SCARLET TIGER PROJECT NEWS

Our final work party of the 2021/22 season took place in March when we checked along the main areas of our work and installed several more bird roosting pouches to add to the bird and bat boxes already installed. Glad to report that the caterpillars are now feeding openly on the Alkanet along Roman Road.…

AUTUMN WORK PARTIES – PROGRESS WITH IBSTOCK-ENOVERT GRANT

Scarlet Tiger Project has been extra busy this autumn planting wild flowers and hedgerow trees, creating and installing 2 information boards and purchasing tooling, wild flower seeds and other items to help the wildlife along the Roman Road/Sandy Lane bridle path. This is a brief summary of what we've been doing so far! These photos…

Lockdown sparks new interest in moths

With Butterfly Conservation's National Moth night approaching (running over the weekend 8-10 July), you may be interested in this article, which one of our Scarlet Tiger volunteers has spotted. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-57742701 Happy trapping!

SPOT THAT TIGER

There have been lots of offers of help with the work needed to support expenditure on the grant recently awarded to Scarlet Tiger Project by Ibstock-Enovert. We held a walk on Saturday 26 June to explain plans and, at the same time, took advantage of the fact that the adult moths are emerging. After the…

LIFT OFF!

Good news - the adult Scarlet Tiger moths have started to emerge along Roman Road. The Alkanet is looking very sad and battered but I am sure it will bounce back as ever. The flowers are looking good around the notice board with Bird's Foot Trefoil and Ox-eye Daisies in full bloom and Knapweed starting…

GREAT NEWS!

Scarlet Tiger caterpillars out in the sunshine yesterday - have they heard the news? Below is a copy of the Press Release issued regarding a grant received from Ibstock Enovert Trust. Funding approved to boost Tiger numbers in Stourbridge Residents of Norton in Stourbridge are set to see a boost to numbers of the striking…

CITY NATURE CHALLENGE

Firstly - a reminder that this weekend is the CITY NATURE CHALLENGE. Help Birmingham and Black Country in this international competition by recording and reporting all flora and fauna you see from 30 April to 3 May 2021. The area covered includes Birmingham and all the Black Country Boroughs - Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton.…

Friend or Foe? A thorny issue

Bramble amongst the Alkanet - clear signs of caterpillar feeding damage A major part of the work of our volunteers on Roman Road / Sandy Road is control of invasive plants. This may sound straightforward but most plants have value so trying to find a balance is difficult. Bramble is rampant along the bridle path…

Wild about our Stourbridge Gardens

The Scarlet Tiger Project on Roman Road / Sandy Lane is focused on connectivity - a big buzz-word in conservation. It has been recognised for some time that one of the huge problems facing our wild life is isolation of colonies of threatened fauna and flora. Once an isolated colony of a rare butterfly is…

Alkanet – All that’s holey

Alkanet in full bloomCaterpillar feeding damage Whenever people ask me about the pretty blue flowers along the verge on Roman Road, I start with a warning about how vigorous and all-pervading they are. However, it you want to grow caterpillars, it is brilliant. The first visible sign that there are caterpillars about is the appearance…