Wildlife and Countryside of Basildon District

The author is the Countryside Officer for Basildon District Council, and his evening talk on 30 October provided a fascinating contrast between the good things and the bad things of natural life in the South East of England. In a wide-ranging coverage of almost every aspect of his subject, he compared the region's nature reserves to islands in a desert.

Perhaps the worst feature of the modem scene, he said, is the way in which farmers have found it necessary to remove hedgerows in order to improve the efficiency of food production. This had taken away not only valuable nesting sites but also plants that provide nectar for a wide variety of insects. Dormice (Muscardinus avellanarius) have been badly affected by the loss of hedgerows, too, because they need large areas of land on which to thrive, and the hedgerows serve as 'corridors' allowing them to roam from one woodland to another.

Will Farmer spoke at some length about the way in which some bird species are dwindling in numbers because their sources of natural food are dying out. In the past 25 years, for example, the Yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella) has suffered a 50% decline. He stressed the need for people to put out food for birds in the winter.

Bumble bees are struggling to survive, and a worrying number of other species are in serious decline. In fact for every wild flower on the danger list there are ten species of insects at risk. For ground-nesting birds the traditional 'seasons' have changed as farmers adopt different crop-planting schedules. Antibiotics in animal feedstuffs have killed off 'bugs' in the dung that is the main food source of the Hornet Robber Fly (Asilus crabroniformis). The habitats of Barn Owls (Tyto alba) have been reduced by changes to farm buildings, and their food supplies have been drastically reduced because of the ways in which populations of small mammals have been affected by changes in habitat. The drainage of wet areas has had serious effects on the feeding and roosting habits of wading birds.

However, it is not always the farmers who are responsible for these depredations. Local authorities change the course of streams and thereby upset the habitat and feeding grounds of swimming and wading birds. (This could get worse if major drainage schemes are introduced to counter the increased risk of floods due to global warming.) Birds get tangled in the plastic lines left by anglers on river banks and in bushes. Gardeners use slug pellets, and the poison finds its way into the food chain of the Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos). Some gardeners have been planting the Spanish version of the Bluebell (Endimion hispanicus) in their gardens; it escapes into surrounding woodlands and interbreeds with the indigenous variety. Squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis) strip Hazel (Corylus avellana) trees before the seeds have had a chance to germinate.

On the positive side, badgers are thriving as the result of favourable legislation. In the middle of Little Burstead golf course there is a flourishing natural pond. Laindon Common is home to fifty varieties of fungus. At Wat Tyler the Hawthorn thicket houses a tremendous number of insects, and the creeks and ponds there are being extended to provide better conditions for wading birds. Abandoned industrial sites in the greater Basildon region are places where insects, small mammals and rare plants can thrive, undisturbed by people and domestic animals.

Among the many slides of country scenes, birds, animals and flowers was the Wood Anemone (Nemorosa). It was commented that at least one young visitor to Norsey Wood had referred to this plant as the Wooden Enemy.

With grateful acknowledgement to Basildon District Council Countryside Services.