Animal Rescue with Marion Garnett
Dedicated animal expert Marion Garnett, founder of the Ealing Animal Charities Fair, continues her column
I SHOULD have realised that if you go for a nature walk with Chris Packham, you go for a nature walk with Chris Packham, you’re not going for a short stroll round the park. But, no matter how exhausted I was at the end of it, every second was worth it.
The famous broadcaster, Chris Packham, was leading a walk through the Colne Valley at Denham looking at the destruction of the wildlife habitats caused by HS2.
Wildlife in the area includes water voles, otters, ospreys, willow tits, and lesser spotted woodpeckers. At one point, Chris spotted a wellingtonia tree which had little holes pecked into it by treecreepers. He explained how they peck into the soft bark and, when it’s very cold, they put their beak in the hole and fluff their bottom up.
If HS2 goes ahead, with its plan to damage or destroy 108 ancient woodlands, much of this wonderful habitat and the wildlife that lives there will be lost. If you want to know more, see rethinkhs2. org.
Since 1979, one way of monitoring what is happening to UK wildlife is the Big Garden Birdwatch.
Organised by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), it is the world’s largest wildlife survey providing data regarding changing bird populations and distributions. For example, there has been a 76% decline in the song thrush since the survey started.
To take part in the Birdwatch, all you have to do is choose an hour between January 25-27 and watch the birds in your garden or local park for that hour. Only count the birds that land in your garden or park, not those flying over.
To avoid counting birds twice, you count the highest number you see of each bird species at any one time in the hour – not the total you count over the hour.
They also want to know what other wildlife (such as hedgehogs, frogs) you see in your garden or local park. To take part, go to rspb. org.uk.
No doubt many cats are already taking part in a birdwatch survey of their own. Not that this applies to Demi. This gorgeous girl came into the care of the RSPCA after being abandoned.
When I went into her pen to meet her, she was initially hiding under a blanket but she soon came out to make friends. If you would like to meet Demi too, she is waiting at the RSPCA Cat Adoption Centre, Burket Close, Southall.