This weekend was volunteer Sunday once again and this month there were a couple of activities on the agenda to keep everyone busy. First was clearance of some flood debris from around Phase 1. With the floods has inevitably come some rubbish! Fortunately not too much, but nevertheless it is an important job to rid the reserve of litter which is unsightly and potentially even harmful to wildlife.
As we made our way from the containers up to the top of Phase 1 and the balancing pond we were treated to views of all the common wildfowl species, snipe, lapwing and even a jack snipe, spotted by volunteer Julie Straw feeding on the shore of the balancing pond – the first jack snipe record on site for a couple of months.
Thanks to a brilliant effort from everyone, we removed 18 bin bags worth of rubbish from the site – well done all and thanks again for a great effort, especially battling the wind!
The afternoon was spent in the woodland blocks by the main entrance. Last month we started thinning these blocks – a long overdue job that has already made a big difference to the appearance of the woodland. This woodland was planted 20+ years ago and has remained unmanaged since.
Consequently, it is overcrowded, with very little light reaching the woodland floor. Thinning helps to remove unhealthy or poor quality specimens, leaving space for the remaining trees to grow on with reduced competition. The increased light levels penetrating the canopy also benefit ground flora and associated invertebrates, mammals and birds. Brash and log piles made from the felled timber are also great for invertebrates, fungi and nesting birds. It shouldn’t be long now before we start to see the benefits of our work when the growing season starts.
A few insects made an appearance too, with seven spot ladybird and a small species of Staphylinid beetle (rove beetle) in the leaf litter. And unfortunately the mystery bug spotted by Barrington Randle and Sue Lowe disappeared before I could see it but, after some investigation, I think was indeed a hawthorn shieldbug (first Hemiptera of 2013!).
A jay over the woodland finished off the day nicely on the way back to the containers! Once again, many thanks to all involved for a productive and very enjoyable day.