National Trust says mild spring and warm autumn of 2011 boosted British wildlife
Last updated 1/6/2012 7:31:41 PM
National Trust says mild spring and warm autumn of 2011 boosted British wildlife
British wildlife enjoyed a successful year in 2011 thanks to a mild spring and a warm autumn with abundant spring-like sunshine, according to experts at the National Trust.
The weather for the year created favourable breeding conditions for many species with National Trust wildlife experts reporting a boom in grey seal, avocet, spring insects and autumn berries in particular.
The wildlife managed to survive the cool and wet summer, the second in a row. The warmest April and the second warmest autumn on record meant that warmth-loving insects such as butterflies, bumblebees and spring mining bees thrived.
The glorious autumn resulted in an abundance of fruits and berries from spring-flowering shrubs, especially apple, hawthorn and sloe, beech nuts and acorns. These provided deer, badgers and grey squirrels with a plentiful food source and fattened up well prior to see them through the tough winter months. Many winter birds will also benefit.
Matthew Oates, wildlife adviser at the National Trust, said: "The unusual weather has confused some of our native wildlife but many species have responded well. Wildlife emerged from winter to a fantastic spring which promised so much but failed to deliver for many species, which were let down by a poor summer.
"Luckily the ‘Indian summer' in autumn months with spring-like temperatures came to the rescue leading to many second appearances, an abundance of berries and huge numbers of migrant species to our shores."
A combination of the warm autumn and high winds has resulted in many rare bird visitors to the coast and countryside with North American buff-breasted sandpipers at several locations, desert wheatear at Man Sands in Devon, red-flanked bluetail at Orford Ness in Suffolk and a bufflehead at Helston Loe Pool in Cornwall.
The earliest spring this century lead to an early appearance of vibrant spring flowers. Primroses peaked at the end of March, a fantastic display of bluebells emerged during April and most vegetation and blossom appeared three to four weeks earlier than normal, but the dry conditions was not good news for frogs, toads and newts, as many of their breeding ponds dried up.
Autumnal tints were visible from late July, and by late August autumn was visible almost everywhere, due to the early start, local drought and summer cold. In much of England water levels were worryingly low, the lowest since 1976, with water rationing being threatened. Matthew Oates continued: "It has certainly been an unpredictable year of weather and the extreme fluctuations throughout just a single year continue to provide challenges to our wildlife."