Work Parties
Throughout December we continued our rotational coppicing and ride clearances. Doing it on a rotational basis ensures a range of plant growth within the woodland, maximising habitat diversity. With over 500 hectares of land to manage, this leaves us with a lot of work to do! Clearing mature forest via both coppicing and expanding woodland rides ensures sunlight reaches the ground, encouraging the growth of wildflowers for invertebrates, such as our favourite, the Heath Fritillary. As coppiced plots mature and scrub develops, this then becomes favourable nesting habitat for birds such as the Nightingale.
This winter, the volunteers, with additional help from Northward Hill and Dungeness Reserves, are coppicing nine 0.5 hectare blocks next to paths and rides. Attached below are some photos of one of these blocks, taken from our Monday work party on 21 December. Until the end of February, there will be also be an additional work party on Fridays, due to the extra workload.
The New Year has begun with more coppicing and ride work, with helpers from the other Reserves joining in once again. We will also have some work to do on the glades, which will involve a lot of brushcutting and will again benefit flowering plants and their invertebrate hosts. We will also be filling in some of the pot holes on the track leading to the car park.
Future events
On Saturday January 30th from 10am to 2pm there is a chance to join RSPB staff and volunteers for a guided walk in the woods and to hear about the work that is being done in the Reserve. The charge for the walks is £3. In addition bags of logs will be available from £6. The event starts at the car park off Rough Common Road in Rough Common. Posters will be displayed in the area nearer the time but for further information contact the Warden team on 01227 464898 or at blean.woods@rspb.org.uk.
Seasalter Levels
The RSPB has a National Nature Reserve on the Seasalter Levels. At the moment there is no public access but views across the area can be seen from the sea wall at Seasalter (or from the London-bound trains). The main job there at the moment is trying to control the non-native invasive Floating Pennywort which grows along the water channels and a weekly work party pulls it up throughout the winter.
The latest monthly Wetland Bird Survey there found Oystercatcher, Ringed Plover, Lapwing, Dunlin, Curlew, Redshank, Turnstone and Brent Geese, among others. There is also a charming Short Eared Owl, which can occasionally be seen from the sea wall and which was still there at the beginning of this month.
Finally - the Wardens are always looking for new volunteers so if you know of anyone who is interested, please let them know - contact details above. At a later stage, there may be opportunities for people to train with brushcutters and pesticide spraying.