Fife AreaWildlifeNews

Fife and Kinross Members Centre

No 86 Autumn/Winter 2012/13

Message from Sonia Daniels, Chair

For this issue of FAWN, I don’t

have a message with a single theme; instead, I have some news items to report.

First, a new and happy departure for our Members Centre is that

for the next five years FAWN is to be sponsored by Robertson Group of Elgin. Wil l iam Roxburgh, our MC Committee member who advises us on

fundraising, explains in an article below. Your committee is delighted by this development. There are no strings

attached to this generous support, merely a small notice in each issue of FAWN. In July our Reserves Manager, Alistair Whyte, moved on from SWT to a more senior position elsewhere. We wish

him every success. We shall miss not only his skills on the job, but also his ready response to requests for

information and advice, and his willing participation in ou r p rog ramme o f wa l ks and t a l k s . Hopefully a successor will be appointed shortly.

Also in July, I had an unusual and fascinating day representing our Members Centre at the People’s Postcode Lottery Summer Millions winners’ event, held

this year in Cupar, home of the lucky postcode. I attended, at the request of Headquarters, to accompany some staff members and to provide a local presence. The occasion reminded me that the Postcode Lottery is a

major supporter of several Scottish charities, of whom Scottish Wildlife Trust is one. So if you buy a ticket and don’t win anything, you can console yourself that part of your donation is going to be put to very good use on our reserves across Scotland.

Finally, on a personal note, at time of writing I am about to depart for a holiday in Oregon. I look forward to seeing some of the riches of the flora and fauna there,

and particularly to discover if there are new approaches to conservation which might be relevant for us.

MONEY AIN’T EVERYTHING.......... by William Roxburgh “.....but it’s sure as hell a long way ahead of whatever’s

second”! Well, that advice, given to me in the inimitable drawl of a cattle-rancher in Texas over 40 years ago, is perhaps a little extreme, but we in Fife and Kinross must never forget that funding is absolutely crucial to our efforts to sustain our local wildlife, primarily through enhancement of our local Reserves and running of the

Members Centre.

Time, freely given, is the greatest gift, and we are this year indebted to those who have gallantly organised, or in any way participated in, fund-raising events. These include walks and talks, a sponsored bike ride (Tricia Towler), plant and bric-a-brac sales (David Waddell), and the Coffee Morning in Crail. Jack and Jane Matthews

generously gave a Garden Party for Wildlife at their home at Milnathort, which was a great success. Such exercises provide the vital financial bedrock on which we ---and at least some of our wildlife literally --- survive. The MC Committee has been giving some thought as to

how we might expand our funding sources. Never easy,

particularly in these straitened times. As our Chair has said elsewhere, and you may have seen local press releases also, we have been extraordinarily fortunate to have secured from Robertson Group, a well-respected

Elgin-based firm of builders and developers throughout the UK, a most generous donation of £1,000 per annum for the next five years, primarily to finance production of FAWN. There will be a mention of this in the November

issue of our national magazine too. As we all know, there is so much more we should like to do or acquire, so as better to help our local wildlife - if only we had the money! For example, a new feed trailer for the Flying Flock, training and equipment for

volunteers maintaining reserves, a bench for Fife Ness,

to name but a few. The Fife & Kinross MC, whilst realistic about the difficulties, has one or two ideas for a slightly more ambitious approach to funding - for example, we are approaching businesses who might be willing to sponsor

activities or reserve improvements; we hope, too, to enhance our traditional coffee mornings, tombolas and sales of gift items at meetings. Any helpful suggestions from members, even pointers to potential donors who our local funding team might approach, would be most welcome - please contact any member of

the committee. Donor publicity, if required, can be

guaranteed. For the sake of Fife and Kinross wildlife, please try, just occasionally, not to think of whatever’s second!

Robertson is delighted to sponsor the Scottish Wildlife Trust.

As an infrastructure, support services and construction company we realise how important the protection of biodiversity sites is and continually monitor and update our Environmental Policy to reflect this. Our on-site

monitoring ensures that we will never knowingly damage or disrupt areas of natural interest.

FEATURED RESERVE (2)

FLEECEFAULDS MEADOW RESERVE

by Alison Irvine , Reserve Convenor

Fleecefaulds is one of Scottish Wildlife Trust’s hid-

den gems – it can be difficult to find if you don’t

know the back roads around Ceres, and even when

you get there, there are no easy paths to explore.

However, it is worth the effort, even though strong

boots or wellies are the required footwear!

It is quite a large reserve of 12.5 Ha (that’s 32

acres in old money!), divided into 3 separate com-

partments. It is a long, narrow, very steep re-

serve, with grassy slopes and a wet mire in the

bottom. The underlying geology is limestone,

which was mined in the past, with the spoil from

the works being tipped into the meadow. It is pos-

sible to find occasional fossils in the areas where

the tipped material still shows. Originally in

Teasses Estate, it was part of a large field system,

grazed extensively by cattle in the summer

months. This grazing, together with the lime - rich

soil has allowed a botanical treasure trove to de-

velop over many years, but more of that later.

