Clare Topping – Page 13 – Enviro-Mentalist

The sun still shines occasionally

OK, it is probably my fault that the weather has been rubbish for the last two weeks – after all I have been on holiday. Today, though, I was determined to go out with my camera. So, I did, I went off to photograph some flowers. Fortunately, wherever there are flowers there is usually some wildlife to be found.

As we head towards the end of September we begin to find contrasts. The leaves are turning, and, in this wind and rain, dropping from some trees, but there are still butterflies to be found here and there (although my garden has hardly been full of them this Summer – only one Painted Lady and one Red Admiral, with some whites, peacocks and tortoiseshells dropping in). I found quite a few at Ryton gardens today like this Small Tortoishell enjoying the sedum.

The queen bumblebees are out foraging for food before they hibernate for the Winter – the queens are the only ones that are left for Winter, the rest die off, and the queen waits for Spring before laying eggs. Please leave places for them to hibernate, a messy, undisturbed corner in the garden – after all, who will see it during the Winter?

At Brandon Marsh I also saw some dragonflies zipping about, chasing insects, and each other – very aggressive, but oh, so beautiful to watch. But I am also seeing quite a lot of fungi about, something I usually associate with full-on autumn (probably incorrectly), like the pretty, but toxic, Fly Agaric that I found.

Beautiful September

Today was the first day of September, and, what a beautiful day it was too. I love this time of year. A clear night meant a chilly morning, but that just meant that everything was covered in dew, and therefore there were photo opportunities abounding for anyone with a camera to hand such as this poor little ladybird precariously balanced. I also found quite a few mushrooms looking a little soggy and cold amongst the grass. The birds are still about, house martins were chirping and wheeling about the sky fattening up for their long, arduous flight south, whilst the young finches of all varieties were squabbling in the garden (I have just put a smaller bird feeder out, so there is less room to perch!).

However, once lunchtime came the sun was out, the sky was blue and the crickets were buzzing – the fields sounded like they were electrified. This is a photo of a grasshopper that I saw, but there were definitely crickets about – I saw them and heard them, but didn’t manage to get a good photo. Also about this afternoon were butterflies, hoverflies, damselflies, other flies…. I spent five minutes watching a dragonfly (I know not what type) hunting insects in the sunlight – fantastic.

Although the berries are now colouring on the shrubs and trees, and many of the bright, Summer flowers have gone to seed, there are still some out there to brighten up the roadsides.

Climate Change Scepticism

I was struck at work this week at the mountain still to be climbed with regard to energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions. For some reason the conversation came round to company cars and tax, and the comment that there are two hybrid cars in the Company – the belief was that there is a good chance that they were bought purely for tax reasons. There then came the comment that the emissions from a Prius included a high degree of smugness. This was followed by a general level of guffawing from the self-proclaimed climate change sceptics in the room. In fact, they seemed rather smug about the fact that they were sceptical about climate change.

I tried to point out that climate change is not necessarily the issue, that wastefulness, loss of resources and biodiversity is the issue – particularly for those in the room with young children. The answer was that they would be able to watch the now extinct butterflies on a lovely big flat screen television. Apart from thinking that was a pretty pathetic and blinkered response (not to mention that televisions require resources to make and run), I started to imagine a world where the only interaction we had with nature was through videos of long dead species and then I shuddered.

The real problem is that in addition to the lack of appreciation of the effect we are having on our environment, I am not sure we have it in our power to change these attitudes.

Finally the butterflies have arrived…

…well, some of them have. With the much talked about decline in pollinator numbers I have been getting concerned about the dearth of butterflies recently. I had hoped that with the warm sunshine we had in June that there would be a bumper year this year – sadly I was sooo wrong.

However, it is now buddleia flowering time and my hopes are starting to rise again. Earlier in the week there were a few white butterflies about, and I got excited when I saw my first Peacock of the summer. Today, the sun was shining, the sky was blue, and I should have been doing some coursework, but, the sun was shining etc. I managed to count up to 10 peacock butterflies at the same time – there may have been more, but I can only see part of the shrub. I also saw four whites over the back garden, a small tortoiseshell in the front and back (although it could be the same one), a gatekeeper and, for the first time in the garden this year, I a saw a comma butterfly – see the picture on the left – so called because of the white, comma-shaped mark on the underside of its wing. As yet, no Red Admirals or Painted Ladies, but we are only just starting the second week of August and the admirals tend to hang about until October / November.

