Holy Cow, Batman!

Knepp Wildland hosts 13 of the 17 resident species of bat found in the UK – some have roosts here and some commute in from surrounding areas to feed on the flourishing insects.

At the beginning of the project, in 2001, only five different species had been recorded here but since then the restored waterways, growing-out hedgerows and insect-rich pastures have provided perfect feeding grounds. As a result of this the bat species list has grown.

One study showed radio-tagged female Barbastelles commute from their nursery roosts in The Mens Sussex Wildlife Trust reserve (near Petworth) - 18km away - to forage over Knepp Wildland.

On a recent Knepp Bat and Moth Safari we were able to meet up with batman Martyn Cooke, and his band of volunteers, doing a bat survey around the Hammer Pond. On this occasion, three species of bat were caught: Soprano Pipistrelle, Bechstein’s Bat and Whiskered Bat.

The Whiskered Bat feeds on a variety of insects, such as moths, so they are particularly susceptible to pesticides. Pesticides are no longer used here at Knepp, since the move from intensive agriculture, so there is a plentiful supply of food for them.

Whiskered Bat at Knepp - photo by Ryan Greaves

Surveys at Knepp in 2009 indicated that Bechstein’s Bat were breeding here, a very exciting find as this species is one of the UK’s rarest and most endangered bat species and is protected under the European Habitats Directive.

Bechstein's Bat at Knepp - photo by Ryan Greaves

Bechstein's Bats feed on insects, with dropping analysis showing a penchant for dung-flies. We have plenty of these at Knepp in the Longhorn cattle dung: no ivermectins going in to the cattle means droppings full of delicious dung flies and other insects that bats, birds and other wildlife can feed on.

Come along on one of our Bat and Moth Safaris to learn more about the bats of Knepp.

by Penny Green, Knepp Ecologist

Rush Hour

The Rush Wainscot is a Red Data Book moth, which is confined to just five areas in the UK. West Sussex is one of those areas with a couple of hotspots around the Horsham area. Its larval foodplants are Common Club-rush, Yellow Iris, Bulrush and Lesser Bulrush, of which we have plenty here at Knepp Millpond.

It was hunted for and not found in surveys during 1995. During baseline surveys for the rewilding project in 2005 it was targeted again, and this time one was discovered. It was caught in a moth trap on Knepp Millpond, but despite further attempts to catch this moth in following years it was not found again, this included several fruitless attempts in 2015 and 2016.

Always up for a challenge we thought we’d target another part of the estate this year, so we put moth traps out after our August Bat and Moth Safari, at the western end of the Hammer Pond. The habitat here is wonderful and just right for the Rush Wainscot.

We sorted through the moth trap at about 1.00am as we were planning on packing up: at this time the temperature had dropped and the moths had started slowing down. There was a good variety of different moths, with the autumnal-looking Dusky Thorn being one of the most numerous:

And we caught this unusual form of Clouded Border:

We had got to the bottom of the last trap...as we turned over the last egg carton we spotted something that looked pretty good to us. At last, a Rush Wainscot!

We're really pleased that it's still at Knepp; we won’t give up looking for it again at the Millpond though, it would be good to know that it’s still there too.

by Penny Green, Knepp Ecologist

Electric Eels

The Environment Agency (EA) carried out a river restoration at Knepp in 2011. Since then we've been collecting data to see how the river develops and what wildlife moves in.

This week Gareth and Damon from the EA did a fish survey along the southern part of the river restoration. They used a technique called electrofishing - this temporarily stuns the fish in order to be able to catch them and identify them. Here's Gareth looking like a Ghostbuster:

There's something about fish that brings out your inner-child...so I excitedly had my head in the bucket examining the first few net loads as they came out: Roach, Eel (I love seeing Eels, such a rarity now), Stone Loach, Three-spined Stickleback, and this beautiful Perch:

Then came Gudgeon, Chub, Dace, and this young Pike:

And this has got to be my favourite, the Bullhead:

Once the fish had been identified and measured they were put back in to the river:

Ten species was a really respectable total for a river in its early days of recovery. It was good to see fish of different ages using the river too, with young fish sheltering in the nooks and crannies provided by the coarse woody debris.

The hope is that as the river settles down and the bank-side vegetation becomes more established we will see an increase in biodiversity. With this in mind we will continue our surveys on the river and surrounding floodplain scrapes to see what fish, plants, snails, beetles and dragonflies move in over the years to come.

by Penny Green, Knepp Ecologist

Rewilding Britain: Planning, Policy and Practice

12 sept 2017

Rewilding aims to restore natural ecosystems using keystone species in a way that benefits wildlife and people. Can rewilding really be win-win for wildlife and landowners? What are the practical, political and economic risks? How can it be planned and implemented to maximise the benefits? These questions and more will be tackled during a one day conference jointly hosted by the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE) and Wildwood Trust on Tuesday 12th September, 2017.

Do come to this conference at the University of Kent. Charlie will be speaking.