It's the start of September and beginning to feel very Autumnal here in the Biosphere. Kids are soon heading back to school but if you are looking for nature related resources for either home school or if you are teacher please head to our school activities page.

News

Community Orchards : We are now offering small grants towards creating or maintaining community orchards in the North Devon Biosphere. Traditional orchards are in decline across Devon and offer an amazing space for both wildlife and the community. Find out more here.

Events

Our final big butterfly count on Torrington Commons was a great success, thank you to Chrissies for leading the walk and Mandy, the chair of Torrington Commons for joining us. The Commons are a fantastic place for wildlife and a great array of species were spotted.

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‍In September

Devon Wildlife Trust:

3rd September- All about Meadows online talk

17th September - Science and Evidence from the River Otter Beaver Trial-online talk

Braunton Countryside Centre

9th September - Dynamic Dunescapes, restoring sand dunes in North Devon, online talk

23rd September- Wildlife Gardening with Kate Bradbury

27th September - Bat walk in Braunton in Bats Meadow and Velator Wetland, important habitats for the rare greater horseshoe bat

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Your Pledges

We have had some fantastic August pledges come in:

• Mike has pledged to create a wildflower meadow by spreading a round bale of flower rich green hay from Lower Ashmoor farm on to our meadow.
• Russell from Chulmleigh has pledged to plant approximately 1000 trees over 3 acres of their land,  100 meters of new hedging planted on Devon banks as well as planting 1/2 an acre of wildflower mixes for birds,butterflies and bees with plans for more over the coming years. Amazing work!

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Nature Natters

‍In Episode 8 we join volunteers from the Exmoor Non-Native Invasive Species Project (ENNIS) who are helping to control the spread of invasive non-native species on Exmoor such as Japanese knotweed, Himalayan balsam, montbretia, skunk cabbage and signal crayfish.

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In Episode 9, we meet Keith Hughes, chair and lead of Weare Giffard Community Orchard. A beautiful site that was created by volunteers approximately 5 years ago, Keith shows us around and gives advice for other communities wishing to create an orchard in their village.

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What to look out for in September

September is a fruitful month, look out for berries of elder, hawthorn, sloe and blackberry. Acorns and conkers and wood mice gnawed hazelnuts.

Although this is a time when gardeners traditionally start to clear up, if you want to encourage wildlife, you could adopt a more natural approach. Leaving seedheads, especially on plants such as teasels, thistles and sunflowers, and allowing vegetation to die back naturally, provides food and shelter for birds through the coldest months.

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Thanks everyone, have a great August and please keep sharing your amazing pledges for nature using the #pledgefornature or joining the Facebook group.

July-September Activities: Big Butterfly Count, Create a Wildlife Pond, Give your hedge a few inches, Help for hedgehogs

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