Peacock butterfly picture below is just because it is such a gorgeous creature that I had to include it!

Carbon Reduction Commitment – keeping the momentum going

It is nearly a year since we started down the road of the Carbon Reduction Commitment and things have moved on quite a bit since then. After much delay the appropriate paperwork was sent out to the qualifying companies and the registration period has arrived. However, it would appear from various reports on the web that only about 13% of the aforementioned companies have registered. The good news for us is that the first part of our application has been started, but I guess that is just the start.

For those of you that have missed out on all the news relating to CRC (somehow) there is an early action league table which was introduced to pacify all those companies that had put time and money into reducing their energy usage before the start of the CRC season. There are only two parts to this though, one is to introduce automated metering (which we have, but which is fraught with its own problems and not always reliable) and the other is to apply for the Carbon Trust standard.

The Carbon Trust standard is good in many ways; it requires a continuous commitment to reduction (going back over three years) and that awareness is maintained at an individual level – they will audit one or more sites to see what is in place. (The bad news is that it costs in the region of £12k to apply with assistance – a worthwhile investment, but not always easy to make the powers that be see the light!)

So, how do you maintain energy awareness? I think this is one of the hardest things to do as there are often other things that take priority – after all, which site manager does not have a to do list longer than tailbacks on the M6? When you are spending half a million pounds or more on electricity, how easy is it to persuade individuals that turning off a couple of 18W light fittings will make all the difference? When you have done the easy projects and turn to the ones that will cost money or payback over more than 12 months how convinced are you that the justification is worth the effort if capital expenditure is being squeezed?

We are planning to run some shorter energy awareness sessions (by we, I mean I will be planning and delivering them). I am hoping to be able to relate the spends on site to things that individuals can relate to, and not to just talk about cost cutting, but more about waste in general. I know that there are already a number of converts, but some that will never be convinced, but I have seen at Daventry that the middle 40% can be made to think about their energy use at work. I will let you know how successful the sessions are.

In addition to that I am displaying the energy data that is sent through each week, with an explanation where possible if there are sudden peaks or troughs, and I am putting together some more meaningful data to show the trend in usage month by month as well as a comparison to last year. I am also resorting to the occasional bit of nagging gentle reminding so that people don’t just walk past things that have been left on – I have even noticed a growing tendency to turn lights off in the warehouse! Once you start to think about it there are many ways to keep the momentum going, some of them even cost money.

I guess that the gist of my message is that although it appears that there may be resistance – as they say, it is futile and eventually the barriers will come down – it is just a case of thinking of different ways to get the message across – threats are not always necessary! Once bad habits are banished you from the majority the few left to be convinced will probably go along with the rest – good old peer pressure.

Next on my hitlist is a reduction in the outdoor lighting – I am in the middle of some surveys so will update you when I get some quotes.

Bumblebee Identification

I joined the Bumblebee Conservation Trust last year following a Summer trying to photograph them which made me realise how interesting and different they all were. Couple that with all of the coverage regarding the plight of the honeybee which also extends, although for different reasons, to other pollinators, and I decided that it was time I discovered more about the bees in my garden.

Fast forward a year and with my new found interest in invertebrates I started to discover there were more bees about than I had realised, including my favourite, the red-tailed bumblebee, and others such as the wonderfully named hairy footed flower bee. Despite many attempts and lots of photos, I still felt at a loss when it came to positively identifying them. When I saw an advert for a bumblebee identification session at Leicester University on a Sunday afternoon then I signed up straight away.

I arrived early and thought I would go and try and find some bees to photograph – as you would (and, amazingly, got some photos I was really pleased with). They had some lavender beds in their herb garden which we literally buzzing as well as some other plant such as echinops which also seemed pretty popular.

Anyway, back to the course. It was run by a lovely lady called Maggie, who is obviously obsessed by bees. She went through the lifecycle of bees, some of the differences between them and included a list of plants that she had created and which she had subsequently grouped according to how many species of bee visited them. I came away realising that I had to be a little more choosy about the plants that I am putting in the garden and with some ideas for research that I could also undertake. First, however, I need to be able to identify them.

