A very merry get together at Brislington’s BioBlitz!

The 29th May was another crazy day for Bristol99.  The night before I had delivered equipment to Steve England for his Hidden Worlds event and then, having forgotten something, had to go back first thing in the morning.  I was doing a foraging walk at Eastwood Farm in the evening.  But for most of the day, I was at Eastwinds Activity Centre in St Anne’s for Rowan Matthiessen’s epic event ‘Brislington BioBlitz.’  I say epic because it was running from 12 pm to 10.30pm with a line up of entertainment to rival Glastonbury!

As with all public events, you have no idea how many people are actually going to show until the day.  Still, it was a shock that 60 or so people, all families with children on half term,  arrived right at the start, ready for hours of fun in the fresh air.  Matt Scammell who was leading the first event – river dipping, showed only the slightest concern at the numbers, having probably only been expecting a quarter of the crowd at the most!  Fortunately, our own Matt Postles was on hand, and took half the group off bug hunting, so it was more manageable for everyone.

The river dipping went down a treat, as it always does. The children took turns with nets, scooping up freshwater shrimp and caddis flies which were collected in white trays so everyone could take a look.  One little girl sat down in the water by accident and there were plenty of filled wellies and a few tears but no major incidents.  The parents showed as much enthusiasm as their offspring and it was hard to tell who was fighting more over the nets!  I did feel a little sorry for the second group who were bug hunting, as I watched the river very rapidly turn brown with swirling silt, but I knew they’d be having as much fun sweeping their nets through the long grass.

After swapping activities, many families dispersed briefly, to enjoy picnics, which gave me the opportunity to have a chat with them.  Several that I spoke to, lived locally but had never before visited Brislington Brook and the Nightingale Valley.  Some hadn’t known it even existed until a flyer popped through their door, others just hadn’t got round to visiting or felt nervous about exploring it on their own, and the event provided the ideal opportunity.  At the other end of the scale, a mother and son living right next door, treated it like an extension of their garden and could tell me everything there was to know about the different birds and other wildlife of the Nightingale Valley, and what time of the day or year you were most likely to see certain things.

In the afternoon, there was more bug hunting followed by a tree walk with Richard Bland, which gave a fascinating insight into the life of trees and uncovered some really great specimens.  Meanwhile, inside the scout hut, paper and crayons were out and children were designing a new entrance to the site, looking through microscopes or nagging their parents for more of the lovely home made cake.  More people had turned up and the atmosphere was bright and cheerful, but outside, it was darkening.  True to recent form, by about 4.30pm, the sky was black and the heavens opened – just in time for Becky Coffin to lead the long anticipated ‘otter spotting’ walk.  A few ‘keenies;, mostly BNHC volunteers, ventured out with her along the river, even taking recording forms, but no otters were spotted, and not much of anything else either.

By 5.30pm it was accepted that the outdoor picnic was not going to happen and the likelihood of a bat walk or the ‘moths and magic’ event was also diminishing.  Half an hour later, and rather sadly, people had given up, and the scout hut was empty, abandoned. All except the young lad and his mother who came back especially, and rather optimistically, after his dental appointment, to join in with the evening’s events.  So no picnic, no bats, no moths or magic.  However, it was only the little crowd left behind who were disappointed, everyone else had had a lovely time, made new friends, discovered a beautiful new wild place and managed to entertain the children for a day.

And so we went our separate ways, me to another Bristol99 event, which took place despite the weather, and everyone else home to change.  And at 11.30 pm I had a text from Rowan – 15 people had turned up for the bat walk in the end!  However, no mention of bats.  I couldn’t bring myself to ask!

Bristol99’s busiest yet! 7 Days, 9 events – and a weekend jam packed with fossils, food and fun!

You may have noticed that things have been a bit quiet on the old blog front recently.  Just so you know, there is absolutely no correlation between this, and the amount of activity that has been going on with Bristol99!  Last week, we saw 8 individual events taking place, the highlight being Wednesday 29th May, with 3, which were all really successful – Hidden Worlds at Stoke Park, Brislington’s BioBlitz at Nightingale Valley and an evening of Foraging at Eastwood Farm.

