www.gjgriffithswriter.com - Nature Blogs

Feral by George Monbiot

2/10/2019

Feral: Rewilding the Land, the Sea and Human Life

Feral: Rewilding the Land, the Sea and Human Life by George Monbiot
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What an amazing book! I really liked it but only after about 5 or 6 chapters - because there seemed to be too many personal musings and angry thoughts about the author's lost opportunities to catch (endangered?!) fish or become a member of an African tribe etc. There was even a chapter about people who thought they had seen a black panther on various moors in the UK. Quite interesting and amusing but its relevance escaped me.
However, if you can get through those earlier bits then the author proceeds to provide a wealth of information about the loss of habitat, extinction of various species and theories about the causes. Inevitably homo sapiens figures as the main culprit over the many millennia in his quest for superiority over all other species on Earth. There is an impressive volume of research with pages and pages for reference at the end of the book.
It is vexing for anyone interested in rewilding our planet to read about obvious things that can, or could, be done but ignored by most governments and organisations with vested interests in clearing forests, scrubland, peat moors etc, thus maintaining a damaging status quo! Not enough people it seems are aware of the real damage to the Earth and the loss our children and grandchildren will find later - too late! Monbiot's book was written several year ago and its importance cannot be overstated.

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Such a great book I had to post review here as well!

8/9/2019

The Private Life of the Otter

The Private Life of the Otter by Philip Wayre
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I started reading this fascinating book about a year ago while on holiday in a cottage on the Isle of Skye. It was the usual thing; I picked it out from the various genres on the shelf of books left for visitors who found the weather particularly 'unfair' one day and wanted something to read. I was unable to finish it before leaving but managed to obtain a used copy on returning home. Apparently otters are more common on the west coast of Scotland and we felt lucky to see them more than once swimming in the various bays around Skye. Thrilling for everyone in our party of four adults and two girls, and which increased my desire to find out more. I had previously read Gavin Maxwell's 'Ring of Bright Water' and 'The River People' also by Philip Wayre, the author of the book in Skye.

Wayre must have been one of the most expert people in the world on the subject of otters, and not just the European species. He and his wife established the first British Wildlife park in 1971 where they set up a very successful breeding project in order to re-introduce otters back into the wild. Both of his books include all sorts of details about otters: amusing tales about his own close-up experiences with those he kept; intricate details and measurements recorded for studying them further, and in this book, lots of amazing black and white photographs. The pictures may lack the amazing clarity and colour available to almost anyone in these digital times but the photos, taken in the late 1960s and early 70s, were so poignant and somehow underlined how terribly persecuted these wonderful animals once were - almost to extinction in the UK. There is advice for readers who wish to study otters further although Wayre and others have set up important otter trusts that will be far more efficient in my opinion. There is always the danger that well meaning individuals may do more harm than good, or even, unknowingly, cross the legal lines involved in caring for wild animals like otters, polecats, badgers etc. Notwithstanding all that this book is a Tour de Force! Highly recommended to lovers of wildlife.

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CUTEST RED SQUIRRELS!

6/7/2019

There are some of the cutest pictures of Red Squirrels you have ever seen! Thanks to Cathy Contino for sending me the link. Click here on CUTE SQUIRRELS :-)

There are many discussions about whether the UK should have an official policy to cull the grey squirrels for various reasons (spreading a virus to the reds, taking over their habitat etc). What do you think? Please comment here if you have an opinion GREY CULL

Infra-red pics of fox cub and "friends".

22/2/2019

Finally got around to posting infra-red pics of fox cub; hedgehog and field mice feeding on patio. Hint the tiny mice can be spotted by looking for their glowing eyes, like micro headlamps!

Autumnwatch from USA - why?

13/10/2018

Autumnwatch from New England in the USA?!

Why have the program in USA? Surely it should stay in this "Old" @NaturalEngland and save energy!! I wonder what is the carbon footprint for making an uninteresting (to UK nature watchers) program thousands km away? Is it just a "jolly" for the presenters and the producers? After watching every single Spring/Autumnwatch over the years, we will not be watching - ever - again! Very disappointed as a big fan of Chris, Michaela (and Martin!) and Gillian 😟!

Polluters Paying? Maybe - at last!

25/1/2018

theleap.org/portfolio-items/naomi-nyc/?link_id=1&can_id=b17d53db47b56d0b0c2656690fb78cc7&source=email-leaping-to-new-heights-in-2018&email_referrer=email_287538&email_subject=leaping-to-new-heights-in-2018
LEAP LINK

When I read this article on The Leap site I could not believe my eyes. It appears to mean that the people in the World who bear the "heaviest burden" from climate change (caused by those who have been producing the most pollution, ie manufacturers of oil and coal products, large steel, cement companies etc etc ) may have some benefit, financial compensation and so on through court action. Anyway you have to read the article yourself; the link is above.

How To Make A Wildlife Pond - the end game.

11/11/2017

6. Naturalising the edges of the Pond:
The edges of the pond on two sides had to be quite narrow due to an existing path and a previous small pool which we wanted to keep as a bird bath later; so using grass turves made it more firm as the roots were already well grown to hold the soil etc together. They are quite easy to cut to shape with an old bread knife and after a week or so leaving the grass to grow it began to appear “natural”. Pebbles and cobbles were added on one of the corners and along one side, next to the future bog-garden, to give a small sort of beach appearance. Under the grass and pebbles a small ‘valley’ was cut to let any water over-spill run into the bog-garden, keeping it soggy and wet. Just before this was done we were pleased to see one of the frogs from elsewhere in the garden swimming in the new pond, diving to the bottom of the abyss – result!

