...Lower Wallop...

I'm in love with a farm. Last September I met the Roberts family who live at Lower Wallop. They have three hundred acres of organic food, semi-ancient woods, bats, barn owls and otters.
I haven't felt able to blog for a month, as I've been so busy exploring the farm and helping Angus and Mandy open their farm gates to the local community. Six months of planning led to an event called a BioBlitz.
iSpot.org.uk sponsored school children, families and professionals to take part in over 24 hours of continuous wildlife recording. Over 200 people, 16 different organisations and at last count over 300 species.
We're still recovering, but we're so proud of what we've achieved. We can't wait to do more and are already hoping to run another event later this year. Isn't it a great name for a farm too?

Peter keeping the kids happy with gruesome tales of bones.

Recording well into the night: the BioBlitz bat walk.

...power to the people...

Just got back from a lively Place Plan meeting in Shrewsbury.
It wasn't at all boring and there was no jargon.
(well, not much anyway)

What I liked about it was that developers (in some very sharp suits), local residents, local charities, gardening and allotment groups, ecologists and planners all got together in one room and talked to each other.

Meetings like this could potentially see the end of absentee development firms slapping large-scale bland development on local communities.

If more people get involved, Place Plan meetings could be the start of more useful relationships between smaller development firms and the communities that host them.
A lot still has to happen, but I could see the beginning of something better and a bit less shouty.
People might not like what the developers propose, but then at least we can openly and respectfully challenge it.

The residents of Corner Farm Drive were all there tonight making their voices heard. (Hooray!)
Oo, there were some meaty discussions going on in the Corner Farm corner.
A neighbouring community group came to say hi. We had a chat and shared ideas.
One of these ideas is to link our greenspaces together to make a really big wildspace round the edge of Shrewsbury.
The proposed developer thinks their new "Country Park" could be just 15 metres wide.
That should make for some nice long thin picnics.
Can you see how these discussions start?
The key thing here is that if local communities don't care, then the developers will only ever do the absolute minimum to get the maximum profit. Who can blame them when it's "good business sense".

Trouble is, it doesn't make good mental health sense, good community health sense, good natural health sense, good family financial sense, good long term or short term sense. But if no-one is willing to point this out, then we only have ourselves to blame.

CBT is a self feeding, sustainable idea. Get outside and climb a tree or have a picnic. Take your dog for a walk (clear up the poop!) or just sit in a greenspace and read. Fly a kite. Stare into the middle distance.  Please don't just look at wildlife through your window, you will lose it. It's real and needs you to value it.
I guarantee the magic then starts. More people will see you valuing your greenspace and think it must be OK. They join in. Talk to them. Start to record the wildlife you see, take pictures and share them with others. This is what technology is for.
Now, what happens if developers want your land? If enough of you have come together to protect your space for a long enough time, you can do things to look after it.
If you think you will need to compromise, then start now to put yourself in the driving seat. Make developers make your space even better in ways that excite you, not depress you. Hell, they'll even pay you to do it for them.

...sunshine...

...All this sunshine has brought the wildlife on the farm bouncing and buzzing into action. Just sitting in my garden yesterday I saw hoverflies, 4 different types of bumblebee a Brimstone butterfly, the first chiffchaff and later that evening a pipstrelle bat flying so low over the hedges that at times I was tempted to reach up and grab him!

A Field Blewit

The unofficial wildlife list is nearing 200 species and counting. I've been talking to some experts and asked them to come over to have a "root around" the wild patch. In future posts I'll be introducing you to "Paul the Moth Man", "Ian the Bee Man" and "Pete the Invertebrate Challenge Man". They are all experts in their fields and have very kindly agreed to help us discover more about the farm's wildlife. They'll only come along though, if locals come out to discover what's here too.
That shouldn't be too hard.
I think the "Corner Farm Kids" will love a few late nights camping out and looking for moths, detecting bats with a bat detector and running around the field collecting bugs for Pete and Ian to identify.

Nature shouldn't be left to a few experts. Are you a teacher? Do you fancy teaching a new subject? CBT. Community Biodiversity Training. Think of the power you'll give future communities when faced with insensitive development.

Oh, and I showed some of the amazing mushrooms we found on the field to John Hughes, a rather lovely man. He was so impressed. We have Field Blewits - with bright purple stems. They shouldn't be out at this time of year, but he thinks that as last autumn was so rubbish for fungus, they may have residual energy stored up for more suitable weather conditions. The Field Blewits are making up for lost time and putting on a spring show. It's not that common a species either.

