Thursday 14 February 2008

This Valentine’s Day Norfolk Wildlife Trust is asking people to ‘Make a Date with Wildlife’ and play an important part in monitoring the effect of climate change on Norfolk’s plants and animals. NWT is launching its phenology survey, the study of the timing of natural seasonal events, in the 300th anniversary year of the birth of Robert Marsham, a Norfolk man who is seen as the Father of Phenology.

With spring just around the corner, birds are beginning to sing to attract mates, toads and frogs are waking ready to make the journey to breeding ponds and buds of both flowers and trees are getting ready to burst into life. But the question on many people’s lips is… ‘Is spring starting earlier?’

Norfolk Wildlife Trust in partnership with the Woodland Trust, Norfolk and Norwich Naturalist Society and the Norfolk Biological Records Centre is asking people to record when they see certain wildlife events happening in Norfolk and submit their sightings. There are five events to record but you can do as many or as few as you like – every single record counts! The indicators of spring are:

•    The first clump of frog spawn
•    The first swallow
•    The first orange tip butterfly
•    The first open hawthorn flower
•    The first fully opened oak leaf

NWT’s wildlife and community officer Gemma Walker said: ‘Norfolk Wildlife Trust recognises that climate change is probably the biggest threat facing wildlife globally today. The records will be added to data collected across the UK to help assess just how climate change is affecting our wildlife. It is a really simple survey to do and gives people the opportunity to actively get involved in nature conservation. Whether you are taking the children to school, walking to work, out in your garden or shopping in the city, keep your eyes peeled for these five indicators of spring and do your bit for wildlife conservation.’

Director of Norfolk Wildlife Trust Brendan Joyce commented: ‘We are thrilled with how many people have taken part in NWT’s surveys already and hope many more will join in. They are carefully designed so that even if you have never participated in a wildlife survey before, it will be fun and easy to do so. By the end of the three year Natural Connections project, we hope many more people will have come to value the wildlife in their local area and have developed their enthusiasm and interest in conservation. The great thing about wildlife is once you get interested there is something new to discover every day!’

Norfolk is actually the birthplace of phenology: this year sees the 300th anniversary of the birth of Robert Marsham, a Norfolk man who is seen as the Father of Phenology. Between 1736 until his death in 1798 he recorded certain wildlife events and then his family carried it on – giving us approximately 200 years of valuable information about British wildlife. Phenology was once seen as a relatively unimportant pastime of amateur naturalist, but as a result of climate change it is now seen as an exceptionally important way of considering how our seasons are changing.

The survey runs from today until the end of May. To read more and complete the survey online click here or telephone 01603 598 333 for a free survey leaflet. The Natural Connections project received a grant of £207,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund to support the involvement of local communities in wildlife surveys and conservation projects.

Frogs
NWT expects the first records to come through will relate to frogspawn, as the mean date for clumps to be seen in Norfolk in 2007 is 10 March. The appearance of mounds of frogspawn can be a welcome sight, an indicator that spring has truly sprung. Frogs usually emerge from their hibernation sites in February and March, where they then set off to their breeding grounds.

Frogs are frequent visitors to gardens and do seem to favour small ponds - although records of frogspawn being seen in puddles have occurred. Between 1,000 and 2,000 eggs will be laid at a time and by April, once breeding is complete, adult frogs disperse from ponds to live on land, where they feed on slugs, worms and other invertebrates. So this Valentine’s Day take the opportunity to take a romantic stroll in the countryside or around your garden and keep your eyes peeled for frogspawn!