Blog, News & Events
Bat survey in Luckington
On the 16th May a group of us went to St Mary with St Ethelbert Church in Luckington to carry out an emergency survey. This was prompted by the discovery of a rare Lesser Horsehoe bat close by last year and we wanted to know if this was an isolated
Athelstan 1100
Walk on the Wild Side
On Tuesday 2nd July at 2.30pm in Malmesbury Town Hall, our Chair, Miranda Shirnia, will be giving a talk as part of the Athelstan 1100 celebrations comparing wildlife in Malmesbury in 924 and today. Here is a short film as a little introduction… Tickets available here: https://www.athelstan1100.co.uk/…/talk-one-day-in-may…
Swift Awareness Week
(29th June to 7th July)
Swift Awareness Week is a national event which was first held in 2018 with swift activities promoted by groups throughout the country. This year it takes place from Saturday 29th June to Sunday 7th July. In the Malmesbury area we are behind a lot of other small towns in that
Here be Dragons!
On Saturday, 20 of us went for a walk around Lower Moor Farm looking for Dragonflies and Damselflies. We found Common Blue damselfly, Blue tailed damselfly, Red eyed damselfly, Common Darter, Four spotted Chaser and Black tailed skimmer (both female and male), a male Emperor Dragonfly patrolling his territory
Clean up our rivers!
Are you aware of the pollution being pumped into our river and does it worry you? Here are some photos of the impact of sewage discharges from the Noah’s Ark pumping station in Garsdon. Quite honestly they are revolting! In 2023 there were 50 days of discharging from this pumping
Hedgehog Project Survey
Great Somerford’s ‘Team Hedgehog’ were out and about installing camera traps for hedgehogs on the morning of 11th May. This project is a collaboration between Malmesbury and District Natural History Society, Wiltshire Mammal Group and the people of Great Somerford. It was a beautiful morning for a walk around Great Somerford
Living with Swifts
The Sirens of Summer
On 7th May 2024 30 people came to Malmesbury Town Hall to hear about Swifts from Sarah Roberts of North Wiltshire Swifts. Sarah has been involved in bird conservation for over a decade and started North Wiltshire Swifts in 2019 as a specialist project and advice group. Their aim is
Bats of Malmesbury
and the Braydon Forest
We are particularly fond of bats at MDNHS headquarters, with two committee members regularly volunteering with Wiltshire Bat Group. We are fortunate in Wiltshire to be a bat ‘hotspot’ in Britain, hosting almost all of our 17 native breeding bat species. Back in June 2023 we had a foray around Malmesbury
Beaver Signs Bonanza!
On Saturday 13th January a group of us went on a walk looking for signs of beavers along the Avon at Malmesbury. The purpose of the walk was to train everyone present on what signs beavers leave behind so that we would all know how to spot them in the future.
An Owl Pellet-tastic weekend
On the Saturday 25th November, Malmesbury and District Natural History Society, in partnership with Wiltshire Mammal Group, Salisbury & District Natural History Society and Tisbury Natural History Society, delivered two owl pellet workshops, with the brilliant Skull Bloke Ric Maurice. The aim was to increase records of small mammals and