has kindly given permission to reproduce their pager reports. A big thank you from us all. Readers interested in a pager - look at the RBA website: http://www.rarebirdalert.co.uk/ For RBA's excellent articles: https://www.rarebirdalert.co.uk/RealData/Articles.asp 10/12 Chapel Point, Little Auk flew north past. Frampton Marsh, Red necked Grebe at River Witham mouth, Slavonian Grebe, Huttoft Bank, Little Auk flew past Huttoft Car Terrace Saltfleetby/Theddlethorpe Dunes, 30+ Snow Buntings at Crook Bank. 11/12 Caythorpe, Ring Ouzel in garden briefly. Gedney Drove, Hen Harrier male over saltmarsh at RAF Holbeach. Gibraltar Point, Hen Harrier, Siberian Chiffchaff at north end of West Dunes, Puffin offshore, 2 Velvet Scoters flew south. Mablethorpe, Caspian Gull 2w on beach off Seal Sanctuary. 2 dead Little Auks Saltfleetby/Theddlethorpe Dunes, 30+ Snow Buntings at Crook Bank. Tallington Lakes, [Entry £5] Ferruginous Duck ad drk on Main Lake, 1w Scaup hybrid Ferruginous x Tufted Duck. 12/12 Cleethorpes Coast LNR, Water Pipit past Buck Beck. Tallington Lakes, [Entry £5] Ferruginous Duck ad drk on Main Lake, ad drk Ring-necked Duck on Jet Ski Lake. 13/12 Covenham Reservoir, Caspian Gull, Slavonian Grebe in SW corner. Gibraltar Point, Bittern at Tennyson's Sands, in fllght, then dropped into reeds at Jackson's Marsh, 2 Water Pipits, one flew over Sykes Farm. Tallington Lakes, [Entry £5] Ferruginous Duck ad drk, Scaup, 1w drk Ring-necked Duck, on Main Lake Pyewipe, 4 Scaup, 2 drks on Humber, off South Marsh Road. Sandilands Pit, Little Auk off. 14/12 Deeping St Nicholas, 2 ad Bewick's Swans at with 220+ Whooper Swans Deeping High Bank. Long-eared owl at Deeping Lakes at Main Lake in ivy. on east side of channel. East Halton Marshes, Red-necked Grebe at Winter's Pond. Frampton Marsh, Hen Harrier ringtail. Goxhill Haven, Tundra Bean Goose flew east with Pink-footed Geese. Saltfleetby/Theddlethorpe, Shorelark on beach at Crook Bank. Tallington Lakes, [Entry £5] on Main Lake: Ferruginous Duck ad drk flew west, 1w drk Ring-necked Duck on Jet Ski lake then flew NE. Tetney Marshes, 2 Ruddy Shelducks flew over. 15/12 East Halton Marshes, Red-necked Grebe at Winter's Pond. 2 Snow Buntings flew north along Humber Bank. 17/12 Boultham Mere. Yellow-browed Warbler near hide. Deeping High Bank, 3 Bewick's Swans all ads in harvested beet field, west of Cloot Drove with 450 Whooper Swans. East Halton Marshes, Red-necked Grebe at Winter's Pond. Frampton Marsh, Spoonbill on North Scrape. Hubbert's Bridge near Boston, Hen Harrier male. Saltfleetby/Theddlethorpe Dunes, 2 Shorelarks on beach at Crook Bank. Throckenholt, 2 Bewick's Swans both ads with 15 Whooper swans. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 3. WILDLIFE NEWS FROM AROUND THE COUNTY ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Find the Grid Reference - don't forget - it's important Grab a Grid Reference: https://www.bnhs.co.uk/focuson/grabagridref/html/index.htm UK Grid Reference Finder: http://www.gridreferencefinder.com/ ROAD KILLS? PLEASE LET US KNOW. Every drive is a transect! Hedgehogs? Badgers? Otters? Reports welcome. *** County Wildlife Reports from Readers *** Thanks to our regular contributors across the county. Much appreciated. We rely on readers to send in observations and welcome records from everyone, experts to beginners. Please keep your reports coming. BARDNEY - THE GREEN TF120694 R + A Parsons 14/12/2024 Pied Wagtail 1 House Sparrow 8+ Blackbird 2 Robin 2 Dunnock 1 Collared Dove 2 Woodpigeon 2 Domestic pigeon 7 Jackdaw 12+ Starling, 20+ Black-headed gull occasional raids 12+ LAUGHTON FOREST Fungi at SE849004 Colin Smith 12/12/24 Blusher Amanita rubescens Hoof Fungus Fomes fomentarius Sulphur Tuft Hypholoma fasciculare Trooping Funnel Clitocybe geotropa Wood Woollyfoot Collybia peronata Smoky Bracket Bjerkandera adusta Amethyst Deceiver Laccaria amethystina Oak leaf speckle Mycosphaerella punctiformis Oak Curtain Crust Hymenochaete rubiginosa Fly Agaric Amanita muscaria Pale Stagshorn Calocera pallidospathulata SK861998 We sat down to have our lunch here and were quickly covered in Birch Catkin Bugs Kleidocerys resedae there were about 30 on my shiny waterproofs by the time we finished. A couple of handfuls of leaf litter revealed over a hundred of them. Also seen Common Footman Caterpillar Eilema lurideola Bramble Blotch-miner Moth Coptotriche marginea Common Plume Moth Emmelina monodactyla Common Ridge-back Moth Epermenia chaerophyllella Barkfly Ectopsocus briggsi Cherry Gall Wasp Galls Cynips quercusfolii Spider