How
to Watch Wildlife by
Ralph Hollins
No
one knows the south-east corner of Hampshire; Hayling
Island, Warblington, Havant, Langstone, Southmoor,
better than Ralph Hollins. Out-and-about most days,
on his trusty old steed, a bike that must be circa
19th century, observing, noting, imparting and taking
in information about everything in the area.
Not
too dissimilar to Ralph’s bike
Compared
to his vast knowledge, I would classify myself as
just below that of a plonker, and to those who I look
up to, they look up to Ralph. (Sorry if this sounds
a little like the Frost Report) After 70 years observing
the natural world, his enthusiasm remains undimmed,
and predictably, he knows one or two things about
birds, mammals, insects, flora, life, the universe
and everything.
If
any of us are stuck on a wild plant, the pathetic
whine goes up, ‘We’ll ask Ralph’
and the answer will be forthcoming. He also has the
excellent local diary on his website, which is brought
up-to-date a couple of times a week, to keep all informed
about what is going on in the south. The area is well
covered with maps on his site, as is his philosophy
on wildlife and ecology. If you spot anything rare
or unusual in the area, then you can email Ralph.
We
call him the Godfather, the Guv, the Big Daddy of
the South, His Lordship. Well, okay, actually we don’t
and never have done, but he is held in high esteem,
he has introduced many to a lifelong interest in wildlife,
and whoever you are, whatever your abilities, he is
always willing to stop for a chat and share his love
of nature.
Tips
on how to watch Wildlife
Ralph
Hollins
Ian
has asked me to contribute a few thoughts about where
you can see wildlife in the general area around Hayling
Island and I think he was expecting a list of walks
to be taken in the area, with details of routes and
what can be seen if you walk them.
I
too thought such a 'beginner's guide' to exploring
the area was a useful adjunct to my own 'Nature Notes'
website when I started it in 1997 and you can see
the detail I produced by visiting http://homepage.ntlworld.com/ralph.hollins/Diary.htm
and clicking the MAPS link. Scrolling down the
page to which this link takes you brings you to a
table of sub-areas in which clicking the name of a
sub-area takes you to a fairly detailed map of that
area followed by notes on the wildlife aspects of
the places shown. Scrolling down further you come
to a list of some place names which crop up in the
text of my diary, and where there is a 'Go to map'
link against the name you can see the place on the
map of one of my sub-areas. Near the top of the page
you will find a note about Ordnance Survey Maps with
a link, confusingly again named MAPS, which takes
you to a different page telling you about OS Maps
- in particular about how to interpret and use Map
References
These
web pages may help you to get an impression of the
area, but many years of leading walks and communicating
with people about wildlife, has taught me that wildlife
watching is a very personal thing;(people on the same
walk look in different directions and are interested
in different aspects of what they see) the seasons
plus the weather combine to offer you quite different
objects of interest each time you take the same walk.
The net result is that it is impossible to write a
'guide book' to the natural environment in the same
way that one can detail the interesting features of
the built environment.
One
basic fact about wildlife is that it is always changing
under the influence of the seasons, the weather and
more general changes to the environment, some natural
but more caused by the hand of man. As far as birds
are concerned, their ability to fly means that you
cannot pin them down to any one place, and in the
same way that you use weather forecasts and tide tables
to help decide where to go on any particular day,
it is very helpful to scan the news on the internet
from bird observatories and similar sources covering
a wide area to give you an idea of what is likely
to turn up in your patch.
Langstone
Mill Part of Ralph’s ‘ local patch’
So
if you want to get the most wildlife interest out
of any walk my advice would be:-
1.
Get a large scale map of the area and learn how to
read it (and to use a 'Romer' for accurate map references
so as to be able to communicate precise locations
to others, and a 'mileage wheel' to work out distances
along winding routes so that you know roughly how
long a walk will take)
2.
Work out your own walk routes to explore the whole
area accessible to you - wildlife is not restricted
to nature reserves!
3.
Whenever you are out, not necessarily on a planned
walk, keep your eyes open for all the wildlife around
you (animals, plants, insects and fungi as well as
birds) and always have a notepad with you to jot down
everything of interest that you see (particularly
the details of anything that you cannot name on the
spot).
4.
When you get home, make a permanent record of everything
of interest that you have seen
(Warblington - Local Patch)
5.
Try, with the help of local experts, books and the
internet, to name everything you have seen (but don't
expect to do so in every case!)
6.
After 50 or perhaps 70 years of doing this ask yourself
(a) am I still finding this a rewarding pursuit ?
and (b) have I still got a lot to learn? In my case
the answer is yes to both questions.
Footnote:
We have talked about 'walks' above and while it is
true that walking is the ideal way to see wildlife,
don't overlook the advantages of the bicycle as a
means of exploring your local area. It gives you a
much wider range to explore and, unlike a car, allows
you to stop immediately you see something of interest
and to get to most of the places that you could reach
on foot (providing you are prepared to get off and
push or lift the bike from time to time).
Ralph
Hollins
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