Some giant sightings - and the winners of Wildlife Trust BCN’s photo competition are revealed
This month, Amy Gerhard, of the Wildlife Trust Beds, Herts and Cambs, discusses some amazing sightings in Cambridgeshire, some valuable new funding and reveals the winner of the trust’s photography competition.
Giant sightings…
Giants have arrived at the Great Fen: two insects in particular, both large in size and even larger in grandeur.
The first was found during a newt survey at Woodwalton Fen where, among the findings, one particular water beetle stood out.
While paddling around, its exceptionally long hind limbs, each with a distinctive long, sharp spine protruding from the inside, became apparent. The splendid silver sheen on its underside, produced by a film of air caught by tiny golden hairs, confirmed the identification - a great silver water beetle. Although they are among the largest beetles in Europe, they have become a very rare sighting.
Records show historical presence of great silver water beetles in the Fens, from the 1800s, and in the early 1900s. However, the last record in our area seems to have been 1938, at Wicken Fen, after which, the trail goes cold.
In the last five years, great silver water beetles have been recorded in places such as Sutton Gault by the Ouse Washes, and in Over, near the River Great Ouse. Perhaps, the more recent consequences of climate change are coaxing this beetle out of its strongholds in the south and east; using the warmer evenings to take flight and recover some of its former range, bit by bit. We will have to wait to see if the Fens will provide a new stronghold and hence a vital stepping stone for further movements inland.
The second giant was found while the team were exploring the findings of a moth survey at Trumpington Meadows nature reserve. An audible gasp could be heard when a privet hawk moth was unveiled.
These are the UK’s largest resident moth and can have a wingspan of up to 12cm. On the wing for a short period in June and July, with a torpedo-shaped body and long, narrow wings held back like a jet plane, the privet hawk-moth is a striking visitor to parks and gardens, as well as woodland.
The monitoring and research team at the Wildlife Trust BCN are focussing on the invertebrates of the Great Fen this year and need your help. If you capture sightings of beetles, butterflies, moths, spiders, flies, dragonflies, damselflies, bees, wasps or others, please contact us at info@greatfen.org.uk to let us know.
Record the date, location (use what3words), species and send photographs if possible. Your sightings can add valuable insights to the knowledge being collected within the trust.
Funding to help woodland bounce back…
The Wildlife Trust BCN has been awarded more than £5,000 by the Red Tile Wind Farm Trust to complete vital management at the Wistow Wood nature reserve, an ancient woodland in Cambridgeshire, near Ramsey. The funding will support the planting of 1,000 new native trees to aid the regeneration of trees lost to ash dieback.
Eamonn Lawlor, West Cambs reserves manager, said: “Thanks to this funding Wistow Wood will be given a new lease of life. The work to remove the affected trees may initially appear destructive but in the medium term it will create a more structurally complex woodland with a mix of bare areas, young growth and mature trees, which is a much richer habitat for wildlife.”
“The composition of the wood will change as ash is replaced by other species but hopefully, over time, resistant strains of ash will also appear. We will kick start this process by planting native trees, diversifying the mix of species, and looking towards making the wood more resilient to a future warmer climate.”
Photography competition winners announced!
Inspired by winning images featured in previous Wildlife Trust BCN calendars, Dave Wesson became the 2024 photography competition winner, for his magical image 'Blue Hour Barn Owl' taken at Burwell Fen, in Cambridgeshire, at dusk.
Describing the story behind his winning shot, Dave says: "It was one of those late winter afternoons that photographers dream about: cold, without a cloud in the sky and not a breath of wind. I’d travelled to Burwell Fen, my favourite winter location for short eared owls and even though the conditions were perfect, the ‘shorties’ were lying low and not showing themselves.
“As the sun began to set, I surprisingly found myself to be the only photographer left! Just after the sun had dipped below the horizon, I spotted a barn owl over the field to my right and it was flying towards me, I couldn’t believe my luck! I managed to take a burst of frames before it banked to its left and flew over the tall bushes and out of sight.”
“The biggest lesson I learned from this encounter is don’t leave too early, especially when presented with those magical conditions for photography. You never know what opportunities await!"
The competition, sponsored for the first time by OM Digital Solutions in association with Campkins Cameras, attracted more than 280 entries.
Other category winners include Jana Barbosa, in the People and Nature category, with her intriguing photograph of a child holding a lens ball and Dexter Ferguson has won the Youth category for his wonderful picture of a tawny owl.
Visit https://www.wildlifebcn.org/get-involved/photo-competition to find out more about these.
