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SEEN
Somerset Environmental
and Ecological News
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Welcome to the May edition of SEEN.
Highlights this month are:
- Taunton Minster Peregrine update.
- Otterhead microhydro power for forest school.
- Let it bloom in June.
- LNRS guide to enjoying Somerset's nature.
- Be a hedgehog champion!
Wishing you all a brilliant blooming June.
Best eco wishes
The Climate Team
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Photo credit: Martin Cooper
We bring egg-citing news! The Taunton Minster peregrines have hatched their eggs and are proud parents of three females and one male youngster, which are known as Eyasses. This happened between 23 and 25 April.
All four are doing well. On 16 May they were ringed, and given their unique leg ID, biometrics and DNA samples were also taken to support important Peregrine research and to help with tracking the trade in illegally captured wild birds which is still affecting populations.
Since ringing, the birds have continued to grow and thrive, and this week the male chick was the first to be seen leaving the scrape (the name of a Peregrine nest) and was spotted exploring the church roof.
The youngsters are predicted to fledge in the first week of June. In the meantime, the adult peregrines will withhold food for longer periods to encourage the Eyasses to take longer flights and use their instincts to survive on their own.
Don’t forget you can see all this for yourself. Just visit the viewing screen at the north aisle of Taunton Minster, (St Mary Magdalene Church) to see live streaming of their progress.
We hope you have enjoyed following the peregrines over the last few months. Let’s hope the new additions flourish and go on to have families of their own.
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 The Otterhead Estate near Taunton on the Somerset/Devon border has just celebrated the installation of its micro hydroelectricity plant. This nature reserve is completely off grid with no connections to any mains services, and this will provide a free, permanent and zero-carbon electricity supply. The tiny turbine only produces 300W - but with 7kWh of battery storage that’s plenty for what’s needed at the Coach House, which is the only remaining building on former Victorian estate, and which is now used by a Forest School.
This new exciting project was officially opened last month.
 Yeovil Rivers Community Trust (YRCT) has been working with St. Margaret's CEVA Primary School Tintinhull to create a wildflower meadow on their school field. The children and staff got stuck in lifting the turf and were helped by the learners from Able2Achieve who visited the site over the Easter holidays to finish the job. The children are really enthusiastic and engaged with helping nature and creating habitats for wildlife. Over the past 3 years, YRCT has been working with the school to enhance and improve their pond alongside other improvements such as planting fruit trees. Great work everyone!
Last year a small group of butterfly enthusiasts, led by volunteer Jeremy Hawes met at Chard Reservoir Local Nature Reserve every week from April until September and monitored six transects across the reserve.
They discovered 21 butterfly species, including silver-washed fritillaries and meadow browns, but the Brown Hairstreak butterfly, scientifically known as Thecla betulae, and one of Britain’s rarest species remained elusive. All good things come to those who wait though! The team report that their tiny eggs were present on blackthorn shoots. Now that the team know they have laid eggs, they plan to search for adult Brown Hairstreaks during this year's survey.
If you encounter Brown Hairstreaks or suitable habitat, consider contributing to the dataset by conducting a formal UKBMS Brown Hairstreak Egg Count.
Read more New site record of butterfly discovered at Chard Reservoir LNR (visitsouthsomerset.com)
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The past autumn and winter tree planting season has revealed a tree-mendous display of community spirit, where Somerset Council and local volunteers have joined forces to plant over 1,400 donated trees across three of our county’s picturesque countryside sites. From Ham Hill to Yeovil Country Park and Chard Reservoir Local Nature Reserve, these efforts promise to enhance biodiversity, create vital habitats, and contribute to a greener future.
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You can also get involved and plant trees for the future of your community. The Woodland Trust offers Free Trees for Schools and Communities - Woodland Trust, encouraging tree planting and contributing to wildlife conservation.
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 Our Leave It Longer grassland conservation campaign kicked off on 1 May, and we hope you were inspired to do the same this summer. If you have, a big thank you for re-imagining your lawns and green spaces on behalf of wildflowers and pollinators! By breaking with convention and not mowing through May, or at least leaving longer areas of grassland in places, you’ve rekindled your wildflowers and provided a much-needed lifeline for wildlife. However, this is just the beginning of the no mow journey and now we need to let bloom in June! If you are not sure what to do next, there is lots of help out there. Plantlife have lots of great tips to help keep on track. Let it Bloom June: No Mow May is Over, What’s Next? - Plantlife
Last week, we sent you a special edition of SEEN about this. We’re reaching out to landowners to help facilitate the creation of new homes in the area, to encouraging them to promote their land for nature-based solutions that meet development requirements. Specifically, we’re interested in land submissions for Phosphate Mitigation Schemes and Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG), which will support new development. The “call for sites” aims to assess interest from landowners, promoters, and managers. They can submit sites for evaluation through a transparent process and criteria until July 15 2024.
