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The Shotover Ancient Trees Project has proved to be a great initiative, involving the older trees in the Shotover area. We are accumulating a register of the ancient and veteran trees at Shotover and have a number of notable trees that are already becoming part of the cultural heritage of Shotover. Have you heard about The Shotover Oak, The 4 Old Men, or the Body Snatcher? There are still more trees to find. They need to be mapped and surveyed for their contribution to wildlife. We also need to assess their health and ensure their survival for the future. See the Shotover Ancient Trees Project. Contact us if you would like to join the Tree Team. |
Many members report their sightings of mammals at Shotover and these records have accumulated a diverse list on the Shotover Wildlife database. Students have also contributed mammal studies that have increased our overall knowledge of mammal activity. A most productive surveying opportunity is on offer here. Bats have been under recorded in the reserve until recently, but a new Shotover Wildlife initiative is underway to survey for bats in Brasenose Wood and on Shotover Hill. Contact us if you would like to join the Bat Team or survey for Mammals. |
Shotover Wildlife maintains regular and systematic monthly bird surveys on Shotover Hill. Surveys are designed to monitor changes in bird numbers and breeding activity. Shotover Wildlife has strong links with Oxford Ornithological Society, and several OOS members contribute to Shotover Wildlife’s monthly systematic surveys at Shotover. See also our book The Birds of Shotover. If you are interested in taking part and/or improving your skills in bird and song recognition, do get in touch. Data are shared with Oxford Ornithological Society (OOS) and Shotover Wildlife collates a database of bird observations in the area of Shotover Hill (see Information and Advice). Contact us if you would like to join the Bird Team. |
(Mosses and liverworts) Brasenose Wood and Shotover Hill is one of the few SSSIs in Oxfordshire that specifically incorporates the requirements of bryophytes in its conservation management. We have the County’s bryophyte specialist among our members, and so are able to apply the best management possible for the wide-ranging needs of our mosses and liverworts. If you would like to learn more about this fascinating and underrated group of plants, you could sign up for Shotover Wildlife’s Mosses Identification Course (click here for information), which is run each year in November by Jacqueline Wright, County Recorder of Bryophytes for Oxfordshire and Berkshire, or join the Oxford Mossing Group. Contact us if you would like to join the Bryophyte Team. |
A number of Shotover Wildlife members specialise in butterflies and form the foundation of butterfly recording at Shotover. In addition, other people including County specialists contribute their butterfly identification skills to our work. There are many ways in which you can contribute to SW’s butterfly recording. One way would be to concentrate on a specific area, habitat or a particular species. It would be particularly useful to maintain the monitoring of a regular fixed transect, but this requires some commitment. Contact us if you would like to survey for butterflies. |
Shotover Wildlife has a number of field botanists. These members form the foundation of plant recording at Shotover. In addition, many other people contribute their identification skills each year. The ADOPT-A-SECTOR scheme This is one of the best opportunities around for building field skills in plant identification! If you would like to practice or increase your plant ID skills in a practical and manageable way, why not adopt your own area or ‘sector’ of Shotover on which to focus? In this way you can enhance your field skills whilst making a real contribution towards helping the organisation build a comprehensive appreciation of Shotover's flora. Each year we focus on a different part of Brasenose Wood or Shotover Hill, dividing a large area of habitat into smaller sectors. Each person chooses the size of sector they would like, and adopts it as their own for the year. You visit your sector to record the plants in your own time, as often as you like between March and September. Support Days are run throughout the season to help you confirm any plants you are not sure of. A grasses identification workshop is provided for Shotover Wildlife members each summer in the reserve. In the autumn we combine everyone’s species list onto the SW database for a comprehensive survey of that year’s area. The results are fed back to the surveyors and interpreted for best conservation management of the reserve. The Adopt-a-Sector scheme has been a huge success since its start in 1999, and has been of great benefit to many SW members. One member is now enjoying a career as a professional botanist, and has become a County Recorder for flora, having first got started with the Adopt-a-Sector scheme! Contact us if you would like to join the Flora Team. |
Shotover Wildlife is accumulating records of fungi under the leadership of a number of ecologists and mycologists. This work is contributing to SW’s knowledge and understanding of an important species group in relation to the many different habitats at Shotover. We need more people with skills in the scientific surveying of fungi in order to increase our knowledge and understanding of the ecological interactions of fungi in the reserve. Contact us if you have skills you would like to contribute in the scientific identification of fungi. |
