Highclere Society
WildLife Group

 
Great Crested Newt

• Involving local people in wildlife projects, such as surveys and censuses
• Organizing wildlife rambles in the parish, and guided tours of local nature reserves
• Holding workshops, such as for nestbox building and wildlife-friendly gardening
• Engaging experts to speak on relevant and topical wildlife issues

House sparrows vanish.

The humble house sparrow is the latest in a long list of once-common British species to suffer a sudden and catastrophic decline in numbers. But its disappearance from cities up and down the country seems more puzzling than that of farmland birds, which have suffered mass starvation as a result of changes in farming practices.

Instead, chemicals in unleaded petrol, namely MTBE and Benzene, are thought to be behind the problem.

Poison peanut danger: what can I do?

Adverse weather conditions during this year's growing season in all peanut-producing countries have resulted in high levels of aflatoxin contamination. Click here for more information about aflatoxins in peanuts.

If you're worried about feeding your garden guests potentially lethal peanuts, either:

• Make sure your supplier can guarantee that the nuts are aflatoxin-free when sold to you, not just at the point of export  aflatoxins often develop in transit.
• Switch to a safe alternative, such as black sunflower hearts or nyjer seeds.

Try the CJ Wild Bird Food Shop online, at http://www.birdfood.co.uk/shop/index.htm. This site has lots of information about feeding and encouraging birds and other wildlife into your garden.

Keep death off the toads

If you're out and about on mild, wet evenings, remember that we are not the only road users. Please slow down, not just for your own sake, but to give small creatures more time to get out of your way. You'll feel better about yourself  trust me!

Global warming: can we square the circle?

The weather is hitting the headlines again. Tornadoes, typhoons and floods are making life not just difficult, but downright dangerous for many rural commuters. Treasure Hill, for example, has seen large volumes of water cascading across the carriageway over the last couple of days, and at least one large oak fell across the Andover road.

All the experts agree that increasingly violent and frequent storms are a result of global warming, but individually and collectively we seem unable to accept that our use of fossil fuels is drastically altering our country's climate (and our world's).

Confronting these issues is unpleasant, but unavoidable. On the one hand we have the fuel protesters, who seem to enjoy substantial public support, demanding big cuts in fuel duty. This can only result in increased UK omissions of 'greenhouse' gasses. Will we insist on cheaper petrol in the short term, even if it means irreversible climate damage? It's a stark choice.