What’s that little white flower by the hedgerow?

Ian White who took a short course for us last year, is taking two further plant identification courses for us this summer. The first will be on Hedgerow herbaceous (non-woody) plants on Saturday 16th May. The course will run from10.30 until12.30 and if the weather is good we will be ‘in the field’. If you would like to join us please book your place by sending your name and contact details together with the £5 fee (please make cheques payable to the Odiham Biodiversity Group) to Sheila Bates, Parkside, Colt Hill, Odiham, Hampshire RG29 1AN.

Bird Sightings

Spring has definitely arrived when you hear the Chiffchaff and although later than previous years this distinctive sound has been heard for a few weeks now. Leslie saw a swallow at Broad Oak on the 6th April but has anyone seen a house martin or heard the cuckoo?

Flowers By The Footpaths

Odiham is criss-crossed with numerous footpaths (a map is available from Sheila or the Library – free of charge). But as you wander, look at the flowers growing alongside. The starry yellow Lesser Celandines are all over the place but at the back of Reyntiens View there is a giant version – a garden ‘escape’.

The Violets have been splendid this year – all sorts of varieties and colours from a lovely patch of white by the footpath going through Archery Fields to pink ones in the Churchyard (underneath the Yew to the left of the front of the church). As these flowers fade they are being replaced by Forget-me-nots and soon the Cow Parsley (also known as Queen Anne’s Lace) will be in flower – there will be a stunning display alongside the footpath in Palace Gate.

Butterflies

A century ago ragged-winged Commas had become very rare, confined to the Welsh Borders. Thankfully they have spread since then and are probably the commonest of the spring butterflies now emerging in Odiham. Sadly, the Small Tortoiseshell has taken the opposite journey and is a now a rarity. Please let us know if you are lucky enough to see one in the area. Peacocks, with their distinctive wing eye markings, are also out in reasonable numbers along with the bright yellow male Brimstones.

About to emerge from pupation are our distinctive Orange Tips and dark brown Speckled Woods which had an excellent year in 2008, possibly the best of all our local butterflies. Both favour the Canal and Common areas but could be seen almost anywhere in our parish.

Do remember that stinging nettles and jack-by-the hedge/cuckoo flower are foodplants for the caterpillars of these delightful insects so do think about sparing one sunny corner of the garden for these and other good old British weeds. Peanut feeders are great for the birds, but they'd doubtless prefer nice juicy natural insects where available!

Steve’s walks on Odiham Common

Steve Lyons Hart District Council’s Senior Ranger will be leading two walks on Odiham Common in May; an evening walk on Thursday 14th May and a Saturday morning walk on the 23rd May. Meet at 6.00 pm and 10.00 am respectively by the recycling bins at Colt Hill. Dogs on leads are welcome but wear stout footwear. As these are HDC walks they’re free!

Hedgerow Survey - the Final Push

We started a project to survey Odiham’s hedgerows in 2007, but the foot and mouth outbreaks and wet weather over the last two summers haven’t helped us. We are however, determined to finish the project this year, so if you would like to help (training will be given in the field) please contact Sheila on 01256 701187.

Report on walk and talk

Thank you to all who came to Peter Bickford’s inspiring talk on Dragonflies and the walk in Butter Wood, where we found all sorts of Violets, the fascinating but easily overlooked Townhall Clock and the elusive Daphne at Greywell. Tony has kindly written ‘the full works’ on the Violets that we saw – or didn’t see – just ask and I’ll forward a copy.

OTHER ORGANISATIONS EVENTS

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust
Spring walk on Greywell Moors Saturday 25th April, 10.30 am. Please contact Peter Vaughan on 01256 764225 for further details.

Bluebells Walk at Ellisfield Sunday 26th April 10.30 am. For more information please contact Ruth Cairns on 01256 326364.

Farmland Dawn Chorus at Tunworth. Sunday 3rd May 4.30 am. Please contact Amanda Bassett on 01256 381186 for more information.

Butterfly Conservation
Easter Stroll at Bentley Station Meadow Wednesday 15th April.

Walk to Health at Bentley Station Meadow Tuesday 5th May

Wednesday Wander at Magdalen Hill Down 6th May. Look at their excellent website www.hantsiow-butterflies.org.uk/events.htm for more information.

RSPB
The evening talk is on 15th April and is entitled ‘Namibia’ and the outside meeting is at Blashford Lakes on the 19th April. Please contact Peter Hutchins on 01256 770831 or Maureen Brailey on 01256 702006 for more information.

For more information about the Odiham Biodiversity Group please contact Sheila Bates on 01256 701187.

The day went well with a good attendance and a fairly high sign-up level of residents as 'stakeholders' in the overall process: they will be kept up to speed and their views factored in as the plan emerges.

Many thanks to the display groups who did a superb job including the Hampshire Wildlife Trust, Natural England, Odiham Bio-Diversity, Odiham Society, Natural England, National Trust, Hart District Council, Forestry Commission and Open Spaces Society - all pulled together by Steve Lyons, senior ranger.

Now we need to move forward on developing the actual plan for the Common!

December 19

7:30pm, Carols on the Common, Hartley Wintney. Dancing at the Wagon and Horses. With a Christmas Market!

December 26

12:30, Boxing Day dancing at the Crown Inn, Old Basing.

January 1 2008

12:30, Hair of the Dog tour starting at the Wagon and Horses, Hartley Wintney and eventually finishing at the Crooked Billet in Hook.

