Star Slime! Mystery of ''tree frogspawn' solved

What leaves frog spawn six foot up a tree? There is a rational answer, and it doesn't involve a new breed of super-frog! Staff at Devon Wildlife Trust's Working Wetlands project recently made a surprise discovery when working on land near Roadford Lake, in north Devon. They were quickly able to identify the jelly-like substance as frog spawn but weren't able to fathom how it had come to be on a tree trunk. Project Manager Mark Elliott picks up the story: 'Finding frogspawn at this time in winter is not that unusual, especially the mild weather of the past week. But finding it up in a tree was. It's not something I'd come across before. Common frogs lay their spawn in water and it's there that tadpoles develop. Not in trees!' Mark took a photo of the frogspawn and sent it to Devon Biodiversity Records Centre for identification. It is DBRC's job to keep a central archive of the county's wildlife records. Staff there process thousands of biological sightings each year. The experience and expertise gained from this work meant that staff member Ellie Knot had seen similar cases before and was able to add an explanation to the puzzle. Ellie said: 'This kind of finding is commonly known as a 'star slime' - a lot of animals and birds eat frogs, but they don't eat their ovaries because the eggs or spawn contained in them expand massively when they come in to contact with water. This expansion would be enough to give anyone stomach-ache! Freshly laid spawn is fairly small - the eggs (in their jelly cases) are less than 5mm across, but once it has been around for a few hours the eggs expand to more than 1cm across. The clump of frogspawn usually ends up much larger than the frog that laid it. So, when birds, etc eat a frog they leave the ovaries behind, which then expand and burst when they get wet, leaving a clump of spawn.' 'In fact, it is not that uncommon to find frogspawn in trees - buzzards and crows will often take frogs, retreat to a nearby perch and then eat their prey there, leaving the ovaries and the spawn behind after their meal.' 

Working Wetlands staff were surprised to find this frogspawn in a tree high above the ground.

Photos copyright Mark Elliott, Devon Wildlife Trust

Working Wetlands project provides advice pack for local landowners

Working Wetlands project provides advice pack for local landowners The Working Wetlands project led by Devon Wildlife Trust (DWT) has this month produced a Practical Advice Pack to help support farmers in northern Devon who manage wildlife rich habitats. The pack has been designed so it is easy to keep and refer to and use out in the field. It will also be available to download from the charity's website. The pack contains 10 advice sheets which cover a range of topics from how to manage scrub and soft rush, to wet grassland restoration and swaling. Each advice sheet is illustrated and draws on the experience of the local farming community combined with the knowledge and skills of DWT's Working Wetlands project team. Mark Elliott, Working Wetlands Project Manager said: "We hope this pack will prove a very useful source of practical advice for farmers wishing to manage their grassland habitats, and protect their watercourses. Although we are currently working with over 300 individual farmers, we recognise that we can't reach everyone - and we hope this series of factsheets will help answer some of the more common queries. That said, we are still at the end of the phone and have a team of farm and wildlife advisors able to provide face to face advice.' Anyone interested in receiving a pack should call Working Wetlands on 01409 221823 or email working.wetlands@devonwildlifetrust.org Working Wetlands has been supported by the South West Water, Tubney Charitable Trust, The Environment Agency, Devon County Council, Devon Waste Management, GrantScape and Natural England.

Working Wetlands Practical Advice Pack

Local landowners and volunteers set sights on lookering course

Local landowners and volunteers set sights on lookering course Devon Wildlife Trust's (DWT) Working Wetlands Project is holding a 'Lookering' course this month to help the charity get more wildlife-rich land under good management. 'Lookering' is a familiar term to farmers, describing a set of important activities associated with looking after stock. With the decline in livestock farming and fewer people to manage them, much Culm Grassland is scrubbing up and being invaded by fast-growing willow, bramble and gorse. The project's priority is to reinstate management on neglected Culm Grassland sites within three target areas of the Culm Measures, especially those which have been managed by stock grazing in the past. Many people who now own Culm Grassland don't have their own stock, so a course has been set up to try and help people learn more about looking after Dartmoor ponies. By casting a daily eye over the grazing stock and reporting back if there are any problems, lookerers can really help landowners and the Wildlife Trust whilst also getting to know local wildlife. The course is being held on Wednesday 28 September 2011 near Tedburn St Mary. Trainees will learn how ponies graze, signs of good health and normal behaviour along with health & safety issues and the legalities affecting landowners. DWT's Working Wetlands Project Coordinator, Mark Elliot said: "With the complications surrounding cattle movements, we are increasingly turning to ponies to manage some of our best wildlife sites. In many ways they are perfectly suited for the rough grasslands where encroaching scrub like gorse and willow can be a real problem. Wild ponies can tackle these problems brilliantly and so we are keen to develop a network of people able to keep an eye on their welfare". For more information about the course and to book a place, contact Working Wetlands on 01409 221823 by Monday 26 September 2011. Working Wetlands is a seven year landscape scale project and this is just one of many initiatives being undertaken by the scheme across 65,000 hectares of the Culm Natural Area. It has been supported by South West Water, Tubney Charitable Trust, The Environment Agency, Devon County Council, Devon Waste Management and Natural England.

Moving ponies on the site - Photo  Copyright DWT

Devon Wildlife Trust: Wetlands project starts to sow the seeds

This month, Devon Wildlife Trust's Working Wetlands Project team has been busy with several projects to spread 'green-hay' on sites in north and west Devon to create more wildflower-rich meadows. 'Green-hay' refers to the process of cutting flower-rich grassland areas on existing wildlife sites and quickly baling them un-dried. The bales are then transported to nearby local sites where they are spread onto prepared ground to introduce the seed onto sites which are currently of lower wildlife value. The process is a cost-effective way of enhancing or creating meadows and pastures as part of existing Natural England Environmental Stewardship agreements or to expand areas of wildlife habitat so landowners have more chance of securing a Stewardship agreement. The Working Wetlands team has gained considerable experience planning and managing these projects with many hectares of ground now blooming with the plants which have been spread since the Devon Wildlife Trust's landscape-scale project began in 2008. Stuart Coleman from the Working Wetlands Team said: "The team have always worked closely with landowners and local contractors to make these projects a success, but this year Working Wetlands has expanded its own machinery-ring to include a new 90 hp tractor and fodder chopper/spreader so we can spread the flower-rich bales ourselves. This has made a real difference speeding up operations and reducing costs for landowners enabling even more fields to be enhanced in this way." One of the projects completed this month has been 5.5 ha of fields at Simon Kerslake's "Higher Grinacombe" holding in Broadwoodwidger. Simon said: "This has been a really good project and something I had never heard of before so when DWT got in touch I thought it was quite inspirational and I was keen to go along with it. I'm now really excited to see the results and interested to do more in the future. I think the extra wildlife that will hopefully result from the work will be really beneficial to the farm." The charity is now looking for other landowners in the northern and western areas of Devon who might be interested in helping wildlife by using green-hay to create flower-rich meadows. To express an interest call the Working Wetlands team on 01409 221823.
Working Wetlands is a seven year landscape scale project and this is just one of many initiatives being undertaken by the scheme across 65,000 hectares of the Culm Natural Area. It has been supported by South West Water, Tubney Charitable Trust, The Environment Agency, Devon County Council, Devon Waste Management, GrantScape and Natural England