Watch Out! THE ALDERNEY WATCH NEWSLETTER. The Wildlife Festival. November Volume 1, Issue 1

Transcription

1 We want you to design an Alderney Watch Logo to go here! Entries to the Committee by December 31st! November 2013 Watch Out! THE ALDERNEY WATCH NEWSLETTER Committee: Deborah Etheredge (Editor), Katie Shaw, James Hope-Smith We have issued two Watch magazines so far. Now we are producing this newsletter because there simply isn t enough space in a single magazine for all the news that comes in. At first we thought it would be two sides long, but the material has kept arriving. We are not sure how often we will be sending it out, but hope to produce another in January. Our Watch Committee are all eleven years old. This is their first attempt at a newsletter, and we hope you will like it. With Sark s contribution our Watch numbers are now up to 50. Only about half are active members and naturally some drop out along the way, while others are now reaching their final year we hope several will become adult Trust members but all in all it is encouraging. Alderney now has 25 Hedgehog Award winners. Sark has twelve already. Sark Watch members are automatically part of the Alderney Wildlife Trust and both Groups are now also associate and honorary members of La Societe Sercquaise, as well. A lot seems to have happened in the six months since the two Watch Groups joined together! Because Watch members are involved in so many activities in the island, it seemed sense in a newsletter to report on some of the important things they take part in that are not to do with Watch or wildlife. So we have reported on the Cubs distance swimming (in October!) to help fund the island s new pool, and the efforts of the Life Savers, and Harry Craig s account of the Youth Commission, to which he has been elected and which could be very important to the Bailiwick. We hope you like the different voices in our newsletter let us know what you think! Committee at work The Wildlife Festival We finished Watch Magazine 2 just as the Wildlife Festival was starting. As usual, this was exciting, with perhaps as many as 1,200 people there, and lots of Watch members helping to run tables and taking part in events. Our photo shows Amelie and Oliver Krestovnikoff receiving their Hedgehog Awards. Miranda is a brilliant patron of AWT and we are delighted that she is now also President of the RSPB! Also at the Festival we have the Jersey Tiger Race, which is unique to Alderney Watch. The rules are simple: you stand in a line, holding a tiger moth & release it on the word Go! The one that flies farthest is the winner! See page 6 for a photo of the race.

2 The Watch Website The new Alderney Wildlife Trust website is now available, after a lot of hard work by Paul Griffin. Try it out! He has done the Watch part very well and this will allow the other Wildlife Trusts to see what the Alderney and Sark Groups are doing. The link with Sark Watch that we reported in our most recent magazine has started extremely well and this newsletter was inspired by what the Sark Group were already starting to do. How fantastic that we can learn from each other! The Storm The massive storm that swept across Southern England on the night of 28 th October 2013 left Alderney virtually unscathed. Even the papers got here next morning and by mid-day on 29 th October the island was in bright sunshine, just as it has been for much of this brilliant summer. Stamps A new set of Alderney stamps will come out in the spring. Watch helped with the photos of ladybirds which Petula Stone used for the artwork. Her pictures are great, and we give you a preview. Sadly, this will be the last, for now, of a series of Alderney wildlife stamps. [See page 5] Insect Autumn The Convolvulus Hawk-moth is one of the biggest insects to be found in the Channel Islands. In the last few years only a few have arrived here from Africa, but in 2013 we have seen nearly 30 in September and October. They have been recorded from all the light traps, from walls and window frames and even from washing lines! In the same period we have noted other moths which Beach Clean at Braye! The Beachwatch clean-up at Braye on September 21 st produced very little rubbish. We keep hearing from the UK about the problems they have with litter. We are lucky in Alderney in that most people use the refuse bins (and pick up after their dogs!) It is a worry, however, that much of the rubbish that gets to our beaches seems to come from boats and big ships, far away from the island... are normally rare: the famous migrant Clifden Nonpareil; two examples of Sombre Brocade; 24 Palpita vitrealis, a beautiful micro moth with white, almost luminous wings; and more than 30 Vestal, a bright yellow species from Africa. Other bug sightings There have also been six specimens of the peculiar Western Conifer Seed Bug. Mushrooms It has been a magic autumn for mushrooms in Alderney and lots of families have been eating them! Obviously it is important to avoid risks but the illustration shows a plate of five kinds of fungi that are safe to eat and taste really good. How many can you recognise? How many have you found? How many have you eaten? It is always very exciting when you find a big moth! said Angela Etheredge who found a Convolvulus Hawk Moth on her washing line. Page 2