This week, is the busiest yet with a staggering total of 9 events taking place over the next 7 days, culminating in a weekend of frenzied activity all over the city.  Bristol99 on the Downs takes place on Saturday, with 2 walks accompanied by experts – a Tree Walk from 10.30 am – 12pm and Butterfly walk from 2pm – 3.30pm, while in Snuff Mills, Steve England will be leading a group of intrepid fossil hunters along the Frome Valley to see what they can unearth from our prehistoric past, from 11 – 3pm.  On Sunday, Badock’s Woodland Party has a really varied programme of wildlife crafts and activities, together with music and games, from 2pm – 6pm and at Lawrence Weston Community Farm, between 1pm and 4pm there is the chance to explore the incredibly diverse Long Cross Tip and enjoy fresh baked pizza, as well as check out their lovely old spot pigs!

So there really is no excuse not to get out and about this weekend because Bristol99 is here, there and EVERYWHERE!  And the weekend after is the FESTIVAL OF NATURE!  What a great summer of wildlife!

Eastwood Farm – a beautiful wild place, and host to an evening of fun and foraging next Wednesday 29th May.

Next Wednesday, sees another full day of wildlife fun, for Bristol99, with 3 events taking place across the city!  2 of these are in Brislington, Brislington’s BioBlitz and Family Day, which takes place from 1.30pm in the beautiful Nightingale Valley (meeting place: Eastwinds Scout Hut, bottom of St Anne’s Terrace), and the other, a foraging walk with expert Cliff Woodward, takes place at Eastwood Farm Local Nature Reserve, as part of their ‘Wild Wednesday’ evenings in conjunction with Bristol City Council’s Wild City project (meeting in the Beese’s Car Park at 7.30pm).

Both of these sites may be little known, unlike the Downs and Ashton Court’s of Bristol, but they have just as much to offer and are very much worth exploring.  Richard Bland from Bristol Naturalists, enjoyed a walk along the river at Eastwood Farm back in April and describes below, just some of the many things to look out for.

Eastwood Farm SNCI is in Brislington, and was a rubbish tip in the early 1970s, which was covered over with topsoil and planted with a ring of trees. At its foot is a flood meadow alongside the River Avon. I took an evening walk there last weekend, and the flood debris in the riverside trees was a metre above the grass. It has the last perfect bomb crater in Bristol, and on the river bank three quite different very ancient trees, all cantilevered out over the water- a Hawthorn, a Crack Willow and a Sycamore. They put in a pond with an island when they made it into a park, and a Swan was incubating her eggs; the Cob swam across to menace us. There is a big heronry up the river, and one bird flew slowly past. An eight, a single scull, a beautiful pair and a quad scull, came past us up the river which, two hundred years ago, was the main heavy goods route to London. Kingcups were a brilliant flash of yellow in a ditch. Dozens of Crows, presumably a flock on non- breeding juveniles, crowded round a stagnant sheet of water. Blackbirds, Song Thrushes, Wrens and Robins were all in song, and we heard one of the first chiffchaffs that have poured belatedly into the country. White Poplars were just expanding their bright red catkins high above our heads, and a Norway Maple was covered in yellow flowers. The rare Purging Buckthorn was found in one hedge, and a double size molehill in an old field was probably a mole nursery.

The light was fading, the species count was 23, not bad for an hours birding on an old rubbish dump, and we made our way home.

 

Discover the wildlife on your doorstep – explore the beautiful Nightingale Valley with Rowan Matthiessen, at Brislington’s Mini BioBlitz!

There’s a secret world right in the middle of Brislington, wedged unassumingly between densely crowded streets, the Brislington Brook corridor is a lush, green, wooded valley, hidden away from the hustle and bustle of city life. It feels like a lost and forgotten land, often unknown by many of the people who live close-by and brimming with discoveries to be made.

Come and join us on an exciting adventure exploring the wild side! Discover Brislington Brook have teamed up with Bristol 99 – an exciting initiative to get people out delving into their local wilderness to find out what’s in the undergrowth.

Rowan Matthiessen, project coordinator said “We have a wide range of scheduled activities ranging from bug-hunts to otter spotting, wild poetry to tree ID, going on throughout the afternoon. We’re then inviting everyone to bring a picnic supper and stay on for the evening’s discoveries: A bat walk and a magical moth adventure!”

Each activity will be led by a professional or amateur naturalist who will be happy to impart some of their wisdom about the natural world. As well as being a fun day out  for local people, families and children we aim to collect some real life, useful data which will be used to monitor, conserve and improve the space for wildlife..

