August saw us welcome three fantastic new volunteers to the team, which has been a really positive development, not least because the more volunteers that attend each week, the more we can achieve! Simply put, our volunteers make a huge difference.
The first work party of August saw a group of us take in the temporary electric fence from around one of the salt marsh pools. This fence is put up in April to keep the grazing cattle away from areas that redshank and lapwing may use for nesting, but is not required post-breeding season. We were super-efficient in bringing in the fence so spent the second part of the morning identifying the moths found in the moth trap that was set up the night before. In total, we recorded 15 species, many of which were different from the ones recorded during the volunteer barbecue at the end of June. Species identified included large yellow underwing, ruby tiger moth, and oak hook-tip. A visitor also spotted a humming-bird hawk-moth in the Discovery Zone the same morning!
The second meet-up of the month was more of a maintenance day, during which we painted and fixed the big screen that overlooks the Lower International Pools field and the benched area across the lonning that gives visitors a view of the southern half of Paisley Pools (pictured). The willow screen here was also given a bit of TLC. These tasks are always satisfying because the difference made is immediately clear, and this week was no exception as a new lease of life was breathed into the aforementioned areas!
The next two weeks were all about marsh fritillaries as we searched for the conspicuous webs that they create to protect their eggs and the subsequent caterpillars from predators in the leaf of their food plant, devil’s-bit scabious. Whilst not entirely unexpected given the marsh fritillary’s ‘boom and bust’ nature, we unfortunately did not find any webs. However, we did find hundreds of devil’s-bit scabious in the East Block, much of which appears to have self-seeded, as well of signs that the plants planted last year in other parts of the reserve are starting to flower. There are also large patches of it in the Discovery Zone (which is on the author’s to-do list to map!). This means that when (not if!) the butterfly reappears on the reserve, the habitat will be in a great condition to support it. We were also lucky enough to spot an adder and a slow worm during these two weeks, so it certainly wasn’t unsuccessful!
The final work party of the month saw us give the Discovery Zone some attention (pictured). Between us, we managed to clean the clay dabbin, tidy up the willow screen, improve the non-slip netting on the stepping-stones up to the bug hotel, and scrape the main path edges to widen it and prevent any further vegetation encroachment. This was hard work but, as with the screen painting task earlier in the month, the fruits of our labour were instantly apparent.
We are always on the look-out for new volunteers to join us at Campfield Marsh (and Hodbarrow). We meet on Thursday mornings. If you are interested in helping with the sort of tasks mentioned above, meeting new people, developing new skills, and enjoying the outdoors, click on the following link to find out more and apply: Practical Reserve Work (Campfield Marsh, Bowness On Solway) | RSPB Volunteering.