3 Bats and Hedgehogs During the autumn Deborah organised a survey of Alderney s hedgehog population. We found that more than 50 children from both schools and nearly 30 adults actually have hedgehogs (brown or white, or both) visiting their homes or gardens. We hope to publish the results in a later newsletter. The Watch Group has also been on many evening walks, each one divided into three parts: first, using detectors to listen to the bats, then changing the dial frequency to hear bush crickets (four species) and finally searching the golf course for hedgehogs. You don t need a bat-detector to find hedgehogs, but Deborah and Katie are good at locating them by their high-pitched squeaks. The hedgehogs are weighed, sexed and tagged, as a more scientific part of the survey, and a note is made of whether they are normal brown or Alderney s famous blonde ones but from Watch s point of view the most important thing is for young people not to be scared of the spiny creatures but to learn to handle them. Since September more than twenty children aged between three and six have picked up hedgehogs and there have been no accidents either to the kids or the hogs! Apparently the lack of predators means that Alderney s hedgehogs are less stressed than those elsewhere. They certainly don t seem to mind being handled. Do you know the difference between the texture of a blonde hedgehog and a brown hedgehog? Picking up blonde and brown hedgehogs on the golf course. I love hedgehog and bat walks! Amber Shaw, an active member of the Watch Group said one evening, It is fun being out in the dark and finding lots of animals who are hiding. It can be just as exciting for the adults, said a supportive parent. What do hedgehogs like to eat? Is it the same for blonde/ brown hedgehogs? Have you heard about the black hog on Alderney? See below... (it s boaring!) Other News The gannets have gone for the winter! * Congratulations to the Alderney Wildlife Trust for their important work leading to the banning of PIB from being dumped at sea. This sticky oil-additive killed many sea birds earlier in the year, and getting it banned is a triumph. * There was a wild boar on the island! It was a mysterious creature and was rumoured to have swum from France. Jake Woodnutt got photos. This is Katie s description: The boar is brown and has a lump on its back. It is smaller than I expected. If you go up to Tess and Alan s pigs about in the evening you ll see it running about outside the pens. We think it is living in the Bonne Terre. Let us know if you see or hear it. Better still, get a photo! [Since Katie wrote this, it has been shot ] Page 3

4 Poppies The Watch Group have been planting poppies around the island, as 2014 will be 100 years since World War 1 began. The reason why we are planting poppies is because they grew all over the battle fields. Poppies are a symbol of remembrance and hope. That s why on Remembrance Sunday everyone wears a poppy to remember those who died. The famous poem In Flanders Fields led indirectly to poppy day and a quite remarkable coincidence links it to Alderney. The cemetery near Ypres in Belgium, where the poem was written, was called Essex Farm. It still has that name. We are planting some of our poppies in the autumn and the rest in the spring, for a long flowering season next year. Blanchards have given us lots of packets of seeds, including masses of poppies, and many islanders have collected up poppy seed-heads from all round Alderney. Sark Watch members have arranged to put poppies round their church, a very suitable site. In addition to the poppy-planting, the Royal Horticultural Society has sent both Watch Groups masses of crocus bulbs (the purple sort) which are being put into lawns around both islands, to flower in the spring. [James H-S] Here the Watch Group is planting poppies and crocuses at the Sapper Onions Peace Garden Seven year old Jemima s picture In Flanders Fields In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields. by John McCrae, May 1915 WW1 Flanders Fields At half term my sister Hattie and I came over to Alderney by ourselves. We came to see our grandparents. We went to Essex Farm to plant poppy seeds with David. First Hattie dug holes in the grass while Mummy and I collected soil from mole hills. We found a long, wiggly earth-worm. Worms are good for the soil. Next we sprinkled the seeds in the holes, then we covered them with mole soil. The seeds were like tiny little balls. In spring they will grow into red and purple poppies. I can t wait to see them. Jemima and Hattie plant poppy seeds at Essex Farm May we remember those who died Page 4

