Welcome to our June 2020 newsletter. It’s been a while since our previous newsletter in December. We’ve had a few distractions, as I’m sure you can all appreciate, but we are marching on strongly despite the current pandemic crisis. We hope that this eNewsletter finds you and your families all well. As listed on the left, we wish to update you on recent activities and the way ahead. If you no longer wish to subscribe to this newsletter, then please click the unsubscribe link at the bottom of the page.

Image by: Mark Hamblin/2020VISION

Over the last year RSNE’s Ranger, Elliot Lea, has been very busy in the area to the west of Wallington and east of the A68, which forms a 10 km radius around Ray Windfarm. It lies at the Gateway to a number of red squirrel reserves and holds a strategic position in preventing the incursion of grey squirrels into these reserves. It is an area where we saw an opportunity to make a real difference and consolidate the local effort to protect reds. This work has been enabled through a Ray Wind Funds grant, local landowner support through Countryside Stewardship and invaluable support from local red squirrel volunteer groups. We engaged with locals through community talks and assisted by providing some conservation equipment and training workshops.

A brief summary of the results are shown in the infographic below. The trail camera image here is of a red squirrel that Elliot managed to protect when it was identified that reds were present in an area of woodland that was planned to be clear felled. With wholehearted support from the landowner, it was decided to delay felling until after the red squirrel breeding season.

Testimonial by Willy Browne-Swinburne (in the Ray project area)

‘Elliot and the RSNE team have achieved great changes to our squirrel situation here at Capheaton. Not only has the challenge of a vast grey squirrel population been remedied but the most important outcome is that we are starting to see red squirrels again. The key to all of this is sustaining a commitment in the long term and with the help we have had from RSNE we have secured a ‘squirrel focussed’ forestry management plan with the funding to continue this work.’

Given the current pandemic lock-down, by following relevant government guidance, RSNE rangers have been able to continue the critical work managing grey squirrel populations, in most locations where access is permissible. 2020 ranger (x3) and contractor (x10) deployment is illustrated on the ‘Google Road’ map alongside. Two full-time red squirrel rangers are deployed in Cumbria and one in Northumberland. Both counties are supported by a number of seasonal contractors. The work is designed to support the massive local volunteer effort in defending existing red squirrel populations against the incursion of grey squirrels and is largely funded through government environmental stewardship grants. In brief, and by no means comprehensive, RSNE’s geographical range currently includes: areas around Coniston, Ambleside and Windermere; the north Lake District area incorporating Thirlmere, Greystoke and Whinlatter; the stretch along the Scottish border between Longtown and Kershope on Kielder Forest’s western approach; the Spadeadam/River Irthing area, the North Tyne up to Bellingham and on to Kielder Village, over at Harwood Forest, the Rothbury area and areas to the northeast of Northumberland via local group contracts in the Wooler area (Chatton) and Kyloe forest surrounds.

Together with statutory organisations, landowners and volunteer groups we have collectively made invaluable progress in combating grey squirrel numbers, in order to protect our red squirrel populations. This progress has required significant investment and taken years to achieve. It is therefore vital to maintain this position under the current COVID crisis.

The fourth and final Red Squirrels United Knowledge Fair was held in Newcastle over two days in February with 128 delegates attending. Red Squirrels United (RSU) was the first opportunity for red squirrel conservation projects and practitioners to unify in a UK wide network. Funded through EU LIFE and the National Lottery Heritage Fund, RSU ran from 2016 to 2020, safeguarding red squirrels in nine key areas across England, Northern Ireland and Wales.

The final Knowledge Fair agenda was placed within the wider context of invasive species and their impacts on global biodiversity, including the loss of nature in the UK. The Animal and Plant Health Agency also presented results from the grey squirrel disease analysis (from tissue samples submitted by all RSU partners). This revealed the extent to which adenovirus and squirrel pox infections exist in grey squirrels but are asymptomatic. 54% of all grey squirrels sampled detected positive for both diseases. Key achievements highlighted during the project included: the Welsh Government’s commitment to reviewing forestry legislation, a strong legacy for red squirrel community groups, and red squirrel populations remaining stable or increasing in distribution across project areas. Here in the north of England 595 squirrel monitoring surveys were carried out for the RSU project, with volunteer delivery increasing from 37% in October 2016 to 96% in July 2019 (surpassing the expected result target of 75%). The main issue faced was around how to respond to the detection of greys across vast areas of forest with limited resources.

Red Squirrel Resources

The Red Squirrels United website contains numerous resources. Our team has produced webinars on Countryside Stewardship and videos on red squirrel monitoring best practice and using thermal imaging cameras for squirrel monitoring. Visit: www.redsquirrelsunited.org.uk/news/videos/

Due to the current pandemic restrictions we have had to postpone all volunteer activities, engagements and surveys. As soon as restrictions are eased we will reschedule the trap training workshop and woodland monitoring event that we had planned. In the meantime we are catching up with some volunteers groups via virtual means to discuss and progress future work.

Funding support via RSNE’s Friends of Red Squirrels members, private donations, Lake District Foundation, landowners’ Countryside Stewardship grants, United Utilities, Scottish Woodlands, Tilhill and Edwin Thompson Forestry, the National Trust, Woodland Trust, Forestry England & Commission, and others, have been invaluable for the continuation of this vital work. Our thanks goes out to all for their support.

The pandemic is nevertheless having its impact on some funding opportunities that have been put on hold. We are therefore actively seeking and inviting donations to help close the 10% budget deficit for our 2020/21 financial year.

Mike Denbury joins the team as Project Officer from March. Prior to this new role, Mike worked as a Ranger for the National Trust leading volunteers in practical conservation tasks and undertaking a wide variety of countryside management activities. As a result he is fully accustomed to not only getting his hands dirty but also operating well in the rain!

Experienced at writing red squirrel and deer management plans, Mike has delivered monitoring programmes and grey squirrel control. He appreciates the importance of building and maintaining strong connections with a wide variety of stakeholder groups, especially when delivering projects over a large geographical area. Mike believes that red squirrels are an important and iconic species, and here in the North there is the opportunity to make a significant contribution to the success of the species. Incredibly enthusiastic about his new position he looks forward to working with you; please contact him with any questions or comments you may have.

mike.denbury@rsne.org.uk / 07521 697 979

I’m on furlough from 8th June to 1st July from my role as Red Squirrel Data and Monitoring Officer, so will be unable to respond to any related queries during that time. However, both Heinz and Mike are available for any help you may need with regard to squirrel sightings, monitoring, and conservation records or, in fact, any squirrel related questions. In the meantime, please keep submitting your red squirrel sightings from across the north. I’m using furlough as an opportunity to spend more time enjoying and engaging with the wildlife in my local patch; especially the red squirrels.

I’m pleased to have taken on the baton from Simon O’Hare as Project Manager for RSNE as of February 2020. My red squirrels conservation work commenced in 2012 as a surveyor for RSNE in Cumbria, followed by two and a half years in Dumfriesshire with Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels, then on to Northumberland with RSNE in 2014, as a part-time project officer. During this time I have come to know some of you and established valuable working relationships. I look forward to supporting the RSNE team, volunteer groups and landowners and protecting our incredible red squirrels. I’ve attempted to be brief in this quarter’s update – there is much more we are busy with - but will add more in the next update; about future aspirations, how we are negotiating the pandemic and funding!

heinz.traut@rsne.org.uk / 07887 782 835