Latest news with #BBOWT
BBC News
13-06-2025
- General
- BBC News
Racehorse charity founder Grace Muir appointed MBE
A charity founder who won two BBC awards for her contribution to animal welfare has been appointed an MBE. Grace Muir, CEO of the Wantage Homing Ex-Racehorses Organisation Scheme (HEROS), has been recognised for services to charity, animal welfare and education in the King's Birthday Honours. She had previously won two Make a Difference awards in 2024 for Berkshire and Muir said she hoped the honour would "reflect some of my passion and future vision into HEROS to make us do more". HEROS was established in 2006 with a primary focus on ex-racehorse retraining and rehoming, and in 2023 it opened a forest school for students with special education Muir said she had not started the charity "for any honour". "But it is such an honour," she said."I couldn't do this without my team and if it can reflect some of my passion and future vision into HEROS to make us do more and make this shine the light on racing and the good it's trying to do, then that's what it's for." Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxford Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) CEO Estelle Bailey as also been honoured with an MBE for services to nature's charity's achievements include a £500,000 nature restoration project."It's really not the sort of letter you get every day," Ms Bailey said."To read the words MBE was just absolutely extraordinary, it took my breath away for a moment."She added that charitable life was "really hard when you're working really for blood, sweat and tears - also not a lot of money". "But it was that moment of recognition for me that was just really super special." 'Nice people have noticed' Neil Stockton, chair of Oxford Hospital Radio Cherwell, was honoured with a Medal of the Order of the British Empire (BEM) for services to hospital radio and to the local Stockton said the service - established in 1967 - provided "more than just playing records in a little cupboard in the corner". "It was actually going round the wards talking to patients, making them the stars of the shows, getting out into local communities," he said."After all these years it's nice to feel that people have noticed that this crackpot that spends all his time in studios wiring and talking to people on the radio is being honoured in this way." You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
BBC News
27-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
West Oxfordshire council defends four litter fines in decade
Only four fines have been issued for littering by West Oxfordshire District Council in the past decade, figures obtained by the BBC have revealed.A Freedom of Information request showed a total of 401 fixed penalty notices for the offence have been handed out by councils across Oxfordshire since City Council gave the most at Oxfordshire District Council said it took environmental offences "seriously" but argued fines can only be given when people are seen littering, which can "limit enforcement opportunities". Liam Walker, a Conservative councillor on the council, said the low level of fines was "astonishing" but he was also shocked at the level of littering."It's not just about enforcement from the council... and government and police, it's all also about education - teaching people not to be throwing litter in this day and age," he were given powers to issue larger fines of up to £500 for littering in Adams is part of the group Thame Wombles and does a litter pick most days, collecting as much as eight bags of rubbish at a time. "To make an example of a few people, it just might stop others doing it," she said."[Littering is] just pure laziness from people." The Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) warned that littering has a serious impact on Polonara, community wildlife officer, said small mammals like hedgehogs were at said: "There's a huge issue where they get stuck in a lot of different litter, especially when they're looking for food, they can't free themselves and then they die."When asked about the level of fines handed out, West Oxfordshire District Council said it did recognise the importance of keeping public spaces clean.A spokesperson said: "Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) for littering can only be issued when individuals are directly observed committing an offence, which can limit enforcement opportunities. "In many cases, litter found in public areas does not include identifying information, making it difficult to take formal action." You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X, or Instagram.
