Time for a volunteer update on the conservation work that's been happening around Dove Stone over the last few weeks:
'We've been doing some meadow improvement on the east bank of Dove Stone reservoir, below the footpath. Historically this meadow has been grazed by sheep and as a result there is high fertility but low biodiversity due to grass out-competing other species which would otherwise grow there. The objective of our work is to reduce the fertility and then sow wildflower seeds of species which would naturally occur on open land in this locality. A wider diversity of plant life will attract more insects and more insects means more birds. We created pilot plots using a quad bike pulling a flail which chopped the vegetation close to the ground. We used garden rakes to put grass into piles, loaded it into large sacks which we dragged across the meadow and pulled over the fence to be emptied in the plantation. Removing the cut vegetation will reduce fertility to more tolerable levels, if left in place it would decompose and return nutrients to the plot. We also rotavated some plots of around 10 square metres within the cut areas and sowed them with Common Sorrel, Autumn Hawkbit, Bird's Foot Trefoil, Devil's Bit Scabious, Black Knapweed, Betony, Yarrow, Great Burnet, Tufted Vetch and Sneezewort.
We also continued work on restoring the blanket bog, installing heather bale dams on the site north of Chew reservoir. The work's been very variable due to the changing weather conditions, sometimes you lost your wellies in the peat, other times it was drying out so much that there was some wind erosion as the surface of the bare patches blew away. We've made good progress though, despite hail showers and times when the temperature was barely above zero. It's a forty minute walk over rough moorland, so it's quite tiring just getting there ! It seems even longer when you're carrying poles, ropes and tarpaulin for a temporary windbreak. We're trialling this to try and get some shelter for the all important tea breaks ! Once you stand still on the moor in the cold and wet then it's not long before you're also really cold and wet ! Anyway, whilst most of the volunteers got on with the real work, a team of four of us constructed the windbreak although unfortunately our tarp was a bit small and we were blown off-balance a number of times by the strong gusts, which made a very tiring job even harder. Whilst we were on route we walked past some of the bales that we dug in last year and they're looking very impressive. There's water and peat retained behind most of the bales and many have new Cotton Grass growth. Some also have worm casts in the peat. There are only several hundred more bales to install now !
We've spent a day and a half planting Sphagnum moss. Sphagnum moss is still found growing around Dove Stone but it's not nearly as common as it should be in a healthy blanket bog. The area chosen for planting is near the bale installation site that we worked on in 2011 to the north of Chew reservoir. We planted an area of about 150 square metres, so we'll see how it goes. On the way out we came across a large low lying Rhodedendron, which are non-native invasive plants, so we dug out on the way off the moor despite the roots being well developed, thick and woody - like underground branches. Anyway, we managed to eventually get it out.
We've also been continuing work managing Dove Stone's woodlands in Lower Hollins plantation above the east bank of Dove Stone reservoir and in the plantation under Dean Rocks. Our aim is to reduce the population of conifers. We've been working in this area for some time and there's a lot of open space and much more light now which will help existing broadleaf trees. There's a difference in the areas north and south of the track to Dean Rocks with trees on the north side being much taller than those on the south side. Woodland work always throws up its challenges. We've had quite a few trees "hang up" in neighbouring trees during felling as they were too tall to fall into the few small gaps that there were initially but there's a way to safely untangle the felled trees from the surrounding ones and once you've established a few clearings to fell into it's less of a problem. There also appears to be (so far) fewer broadleaf trees in this part of the plantation - so lot's more planting to be done here in the open areas created by the felling. When we work in the woods we don't remove the felled timber, instead piling it up to provide a habitat for wildlife. And we're taking the opportunity to creating nesting opportunities using tree stumps in a new design of 'natural nestboxes'. More on this soon. Then there's ponds to put in once we've cleared some space so there's lots going on in managing the woodlands for wildlife'.
Thanks to John for the update - always interesting to read what goes on in our work parties. More soon with an update on latest sightings and the Dove Stone bird list.