Knowledge is power

Val looks at how local knowledge benefits wildlife

- Val Bourne

I KNOW that many of you love the wildlife in your gardens, just as I do, but I often feel that we're the silent majority. We're drowned out by a vocal minority, because it's much easier to scream and shout about what you don't want, rather than wax lyrical about what you already have.

I often feel this way about our village in the Cotswolds, an area with mega expensive housing that local people can't afford. We attract wealthy buyers and many have been city-based for most of their lives. They buy and renovate, adding more value to their properties, and then discover that not much happens in a small 'parky' village of 200 or so. They move back to the city and the whole saga begins again.

This means there's a dearth of local knowledge about the wildlife in our parish and this has had consequences. If the tall holly tree near our garden hadn't been lopped by several feet, the pair of mistle thrushes that nested there every year would probably still be there. The tawny owls in the nearby woodland left their mature oak tree home after the woodland floor was tidied and disturbed. The wrens departed after a tangle of brambles was cleared.