The area is a SSSI and soon came to the attention

of Cmdr Frank Spragge, a founder member of the

SWT. He purchased the area in 1992 and then

gave it to SWT as a reserve in 1999 to be man-

aged and protected in perpetuity. The reserve is

managed for the wild flowers, mainly through the

efforts of the flying flock and herd. There are usu-

ally some sheep and sometimes a few cattle from

the Trust’s livestock on the reserve, so if you have

a dog, keep it under very close control.

Indeed, entry to the reserve is through the area

where the livestock are fed so it can be very mud-

dy. A separate pedestrian access is planned to be

in place shortly. The reserve is worth visiting at

any time of year but is particularly good in late

June for the Globe Flower and orchids and again in

late August when the Knapweed and Devil’s Bit

Scabious are a mass of colour and attract numer-

ous butterflies. Leaving the car park make your

way carefully down the steep slope and once you

reach the boggy area head left to a stile hidden

behind a Hawthorn bush. Over the stile is the

south compartment which is the best area for

Greater Butterfly Orchid and Knapweed and Scabi-

ous, but also has two easily accessible plants of

Globe Flower, just to the right once you are

through the Meadowsweet bog.

You will almost always see Roe Deer here and in

July their “roe rings” are round almost all the

bushes. Returning over the stile, follow the bottom

of the slope, watching out for hidden ditches carry-

ing lime-rich water from the lime workings and

springs down through the reserve. This area is a

sea of Meadow Sweet in the summer and home to

sedge warblers and reed buntings. In winter there

are often snipe and woodcock feeding in the soft

boggy ground. Eventually you will reach a board

walk over the burn from Fleecefaulds Farm which

takes you into the area to look for Adders Tongue

fern in the early summer. It seems to like the bare

ground at the edge of sheep and cattle tracks. Fi-

nally, crossing the fence by the gate at the lowest

end or by a stile higher up, takes you into the

north compartment. This area is much more wood-

ed and is a good place to watch out for birds and

more roe deer. It is intended to try to return this

area to a wild flower meadow as well, but that is a

long way into the future. On the left, through a

narrow gate and over a bridge is an area which

has been planted with native trees, known as

Spragge’s Spinney.

So allow yourself plenty time to explore

Fleecefaulds. Wear strong waterproof footwear and

take a stick for the steep uneven slopes and enjoy

an almost wilderness experience in the quiet east

Fife countryside.

THE JOYS OF BOTANICAL MONITORING by Lorraine Russell The day began really well when ten of us met in the car

park of Cullaloe Reserve: unlike most of this so-called ‘summer’, it was sunny and warm! It stayed that way for the rest of the time we were there. After everyone had introduced themselves, pocket guides to identifying wild flowers were shared out. The guide was to prove invaluable, and for me has to be an essential tool for any future monitoring exercise. We began by walking a short

distance up the bank to the area that the novices (myself included) and others were invited to gather round to see how to monitor what was contained within the metre-square specimen area – the quadrat. The quadrat can be marked out by a specially designed tool, by four individual metre-long bamboo canes, or just by eye (and

a few strategically placed bags or jackets). Working

through very-well thought-out checklists, we learned how to assess and record the key attributes and condition of sample quadrats of groundcover. These are then collated and compared with previous and future monitoring exercises, which then allow the Trust to assess the effectiveness of its management programme

for each reserve. Among the attributes we assessed were things like the average height of the vegetation and ratio of plant litter and bare ground (if any). We then we went through two checklists to record the presence of positive indicator species (the desired and less aggressive plants and grasses), and the negative indicator (or competitive) species.

After a very useful question and answer session, we then

returned the car park where we ate the packed lunches we had all brought with us. Once refreshed and revitalised, we returned to the bank, walked further along the edge of the loch, and continued into the fenced meadow where the flying flock is grazed at various times of the year. (There were no animals in the meadow when we were there.) We then split into three small teams,

each with an ‘expert’ or more experienced monitor, and moved from sample quadrat to quadrat. We each took it in turns to both assess and identify the vegetation within each quadrat, or else to read out the items on the checklist and record the findings. We found that as we grew more familiar with the plants and grasses, it took

less time to complete the monitoring process for each

quadrat. If we had any difficulties in identifying any of the plant species, an expert was on hand to help us out.

Time always passes quickly when you are enjoying yourself, so it didn’t seem long before the leader of the training day said we should finish up. I certainly caught the bug (and so did others too)! – as we walked back to

the car park I was compelled to try and identify as many

of the grasses and plants that we hadn’t come across during the monitoring exercise. And since that training day I’ve now joined a monitoring team at another of the Trust’s reserves, Fleecefaulds.

