The first two work parties of July saw us ragwort pulling in the wet grassland fields prior to them being cut for hay. Ragwort is poisonous to livestock, so it is important that it does not end up in the hay that provides food for our graziers’ cows during the winter months. Elsewhere on the reserve, however, it is of value to invertebrates so is left. The team managed to remove ragwort from 75% of the fields – many a quad trailer’s-worth of ragwort (below) – with the remaining 25% being left as the field was being grazed at the time.
Each year this task gets a little easier as less and less ragwort returns. Some of our more long-serving volunteers delighted in telling me about how much ragwort they used to have to pull in years gone by. It is satisfying carrying out a job such as this that has visible results in the short and long-term!
The third work party of July involved more vegetation clearance, this time on the salt marsh. The focus was invasive species – American skunkcabbage and Himalayan balsam – whilst ragwort was also pulled as the marsh is grazed from April to October. No balsam was found on this occasion because it has been largely eradicated on account of the efforts of our volunteers in recent years – a great success! American skunkcabbage is still an issue as its large leaves and the dense stands of the plants cause it to out-compete smaller plants native to our saltmarshes. Hopefully its fortunes on Campfield Marsh will go the same way as Himalayan balsam!
The final meet-up of July was all about ensuring that paths on the reserve were free of any overhanging vegetation that may cause issues for visitors. This brought about two new viewpoints being created on the path that takes you east from the hide at the top of the longgen (below).
These viewpoints – cut into the hedgerow – will allow visitors to see wintering wildfowl in the fen as the water level rises, as well as the nesting marsh harriers and their fledglings which have recently emerged from the rushes. This is only the second record of the successful nesting of marsh harriers in Cumbria in the last 150 years so is an exciting and important event!
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, please feel free to email me at dan.cropper@rspb.org.uk or Mhairi at mhairi.maclauchlan@rspb.org.uk.