5 Swimming Sponsored Swim: Alderney desperately needs a proper 25m swimming pool and thanks to the generosity and hard work of islanders the big sum needed for this is almost in reach. The seven Cubs who have just swum more than 500 widths of the shallow pool at St Anne s School (in October!) have certainly done their share. They raised 500, which the States of Alderney has pledged to double. Harry Bingham, one of the seven who took part, seems to be involved in everything at present. He has just become Watch s 25 th winner of the Hedgehog Award and a while back he was cycling 10 miles around the island. What varied achievements! Well done! Life Saving Life Saving: no pool yet, but three seniors from St Anne s have done incredibly well in the sea, becoming the first students in the Bailiwick to achieve top life saving awards. Each part requires them to pass Core, Medallion and Beach stages. Here is Harry Craig s account of their gruelling effort: Since the beginning of term, Emma and Jack Etheredge and I have been working towards the Gold Award from the Royal Life Saving Society. We started the programme two years ago by passing our first-aid test Life Support leading to the three stages of the Bronze Award. Last year we completed the three Silver sections. Our next goal was to achieve the Gold Core, which we did in one term. STAMPS: What beautiful pictures showing various different ladybirds with a stunningalderney background. How many of these different types of ladybird can you name? On 23rd October, during the half term holiday, Sheena Melrose who is from the Guernsey RLSS came over to assess us. We started the test at 9.00am at Braye Beach. We didn t hesitate to get in the water and started with a 200 metre swim in four minutes and then 800 metres non-stop. After that we had a quick drinks break, then plunged back in to do various rescues and tows. After we had done all the practical we went to school (luckily only five minutes away!) got a hot shower and a nice hot drink, then sat and did all our theory work, at least three questions each per subject, such as eddies, rivers, hydraulics, cushion waves and many more. We all passed the Gold Core section and now we can go on to the Gold Beach and Medallion at Easter, when the water starts to get warmer. Congratulations to them all, Cubs and Life-Savers. And why doesn t Emma devote more time to wildlife activities? Well, in addition to all the other things she does, dance, music and study she is now also Head Girl at St Anne s School. Brilliant! How many Ladybirds can you find in this newsletter? Page 5

6 Youth Commission Harry again: this time here is his account of his new appointment: On Tuesday 8 th October Lisa Oates, Head of Youth Services, came into our senior assembly and told us that she had been to a meeting in Guernsey about shaping the future for youth. She had been shocked that there was not a single young person there, so she is setting up a forum of youngsters to project the voice of youth throughout the Bailiwick. She decided to start with Alderney. Lisa said we needed to elect two people, one each from Years 9 and 10. In total nine people put themselves forward. On Tuesday 15 th, after our manifestos, we were all directed to the ballot box and given our voting sheet. We had to pick one person from each year. At break time we all gathered in the hall to hear the results and the people elected to represent Alderney were Ian Adamson from Year 10 and me, Harry Craig from Year 9. We will be the Youth Commission representatives of the Bailiwick along with twenty others from the island of Guernsey. We hope the programme will be set up by January, when all representatives will meet and discuss the basics. For more information please speak to Ian, or you can get me on harryjc00@hotmail.co.uk. AWT events Whatever your age, looking for and finding wildlife can be great fun! Holiday makers and locals alike enjoyed the chance to explore the beauty of butterflies at one event during Wildlife Week. There was something for everyone as there was then the chance to explore the woodland and go into the bunkers; men, women and children enjoying our living island. We are so lucky to have such varied habitats allowing for a diverse range of species and hobbies just look at our newsletter for evidence of that! It was great to see one of the newest and youngest Watch members, Ellis Bohan, with his baby sister Ava and his mum and dad looking for butterflies and moths at the Community Woodland. [below:tiger Moth Race] Writing Awards STOP PRESS! Five young people from Alderney have won awards in the Commonwealth Essay Competition. More than 11,000 entered! Henry Rowe won silver and your editor, gold. Thanks Thank you to the many people who help us in all sorts of ways. Thank you to Robin, Jane, Suzy, Roland, Lindsay and the team of AWT volunteers who help us with projects, encourage us in our interests and inspire us with their talents. Thank you to our parents who come along and support us in whatever projects we are doing! Thank you to Jack Bingham and his team for cutting back the Jubilee Garden when it grew beyond our abilities.. Thank you to all who donate bird and fish food, seeds and bulbs you know who you are. Thank you to those who encourage us to use their gardens, and most of all thank you to David for running Watch! Calendar Saturday 16 th November: Photo Competition starts. same rules as last time. See if you can do even better! (Sark Watch have an Autumn & Winter Art day.) Sunday 17 th November: Bird Count, starting Clonque, 12.00pm Saturday 23 rd November: Woodland Week starts, details shortly. Page 6