The Bioblitz is just one part of the wider Discover Brislington Brook (DBB) project, which is supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, Bristol City Council and the local Neighbourhood Partnership. DBB aims to help people in the area to reconnect with the their green spaces locally.  Rowan Matthiessen, the project co-ordinator has been busy organising all kinds of activities from morning bird walks to storytelling workshops and hands on science for kids. For more information on events, activities and volunteering, visit their web and Facebook sites or follow @BrisBrook on Twitter.

Email: rowan.matthiessen@bristol.gov.uk

Web: www.discoverbrislingtonbrook.wordpress.com

FB: www.facebook.com/DiscoverBrislingtonBrook

Twitter: @BrisBrook

Brislington’s Mini BioBlitz takes place on Wednesday 29th May from 1.00pm to 10.30pm.  For full details visit The Events.

Avon Wildlife Trust go to Hartcliffe and discover bug hunting, bluebells and bees at Dundry Slopes!

On Sunday I had a lovely morning out in Hartcliffe at the Dundry Slopes Discovery Day.  What an amazing amenity this community have on their doorstep?!  Driving out of the city towards the green hills,  which are a much loved, integral part of the Bristol skyline, countryside and town literally embrace each other.  It’s one of the things I most love about Bristol.

The event, organised by Kelly Bray from Avon Wildlife Trust, took place at the foot of East Dundry Slopes.  When I turned up, it was a hive of activity, not least because of the presence of local beekeeper, Dave Gillard from Dundry, who apparently produces THE best honey and who was selling a variety of bee related products on a stall near the entrance.  Small children were having their faces painted and making their own wildlife badges, while parents gathered in the tent and enjoyed the free tea and cake that were generously provided.  The colourful bunting was blowing in the increasing wind, but the good weather was holding out – just!  Further away, at the foot of the slopes, I could see Tony Smith from Bristol Naturalists encircled by a group of fascinated children, who were keen to examine the catch in his sweep net, while others peered, quietly fascinated,  at moths and midges in magnifying bug pots.

Tony Smith on one of his walks, at the foot of East Dundry Slopes.

I spoke to several mums, some who were unaware such a place existed on their doorstep and one, who lived right on the edge of it but had never explored it.  Until now.  Keith Way, from the Dundry Slopes Group, who is a real ambassador for the area was on hand to talk about the local history, and explained to me that the Slopes are the source of Brislington Brook – something I was quite unaware of?  Justin Smith, Woodland & Wildlife Officer for Bristol City Council took a group up into the woods to see the bluebells, which are apparently quite spectacular?  And as a lovely gesture, Kelly had potted up english bluebells she had been growing, for the visitors to take home with them.

Kelly Bray from Avon Wildlife Trust with her potted bluebells!

In the last half hour, the weather, true to recent form, deteriorated, the wind picked up and it started to drizzle.  But it didn’t matter.  The local community had got together to celebrate this amazing space – a real haven for children and adults alike, and could now go home to Sunday lunch, in the knowledge that they’d enjoyed some fresh air during the best part of the day, learned some new things about wildlife and maybe made some new friends with whom to further explore this lovely bit of Bristol in the future?

Many thanks to Avon Wildlife Trust, in particular Kelly, for putting on such a great event!

Knowle West Media Centre add another dimension to the Bristol99 visitor experience!

A couple of weeks ago, I went along to Knowle West Media Centre, with Steph, our “wildlife filmmaker of the future” to learn how to use a very clever online interface.   Known as ‘Connection /Time,’ this will allow visitors at selected Bristol99 events, through a variety of media, to really get involved in creating a lasting digital legacy.  Sounds intriguing?  Sounds like something you’d like to be a part of?  Well read on and Rachel Clarke from Knowle West Media Centre will explain all…..

Knowle West Media Centre (KWMC) is an arts charity based in South Bristol. Since 1996 they’ve supported communities to get involved in creative activities, education and decision-making. As well as regular activities for young people and a changing programme of exhibitions, KWMC runs a range of environmental projects. They collaborate with communities and partner organisations to use creative technologies to drive local production, monitor energy use and represent data from solar panels. Their work illustrates that digital media and the creative arts can support people to live more sustainably.

KWMC has been working with Bristol Festival of Nature on the Bristol99 project, providing training in using an online interface called Connection / Time, which was developed by artist Dane Watkins, with Paul Hurley (http://whosedata.net/connection-time/). Connection / Time is an interactive documentation tool that gathers Twitter posts, photographs and annotations, and displays them on a web page – providing a real-time record of an event as it unfolds.  Smartphones are used to produce and send the content. People can watch the event online and add their contributions too, even if they’re not able to be there in person.