Amaurobius fenestralis Spider Pachygnatha degeeri Harvestman Oligolophus tridens Groundbug Drymus sylvaticus European tarnished plant bug Lygus rugulipennis Seven-spot Ladybird Coccinella septempunctata Bracken stem fungus Rhopographus filicinus Holly fly Mine Phytomyza ilicis LINCOLNSHIRE COASTAL COUNTRY PARK Dave Miller Coast and The Wolds (South) Warden Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust Sykes Farm Nature Reserve Office Gibraltar Point National Nature Reserve Gibraltar Road Skegness PE24 4SU Mobile: 07919 326646 Tel/Fax: 01754 898079 9th December: looking out to sea there were 68 Gannet, 5 Red-throated Diver, 7 Great Skua, 38 Kittiwake, 2 Little Gull, Storm Petrel, 68 Little Auk. 11th December: 15 Red-throated Diver flying north. 13th December: 927 Lapwing, 458 Wigeon, 32 Curlew and 5 Black-tailed Godwit on Anderby Marsh. 470 Rook along Huttoft Sea Lane. 14th December: Short-eared Owl over Anderby Marsh, 312 Pink-footed Goose and Great White Egret along Huttoft Sea Lane, 33 Curlew on Huttoft Marsh. 15th December: Chiffchaff and 3 Stonechat between Huttoft Car Terrace and Sandilands. RIVER WITHAM, WATER RAIL WAY towards Bardney Lock TF110694 R + A Parsons 15/12/2024 10am Male Goosander. If you are rusty on your diving ducks, see: How to identify diving ducks | The Wildlife Trusts: https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife/how-identify/how-identify-diving-ducks ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 4. NNRs and NATURE RESERVES ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ LWT Top Reserves: https://www.lincstrust.org.uk/get-involved/top-reserves LWT Reserves List: https://www.lincstrust.org.uk/get-involved/nature-reserves-list RSPB Reserves: https://www.rspb.org.uk/days-out/reserves ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SALTFLEETBY THEDDLETHORPE DUNES NNR including DONNA NOOK ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ http://www.lincstrust.org.uk/reserves/saltfleetby-theddlethorpe-dunes https://www.lincstrust.org.uk/get-involved/top-reserves/donna-nook http://publications.naturalengland.org.uk/publication/38015?category=59026 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Owen Beaumont Tel: 07900264428 Reserve Manager Saltfleetby-Theddlethorpe Dunes NNR Sea View Road, Saltfleetby St. Clements, LN11 7TR www.gov.uk/natural-england 111224 – lots of gulls feeding on shellfish and starfish wreck after recent storms, including a second winter Caspian gull, 350 herring gull, 40 great black-backed gull, 600 common gull and 1000 black-headed gull, and a merlin flew along the beach. 2 dead little auk along the strand line. Green woodpecker feeding within scrub on the outer dunes at Crook Bank. Short-eared owl and jack snipe also around the outer dunes. 25 snow bunting on developing saltmarsh at Crook Bank. 35 golden plover roosting on the beach at Churchill Lane. 121224 – 5 cattle egret feeding in pony field at Rimac entrance. Water rail calling from reeds near Sea View car park. 131224 – drake pintail on Sea View washlands. At least 3 bearded tit and 2 water rail calling from Rimac reedbed. 4 cattle egret Rimac dunes and 1 on Sea View washlands. 200 lapwing on arable fields north of Churchill Lane. 4 mistle thrush around Sea View including one in full song. 3 groups of starling flew north past Sea View at dusk, totally 10,000+. 141224 – 2 shorelark feeding on the open beach at Crook Bank. 113 sanderling feeding on tide wrack at Mablethorpe North End. Single short-eared owl and stonechat pair still around Crook Bank outer dunes. Water rail calling again from reeds near Sea View car park. 25 golden plover, 5 lapwing and 260 wigeon Elm House Farm field 1. 151224 – short-eared owl, female stonechat and 4 yellowhammer Crook Bank outer dunes. 15 snow bunting landed on the outer beach at Brickyard Lane and a barn owl flew over the dunes late morning. 2 male stonechat Rimac car park and female on Rimac outer dune scrub. 2 water rail and 3 cetti’s warbler Rimac freshwater marsh/reedbed. Barn owl over Rimac saltmarsh. 500+ pink-footed geese Elm House Farm field 5. 161224 – eastern stonechat sp. briefly mid-morning perched on dune scrub on the southern beach path from Crook Bank car park, but not seen subsequently. Pair of European stonechat still around Crook Bank outer dunes, and a spoonbill flew high south just offshore. 20 snow bunting feeding on developing saltmarsh at Brickyard Lane. 171224 – black-throated diver flew north close inshore. 