Thousands of caterpillars released into Lake District valley

insectMarsh Fritillary by Jim S Thousands of caterpillars released into Lake District valleyThousands of caterpillars have been released in a Lake District valley as part of ongoing attempts to re-establish colonies of one of Europe’s most endangered butterflies.

Almost 4,000 Marsh Fritillary caterpillars were distributed on suitable habitat by Wild Ennerdale Volunteers, Forestry Commission staff and Butterfly Conservation under a

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Grizedale Forest’s red kite chicks survive their first winter

1250540066 Vyk4m S Grizedale Forest’s red kite chicks survive their first winterMost of the red kite chicks released by the Forestry Commission in the Lake District’s Grizedale Forest last summer have survived the harsh winter.

Wildlife rangers believe that around 20 of the 30 birds that were released in the first year of a three-year reintroduction programme made it

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Rangers’ high rise match making

1239360682 P5ksq S Rangers’ high rise match makingWildlife rangers went up in the world to help a frisky osprey bachelor entice a mate. The first of three new artificial osprey platforms was erected by the Forestry Commission in Kielder Water & Forest Park, Northumberland.

Wildlife rangers donned their harnesses and scaled a 20 metre spruce to lop the top of the tree with

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Mouth swabs to probe rare blood lines

1182395927 28fNK S Mouth swabs to probe rare blood linesGoshawk chicks in Kielder Water & Forest Park are having their mouths swabbed in a bid to discover more about the creature’s blood lines in the 62,000 hectare (155,000 acre) Northumberland wilderness.

The bird, once persecuted to extinction and which reappeared in Kielder in the 1960s, is one of the rarest in

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A star turn for rare bat colony

1044552150 3ypK7 S A star turn for rare bat colonyThe Forestry Commission has announced that the rare Barbastelle bat has established a maternity colony in Lincolnshire woodland – a first for the county and one of the very few such sites identified in Britain.

The bat is generally regarded as a southern English species, but research has revealed that it is

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Environmental project boosts rare butterfly numbers

1044552744 iXHvy S Environmental project boosts rare butterfly numbersAn environmental project led by the Forestry Commission and Butterfly Conservation in the Wyre Forest has been hugely successful in boosting the numbers of rare butterflies living in the West Midlands.

Back to Orange, a three-year project, largely funded by SITA Trust, which aimed to conserve the fritillary butterflies of the Wyre Forest, has

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Forestry Commission records Cumbrian red squirrel numbers

1028502798 fGTKe S Forestry Commission records Cumbrian red squirrel numbersThe Forestry Commission has carried out the first ever full survey of the Red Squirrels Reserve at Whinlatter Forest, Dodd Wood, Wythop and Setmurthy near Keswick as part of efforts to help conservation.

Numbers of red squirrels were counted using 75 traps located within the reserve.

A total of 416 red squirrels

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Take off for Northumberland’s rare ospreys

955542939 XZu6U S Take off for Northumberlands rare ospreysNorthumberland’s  three  osprey  chicks  have taken to the air for the very first time.

The young birds, named Aqua, Splash and Spray, and only the second osprey family raised in North East England since records began 200 years ago, have all successfully flown in Kielder Water and the forest park.

Over the past week

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Study highlights trees’ importance to fish as climate warms

912882475 d9omR S Study highlights trees’ importance to fish as climate warmsPlanting trees along stream banks could play an important part in protecting sensitive fish such as salmon and trout from rising temperatures as the climate warms, a new study has found. Salmon and trout are among the most temperature-sensitive of Britain’s native cold-water species, typically preferring water temperatures

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Tees Valley’s ‘rainforest’ to be surveyed

878434690 sN2fg S Tees Valley’s ‘rainforest’ to be surveyedThe Forestry Commission is backing a root and branch survey to assess the condition of the Tees Valley’s precious ancient woodlands. A grant of £4,000 has been made to the Tees Valley Biodiversity Partnership to undertake the task, which will take 18 months to complete and cover an area from Hartlepool and Redcar and

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