I was hoping to come away from a couple of hours amongst the flowers with the ability to recognise the common bumbles, the big six. But, there are queens, workers and males – so the big six became 18, and then there are the cuckoo bumble bees – another 4 types with males and females so we are now at 26! Suddenly it was not as easy as I had hoped. (Cuckoo bumbles don’t need workers as they parasitise the nests of particular bumbles so use their workers to care for their offspring.) Then, as the bees get older, just like us they fade and get greyer, well, paler – so then all the descriptions seem to go out of the window!

Did I come away knowing many of the 26? Well, we did find four of the big six – but they are mainly males and workers at this time of year, the queens are in the nests. So, I can recognise a carder bee (a little fluffy, ginger bee), and the red-tailed bumble bee, I will also have a go at the buff and white tailed bees (the male white-tailed bumble bees are particularly lovely – see photo above), but we didn’t see the early or garden bumblebees, so I will carry on looking. However, we did find three or four species of cuckoo bee, which I may have seen before and just not realised what they were (such as the one in the photo on the right)! So, although I am not fully convinced that I can get the big six yet, I have now a better idea, and think I can have a go at finding cuckoo bees. I will also be planning some winter research and some more bee-friendly plants for next year.

Nature Notes for a hot Summer

I haven’t put any observations up in the last few weeks. There is no particular reason for this, at least it is not due to a lack of nature. Despite the hot, sunny weather and lack of rain for the last month, there is still a lot of wildlife out there, although there are reminders that autumn is not far away.

Unlike the plants in my garden, a lot of the wildflowers still seem to be surviving, although, as expected these are mainly the perennials. A lot of the grasses are now looking as though they are living in Texas, not in Daventry, and the usually green and pleasant land is turning distinctly straw-coloured. The flowers that seem to be doing well at the moment are the yellow ragwort, purple thistles, and the statuesque Rosebay Willowherb. This is a plant that has spread rapidly since the introduction of the railways and is present on almost all railway embankments that I have seen, along with motorway verges. It is also called fireweed due to its colonisation of areas destroyed by fire. In the autumn you will see thousands of the seeds carried on the wind, helping it to spread. However, in spite of its encroaching nature, I think that, close-up it is a remarkably pretty flower, and, as a wildflower, is a food source for many insects. The plant also has culinary uses, its roots have been used in stews and it leaves in salads, being valued as a source of Vitamins A and C.

My favourite rose is now reaching the end of its flowering period, and round, fat rose hips are starting to appear on rosa rugosa, reminding me that autumn is not too far away. These are also a good source of Vitamin C as are most rosehips, and are often collected to make rosehip syrup.

For the last month I have been wondering what has happened to all of the butterflies, there don’t seem to be many at all. I am eagerly awaiting the flowering of the buddleia to see if this will bring them out. However, I have seen a large number of dark, restless butterflies, flitting along the grasses in the Country Park and the hedgerows in the industrial estate. These are ringlet butterflies, and they are not always co-operative when trying to take photos! Their favourite nectar sources are bramble and privet flowers, which explains their appearance at this time of year when the hedgerows are full of these flowers (the smell of the privet is lovely at the beginning of the July).

The bees have all been busy in the garden, although I think they are lamenting the passage of the sage flowers. Our verbena bonariensis is not as prolific this year, and, as I noted earlier, the buddleia is not yet out, so they are having to content themselves with thyme and oregano as well as the last of the honeysuckle. Red tailed bumblebees (which happen to be my favourite) are in the garden each day, along with others that I think are buff-tailed and garden bumblebees, but I am still working on my identification skills.

This time of year also sees the skies starting to fill with house martins and swifts. The family groups feeding in the long evenings, but again, they will soon be gone. In the garden we have had several goldfinch chicks, and incredibly noisy they are too! They sound a little like a computer game, chirping and whirring.

The garden is remaining remarkably resilient in the dry, parched weather (I rarely water anything in the garden, it can fend for itself), but the pond is getting incredibly low. We have discovered that we have at least one frog in the garden, and I am now happy in the knowledge that the pond is home to more than just and abundance of water snails. I assume that the frogs and toad spend a lot of their time in the vegetation around the garden.

Waste – who is responsible?