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 Yeovil Country Park has achieved the Royal Horticultural Society’s Southwest in Bloom ‘Pride in Parks’ five-star award for the fourth time. This prestigious award showcases community involvement as well as considering the standard of the park itself and recognises the park’s team of rangers and dedicated volunteers.
‘Check it and keep it’ is the message for residents in the former Mendip and South Somerset areas when their new Somerset Council waste service guides start to arrive this week.
Recycling and rubbish collection days will change in June for more than 92,000 residents in these areas and the guides, which include an updated collection calendar, will detail collection days for the next twelve months. The new guides are funded by the council’s collections contractor SUEZ recycling and recovery UK. The changes will make rounds more efficient and manageable for crews, while reducing mileage and carbon emissions.
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We are launching a summer campaign encouraging people to make the most of cheap bus travel and help to safeguard routes at the same time.
Somerset is blessed with fantastic countryside, historic sites, towns and beaches and fabulous dog walks. So, with fares still at £2 for any single journey the message is leave the car at home, take the bus and why not take your dog too?
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Somerset has some of the most spectacular wildlife in the UK. With enchanting ancient woodlands, magnificent meadows, windswept moors, deep river valleys and internationally renowned wetlands, there are so many places to explore.
Home to creatures great and small, including red deer (the UK’s largest native land mammal), the merlin (Britain’s smallest bird of prey), and the recently reintroduced beaver. The first great white egrets to nest in the UK chose Avalon Marshes to raise their young, and the population has grown significantly since then, and returning from the brink of extinction in the UK, Britain's loudest bird, the bittern, is literally booming!
As we continue to develop Somerset’s Local Nature Recovery Strategy and review the feedback we have received via our public survey, it's clear that nature in Somerset faces significant challenges, but we also know that our natural places can be a source of great joy and wonder. We thought it would be good to highlight some of the many wonderful wildlife experiences Somerset has to offer to inspire you to get out and discover nature's wonders.
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This magical one day environmental fair in a beautiful setting on the Somerset Levels is run entirely by volunteers using wind, sun and people power. Excellent live music, over 100 stalls displaying traditional skills, crafts, produce, lively environmental debates, delicious organic local food, a variety of the best ales and ciders and a large kids area with activities throughout the day.
The Green Scythe Fair includes the celebrated West Country Scythe Championship, known far and wide for the stupendous and often hilarious feats of haymaking by international scythesmen and women, who mow a swathe through the summer festival scene. It is probably the most authentic, and enjoyable, country fair in all England!
On Friday 8 June you can book on a beginners scything course and on Saturday 9 June you can book to attend various workshops from local arts and crafts, land workers and environmental professionals.
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Check out all the other brilliant eco events happening across Somerset from bats and dark skies to music and wellbeing walks. There's something for everyone. Click on the Event Calendar button below to find out what's on and let us know about your eco events at climateemergency@somerset.gov.uk so we can tell our readers.
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Electric car owners can benefit from discounted weekend charging in the South Somerset area in June.
Scottish Power has completed its EV Charging network covering 22 council car parks, bringing the total number of charge points to 58 across public car parks in the area formerly known as South Somerset.
Scottish Power’s EV Charging network uses power generated by their wind farms and to thank their customers, current and new, they are offering a 50% discount during the weekends throughout June. To take advantage of this discount and see where their charging stations are in public car parks in Somerset – download the Scottish Power Recharge app from Google play or the Apple Store.
You can also locate all EV charging networks in Somerset via www.zap-map.com
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 Visit our Grants and funding page to see what see what opportunities are available for your community environmental project.
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 Love hedgehogs? Of course you do! If you’re interested in helping them, you can sign up to be a Hedgehog Champion with Hedgehog Street – a project The British Hedgehog Preservation Society (BHPS) is running with People’s Trust for Endangered Species.
The BHPS State of Britain’s Hedgehogs 2022 report, says urban hedgehog populations appear to be stabilising and showing signs of recovery, following decades of decline. However, rural hedgehog populations remain low and have continued to decrease by as much as three quarters nationally.
This highlights the importance of gardens and green spaces, and local action, in ensuring a future for hedgehogs.
We can all help! Sign up to become a Hedgehog Champion and play a vital role in safeguarding these spiky little creatures and ensuring they have a safe and interconnected environment. Hedgehog Champions can make hedgehog homes and feeding stations, support hedgehog highways and encourage neighbours to join in. Registering gives you access to free downloadable stuff including fact sheets, tips to help hedehogs, posters, action cards, and invites to help you encourage people in your local area to be as hedgehog-friendly as you are!
Check out the video for great tips to give them a helping hand.
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 Please do share this newsletter on your social media platforms and websites or forward it to a friend. All you need to do is click on the share icon at the foot of the page to share the love.
Remember, this is your newsletter, and we want to hear about the great environmental work happening where you live, or what you do to make a difference every day with your brilliant eco hacks and tips.
You can make suggestions about what you would like to see more of in future and have your say on earlier stories and topics.
We would love to hear from you.
Get in touch at climateemergency@somerset.gov.uk.
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