A County Durham couple have stepped forward to help the region’s threatened woodland birds.
Janice and Michael Baker, whose son Matt Baker presents BBC TV’s Countryfile, have shown that a love of the environment runs deep in the family by pledging to improve an 8 hectare (20 acre) ancient wood on their organic sheep farm near Tow Law for species like Pied Flycatcher and Lesser Spotted Woodpecker.
Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary (Boloria selene). Photo: James Lindsey at Ecology of Commanster – Click photo to enlarge.
Durham Wildlife Trust and Northumbrian Water have launched a new project to protect rare species in the face of
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Male Ruddy Darter (Sympetrum sanguineum) – Photo courtesy André Karwath. Click to enlarge… Used under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.5 License
One of the UK’s rarest
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Rainton Meadows Nature Reserve and Joe’s Pond near Houghton-le-Spring has shown itself to be at the top of the class for educational visits by being awarded a Learning Outside the Classroom Quality Badge.
The Quality Badge scheme combines for the first time learning and safety into one easily recognisable badge for all organisations providing learning outside the classroom experiences.
Durham Wildlife Trust Director Jim Cokill said: “Being awarded the Quality Badge is a real coup for all the staff here as it shows that we offer young people the type of high quality learning experiences they really benefit from.
“We’re thrilled to get official recognition for our efforts and we look forward to welcoming even more children and young people from the local area to our nature reserve.”
Durham Wildlife Trust’s purpose is to protect wildlife and promote nature conservation in County Durham, the City of Sunderland and the Boroughs of Gateshead, South Tyneside and Darlington.
Continue reading Durham Wildlife Trust gets top marks for educational visits
Volunteers from Sunderland Provider Services have taken over the coffee shop at Rainton Meadows and transformed it into Beckwith’s at Rainton.
The volunteers will be staffing the coffee shop every Monday, Wednesday and Friday between 10.30 and 2.30pm, selling a variety of refreshments. Local MP Fraser Kemp and Mayor of Sunderland Cllr Denis Richardson kindly performed the official opening before the Family Fun Day.
Trust Director Jim Cokill said; “I’d encourage all members to come down
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Durham Wildlife Trust is celebrating the acquisition of its newest nature reserve at Stanley Moss, approximately 2 miles east of Tow Law in Weardale.
Stanley Moss is one of the very few remaining blanket peat bogs in the lowlands of County Durham.
Extending 7.5 hectares, it once covered a much larger area but the vast majority of this type of habitat has been lost due to opencast coal mining, forestry and agricultural improvements.
The vegetation at
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