Biodiversity: Butterflies and Turtle Doves

Our Biodiversity Plan – What the Boreham Stone Circle provides!

Biodiversity

A key part of our project is to create an area that will foster a rich biodiverse habitat alongside the quarry for people relax and learn about the work that the quarry is doing, and where they can encounter biodiversity and support in action.

The site is broadly split site into meadowland (the flat ground immediately surrounding the stone circle, and the footpath leading to it) which is ideal for butterflies and insects, and the bank (raised area at the back of the stone circle and surrounding scrub trees) which is ideal for turtle doves.

Built into our design are two elements therefore that will support biodiversity but providing year-round food for butterflies throughout their life cycle and provide ideal nesting and feeding habitats for the endangered Turtle Dove

Butterflies and Insects

The natural ‘bowl’ of the site is a small low ‘meadow’ in which the stone circle stands, surrounded by scrub trees, will protect delicate butterflies and insects from the harsh winds and so create a natural site for them - think of a wood in winter, warmer and less windy than the outside so affording some protection for flying animals that would otherwise be carried off course.

In order to create an area suitable for butterflies we need to consider not just flowers for the two weeks of the butterfly stage but the year-round development: egg, chrysalis, larval stages are obviously critical and need a variety of grasses.

Key is to let the vegetation grow naturally – which is good for butter flies in the area: Let nature take its course, but in in a managed way. Bramble should be kept in check!

Typical butterflies that we might expect to see are:

Brown Argos -
Small Copper
Ringlet
Essex Skipper
Meadow brown

Food sources around the site include

Yorkshire fog
Creeping soft grass
Timothy
Wood false brome
Cocksfoot
Birds foot trefoil
Thistles
Sorrel
Nettles (yup, people hate them but butterflies love 'em)

Alongside keeping the bramble in check, plants along the footpaths should be cut back annually (this is already part of the quarry maintenance plan) and ideally the first couple of feet of topsoil at the edge of the stone circle should be turned over annually (perhaps with a small rotovator).

Managing the landscape for biodiversity at this level is not neat and pretty! It should be a relatively wild and natural habitat – the upside for this it that it takes minimal maintenance and is, mostly, what ramblers along the footpath to the stone circle will expect to see.

Operation Turtle Dove

We have engaged with Operation Turtle Dove. Operation Turtle Dove was launched in 2012 and is a project which aims to reverse the decline of one of England’s best loved farmland birds, the turtle dove. It has partnerships with RSPB (www.rspb.org.uk), Fair To Nature (www.fairtonature.org), Pensthorpe Conservation Trust (www.pensthorpetrust.org.uk) and Natural England (www.naturalengland.org.uk)

Turtle Doves (Streptopelia turtur) have declined dramatically in the UK and reduced almost everywhere else in their range. Turtle Doves spend two thirds of their time outside the UK where they face a variety of threats along their migratory route, which takes them from their wintering grounds in West Africa to their breeding grounds in the UK. However, research shows that the loss of habitat in England is the biggest factor driving their declines here.

The good news is that we now know the key problems faced by Turtle Doves and what conservation action needs to be taken, and Operation Turtle Dove is optimistic that we can reverse the fortunes of this enigmatic and culturally significant bird. It is essential that we establish good Turtle Dove feeding and nesting habitat over the turtle dove’s core UK breeding range in East Anglia and South-East England.

The great news is that working quarries are good places for turtle doves as they naturally provide exactly what the turtle dove needs:

Access to seed rich habitat (the quarry, stone circle, and surrounding farmland offer this)
Ground that is 30 to 60% bare (the quarry provides exactly this)
Nesting habitat – (the scrub trees at the back of our site is ideal)

The only ‘direct intervention’ required would be ‘Gee-up’ feeding for six weeks from April (Operation Turtle Dove will identify someone to manage this) and storage for 75kg of seed during the ‘gee up’ feeding period.

What supplementary seed to use? Operation Turtle Dove only recommends feeding with a mix of suitable seed types, not just a single seed, to provide better nutritional variety. Suitable seed types that Turtle Doves are known to use including: oil seed rape, feed white millet, feed red millet, canary seed, sunflower hearts or other oil-rich seeds of similar size.

Operation Turtle Dover see that there is a lot of potential for turtle doves at Bulls Lodge Quarry, which has had turtle doves in the past. This is therefore an ideal site to support an endangered species and help bring it back to the UK landscape.

Legacy & Ongoing Maintenance

Wildlife habitat won’t happen on its own - it will require a certain amount of management - deliberate positive action. However, the great thing about landscapes for butterflies and turtle doves is that they actually require minimal intervention and ongoing maintenance – the key message to the quarry team going forward will be ‘keep doing what you are doing’!

However, when planning habitat include consideration of ongoing management - grass cutting etc access to the different areas – this will be covered in more detail in our final report. Annually rotovate in autumn inner edges of the ‘meadow’ surrounding the stone circle. Maintain the bank and keeping clear of brambles

Critically:

Let it grow naturally - grassy seedy – it’s already good for butterflies
Let nature take its course - in a managed way
Keep an eye on the bramble