Camel

The present foot-and-mouth crisis has severely curtailed many of the group's outdoor activities in recent weeks. Just prior to this there was a well-attended walk on the Camel Trail from Oldtown Cove towards Padstow to look for wintering wildfowl and waders. It was a joint meeting with the Restormel Group and the leaders were Adrian Langdon and Dave Thomas. There were good sightings of several duck species incuding wigeon, goldeneye, mallard and shelduck, along with great northern diver and Slavonian grebe.

At Wadebridge Town Hall our AGM was well attended and many members enjoyed a super talk by Simon Ford about his visit to Tanzania.

On 10th March there was a report of a large red deer stag in the road on the A389 between Wadebridge and Bodmin. It was estimated to be about five feet high at the shoulders with a large rack of antlers. Fortunately it was seen to bound over the roadside hedge and across surrounding fields towards the Camel Valley.

"The Committee"

Carrick

Having successfully completed our first year as the reconstituted Carrick Group, we have been busy over the winter months regenerating membership participation and holding various talks and walks. One of the main things we have noticed amongst our members is that there are many people who are keen to

get involved in practical ways to help preserve wildlife and habitats, rather than just paying their yearly subscriptions. This has included magazine packing and distribution, assisting on a seal monitoring project and volunteering at local festivals. Getting out there and doing it is where real satisfaction lies! So, although we may have made a good start, we are always looking for more volunteers - contact me if you are interested.

Three recent events that generated much support were talks on three very different subjects - seals, water voles and death! Stephen Westcott's illustrated talk on "Seals and Things" attracted at least 70 people to the local hall in St Agnes. His passion for the subject was complemented by his wonderful photographs of seals in varied situations around their rocky environments. Some photographs also exemplified the horrific truth of how seals are struggling to survive in our waters, with many being trapped in fishing nets and being oiled by indiscriminate dumping by tankers. He is a true example of someone who is always at the very heart of wildlife action - often in extreme weather - to gain valuable insights into seal behaviour.

Steve Townsend's water vole talk - again in St Agnes and attracting a good audience - was different in the extreme in that he has yet to find a water vole in Cornwall! Having surveyed over 160 sites around the county, not one has been spotted.

Nevertheless, his talk was full of interest, especially educating us on how to identify water vole habitats and burrows, droppings and food remains - just in case we

come across any! Naturally, he would appreciate any reports of sightings as at present it doesn't look too positive for the water vole in Cornwall. Decline in habitat, intensive agriculture, erosion of river banks and the past insurgence of the mink population (the main predator) have obviously had a devastating effect.

In early March we held a fascinating and well-attended talk at Mawnan Smith, given by wildlife vet Vic Simpson who described his experiences as a pathologist studying wildlife mortality. Vic's studies have questioned many established thoughts concerning how our wildlife is killed. As one of the country's leading vets, he is now focusing much of his work on otters and sea mammals and is gathering much needed data on these endangered species.

As with everything else, our walking programme is suffering from the foot-and-mouth outbreak so our walk around the Perranwell Station area in February was our most recent. Our spring/summer programme includes supporting the Trust at various fairs and fetes so please contact me if you'd be prepared to supervise a stand for a half day or so. We have also planned another boat trip down the Fal on 21st July at 6.00pm so if you missed out last year, or want to repeat the experience, reserve your place now by contacting me. Other local group members are welcome!

Bob Bridges

Congratulations to the Carrick Group on its efforts in the last year. We're sure the other local groups will forgive us for allowing Carrick extra space for this special report.