I'm summing up the courage too, to speak to the developer of the proposed housing estate. It's time we had a good chat....eek!

...the neighbours are talking...

Weird things are happening.
Since starting this campaign, people living around the patch are talking to each other and sharing what they've seen. I often have people coming to my door, but now they bring twigs, pellets, pictures and stories. It is really lovely.

J has yellow-necked mice in her garden, H loves wildlife but doesn't know what any of it is called and A remembers a time when he could see all the way across to the church spire.
A wants to bake cakes and get her snazzy wellies on, K is doing some research into small mammals on the farm, J saw a fox recently and the kids on Corner Farm Drive all want to help too.

 On a walk around the farm this afternoon, K discovered a pellet at the base of a sycamore tree, which we think could be from a buzzard that regularly visits the farm. The pellet looks gross, but its contents are incredible - it is the indigestible remains of the buzzard's dinner- hair and bones from various small mammals caught in the local area.

A pellet from a bird of prey on the farm. Buzzard perhaps?

 Dissecting pellets from birds of prey is a fascinating activity and an important record of what's here.

I've found this weird introduction to the subject from Science Explosion. I can't get the chorus out of my head now!
We've been kindly lent 20 Longworth Mammal Traps, and a few neighbours are gathering tomorrow night to set them around the wild patch, and collect them for inspection on Saturday morning.
These traps are humane, which means no animals will be harmed in the process.
They are trapped inside a warm, cosy bed for the night, complete with muesli snacks.
I tell you, there are days when I wish for a human-scale Longworth trap, set with a duvet, a bottle of wine and a good book. Just shut the door and settle in for the night!

Longworth Traps

A set trap, ready for a passing mouse or vole.

We'll keep a record of what we find and give the information to the Shropshire Mammal Group.
It's shaping up for a good weekend ahead.

...Snails and the Councillor...

I have drunk a lot of tea, talked a lot and collected a lot of snails. Now who can say that's not an honest day's work?
After a morning developing a wildlife pond near Oswestry, I came home to find my local councillor had been round and left his card. I was very nervous about speaking to him as it's my first foray into local politics; I didn't want to sound stupid and ruin chances of being taken seriously.
I needn't have worried. He was human!
We had a chat about how the planning system worked (another reminder not to assume I could "save" the wild patch) and whether I had any chance of making a difference in speaking up for local biodiversity.
I explained my personal position.

 "I am not against development. I am against insensitve development that fails to take into account local character and just ends up sprawling haphazardly across some prime UK countryside. I would like my son to have a decent, affordable house; but not at the expense of the natural world. What if Shropshire Council could work with local residents and developers to be really honest about the long term future of Shrewsbury and its green space?"

Well, this could be beginning to happen, explained the councillor...

 There's currently a consultation called the SAMdev (gorgeous name!) in Shropshire. It stands for Site Allocations and Management of Development.

Anyone can comment on what they think of local housing and development plans. It's a chance for everyone to have their say, apparently regardless of income, where you live or who you know. In theory, it sounds pretty democratic to me and I've filled in a questionnaire making my feelings known. If you want to make your feelings known, you have until the 8th June 2012.

I feel that if I just objected to development on the grounds that I don't like change, or that housing is bad and green space is good; then I'm kind of falling into the same old trap of environmentalist vs developer, both deaf to each other and more than a bit shouty. No one gets anywhere.

Einstein should have been a town planner: "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results". Calling developers and planners "evil" or laughing at environmentalists is insanity. Both sides are doing their jobs, hopefully with passion too.

Sticking with the Einstein as Town Planner theme: "We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them".

We have created a problem in which residents are reassured that there are no immediate plans to develop an area until roughly 12 weeks before the footings go in.
No wonder everyone gets a bit pee'd off and confrontational with each other as ecologists search for barn owls and developers build what they've always built.

Now imagine that planners say to residents, "We've got 14-20 years to look at some innovative ways to accommodate a growing population. Here's your chance to find the green space you value and start to shape where you live for future generations."

Place Plans could be a step in this direction. I've been asked to go along to a public meeting to find out more. I'm certainly interested.