There was an article in Business Green today which stated that leading retailers have grouped together to ask the government for new policy to ‘encourage firms to design out packaging’.

This raised a number of questions in my mind. Firstly, who holds the key to the use of packaging? Is it government – I don’t think so. It is consumers, and, as we only buy what is available, then, surely retailers hold the trump card – reduce the packaging or we won’t stock your product. Waitrose have recently moved to biodegradeable and recycled packaging, Amazon publicly stated it was going to reduce its packaging, so, surely there is good publicity to be had if these retailers move to reduce packaging rather than asking the government to make it happen.

Secondly, where do the Government’s priorities lie? They have recently announced a review of the UK waste policy, details of the remit are yet to be announced, but they are concentrating on increasing recycling rates – because they look good, and have scrapped ideas about a pay as you throw tax, because that would be unpopular. After all, who benefits economically from reducing waste – no one makes anything in this country, but recycling, well, that creates good headlines and, jobs in this country. Or am I getting more cynical in my old age?

The obvious answer is to reduce packaging as it uses precious resources, including water, but the initiative should come from retailers and consumers, not from government. This would also have the added benefit of reducing litter – a huge bugbear of mine which I think we need to tackle, not just ignore.

Hunting Damselflies

Normally when I visit Brandon Marsh nature reserve I take my ‘scope and go looking for birds. However, in the Summer this path usually leads to disappointment, so yesterday I decided to go armed with my macro lens and go looking for insects, particularly damselflies.

I did get a good shot of damselflies a couple of weeks ago with my compact camera whilst on a lunchtime stroll, but I hoped to be able to get something a little better when armed with my ‘proper’ camera. In some ways I was disappointed, the damselflies were ever so jumpy, as soon as you moved they were off. Also, there were areas which looked perfect for other insects, but they were just not there, all those obliging umbellifers at the side of the path, and they were empty (I found the same problems at the Country Park this afternoon).

However, I did achieve what had become an unconscious ambition. For the last year or two, mainly as a result of my macro photography I have developed an interest in insects. The increase in the size of our pond has added damselflies and dragonflies to the list that was previously populated by butterflies and bees. As a result, and, through viewing various nature programs, I have always wanted to see a demoiselle, a type of damselfly. Particularly, a Banded Demoiselle (Calopteryx Splendens). You may be wondering what I am talking about, but these are particularly beautiful damselflies, that flutter like butterflies and sparkle in shades of green and blue. They are truly beautiful (in fact there is a Beautiful Demoiselle, but I think the Banded is prettier). I never thought that I would see one, but they are apparently present at Brandon Marsh.

To cut a long story short, I got a brilliant birthday present, and had been at Brandon just long enough to drink a hot chocolate and wander a few hundred yards onto the reserve before one tantalisingly zipped past – I got just enough of a glimpse to realise what I had missed. Then, no more, but some beautiful emerald coloured damselflies which did not seem to want to stay still – it was going to be one of those days.

On my way back from the furthest of the hides I decided to risk going the long route back through an area which is usually too boggy to try – and, despite all the dry, hot weather, it was still muddy in places. My walk was rewarded, Banded Demoiselles were there in numbers. They were also pretty nervous and any movement or the slightest breeze sent them fluttering up. Getting a photo was difficult, and I apologise for the poor quality, but I think you will agree that these are lovely insects (unless you are my mother, who doesn’t like any form of nature apart from blue tits, robins and some butterflies). I have since discovered that the green damselfly is in fact the female Banded Demoiselle.

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I am very excited – it does not take much I know – anyone who has spoken to me about bees will realise this. However, the reason for the excitement is my gooseberry bush (Invicta). Although it is a bit early to be picking them, we are getting our windows replaced tomorrow and I am worried they would be knocked off.

Why so excited. Well, prior to this year, the biggest harvest we have had was a massive 6 gooseberries. This year I have over half a kilo! Moving the plant to the front of the house and putting it next to the rosemary also seems to have distracted the sawfly for this year at least – all the leaves are pretty much intact. I just have to work out how to prune them now.

I have also picked the first sweet peas of the year – not many, but I am experimenting by putting them in the front garden, the plants in the back do not seem to be showing much sign of flowering yet, so this also seems to be paying off. Next year I need to find some nice looking supports so I can put them all in the front garden.