COUNTRY LIFE
Countryside
news
Science meets
Ecology meets Art
with
Tony Ridd
What to look out for...
I
f you’ve been wandering along the beaches of the Bay at low
tide recently, you may have spotted a series of decorative tiles
appearing on the sea walls… some highly decorative, some more
natural-looking... and some just squares of barnacle-free concrete.
What you’re looking at, believe it or not, are the first stages of an
exciting experiment in marine biodiversity and coastal resilience.
To help take this further, a team of Island organizations from The
Bay area have been awarded a Partnership Grant by the Royal
Society.
Sandown Bay Academy, Eccleston George and Arc Consulting
are together working on a programme of experimental science
covered by the STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering,
maths) in which art is also playing an essential role.
The project is part of a concept called Artecology, being
developed by Eccleston George and Arc, and it introduces
students to the notion and the practice of making new textures
and materials for the marine environment. The 5 miles of
Bay coastline has recently become a focus of innovation in
the fields of asset resilience (making structures last longer by
‘bioarmouring’ them) and intertidal colonization (enhancing
biodiversity on sea defences).
Ian Boyd from Arc Consulting said: “It’s tremendously exciting
to be a part of such imaginative and ground-breaking work.
Artecology is bringing interest to the Island, and to the Bay in
particular…” The partnership project will run for 12 months and
it is hoped that it will lead to further national and international
science and arts collaborations. The Bay CCT is looked after by
the team at Arc Consulting: www.arc-consulting.co.uk.
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Wild Privet Flowers
Ragged Robin
This is a semi-evergreen shrub,
differing to it’s garden variety as
it has longish oval leaves with
pointed tips. It particularly likes
growing on chalky soils, but will
adapt well to most soil types
and will tolerate our salty winds.
What is particularly nice are the
strongly scented tubular flowers,
followed by clusters of black fruits
in the autumn.
Becoming less common in
the wild, due to loss of its wet
meadow habitat, it is a great plant
to find because of its ragged pink
petals. Often found growing in
clumps along field edges, damp
woodland clearings and rides.
Dwarf and white flowered variants
are cultivated and are popular in
gardens.
Yellow Hammer
Moving Moles!
The males have an unmistakable
bright yellow head and
underparts. They prefer wellmanaged countryside hedgerows
and scrub land. And can be seen
visiting wild bird feeders in the
garden, eating with finches,
sparrows and buntings. They
nest on or close to the ground in
short hedgerows. Numbers are in
sharp decline and they feature on
the Birds of Conservation Concern
‘red’ list.
Moles only breed from March to
May. The male (boar) visits the
female (sow) in her burrow and
leaves straight after mating. After
a gestation period of 30 days, a
litter of 2-7 young is born. They
grow quickly, feeding on their
mother’s milk, and are ready to
leave the nest at about 35 days.
They travel overland searching for
territories of their own.
www.visitilife.com
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14/06/2016 01:50