2 shorelark again on the open beach near tide bell south of Crook Bank. Great white egret flew south over Crook Bank, and 600+ pink-footed geese flew north in three main skeins. 15 black-tailed godwit on Paradise Lagoon and a siskin flew south. 5 redwing Paradise wood and 9 around Sea View along with 3 mistle thrush. 7 yellowhammer and 2 bullfinch in the dunes near Churchill Lane. 2150 pink-footed geese on Elm House Farm grassland early-afternoon and continued to build throughout the day. 185 canada geese, 86 wigeon, 285 lapwing and 16 curlew also feeding across the grassland. Donna Nook: 131224 - Weekly pupdate: 1244 pups, 285 cows and 386 bulls. The numbers on the beach are now starting to go down as they head out to sea. The total number of pups so far this season is 1638. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 5. BARDNEY LIMEWOODS NNR ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ These cover a huge area. Reports always welcome. The history of the Lincolnshire Limewoods: https://www.forestryjournal.co.uk/features/19111877.lincolnshire-limewoods/ The Forestry Commission visitor advice: https://www.forestryengland.uk/article/coronavirus-visitor-guide ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Butterfly Conservation Lincolnshire Branch: https://butterfly-conservation.org/300/lincolnshire-branch.html *** Butterfly Conservation Lincolnshire *** Chambers Farm Wood Butterfly Garden Volunteers Gardening days for 2025. February 18th; March 4th & 18th; April 1st 15th; May 6th & 20th; June 3rd & 17th; July 1st & 15th; August 5th & 19th; September 2nd & 16th, October 7th & 21st; November 4th. margaretwestcott7@hotmail.co.uk https://butterfly-conservation.org/in-your-area/lincolnshire-branch/chambers-farm-wood-butterfly-garden *** Lincolnshire Dormouse Group *** lincsdormousegroup@gmail.com All being well we should get a permit for the following dates for our winter coppicing sessions: Saturday 14th December 2024 Sunday 19th January 2025 Saturday 15th February 2025 Sunday 16th March 2025 We will meet at Chambers Farm Woods outside the wood centre at 10am over the winter, and the session normally runs until mid afternoon, with a break for a packed lunch picnic in the woods. Please be aware that the toilet block at Chambers remains closed. No experience is necessary, just enthusiasm! All tools are provided, but I would recommend that if you have your own gardening gloves to bring these along, but we have some that you can borrow too. Reminder from Gemma Watkinson: We are interested to know whether dormice have naturally dispersed into other woodlands in the Lincolnshire Limewoods area (or indeed if there are any remnant isolated populations elsewhere in the county). For anyone walking in the Limewoods area, particularly in those woodlands closest to Chambers Farm Woods (e.g. Camshaws Wood, Austacre and New Park Woods, and Broadwater Forest, Thistle Storr Wood, Glad Wood and College Wood) please keep a look out for any hazelnuts that you think may have been opened by a dormouse. More information on how to undertake a nut hunt can be found on the People’s Trust for Endangered Species website and this document illustrates the distinctive marks to look out for as well as what nuts opened by voles, birds and squirrels also look like. https://ptes.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Help_us_find_hazel_dormice_generic.pdf Please let us know what you find, and send us photos of any nuts you think may have been opened by dormice. Happy Nut Hunting! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The NNR includes the following sites: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chambers Farm Woods (comprises Ivy Wood; Little and Great Scrubbs Woods; Minting Wood; Hatton Wood, Hatton Plantation and Minting Park; and also three areas of grassland: Little Scrubbs Meadow and extension), Small Meadow and Big Meadow. Since all have their own management plans, please give the actual location when reporting). College Wood; Cocklode & Great West Woods; Hardy Gang Wood; Newball Wood; Rand Wood; Scotgrove Wood; Southrey Wood and Wickenby Wood. Many of these include both areas of ancient woodland or important grassland. Many are also designated Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Records which provide a six-figure grid reference are of particular value to the Forestry Commission. Other woods included in the NNR but without public access: Stainfield Wood; Stainton & Fulnetby Woods (access by public bridle way only). ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 6. OTHER RESERVE REPORTS AND HIGHLIGHTS. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Discover Woodland Trust woods near you- including the best woods for walks, wildlife watching, family fun and heritage. https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/visiting-woods/woods/#=undefined&view=map Lincolnshire County Council - Local Nature Reserves https://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/coast-countryside/nature-reserves Links to "Other Reserves" are welcome. Your suggestions, please. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 7. SENDING IN BULLETIN REPORTS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The purpose of the Bulletin is to encourage biological recording in Lincolnshire. We aim to increase the number of people reporting observations to Recorders or via iRecord. https://www.brc.ac.uk/irecord/ The Bulletin is a FREE service. We ask you to provide reports, questions, news or relevant articles from time to time. Descriptive pieces are welcome. You don't have to stick to lists! Please help us to help you. When sending in reports please follow this layout to save re-editing: Place Name: IN CAPITALS with Grid Reference if you have it. Your Name: Real names please, not aliases. Put it in each time, for each location Date: Species list [Alphabetical?] & numbers [and observations?] e.g. Blackbird - 24 [And please, no home-grown abbreviations. Species Names in full.] Bulletin mailing times may vary. It usually goes out on Wednesdays/ Thursdays in time for the weekend. Please e-mail in contributions to the editor as early as possible. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 8. CONTACTS AND USEFUL WEBSITES ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ *** Links "not to be missed" *** Please copy and paste URLs if/as necessary. CONTACTS LIST Lincolnshire Naturalists' Union LNU Website: http://lnu.org/ LNU Twitter feed: https://twitter.com/LincsNaturalist LNU e-mail: info@lnu.org Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust: https://twitter.com/LincsWildlife Lincs Bird Club: https://twitter.com/Lincsbirding LBC County Bird Recorder: recorder_south@lincsbirdclub.co.uk The Sir Joseph Banks Society: https://twitter.com/sirjosephbanks Lincolnshire Bat Group: http://www.lincsbatgroup.co.uk/ Butterfly Conservation Lincolnshire Branch: https://twitter.com/BC_Lincolnshire Lincsbirders: https://twitter.com/lincsbirders Lincolnshire Chalk Streams Project: https://lincolnshirechalkstreams.org/ Lincolnshire Chalk Streams Trust: https://lincolnshirechalkstreamstrust.org.uk/ South Lincolnshire Flora Group: https://bsbi.org/south-lincolnshire-v-c-53 The Wolds Fungi Group: Contact Paul Nichol via email: nichol20@gmail.com Lincolnshire Dormouse Group: Contact: lincsdormousegroup@gmail.com FIGHTING WILDLIFE CRIME Wildlife Crime https://www.lincs.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/wc/wildlife-crime/ SPECIES IDENTIFICATION AND RECORDING Please copy and paste URLs if/as necessary. LNU Recorders and Specialists: https://lnu.org/specialists/ Downloads of LNU books: https://lnu.org/publications/books/ Recording with "iRecord": https://www.brc.ac.uk/irecord/ iRecord is recommended by the LNU as an appropriate platform for on-line recording When asking for help: Please give the very best information you can provide. If you are not sure, ask what is needed from you to confirm identification. Photographs are helpful but not every species can be identified from a photograph. When asked for further details, get back to the recorder promptly. Don't forget a thank you for the help. That is always welcomed. Dragonfly Identification help https://british-dragonflies.org.uk/odonata/species-and-identification/ Local Bat Helpline Grounded bats, bat problems, advice and information. Contact Annette Faulkner on 01775 766286 Email: annettefaulkner@btinternet.com Confidential Bat Records You may send confidential bat records direct to Annette Faulkner on: annettefaulkner@btinternet.com Bat Identification https://www.bats.org.uk/about-bats/what-are-bats/uk-bats/ NHBS - Frequencies of British Bats https://media.nhbs.com/equipment/British%20Bat%20Frequencies.pdf Slug ID Help Chris du Feu will help with slug identification. Tel: 01383 669 124 Email: chris.r.dufeu@gmail.com USEFUL WILDLIFE LINKS Please copy and paste URLs if necessary. Lincolnshire Badger Group https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100093647842292 Email: lincolnshirebadgergroup@hotmail.com Lincs Environmental Records Centre: http://www.glnp.org.uk/ Natural England: http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/ NHBS Natural history equipment or books.https://www.nhbs.com/ The Flora of Lincolnshire by Joan Gibbons: downloadable LNU book Atlas of the terrestrial and semi-aquatic Mammals of Lincolnshire: downloadable LNU book *** For the Geologists *** Please copy and paste URLs if/as necessary. Rare dinosaur trio fetches £12.4m at auction https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ceqlj97nq0jo 250-million-year-old rocks could contain secrets to net zero future https://www.bgs.ac.uk/news/prehistoric-power-250-million-year-old-rocks-could-contain-secrets-to-net-zero-future/ Lincolnshire Geodiversity Group: https://www.lincswolds.org.uk/discovering/geology-1 Geology of the Lincolnshire Wolds: https://www.lincswolds.org.uk/special-features/geology The Geology of Lincolnshire: downloadable LNU book UK Fossils in Lincolnshire https://ukfossils.co.uk/category/lincolnshire/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 9. NOTES ABOUT THESE WILDLIFE REPORTS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We do our best to ensure accuracy in our reporting. However, records are sent in by a variety of reporters; from complete beginners to professionals. They may vary in reliability and occasionally may be difficult or impossible to verify. If further information is needed please contact the editor: Bulletins are sent to Recorders at Lincolnshire Environmental Records Centre [GNLP], Lincolnshire Naturalists' Union and Lincolnshire Bird Club. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 10. BULLETIN PUBLICITY POLICY ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When sending in reports, e.g. unusual plants, please report any sensitive news directly to recorders. Not the Bulletin. We don't want to spoil things with unwise or untimely publicity. Thank you. Please respect the interests of wildlife and site owners if you report on national networks. Interest in wildlife is not a licence to act irresponsibly or thoughtlessly to landowners, who may well be partners in important conservation work. [Views expressed in the Bulletin do not necessarily reflect the policies or opinions of the LNU or associated organisations. In particular this applies to agencies, especially charities, taking a political stance.] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 11. LNU EVENTS DIARY ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ *** LNU Events *** https://lnu.org/meetings/ https://lnu.org/meetings/indoor-meetings/ *** Lincolnshire Naturalists Union Field Meeting *** *** L.N.U. / LINCOLNSHIRE BIRD CLUB JOINT MEETING *** On Saturday 25th January 2025 at Whisby Nature Park Education Centre Lincoln SK910662 at 2 pm. Refreshments will be available. Parking £2 Illustrated talk by LBC Chairman Phil Espin, “The Birds of a Lincolnshire Market Town” This talk is based on the book of the same title recently published by L.B.C. and written by Phil and his great friend John Clarkson who tragically died before publication. An appreciation of this book can be found at https://thewryneck.blogspot.com/2024/08/birds-of-lincolnshire-market-town.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 12 ...AND FINALLY... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ National and international stories See the world in close-up in these intricate images of nature https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg26435211-400-see-the-world-in-close-up-in-these-intricate-images-of-nature/ Humans may not have survived without Neanderthals https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwydgyy8120o Government unveils new powers to approve onshore wind farms https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx27wppegddo Storm damage payouts refused in wind speed rows https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gp25dz3q3o Highland beaver release planned for Glen Affric https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3dx4vd532po World's biggest iceberg heads north after escaping vortex https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cg4zve79z5ro Hidden for Centuries, the World’s Largest Coral Colony Was Mistaken for a Shipwreck https://www.zmescience.com/science/hidden-for-centuries-the-worlds-largest-coral-colony-was-mistaken-for-a-shipwreck/ *** Mail Fails *** Mark Bibby - soft bounce - message could not be delivered.. Maurice Feest - soft bounce - message couldn't be delivered. ----------------- ~ THE END ~ ----------------- (..until next week!) Roger Parsons old.museum@yahoo.co.uk http://rogerparsons.info/