One final lovely task for our volunteers Paul and Tripta was to help us with pulling ragwort. If you're not sure what ragwort is I've popped a photo underneath, but basically it's the yellow daisy-like flower.
Ragwort is great for lots of pollinators and is an especially important food source for the Cinnabar moth caterpillar. However the plant can be poisonous to livestock when digested in large quantities causing liver damage in serious cases. For this reason the plant is removed where lots of it grow together.
On the reserve we aim to do a few hard days a year in an attempt to control the plant before it dries out. Once the plant dries it is more easily digested by sheep and cattle and is then useless as a pollinating source for insects, so now is the ideal time to have it removed. Above is a picture of our warden Mary on the quad bike with a full ragwort trailer in tow - good work Mary!
We use special forks so we can remove the roots as well to make our job easier for next year! The only issue with pulling this year is the dreaded MIDGES!! But the view more than made up for it as least...
Paul and Tripta seemed to enjoy themselves at least!
Good days work guys!