KWMC has helped the team at BFON to set up Connection / Time web pages for some of Bristol’s natural sites. Visitors to these green spaces will be able to send photos of their surroundings to a web page, helping to uncover hidden wildlife and inspire others to see nature in a new and exciting way…

Knowle West Media Centre

Leinster Avenue, Bristol, BS4 1NL

www.kwmc.org.uk / 0117 903 0444

Find knowlewestmedia on Facebook and Twitter

Lucy Gaze explores Long Cross Tip and plans a June BioBlitz for Bristol99 with Lawrence Weston Community Farm

A couple of weeks ago I visited a little explored, piece of land in Lawrence Weston, known as Long Cross Tip, to check it out prior to running a BioBlitz event there as part of Bristol99.   Although it is indeed one of the 99 sites of Nature Conservation Interest, it neither occupies a  particularly exciting looking grid space on the map, nor has a name that conjures up images of beauty!  I was therefore slightly sceptical about what I might find!

I realised I needn’t have worried when I pulled up at Lawrence Weston Community Farm, whose land adjoins this site.  Because this area is a rural idyll on the edge of the city – the only clue to its location being the hum of the M5 nearby.  I met Kerry Rowe, Discovering Nature Education Coordinator at the Farm, who was on hand to talk about Long Cross Tip and how they could partner with us to deliver our event.  Kerry recommended I do a circular walk which leads from the farm, along the cycle path through an area of open grassland, then skirts around the boundary of the tip and back to the farm.  As I walked, the birds sang out from the hedgerows and trees,  catkins swung gently from the branches of alder and the silver pussy willow buds gleamed in the spring sunshine.  Beneath the trees, there was a carpet of new green growth which stood out in stark contrast to the still bare branches.  It looked so strange, it was like someone had pieced together 2 pictures in photoshop – one taken in the midst of winter, the other in summer.  I felt unusually optimistic.

Where the cycle path crosses the intersecting service road was where I turned right onto Long Cross Tip.   And here I noticed the brambles.  Towering above me, ever so slightly menacingly, and extending almost as far as the eye could see, a couple of questions briefly flitted through my mind – had a BioBlitz event ever been run JUST on a blackberry bush and did anyone actually turn up to it?  But the birds were still chattering away cheerfully, hidden somewhere and in the distance, over these hillocks of tangled thorny branches,  I could see trees poking out, and I felt a glimmer of hope.  Sure enough, it didn’t take long, literally a rounding of a corner, before the ground opened out, the blackberry bushes receded and I felt like I’d closed one door and walked through another into a completely different place.  I almost stopped in my tracks.  Here, was a very special area, I knew that, combining grassland, wetland scrub and woodland, and within, a huge variety of trees and hundreds of plants, many of which I had never seen before, pushing their way up through the soil.  I began frantically snapping photos with the vague hope of identifying them later with the help of a field guide.

Wandering off the tarmac path that encircles much of the tip, and onto the little paths that meander through areas of vegetation and pockets of trees, I became immersed in a completely different world – the world of Long Cross Tip – where around every corner there is a new surprise – a different view, an unusual plant, a patch of unexpected wet bog, an eye-catching tree bark, or lichen.  Alongside this year’s fresh green growth, were the beautiful seed heads of last year’s flowers, standing tall and elegant, incredibly still intact after the harsh winter storms. It occurred to me that I was in an area of incredible rich diversity in spite of, or perhaps precisely because of the fact this was a former tip?  And sure enough, when I returned to the office, a little later, I discovered that Long Cross Tip is not only one of several Open Mosaic Habitats on Previously Developed Land, and warrants a special mention for growing 3 different types of orchid – bee, pyramidal and southern marsh, but also a UK Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) priority habitat – a site that has been identified as being one of the most threatened and needing conservation action.

Even more of a reason then, to run a BioBlitz event on it?  Long Cross Tip seems to be the perfect example of somewhere that needs this kind of focused attention, surveying and reporting on the wildlife within it.  After all, what use is conservation, without knowing what you need to conserve?!  So make a date for your diary – Sunday June 9th, from 1pm – 4pm, for the Long Cross BioBlitz.  Expect to see some quite special things, just a little bit out of the ordinary, and then enjoy clay fired pizza and a wander round Lawrence Weston Community Farm!  Further details to follow, but we hope to see you there!