From badgers to Norfolk hawkers: what have you spotted on your home patch?

Cambridge conservationist Bob Jarman discusses what’s been spotted on local patches

Wildlife conservation often seems to concentrate on the nature reserves and the exceptional species that can be seen and found there. But regularly watching a local neighbourhood patch can often reveal the exceptional and the unexpected.

What is a local patch? I guess it’s a familiar neighbourhood site that’s easy and convenient to visit frequently to gain a detailed knowledge of its wildlife. It can even be one’s own garden -- a home patch.

My nearest local patch is Logan’s Meadow nature reserve, which is just a short walk from where I live in Chesterton, opposite the Museum of Technology and its chimney. I walk around it once or twice a week, more often in spring and autumn.

Ben Greig, who is involved in Logan’s Meadow, says: “Logan’s comprises a mosaic of habitats each of which attracts different species of warblers, which breed just metres apart. Even a few dead trees make a sounding post for great spotted woodpeckers!”

Six species of warbler have been recorded singing at Logan’s plus a rare Siberian race of chiffchaff that once overwintered. Woodcock and water rails have also been seen, sparrowhawks nest every year and hobbies hunt there regularly.

This year, ospreys have been seen flying past over the river (I missed them!).

Wasp spiders now occur following an influx into the UK in 2006. Willow emerald damselfly has recently colonised, banded demoiselle damselflies are common and water voles are often spotted. I’m waiting for my first otter!

The best record of a local patch is the work of John Meed and his meticulous recording of farmland birds around Nine Wells, published in his book “A haven for farmland birds”.

John recognised the pressure to build on farmland adjacent to Addenbrooke’s and the decline in local farmland birds – grey partridge by 93 per cent and corn buntings by 68 per cent. John’s local patch observations detailed in his book are a “forever” record of this area.

I have recently discovered a new local patch just a cycle ride away in the city. It seemed rather dull at first, but suddenly burst with interest.

This autumn it hosted, for a few days, a huge roost of swallows. I “guesstimated” 1000 birds -- the largest swallow roost recorded in the county in the past decade. It was a dense flock gathered on their southward migration.

One evening this huge flock was fragmented by a hunting hobby but it failed to catch an individual swallow. A barn owl was hunting nearby and a group of about 100 pied wagtails were roosting in trees in the busiest and noisiest car park!

But local patches are not always a walk or a cycle ride away, they can be right outside our back door -- our own garden can become our home patch.

In his Langham Road garden, Paul Rule recorded 1,630 species of everything -- plants, mammals, birds, insects and other invertebrates, mosses, fungi and slime moulds. He logged 1,305 invertebrates – insects, spiders, slugs, worms, snails and microscopic animals. These included three county firsts: an aphid, a fruit fly and a money spider.

“We have recently moved to Ely,” said Paul. “Our new garden backs on to a large meadow so I’m recording species I never did in Cambridge. In the last five months I’ve recorded 589 species of invertebrates, including one new to the county”.

Jon Heath, naturalist and the county bird recorder, lives on the northern edge of the city and has recorded more than 1,000 species in his garden including birds, mammals, amphibians, moths, dragonflies and spiders. Highlights from this year include a rare Norfolk hawker dragonfly, swifts prospecting a nest box for the first time, a rarely seen snakefly and a badger appearing in the middle of the night.

“Our home patch can be a really important resource for wildlife” said Jon. “By adding native plants, creating a small pond, and letting a few corners of your garden grow ‘wild’ it is amazing what can be attracted. If you can why not give it a try?”.

Spotted something interesting on your home patch? Let us know by emailing letters@iliffemedia.co.uk and mark the subject line ‘Home patch’.