Funnily enough some of the most diverse habits are along our motorways, as they are barely touched from year to year and provide long natural highways for our flora and fauna. A few years ago our local parish council asked if residents if they wanted the grass left long or cut, with the latter sadly winning out. Over the past few years however I've noticed that Bristol and South Glos have left the grass to grow long in many areas, as not only does it benefit insects etc, but also saves them money that can be better used elsewhere.

Quote from: sultanbev on 01 August 2021, 06:17:57 PM
https://friendsoftheearth.uk/nature/ragwort-problem-plant-or-scapegoat

Under the Weeds Act 1959 a landowner or occupier may be ordered to control the spread of ragwort. The Ragwort Control Act 2003 allows for the creation of a code of practice. Neither of these Acts makes ragwort control compulsory in the absence of an order. However, there has been a tendency to misquote the legislation and imply that there is an automatic legal responsibility to control the plant, which there is not.

Interesting......Good find...

Oh, well....we'll still be trying to get rid of it in the fields.

It did  strike me that if it was really compulsory to get rid of it, in a few years there would be an outcry, because it affected another 'branch' of nature.....The cinnabar moths would probably end up on an endangered species list, which would be a shame.

As I've mentioned before, seven acres of our land is basically a 'bog', and is part of a SSSI, because of a couple of rare insects...and a particular plant.

Before we moved here....The powers that be 'took control' of the whole area and defined what, when, and which type of animals would be allowed to graze it.....Sheep were to be banned from grazing, as they'd eat/damage the rare plant, which the rare butterfly relied on.....Before it was a SSSI, the local farmers would use it for sheep grazing, for a portion of the year.

Before, 'nature' was ticking along quite nicely......Now, there are basically no animals ever grazing on it.....and the whole area is turning into 'willow scrub'....defeating the whole point of trying to protect the rare insects.....The whole SSSI is 'evolving' into a completely different habitat, not useful to the butterfly, in the slightest......But maybe good for other species, though.

Steve's point about the habitats along the motorway verges is very true.

Cheers - Phil.

Quote from: Techno II on 03 August 2021, 06:56:29 AM

Steve's point about the habitats along the motorway verges is very true.

Cheers - Phil.

Same applies to rail tracks - the vegitation is now rarely trimed, since there are no steam engines emitting sparks to set fire to it.

'Conservation' and 'use', can be a minefield.
The long disused railway line / Bridleway behind the house was 'wild' in my younger years. About 4' wide path and a bit 'shrubby'... but with great stands of Willowherb and Meadow Cranesbill. (And Dogs could poo in the veg, without any upset!). I liked it that way.
Then, they improved access to make it a Cycleway and more pushchair friendly...(and, maybe 'safer')... and started 'cutting'.  Now, 6'-10' wide... but NO Willowherb , Cranesbill, Horsetails...etc. (SOME of us now have to bag up poo, too!). Some Sad souls have planted Snowdrops, Bluebells, Forget-Me-Nots, Campion, Violets, etc. in the hope that they might 'establish'... but then some **** will complain in local Newsletter about lack of 'management'... so along come the cutters.
'Strangely', 'They' don't seem to want to 'top' the now TOO tall trees, or clear the Ivy strangling some areas!

As a lol, 'We' property owners, received a letter from local 'Committee', a while back, complaining about quality of fencing backing onto Railway line and insisting on improvement. 'They' did not like to hear that i still have site plans showing fence posts that made legal responsibility 'Theirs'! They put up a really 'Crap' fence... just to keep things 'quiet'! Worth considering if someone is in similar circumstance!

Techno... a 'letter' to 'conservation group' 'might' result in some volunteer scrub clearance? BUT could result in 'duty' to conserve area by self! LOL! Don't know!

Quote from: Lord Kermit of Birkenhead on 03 August 2021, 07:25:47 AM
Same applies to rail tracks - the vegitation is now rarely trimed, since there are no steam engines emitting sparks to set fire to it.

Saw a tv doc about some railway 'in the Sarth', where Grape Vines had become well established from unwanted bags being chucked out from train carriages! lol!

Wrens, Avian. We have had 'a pair' in garden for some years, nesting in some fairly safe Ivy. But, I have never seen a fledgling before!  One flew up to cling to wall just a couple of feet nearby. Wrens are small, but this was 'TINY'! Think it was well smaller than my thumb-end! Looked at me, then buzzed off... but no 'Biggles', yet... it brushed my head! LOL! 
A little pleasure. 

That's brilliant.

We get the occasional wren here...Though I've not actually spotted one for a good while....Never seen a youngster though !

Cheers - Phil. 

Robin and Sparrow fledglings a common sight in our garden. which is nice. We see Wrens darting about only in the Winter, as for the rest of the year they're hidden in the undergrowth etc.

Would never have thought about migratory bats!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-58128773
Some sort are local, flitterring along 'old railway line'. Fabricated 'Bat Box' many years ago... but no idea if ever used. Hope 'locals', stay local... and don't go to China! 
(What IS there, to eat, on a Bat?). 

I had no idea that they migrated!

Me neither....

Seen pipistrelles here......Though not recently....and we used to see them quite a lot n Notts.

Only 'long eared' I ever saw, was in Notts....after one of the cats had killed it.

Cheers - Phil.

We see bats every night flying up and down our road, due to the street lights attracting insects etc. Also in the local woods there is a protected bat cave that used to be an ice store for an old farm that no longer exists.

First time that I saw Bats was in Wales on holliday.  Glyn Ceriog and Morfar Nevyn (sp!) Ma left hotel windows open.. and we had visitors! Love to see, ever since.

Quote from: Steve J on 03 August 2021, 06:33:42 AM
Funnily enough some of the most diverse habits are along our motorways, as they are barely touched from year to year and provide long natural highways for our flora and fauna. A few years ago our local parish council asked if residents if they wanted the grass left long or cut, with the latter sadly winning out. Over the past few years however I've noticed that Bristol and South Glos have left the grass to grow long in many areas, as not only does it benefit insects etc, but also saves them money that can be better used elsewhere.

Some of the grass verges near to me are so overgrown they block line of sight, particularly at roundabouts and junctions.

There are also many streets with grass growing in the gutters.

We get the occasional visit by bats which fly very low over the lawn and are presumably feeding on insects attracted by our lounge lighting. Mesmerizing to stand on the lawn outside the lounge as the bats whizz by and around your head.