A Summer Garden Party

By Sonia Daniels

The venue was a beautiful garden in Milnathort, home of our generous hosts, Jack and Jane Matthews. The June

flowers were in bloom, water trickled gently from the old well, the gazebos and chairs were in place. In the kitchen, the urn was steaming. In the carport, delicious

home baking, strawberries and cream, freshly potted garden plants, tempting gifts, a tombola. In the conservatory, quizzes for young and old, books galore and an array of leaflets, with gardening for wildlife as

the predominant theme.

And the fashion. Flowery dresses for the ladies and stripey blazers for the gentlemen? So last year! Instead, the style commonly favoured by SWT members – wellies, waterproofs and hoods – became the height of

garden party chic. Because it rained, and it rained. All day.

But the amazing thing was, the rain didn’t dampen anyone’s spirits. On the contrary, there was a buzz and

much laughing and chatting amongst the hard-working team of helpers and our intrepid supporters, as everyone dashed from one place of shelter to another. It

was great fun, and we even raised an impressive sum of money to support our reserves.

Support your local Members Centre—Your committee still needs a secretary!

Would you like to have fun and meet new people whilst working for wildlife in Fife? We are looking for a Secretary for our Members Centre Committee, to start in November. If you are interested and want to find out more, contact Sonia Daniels, Chair, or any member of the committee.

EVENTS AUTUMN/

WINTER 2012/13

All welcome. We advise sturdy foot-wear and suitable clothing for out-

door events. There will be a £2 ad-mission charge for indoor events un-

less stated otherwise.

Wed 7th November 2012 7.30pm. Members Centre AGM.

PLEASE NOTE: Age Concern Hall, Cu-par (NOT Cupar St John's & Dairsie Par-

ish Church Hall, Bonnygate, as previously advertised)

The business meeting will be fol-lowed by a talk by PC Ian Laing, Fife

Constabulary Wildlife and Environ-

mental Crime Co-ordinator. Ian will update us on recent cases.

(Light refreshments to follow—no admis-sion charge to AGM; donations for re-

freshments).

Tues 11th Dec 2012 7.30pm

Talk – The Braes of Benarty by popu-lar speaker David Munro.

St Andrews Town Hall Supper Room.

Thurs 24th Jan 2013 7.30pm

Talk – Subject To Be Confirmed

St Peter’s Episcopal Church Hall, Hope St., Inverkeithing.

Thurs 28th Feb 2013 7.30pm

Talk – Subject To Be Confirmed

Crail Church Hall, Marketgate, Crail.

Thurs 28th March 2013 7.30pm

Illustrated Talk – Using photography to communicate the importance of

nature in our lives. Katrina Martin, Wildlife Photographer, will talk about

her work and the 2020VISION pro-

ject.

Joint with Kinross Camera Club, at Kinross

Church Centre (no admission charge; do-nations for refreshments).

CONTACTS

Chair Sonia Daniels, 01334 473847, email soniadaniels11@yahoo.co.uk Vice-Chair Deborah Cottam, 01333 422116, email deborahcottam@gmail.com

Minutes Secretary Vi Shannon, 01334 653296, email vi.shannon@btinternet.com Publicity Jack Matthews, 01577 861066, email matthews.oban@tiscali.co.uk

FAWN Editor: Ian Hunter, Caiplie Farmhouse, Anstruther, KY10 3JR; 01333 312828; mish@st-and.ac.uk Reserves Manager East Central Scotland (Awaiting new appointee) Members Centre Website www.swt-fife.org.uk SWT Headquarters (Leith) 0131 312 7765 Website: www.swt.org.uk

Printed by West Port Print & Design, St Andrews. The pulp used in the manufacture of this paper is from renewable timber produced on a fully sustainable basis The Scottish Wildlife Trust is a company limited by guarantee, registered in Scotland (registered number SCO40247) having its registered office at Cramond House, Cramond Glebe Road, Edinburgh EH4 6NS. It is also a Scottish registered charity (charity number SCO 05792).

Any suggestions? Able to

lead a walk? Give a talk? Get in touch with Deborah

Cottam.

Check the MC web site (www.swt-fife.org.uk) for

updates on forthcoming events!

Because FAWN is produced weeks or months

before some of our events, some of the details

may not have been confirmed at the time of going

to press. In addition to the email notifications

which our Chair sends out, be sure to check our

web site regularly for up to the minute information.

Would you like to be convener of one of our reserves?

We are looking for someone to be convener of the Kilminning Coast Reserve near Crail. The post is not

particularly onerous and simply involves keeping an eye on the reserve and liaising with the Reserves Manager

on any issues which arise as well as keeping up the profile of the reserve in the local area. It would be useful, but not essential, to have someone who lives in the Crail area.

If you are interested, please contact Jean Stewart:jean@stewart18.myzen.co.uk