7. The pyramid net:
We bought a net, which is adjustable to different sizes of pond, to cover it during autumn and winter when leaves are falling from nearby trees and shrubs etc. Having had a small pond in the past we knew that clearing them from the surface water can be a real bind and if you leave them to sink to the bottom then they can foul the water as they rot. A few leaves are probably not so bad as it’s going to provide detritus feeders at the bottom of the pond some nutrition (naturally!). I cut a couple of 15 cm lengths of plastic guttering to place as little tunnels under the bottom sides of the netting, allowing frogs to enter and leave the pond. We had noticed a fox and various birds coming to the pond for a drink so we made sure to leave a dish of water for them while the net was up.

For more ideas about gardening with wildlife in mind - plus a great story to go with it - click this link to:
SO WHAT'S NEXT!

How To Make a Wildlife Pond - continued part 5

13/9/2017

5. The Pond Liner:
Under the pond liner you can use building sand (not sharp sand!) and / or some kind of material liner. I have even seen some recommend old carpet or carpet underlay but the point is you need something that will cushion and protect the liner from sharp bits of root or stones that lie under the surface around the hole. It’s amazing how many hidden bits of sharp ‘stuff’ you can find and remove and then still find more waiting there to puncture small holes in the liner if you’re not careful. So it’s best not to take the chance and add an underlay of some sort. We used a commercially made fleece liner. When you place it in the hole you will find that in ‘corners’ and around curves it can be a bit awkward because you have to try and fold it and pleat it to fit into the shape of the pond. This is the same problem when you add your pond liner on top of the underlay and it can be very fiddly. Once the water is in it, however, the various folds etc tend to become less visible as folds. They start to look like the ‘muddy’ bottom and sides of the pond. There are lots of liner materials but we went with the recommendation of most books and articles and chose butyl rubber. It was thick and pretty heavy to man-handle into the final shape etc but with another pair of helping hands it got done!
The overlap of the butyl liner around the edges of the pond must be at least 15cm (6in.) but I cut it to allow 30cm overlap. Of course you do not trim it to size at all until there is water in the pond up to approximately 25 to 50mm from the final level. This is to allow the liner to settle smoothly into its shape and depth so add water in stages and watch the liner does not suddenly slip into the hole. You can place bricks at strategic places around the hole to weigh the liner down while filling with water. We have a rainwater butt and used a lot of that but over half of the pond was filled from a hosepipe. This means leaving the water to settle for a day or so to let any chemicals from tap water evaporate from the pond as they could affect plants or creatures you wish to have in it.
Notice that after I was sure the water had settled to almost its final depth I folded the butyl overlap under so that it was only 15cm wide and therefore double thickness. This allowed me to pin it to the ground with 4inch plastic ‘nails’ about 30cm apart to keep the liner still. I made the holes through it with a 4inch steel nail and hammer. Over the edges I planned to put grass turves and cobbles and pebbles in various places.
To be continued…

Using building sand to cover the shelf.

Building sand and a little silver sand to line the bottom and sides.

Covering with the fleece underlay. Note the house bricks to stop liner slipping.

The fleece liner as delivered.

Unpacking the butyl rubber liner.

Slowly increasing the depth of water. The brick stops the liner slipping.

The water is within 25mm of the final level, so time to apply the plastic pins around the edges.

How To Make a Wildlife Pond - continued part 4

13/9/2017

4. The Soakaway:
Before adding the liner and its underlay I decided to dig a soakaway next to one side of the pond. This was because I had read about ponds overflowing during heavy downpours and storms, then flooding the nearby garden beds or paths. Plus it could mean some of your ‘wildlife’ becoming stranded out in the air eventually, unknown to you, and therefore dying. Although we are not intending to add fish they would or could be lost of course, but we would not like tadpoles and larvae of various invertebrates (dragonflies, mayflies etc) to be washed away into the soil and so on. It was about two patio paving slabs long and one wide with plenty of broken up rubble/bricks dropped into its 40 to 45cm (16 to 18in.) depth. There had to be a narrow-ish channel from the adjacent side of the pond to lead to it with pea-grit or gravel in it for any overflow to run to the soakaway. This channel was only about 25mm (1in.) deep. On the opposite side of the pond I made a similar channel for water to overflow into a section of the garden nearby to become boggy as a future bog-garden. I left the butyl liner uncut there and sloped it down slightly so that the soil on top of it remained soggy for the plants.
To be continued…

The soakaway was about as wide as a patio slab.

The soakaway was about 40 to 45cm deep

The 25mm channel was to the right across the sunken house brick.

How To Make a Wildlife Pond

21/8/2017

3. The Clay:
When you start to dig deeper and deeper then you will discover just how useful it is to be wearing a strong pair of welly boots if you reach a clay layer. This is because if it rains then the hole will start to fill with water from above and /or it will start to seep from below. I found paddling around in soggy clay turned it into sticky “glue” after a few minutes and I could hardly lift my feet or get out of the hole! The bags of clay were so heavy I used a wheel barrow to move them ready for transporting to the local council tip. You may need to bale out the water if it gets too deep of course. As I went deeper and deeper I kept checking with a long straight batten and spirit level that the wooden (final water level) pegs had not been displaced. At the same time I made sure that I included a “shelf” of clay/soil in different areas where we would place various water plants later. This could range from 15 to 25 cm down according to your choice of plants. There was a gentle slope opposite the abyss hole to allow some creatures, like frogs and newts, to crawl out if needed.
To be continued...

Use a wheelbarrow or trolley to move heavy bags of clay.

Welly boots are needed when you reach the clay.

The deepest part, the abyss, filling up with rain water that I had to bale out.

Include a shelf at the correct depth for later baskets of water plants to sit on.

Checking the pegs are level across all parts of the pond.

Opposite the abyss I made a gentle slope for creatures, frogs and newts, to crawl out.

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