CJS Sponsors...
In 2020 we ran our short readership survey and every completed survey went towards sponsoring plants with former featured charity Plantlife or birds with the Wildlife Trusts, offering you the choice as to which you'd pick. The results were evenly split: 50.7% for birds with the Wildlife Trusts and 49.2% for plants with Plantlife. Details of the resulting adoptions / sponsorships are below.
Mistletoe is found scattered across the southern half of the UK on the branches of trees, mainly those in the rose family, such as apple, pear and hawthorn; its heartland is in Somerset and counties on the England/Wales border. From kissing traditions at Christmas to ancient fertility rites, mistletoe has long been regarded as a magical plant.
We chose mistletoe because we were making the selections at Christmas and seemed very fitting.
Juniper is most frequent in Scotland, where it can be common in upland areas and down to sea level in the northwest. It also occurs in upland parts of northern England and Wales, especially the Lake District and Snowdonia, and in central southern England where it grows on chalk and limestone.
One for the gin lovers in the office!
With its papery petals and delicate appearance, you might think that the harebell is a fragile wild flower. It is in fact, incredibly strong and resilient.
We selected the harebell as it 'sometimes' pops up on the commons around Goathland, glorious sight. My Mum knows the harebell as the Scottish bluebell and when she first saw them nodding under the drystone walls which line the moor edge she was overcome with joy and filled with memories of childhood holidays in the north of Scotland.
Meadow clary is a handsome rare grassland plant with brilliant blue flowers. Now only found as a native population at 21 locations in the UK.
Such a beautiful eye-catching plant and the folklore of its use in potions appealed to the herbalist in me so this one was added to our collection.
Venus's Looking-Glass, a delicate mauve wildflower of arable land that blooms between May and August. Its fused sepals resemble a mirror handle, hence the name.
When selecting this one I managed to get an office dog connection in here! Since Juno (my Queen of the Heavens) all my labs have had classical names so we couldn't resist a Venus now could we?
Plantlife
Wild flowers, plants and fungi are the life support for all our wildlife and their colour and character light up our landscapes. But without our help, this priceless natural heritage is in danger of being lost. As a small charity, each and every one of our members makes a big difference. If you are not already a Plantlife member, please consider joining us today - we'd love to have you on board.
This is a North Wales Wildlife Trust project to try and help struggling swift populations. The Trust aims to do this by a) raising awareness and gathering information on swift colonies, b) installing special swift nest boxes on suitable buildings in the area, and c) inspiring volunteers and ‘swift champions’ in local communities.
Not all buildings are suitable for a swift box but by helping to sponsor a box you can still help.
We chose the swift because there's nothing so evocative of summer as the sound of swifts screaming and whilst we're fortunate enough to have a healthy population not everyone gets to experience the joy of the avian Red Arrows.
You can sponsor your own swift box (or other species) with the North Wales Wildlife Trust here.
The song thrush, once a familiar songbird, has sadly declined by 49% in woodlands and by 73% in farmlands. By sponsoring a song thrush you are helping to restore and conserve our local oak-hornbeam woodlands, and a number of other habitats which provide a home for this beautiful, musical bird.
We're lucky enough to have lots of thrushes making their presence known with the lovely liquid song and small heaps of smashed snail shells in the garden, we thought we'd pick it to throw a spotlight on this often overlooked bird. In fact one of resident birds returned just this week and has been busy stripping the very last of the yew berries from the tree right outside my office window.
You can sponsor your own thrush (or other species) with the Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust here.
Another of our adopted birds, the swift may be faster in regular flight but nothing can match the velocity of a stooping peregrine reaching speeds of 242mph as it hurtles to earth.
Adoption is with Warwickshire Wildlife Trust, funds raised from Adopt a Peregrine support the Peregrine Watch programme allowing monitoring these majestic birds across the county and provide opportunities for people to discover and be inspired by this iconic species.
This is a personal one for me, we occasionally have a peregrine or two winging their way across the fields but they will forever be associated with my first job at the North York Moors National Park, sitting on the edge of a very deep gorge and watching the falcons swooping and 'playing' with the pigeons below my feet as I munched my lunchtime sandwiches. An incredible memory and an opportunity I'd like to help preserve for others to be able to enjoy as well.
You can sponsor your own peregrine (or other species) with Warwickshire Wildlife Trust here.
Puffins - how can you not love them with their comical clown faces? Instantly recognisable and much loved but one of the species most affected by climate change and need all the help we can give them. Why little brother? It’s all in the Latin: Fratercula arctica which literally translates as arctic little brother, supposedly named because the black and white plumage looks a like a monk's habit (if you squint) - quite appropriate for our Easter week adoption.
Adopting a puffin was a very easy choice and in so doing we are helping to protect this iconic species and Scotland’s precious natural environment. The UK is home to 10% of the global population of Atlantic puffins and in 2015 they were added to the IUCN's list of vulnerable species.
If you missed the survey you can send us your comments, thoughts and feedback at any time, simply email us and as you can see we really do listen and make changes according to what you've suggested.
You can sponsor your own puffin (or other species) with Scottish Wildlife Trust here.
There are lots of different bird sponsorships available with the county Wildlife Trusts details here.