• It could mean that in the future, all of Shropshire's new schools get built within walking distance of some prime, beautiful local countryside for playing in and learning valuable skills for their future.
• It could mean that Highways work with allotment groups to ensure cycle paths and safe walking routes exist to connect people with their food.
• It could mean that in the future there's a place for a herd of cows grazing in the middle of town (Why not? It's the milk on your cereal every morning, and a chance for farmers to feel a bit more loved). 
• It could mean that every new development brings a net increase in biodiversity through careful long term research and planning.

It doesn't cost anything to think a bit differently. Talk to your neighbours.


(This next bit contains a sanity warning for my sister-in-law, who I know reads this! J, I know you hate s*!gs and sn*!ls, so please look away now...)

Oh, and I spent half an hour in the wild patch looking for snails today!
What a huge layer of leaf litter; 20-30cm deep in places and crawling with at least three different species of woodlice. (Does anyone know a woodlouse expert I can borrow?)

I collected (and returned) all these snails within one square metre of leaf litter, but not sure how many different species there are, or if any are particularly rare.
I've shared them on iSpot.org.uk for identification and will let you know the results. Let me know how many different species you think you can see on these pictures? If you can name them too, that would be marvellous.

This snail was a smart looking thing, and seemed to know it too!

How many species can you see? I'm still trying to work it out.

Beautiful little ramshorn shaped shells

More snails. (Sorry J, hope you're not looking at these.)

Three different species of snail? Could be four.

No wonder the song thrushes love our back garden!

If I can give the area an overall biodiversity "score", like an index, then highlight the main species/habitats - could the developers take this info and work with local residents to increase the score? Back gardens can be havens for wildlife, as can community spaces and careful management.

Stop press: Barn Owl spotted yesterday by B on the field opposite the development site. Hopefully we'll be allowed to put up some nest boxes and encourage them to stay. Have a look at the Shropshire Barn Owl Group's webpage for more info on how you can help this protected species.

...not in my back yard!...

The following opinions are my own personal rant...

Some developers don't like wildlife. It gets in their way.
Take our quiet country lane. It is a single track road leading to an 18th century farmhouse.
The fields surrounding us have hares, barn owls, tawny owls, lunar hornet moths, dragonflies, veteran oak trees and thick holly hedges. In the summer months we camp out in the back field, watch stars and cook food round the camp fire.

Bah! Say the developers.
"What do you know about the real world?" 

"We'll do you a favour and dig up the hedges, widen the road and put some nice tarmac down.
 Those old trees are unhealthy too. We'll help you out and replace them with some nice ornamental shrubs.
Hundreds will want to own this rural idyll; so we'll build houses right on top of the remaining wildlife.
There. Job done. Say thank you".

(All the developers across the land join in the chorus...)
"Don't be such a nimby,
You can't stop progress.
The houses have got to go somewhere.
It's in the strategic plan..."

Apparently, kids don't need to play in wild places either. Wait until they see the safe patches of square green turf the developers have created for them. They'll love it, all fenced in, bland and cosy.

What?! You say you played here with your family for free? Oh no no no. We can't have that. Our cheapest property on this site is only £120,000.
Oh, and we're cutting your son's climbing tree down too. It's unhealthy. I'll leave you to explain that to him.

OK, to be fair, we have to remember that many developers and local authorities are, when faced with a financial crisis, not rational organisations. In the absence of any true innovation they panic and the end result by default, becomes one of destroying local biodiversity and community health. Anyone who stands up for wildlife is an unworldly fool in the face of demand for housing space.

You might be surprised at what I'm going to say next.
I am not against development.
Development as evolution in thought and action. Not just a "spreading out".
I saw no development in the plans on show tonight at a local residents meeting.
It was just a plan to build over our wild green patch.

Lucky us.

Here's an offer. I will hug and squeeze any developer who is a true crafter of exciting communities and space.
Work with me to make our wild green patch better for people and wildlife?
Development in the future might not be so boring and harmful if we start thinking outside those dreadful boxes.

Can you tell I'm cross? (Hee hee!)
I'm meeting with the local councillor next week and will keep you posted on wildlife, development and developers...let the games commence; and please, even if you've never seen my place, you probably know of a wild green patch near you. Stand up for wild green patches everywhere. They need you and you need them.

