All About Newport

This summer, two barn owl chicks fledged from a nest box installed in 2012 at Smalley Hill nature reserve, the owl’s only known breeding site in Telford this year. Through our wildlife adoption scheme Shropshire Wildlife Trust is supporting the work of Shropshire Barn Owl group in putting up boxes in suitable locations around the county. You can adopt a barn owl as a gift for friends or family for £20. We also offer Adopt a Wild Thing gift packages for hedgehog, dormouse, pine marten and ancient holly. Each contains a fascinating factsheet with colour photos, a personalised gift certificate and a beautiful photograph of your chosen wild thing. The wildlife adoption project supports practical measures to sustain wild species. At The Hollies, on the Stiperstones, the funds have contributed to the cost of fencing around some of the most ancient hollies, which were failing to regenerate due to constant browsing by sheep. The fences protect the trees, which are already looking healthier, with shiny new growth. Our volunteer dormouse surveyors have had several sightings of dormice this year. With funding from the wildlife adoption scheme we are replacing old nest boxes and putting up new ones on several nature reserves in south Shropshire. Shropshire’s pine martens are still making headlines with a very positive response to their discovery in the county. Six landowners in the locality have agreed to camera traps being installed on their land, in an effort to find out more about their distribution and the extent of their population. Hedgehogs need all the help we can give them. Providing them with habitat is integral to everything we do on our nature reserves and other places where we have influence, encouraging the restoration of old hedgerows, planting new ones, avoiding pesticides and creating diverse wild places. Your hedgehog adoption will support this work. You could also make a hole in your garden fence so our prickly friends can move around, find more food and each other. Wildlife adoptions and gift membership can by purchased online for £20 at shropshirewildlifetrust. org.uk or you can buy them at our visitor centres in Shrewsbury and at The Boathouse, Ellesemere. Wild Christmas presents by Sarah Gibson - www.shropshirewildlifetrust.org.uk Shropshire Wildlife Trust Newport branch of Shropshire Wildlife meet second Tuesday of the month at Church Aston Church Hall, Newport Photographic credits: John Hawkins (Owls), TomMarshall (Hedgehog), Danny Beath (The Hollies), Karl Franz (Pine Marten) ALL ABOUT MAGAZINE | FEATURE 45