(other than butterflies and moths) Shotover Wildlife's invertebrate work focuses on the identification, surveying and study of ants, bees, beetles, molluscs, sawflies, spiders, wasps and some groups of flies. Much species identification is based on microscope work, and Shotover Wildlife has microscopes for loan to members for this purpose. Other elements of the initiative involve fieldwork: survey transects, pan and pitfall trapping, Malaise trapping, Winkler extraction, and hand netting techniques. Insect Sampling This rewarding activity does not necessarily need special skills, just a commitment to visit and service insect traps. This could be easily accomplished by an enthusiastic beginner yet yield some very important results. It is also well suited to project work for schools or the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme. The work can be extended to the sorting of a catch into basic insect groups, and is particularly helpful and instructive to anyone who would like to become familiar with the diversity of insects. We have links with various entomological organisations (Oxford University, British Entomological and Natural History Society, The Northmoor Trust etc.) and this framework provides the opportunity for anyone to pursue an interest of their own, under some of the best advice possible. Contact us if you would like to contribute to Shotover Wildlife’s invertebrate work. |
Surveys of moths are being undertaken through the year at Shotover in order to update our records and current understanding of the moths profile in the reserve. Shotover Wildlife moth enthusiasts have devised a methodology that provides an alternative to staying up late on ‘moth nights’. The surveys are providing new information for previously unrecorded habitats on the hill. If you would like to learn or practice the identification of moths, in convivial company, this could be the ideal opportunity. Contact us if you would like to join the Moth Team. |
Shotover is an important reserve for reptiles, and lizards in particular. Lizards are declining nationally because their habitat is becoming scarce. Through our heathland restoration work Shotover is providing ideal habitat for this species group. Shotover also has a number of small ponds and we need to know more about our newts. Reptile and/or amphibian surveying offers a great opportunity for anyone wishing to make a real contribution in helping Shotover Wildlife ascertain the status of all our reptile and amphibian species in the reserve. Contact us if you would like to contribute to our work for Reptiles and Amphibians. |
Conservation Work Days are held at Brasenose Wood and Shotover Hill SSSI on the second Sunday of every month. Days run from 10am to 3pm but you can arrive and depart anytime you like. We undertake practical work with hand tools to enhance the marshes, increase the areas of acidic grassland, restore the heathland, build habitat for reptiles, and manage the wildlife conservation of Brasenose Wood. There is a great deal of vitally important conservation work to do at Shotover and any time you can spare, however short, makes a significant contribution to enhancing wildlife habitats. Join the team for a day in the fresh air, a healthy workout, good company, and if you have any energy left, a convivial drink and/or meal in a local pub afterwards. See the Conservation Work Days leaflet or contact us if you would like to join the Conservation Team. |
There are opportunities to gain experience in the leadership or coordination of one of the many aspects of Shotover Wildlife’s work. It may be indoors or out; wildlife or administration work. You don’t necessarily need to know about wildlife to lead or coordinate some of our wildlife activities. You would need to be well organised, have initiative, be good with people, and be an active communicator. Access to email would be essential for some SW activities. Suggestion 1: Conservation Work Day leaders. There are ongoing opportunities for suitable people to join Shotover Wildlife’s team of Conservation Leaders. We offer guidance in the form of one to one sessions, written material, shadowing the leader ‘on-the-job’, and site visits to plan the day’s work in detail. Suggestion 2: Leadership of a species-focussed team e.g. a Mammals Team. Suggestion 3: Contributing to Shotover Wildlife’s Public Events Team. Contact us if you would like to gain leadership or coordination experience with an aspect of Shotover Wildlife's work. |
If you would like to design your own wildlife project or study a particular aspect of Shotover let us know. This could be in relation to wildlife or to local history, geology, folk-lore etc. Contact us if you would like to run your own project that relates to Shotover and would contribute to our knowledge and understanding of the reserve. |
The management of Brasenose Wood is guided by Shotover Wildlife’s Conservation Action Plan for the wood. The current focus is on wildlife diversity rather than commercial productivity. Part of our new work in the wood is deer management by high coppicing, in place of the traditional ground-level cutting. Contact us if you would like to join Shotover Wildlife’s winter Conservation Work Days in the wood. |
Several SW members have written information leaflets about the wildlife on Shotover and new titles are being added every year. You don’t need to know a lot about wildlife to write a wildlife leaflet! You just need to be able to read the relevant books about the species group (or topic), find out which of the species (or relevant topic details) we have at Shotover, and bring the information together in a succinct and readable way (about 800 words). See our current range of leaflet titles. There are opportunities for contributing to the Shotover Wildlife members’ bi-monthly newsletter (following our standard format). You could bring together aspects of our work by collating information and producing reports such as our Species Recovery Programme report. Contact us if you have experience in writing or collating information and would like to write for SW. |
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