Here's some great ideas for houses I'd like to see next door...
http://webecoist.momtastic.com/2010/10/18/hobbit-houses-15-grassy-hill-shaped-dwellings/
http://inhabitat.com/modern-log-cabin-hidden-in-a-stack-of-wood/

Public wealth (nature) vs private profit:
http://www.ted.com/talks/pavan_sukhdev_what_s_the_price_of_nature.html


Have your say on the shaping of Shropshire, you don't have to live here to have an opinion...
http://www.shropshire.gov.uk/planningpolicy.nsf/open/9F75B1E4E30A1E3B80257922004CC8EE

Transition Towns:
http://www.transitiontownshrewsbury.org.uk/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transition_Towns

...beauty and bread...

“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.”
― John Muir

When H and I went on a walk this morning, we felt small and vulnerable alongside the speeding traffic. Trucks thundered past, bottles and food wrappers piled up along the hedgerow, H and I buffeted by cold wind and exhaust fumes.
We were eventually going to reach a quiet, wild place in which H could meet his friends and run around, a place inbetween roads, called Calcot. We'd not been there before, but my friend had, and urged us to come along too, despite the traffic. When we got there it was amazing, but why did we have to experience the horrible bit to get there?

The roads around Calcot, to me this morning, were not just physical barriers to the quiet green space, but cultural walls so strong, so fast, so completely sure of their right to be there above anything else, that to cross or challenge them was recklessly stupid.
In order for me to have my nature "fix", I had to cross. (Safely, too, I hasten to add!)

These big old roads get wider and faster, each one with an "over-riding economic benefit" to the wild places they cut through.
I'm sure these roads are all Very Very Important.
As a result though, quiet places like Calcot become forgotten, almost forbidden. The building of a new road, as Important as it is, sends out a signal to society that we don't need local nature anymore, it's a luxurious resource to be disconnected from in favour of economic growth.

I don't know about you,  but I think it's time we reversed this trend and nurtured developers that love local nature and celebrate it in their designs.
Why should we continue to build roads the old way?
Why should any business be rewarded with profit and praise for creating things lined with urine-filled bottles and half eaten burgers?
Come on, where are you, the real transport and industrial innovators?
I dare you to build a road that welcomes families (and wildlife) to cross over and reach climbing trees, woodlands and wild playful places.

...John Muir...

Once or twice a year, I spend a day with fully grown adults, making homes for plastic zebras.
It's hard work. We discuss the approach, design and logisitcs. Do the zebras need a waterside view? How do they deter the pesky lions and where's the shelter from the southwest wind?
The end results are thoughtful, well placed and elegant in their design. It's a day well spent.
The real aim? I train people on helping others reconnect with nature, and homes for zebras is a perfect way in. By the end of the day, even the most mud-shy squeamish are down on their hands and knees, sniffing earth, checking wind direction and handling wildlife with the confidence of a boy scout. It's a laugh too. To be honest, if making a home for a toy zebra is taken too seriously then the day becomes a tad weird.
The participants on this course are training to become John Muir Award leaders. John Muir would have loved to build a home for a zebra, in fact, I think he would have started a movement to create a national park for them.
It's all about the disappearing art of connecting with nature, something that John Muir was incredibly good at doing. Anyone can follow Muir's ethos - go stargazing, write your name in the sand, make a leaf angel or just sit in a wild place and soak it all up. Play, sing, scribble and giggle. John Muir Awards recognise your time spent outdoors going a bit wild. They are free, nationally recognised awards and they are just right for our time.

John Muir Awards and how to take part:
http://www.jmt.org/jmaward-get-involved.asp

Try a few simple pleasures:
http://www.snh.gov.uk/enjoying-the-outdoors/simple-pleasures/top-tips/

(with thanks to Toby from the John Muir Award office for the link)

...creating zebra homes is serious business...

...mystery bug...

Last week, someone gave me a mystery bug in a jar. Happy Days!!!
I love mystery bugs and this one was gorgeous.
The poor creature had been stuck in a jam jar since the previous Thursday and was looking a bit fed up.
I couldn't spot it in any of my bug books, so I took a few photos and uploaded them to iSpot.org.uk to see if anyone else could help.
Within 20 minutes I had a reply and the mystery bug had a name...(drum roll please)....
It was a Rhopalid bug (Corizus hyoscyami).
I can tell you're impressed.

Think about it though; iSpot is genius. It's so simple.
Social media and natural history have joined forces to enable millions to watch wildlife, photograph it and most importantly, make it count.
Citizen Science in action.

I'm proud to say that my Rhopalid bug record is a first for this area of the UK and, if more are found, may be further evidence of species spreading out across the country as habitats and climates change.

One bug, one jar and one website. Go on, join in.