Last Sunday, 3rd March was once again volunteer Sunday and this month we had 8 people arriving bright and early for a day of scrub removal along our eastern boundary fence line. This work has two main benefits, the first being that the grassland adjacent to the fence line is botanically very diverse, with species such as vetches, knapweeds and clovers, which in turn is great for invertebrates. If we let scrub encroach too far into this grassland, then the valuable plant species are lost under the scrub. The second benefit is to allow easier access to the fence line for maintenance in the future, especially as we expect visitor numbers to increase along the public footpath.
Throughout the day, the group completed a long stretch of fence line between the viewing screen and the northern end of the scrub block – a brilliant achievement, so a big thank you to all involved for an excellent day’s work.
And once again, we had some great wildlife on site, with 2 whooper swans on silt lagoon 5, a little owl calling away from behind the viewing screen, confirming the presence of two pairs in the area, plenty of lapwing and some very vocal oystercatchers over Phase 2.