Monday 5 August 2013

Mystery wildlife object catches experts 'on the fly'

Great balls of fire, yes, but great balls of flies? Yet, this was the scene that confronted Louise Davis on a recent walk alongside the picturesque River Torridge in north Devon. Louise, who works as the Water Resources Advisory Officer on Devon Wildlife Trust's Northern Devon Nature Improvement Area project, was busy conducting a survey of a stretch of the river near Torrington when she spotted something hanging over the water from a tree. Louise takes up the story: 'It was about the size of my fist, dangling from a branch. Then I saw several other similar shaped balls all hanging from the same tree. At first I thought they were just debris that had got stuck, but on taking a closer look I discovered that each was a tightly-packed dome consisting of hundreds of flies. I'd never seen anything like it before.' Louise took photos of the balls and showed them to colleagues, but they got no closer to identifying the strange phenomenon. It was only when she passed the images on to Martin Harvey, a leading fly expert, that the answer was revealed. The fly concerned turned out to be Atherix ibis, part of ibis fly family. Martin explained that the flies are known to adopt this strange behaviour, but that it was 'not often seen'. Martin explained that the behaviour takes place when the flies are preparing to lay their eggs. Females come together to form dense balls on branches overhanging rivers. Often these balls can consist of several hundred flies and are frequently formed where flood refuse has been caught in a branch, giving a good base on which the flies can cling. The females then lay their eggs in a glutinous goo and then die, leaving a suspended mass of dead flies and eggs. When the eggs hatch the fly larvae drop into the river's water to begin the next stage of their life cycle. The explanation solved a mystery for Louise: 'My role for the Northern Devon Nature Improvement Area is about working with local landowners to improve the water quality of the River Torridge for the benefit of local people and wildlife. This means I'm out doors a lot amongst the beautiful countryside of north Devon. I also get to see a lot of wonderful wildlife at close quarters, but I'd never seen anything like this. Nature really is full of surprises!' 


Photos copyright Devon Wildlife Trust

Friday 2 August 2013

Nappies in the Park for B10. A special Nappuccino event in Rock Park,

DUE TO HEAVY RAIN THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED
B10 wouldn’t be a proper celebration without thinking of the littlest members of our community here in North Devon. On Tuesday 6 August Nappies of North Devon will celebrate ten years of North Devon’s Biosphere Reserve with a special B10 Nappuccino event in Rock Park, Barnstaple. A Nappuccino is a relaxed and informal get together for Mums & Dads, babies and parents in waiting. It is an opportunity to find out the benefits, both to your pocket and the environment, of using reusable nappies in place of disposables. As well as running Nappies of North Devon and organising regular Nappuccino events in Barnstaple, Hannah Ashford is a Devon Real Nappy Project (DRNP) Advisor. Hannah supplies a wide range of beautiful cloth nappies as well as providing a wealth of experience gained with her own two little ‘real nappy’ girls. As a DRNP Advisor Hannah can offer free trial kits containing a range of different reusable nappy brands and styles. The kits are available for one month and give parents the chance to try a selection of nappies in the comfort of their own home before making any decisions. As a Devon Real Nappy Project Advisor, Hannah goes through how to use, wash and care for the nappies and will be on hand to answer any queries throughout the trial. Using cloth nappies can save you £500 on average compared to disposables over the time your child is in nappies. Choosing real nappies is also great news for the North Devon Biosphere, reducing your carbon footprint and cutting down on the 28 million disposable nappies buried in Devon’s landfill sites each year. Real nappies don’t contain any chemicals or gels associated with disposable nappies so choosing real nappies puts you in control of caring for your baby’s skin.

Thursday 1 August 2013

Get yourself together!! Alabama 3 live at The Factory, Barnstaple

Alabama 3 will be performing as a full live band at The Factory, Barnstaple on Thursday 13th December as part of their UNDAground 4 Life tour. Best known internationally for supplying the theme to the American TV series ‘The Sopranos’ with their song ‘Woke Up This Morning’, Alabama 3 have carved a unique niche for themselves which transcends considerations of chart success and runs far deeper than the transitory fame of modern celebrity culture. They are undoubtedly the greatest American act the UK ever did produce, and their heady combination of techno and C&W, alongside a proclivity for rock ‘n’ roll decadence and an acute social conscience means that they are effectively a unique entity in modern music
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They are Alabama 3, from Brixton and beyond…The band’s nucleus of Rob Spragg and Jake Black met towards the end of the 1980s at a South London house party. Still together, and still resident in the heart of their beloved London SW9 postcode, with a fluid and ever changing membership, Alabama 3 are more a way of life than a rock'n'roll band. After major label deals with Sony and Geffen, and an enduring relationship with the indie label One Little Indian, Alabama 3 continued to cut their own groove by starting their own Hostage label. Their headquarters in the Jamm building in Brixton incorporates a recording studio, a club venue where A3 put on their own Outlaw nights in between many other events, and an administrative centre where various managers, promoters and other support staff keep the whole operation ticking over. Working in this grubby mansion, over looking London's most vibrant, music-savvy, multi-cultural quarter, there are DJs, artists, recording engineers and assorted admin and creative types who wander in and out of a warren of rooms with a purposeful air. “We're very proud to be independent,” Rob says. “It's a cottage industry that's been empowered by a form of narcotic Marxism.” And also, it should be said, by a history of brilliant music-making. 2013 finds Alabama 3 in a sombre and reflective mood as they announced their next UK tour in December 2013, the week after James Gandolfini has died.  “Woke Up This Morning” is inseparable from The Sopranos as it grew into the nation’s consciousness and hearts along with the series. As Bob Lefetz observes: “I was immediately struck by "Woke Up This Morning." And when I heard it at the beginning of "The Sopranos"... It's the one intro I never fast-forwarded through, it was a prelude to my Sunday night ritual.” Never standing still the ALABAMA 3 will take new and old material and their “let’s have a party” and celebration spirit to their fans with their annual UK tour.
THURSDAY 12TH DECEMBER - TICKETS: £18.00 in advance
TICKETS AVAILABLE FROM: North Devon Theatres box office
ONLINE TICKETS AVAILABLE FROM:
















THE BAND
Larry Love – Vocals
Rev. D Wayne Love – Vocals
Aurora Dawn – Vocals
Segs - Bass
Rock Freebase – Guitar
The Spirit of Love – Keyboards
Steve Finnerty – Guitar
Owen If - Drums
DISCOGRAPHY
Exile On Coldharbour Lane 1997
La Peste 2000
Power In The Blood 2002
Last Train To Mashville 2003
Outlaw 2005
M.O.R 2007
Hits and Exit Wounds 2008
Revolver Soul 2010
There Will Be Peace In The Valley… When We Get The Keys To The Mansion On The Hill 2011
Shoplifting 4 Jesus 2011
Shoplifting 4 Jesus [Limited Edition Vinyl] 2012
WHO SAID WHAT
"The best live band in the country" The Guardian
"This is the first band I could ever dance to in the daytime hours without chemical assistance...and that says a lot" Irvine Welsh - Author of Trainspotting and Filth