Author: claravaleconservation

Moth Collection Success

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Thanks to Brian Pollinger and Gordon Pollinger the event was successful, with a great turnout to the event. The 125mv lamp was used to lure the moths into the trap, to be examined the next morning and released again (no moths were harmed!)

The thriving moth population in Clara Vale is shown with a total of 91 moths being collected overnight, with in these results were a range of 43 species. This is a great result for our community, as the growth in moth population and the species within shows a growing diversity in Clara Vale, which will hopefully continue to grow in the future.

Some images of the moth trapping results are below, as well as the table of results. Desrciption of the moths in the photographs are below:

1+4.Poplar Hawk Moth

2.’Woody’ the moth who has adapted itself over time to survive by disguising into woody environments, such as the nature reserve

3. Peppered moth, which has also adapted throughout time to disguise into the cloudy environment (eg- it darked through the industrial period, but is now adapting back to being more cream)

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Moth Trapping 23/24th June

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Come along to 13, Edington Gardens at around 9pm to find out how moths are caught for identification. A powerful lamp attracts the moths to the trap. It is left on overnight and the catch is examined in the morning. So if you can’t come along on Friday night come along at around 9 am on Saturday morning to see what we’ve caught. Unless it rains or blows a gale there should be some of these beautiful insects for you to look at at.

Spring Time in the Nature Reserve

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Spring Time in the Nature Reserve

Despite the arctic blasts the spring awakening is well underway in the nature reserve and the orchard is breaking out in its annual blossom, have a wander down and enjoy this beautiful spectacle.

Those northerly winds are probably holding up the migratory swifts we are hoping will take up residence in the new boxes at the village hall – listen out for our decoy call and look out for the swifts! Other birds are already busy nesting, so please keep your dogs on a lead when going through the reserve, to protect ground nests.

The paths have dried out again around the ponds after the winter quagmire, but this year thanks to funding from the Tyne and Wear Community Foundation we will be building an all-weather path around the reserve which will allow access for wheelchair users, buggies and anyone who doesn’t want to leave a welly stuck in the mud! All we need is your help to lay our recycled green honeycomb path and build a new bridge. Watch out for more details about this exiting volunteer project.

Clara Charcoal! As part of the funding package we will also be getting a mini charcoal burner for the reserve, along with some expert tuition on its use from local green wood crafts guru Morris Pyle. So along with helping us manage the reserve better we could also be providing some fuel for the new bread oven/barbeque at the village hall.

Plus usual link to web site etc.

Will the swifts return?

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The swift boxes on the Village Hall have been opened up (we closed them to prevent sparrows taking them over) and are waiting for the first swifts to take up residence.  If you’ve passed the Village Hall you will have heard the calls of swifts and thought “They’re here!” Not yet. To encourage passing swifts to stay a while and view their possible new homes, we have rigged up a speaker that broadcasts swift calls throughout the day. So far not many swifts have passed by. This year swifts have trickled into the country from sub-Saharan Africa and so far not many reaching the north east. A couple were seen flying around the village recently but did not stay. So keep a watch on the boxes. We’ll be broadcasting the calls for a couple more weeks. Lets hope they find the new homes irresistible.

Did you know?….. a swift spends almost all its life in the air, only landing to breed. they sleep and even mate on the wing. A young swift, having left the nest, will stay in the air for up to three years before making a nest and breeding.

Jake’s Bakes rake in the cash

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The CVCG committee were delighted to receive a donation recently of £33.00, courtesy of Jake Raad (age 7 and a half).

Jake had decided to raise money over Christmas by making mince pies and selling them around the village. And very successful he was too, as he sold all of them. The word on the street was that they were ‘exceedingly good’.

The money will go towards our winter bird feed supply; many thanks Jake for your idea, effort and support!

jakes-bakes

 

‘The Best Coffee Morning Ever!’

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The coffee morning on Saturday 28th to coincide with the RSPB bird watch weekend was a resounding success.  Children from Clara Vale and Crawcrook made bird feeders to take home to attract birds to their own gardens.  Wildlife artist, Jonnie Foker demonstrated using pastels to draw bird shapes. Children and parents joined in to produce a colourful  frieze which will be hung in the hall for all to see.

Thanks to everyone who came along, to all the people who baked scrumptious cakes and especially to the team in the kitchen.  We raised around £150 towards bird feed for the birds in the nature reserve.

Thanks also to all the parents and children for taking part in activities and allowing these photos to be shared, we are so glad you enjoyed yourselves! One of the youngsters, Jake Raad, declared it ‘…the best coffee morning ever!’.

Click on any image for a larger version.

Coffee Morning/RSPB Big Birdwatch

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The January Clara Vale Village Hall Coffee Morning coincides with the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch, so the CVCG are joining forces with the Village Hall Committee to make a little event out of it.

Alongside the usual tea, coffee and delicious home-made cakes, if that weren’t reason enough we have opportunites to:

  • Make a bird feeder to take home
  • Try out a bird-related art activity with local artist Jonnie Foker* (and view some of his work)
  • Visit our bird hides and complete the RSPB survey (11:00 – 12:00)

All funds raised from the activities will help us to purchase bird feed for the Nature Reserve.

*Jonnie Foker is a member of the Society of Wildlife Artists and Bearpark Artists Co-operative, specialising in birdlife. Jonnie will provide a taster art activity and bring some of his work to view or buy. Find out more at bearparkartists.co.uk

When: Saturday 28th January 10:30 – 12:30

Where: Clara Vale Village Hall

 

 

 

Brash Burning Bonfire

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CVCG members and local villagers turned out for our burn-off of cuttings and coppicing, left over from task days during the last year or so in the Reserve.

Some piles of cuttings were retained as habitat for small birds and other wildlife. The fire site was carefully chosen and burning area closely controlled.

Tea and cakes were on hand and a good natter was had by all.  A successful first community event of the year!

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Swift nestboxes fitted to the Village Hall

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As renovation works get under way at Clara Vale Village Hall, CVCG founding member Gordon Pollinger spotted men with a cherry picker machine used for accessing the roof and saw an opportunity to have some stock nestboxes for Swifts put up. The contractors were obliging and so we now have seven nextboxes fitted.

Sswift-silhouettewifts are fast, agile fliers with a similar silhouette to a Swallow or Housemartin, and although looking black against the sky, are actually dark brown in colour. They spent almost all of lives on the wing. Swifts generally visit the UK  from April to August.

The next boxes are specially designed with the entrance porthole at an underside angle, which will hopefully attract the Swifts to the sheltered position on the north side of the Hall under the eaves.  The narrow, angled nestbox entrance also has some deterrent effect on other small birds.

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You can find out more about Swifts by visiting the RSPB’s Swift information page.

New Educational Resources uploaded!

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The CVCG are delighted to announce that following an extensive review and with help from the Heritage Lottery Fund within our Flowers in the Vale project, new educational resources are now available to download. The resource has primarily been created with the purpose of encouraging more schools to bring children to the Reserve and benefit from all that it has to offer.

A total of 18 Activity sheets are available, to assist childrens’ outdoor engagement with the natural environment in Early Learning, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. The activities can be applied in many educational outdoor environments, not just at Clara Vale.

All of the educational material can be accessed from under the ‘Visiting the Reserve’ tab and going to ‘Educational Visit Resources’.

Here are links to the individual resource elements:

If you would like to get in touch about arranging and educational visit please use the contact form on the Planning Your Visit page.