BBC News
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Photography competition back celebrating local wildlife
An annual photography competition, open to both amateur and professional enthusiasts of all ages, is Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) has launched its annual nature photography competition for year's prizes include a smart bird feeder camera with AI species recognition and and a chance for photos to be featured in the trust's 2026 wildlife events manager Serena Millen-Quinn said: "Every year we're blown away by the creativity and talent on display. It's a real reminder of how important the natural world is to people." She added the trust was continuing its mobile phone category after it "proved hugely popular"."Whether you're snapping a fox in your garden or a butterfly on one of our reserves, we'd love to see your photos," she Deeney, a regular competition judge, said: "A top tip to stand out with some great photos is to take a moment to observe your subject."Often, slow and steady wins the race, if you are patient and stay silent then wildlife may come to you." You can follow BBC Berkshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
The Guardian
30-04-2025
- Science
- The Guardian
Butterflywatch: UV torches aid monitoring of rare and elusive species
Nature lovers have been enjoying using UV torches to discover the vivid fluorescent colours of plants and animals at night for a few years now. Now lepidopterists have realised that UV torches provide a highly effective new way to find and count rare and elusive butterflies. Butterfly Conservation is working with Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) to train volunteers to hunt for glow-in-the-dark caterpillars. Elusive tree-dwelling butterflies such as the rare brown hairstreak are particularly difficult to monitor in the wild. The butterfly lives in treetops and is difficult to see as an adult, and its caterpillars are superbly camouflaged. Brown hairstreak colonies are typically monitored by painstakingly hunting for its microscopic eggs, which are found on blackthorn twigs in midwinter. But now there's an easier way: shining a UV torch on hedgerows at night can reveal glowing caterpillars. UV torches make the luminous larvae gleam as if they are producing their own light – an effect known as photoluminescence. The well-camouflaged chrysalis of the purple emperor is virtually impossible to find in daylight and yet it also glows under UV light – delighting enthusiasts who search for these charismatic insects. Sign up to Down to Earth The planet's most important stories. Get all the week's environment news - the good, the bad and the essential after newsletter promotion Steven Lofting, a conservation manager for Butterfly Conservation, says surveying via UV torches could be 'a gamechanger' and significantly improve our understanding of rare and hard-to-find butterflies' distribution, abundance and ecology.
BBC News
25-04-2025
- Science
- BBC News
Glow-in-the-dark caterpillars spotted using new technique
Two wildlife charities are recruiting volunteers to help spot glow-in-the-dark caterpillars at night using ultraviolet is hoped the technique will make surveying butterflies and moths quicker and reveal secrets about their behaviour and surveys are part of a conservation project covering Bernwood Forest, the River Ray and Otmoor Basin near Oxford.A conservation manager for the Dorset-based Butterfly Conservation, Steven Lofting, said the new method "has the potential to change our understanding of their biology, distribution, abundance and ecology. It's really exciting." Training in this new technique is part of a project led by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT), which has been given £512,182 from The National Lottery Heritage first group of volunteers were trained at the Trust's Finemere Wood nature reserve between Bicester and were looking for caterpillars of the UK's five species of hairstreak black hairstreak is endangered, the brown hairstreak and white-letter hairstreak are both vulnerable, and green hairstreak and purple hairstreak have also declined in abundance and distribution since the 1970s. BBOWT has now applied for a total of £3.6m for the Reconnecting Bernwood, Otmoor and the Ray project, of which Butterfly Conservation is a key scheme involves working with communities, farmers and landowners to restore habitats for threatened species on the Oxfordshire-Buckinghamshire Coulam, from the trust, said the data gathered by the volunteers would help them "develop projects which hope to increase abundance and range of the hairstreak butterflies through habitat creation and restoration". Butterfly Conservation and BBOWT have surveyed hairstreaks for decades, but the techniques have been slow and the brown hairstreak, both charities rely on volunteers going out in the middle of winter to look for tiny, pinhead-sized eggs on twigs using magnifying Lofting said: "If we can just shine a light in the bushes and these caterpillars suddenly glow at us like an electric lightbulb, it could make it so much easier and quicker to do surveys of these species." Surveys of butterflies are important for conservation because they are known as indicator species, meaning rises and falls in their populations can predict the health of the wider figures from the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme revealed 2024 was the fifth worst year for UK butterflies since the scheme began in than half of the UK's butterfly species have populations in long-term decline, a survey has found. You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