January 11

6:30pm, Wassail at Hartley Wintney Millennium Orchard. Procession starts from Wagon and Horses at 6:30pm. Wassail Cup and songs in the Orchard. Barbeque and mulled Cider.

Why not join in the fun? Come and try out a friendly practice session with us at St. John’s Church Hall, Hook. We are there every Friday from 8pm. Absolutely no experience is necessary! We dance at festivals, pubs, fetes and the like all through the summer months raising money for good causes. This year we are celebrating our 16th glorious year and would welcome new dancers from the local area. For more information (than you ever thought you needed) visit www.hookeagle.org.uk

Do you have mistletoe in your garden?

On his visits to Odiham, Tony Mundell (the north Hampshire Flora recorder) has been impressed with the amount of mistletoe that he has seen and the different species of tree that it appears on. On Odiham Common mistletoe grows on ash trees and this is rather unusual.

To investigate this and add to Tony’s county records, we have decided to do a survey. Now the leaves have fallen it’s much easier to see the mistletoe but less easy to identify the host. Please let us know if you have mistletoe in your garden. We need to know the species of the tree that it grows on and a grid reference for your garden or your post code will suffice. Any other records in the wider countryside, if you can supply the same information would also add to the picture.

Churchyard Small Mammal Survey

On the 8th and 9th of November with the help of Amanda Bassett from the Hampshire Wildlife Trust we carried out a small mammal survey of the Churchyard. Eight traps were set and next morning we found that three were occupied. All three occupants were wood mice – 2 males and a female. Not much of a variety but at least we know that there is life there!

Churchyard and Cemetery Surveys

We are now coming to the end of the surveys and would like to thank all the people who have helped over the last year, particularly Wendy, Carol, Liz and Julie who have been doing the bird surveys. We are now collating our findings and will write our reports which we will submit to the Churchwardens and The Parish Council in due course. It has been a fascinating year for discovering what lives in these special places – from Red-legged partridges in the Cemetery to the Fiddle dock in the Churchyard! The numbers of cowslips, primroses, ox-eye daisies, scabious and knapweed on the south side of the Cemetery were particularly stunning.

Sofa birdwatching

We were lucky with the weather – a cold sunny morning and the birds duly obliged. Blue tits, Great tits, a Robin, Chaffinches and Goldfinches all appeared on the feeders.

Winter Birds

Many people have noticed the Fieldfares and Redwings that have now arrived. These are winter visitors to our shores and are members of the thrush family. Redwings are slightly smaller than a Song thrush and have distinctive red colouring under their wings, whilst Fieldfares are a little larger with a grey crown. Both have the thrushes’ speckled breast. Mistle thrushes are also making their presence felt – or rather heard – they have a very distinctive call like a football rattle, as they defend a favourite berry-laden shrub.

We are arranging a winter bird walk with Peter Hutchins in January – more details in next month’s newsletter.

Paul’s Talk

I think that all those who attended would agree with me that Paul’s talk was quite fascinating and we now know that Ratty no longer lives in the canal (except maybe in the western section), the shrub with distinctive pink berries and orange seeds is the Spindle and the cygnets once grown are driven away by their parents and probably end up on Tundry Pond. Thanks to all who came to this very successful evening and we now have our insurance money for next year!

Tree Trails

Following our tree trail walks we are now producing two leaflets – one concentrating on the Churchyard and Chamberlain Gardens and the other on the Cemetery, King Street and Buryfields. More details next month.

Buryfields

On 6th November Paul Hope, the canal ranger, and Carol Gibbons visited Buryfields infant school to talk to the children about the canal and local animals . Paul explained the need for managing the trees by the canal and dressed up volunteers in his safety gear to illustrate his work. He then showed everyone the skulls of a badger, fox and deer: animals many of the children had seen in the area. The audience was enthusiastic and asked interesting questions and Carol and Paul had a very enjoyable morning.

OTHER ORGANISATIONS EVENTS

Hampshire Wildlife Trust Walk at The Vyne Sunday 9th December

Ruth Cairns will lead a walk around the fascinating and beautiful grounds of this National Trust property, keeping an eye open for wildlife along the way. Meet at 10.00 am and park at The Vyne car park, Morgaston Road, Sherborne St. John (Map ref. SU 637 576). For further details, please contact Ruth on 01256 326364.

Hampshire County Council Guided walks

Hampshire County Council produce a little booklet (free) of guided walks in Hampshire. They range from weekly 1 hour ‘health’ walks in and around Basingstoke to a 12 _ mile walk on the 27th December around Greywell via Tunworth, Mapledurwell and Upton Grey. There are many other walks throughout the county including some on the coast.

The booklet is available from Odiham library – as are the Parish Council’s footpath maps.

For more information about the group please contact Sheila Bates on 01256 701187 or e-mail at smbates@btinternet.com

The Odiham Scottish Country Dancing Group normally meets in the Cross Barn from 8pm until 10pm on the first and third Thursdays of each month from the third Thursday in September until the end of March each year. It is a very informal group which welcomes beginners. There is no need to book in beforehand and partners are not required. There is a charge of £2 per person to cover the hire of the venue. For further details contact Christopher Froehlich on 01256 704087.

Animal touch Charity at Roke farm aims to create a peaceful and secure environment, where people can be still and take time to just 'be' with our animals. People visit us for a variety of reasons:

stress, bereavement, life-threatening illness, depression, stroke rehabilitation, autism, blindness, loneliness and many more.

The Animal Touch Centre is a safe and peaceful place
out of the public eye, where individuals, families and groups can know they will be given space and time.

Call 01256 703013 for more details.