Volunteer Sunday was once again upon us last weekend and what a glorious sunny and warm day we had – not bad at all for the beginning of October!
The first activity of the day was to arrange some brash and log piles in the woodland. Dead wood within any woodland area is brilliant, providing a home for a wide variety of wildlife including nesting birds, a plethora of invertebrates and many species of fungi. Much of the brash and logs generated from our woodland management work is used in this way.
Second on the list was installing some more reed fencing out on Phase 2. As the reed in each fenced area matures, it is soon able to resist the worst of the grazing pressure it receives from species such as coots and geese. Once at this stage, the fencing is removed and used elsewhere on site where it is needed. On Sunday we removed around 40 mesh fencing panels from silt lagoon 7 and installed them at the south end of Phase 2. This area seems to have suffered badly from grazing in recent years, so the new fencing between the existing reed turfs should enable them to expand next year.
And third and final job of the day was willow coppicing. This work should produce some good re-growth to be harvested next year and used for willow crafts at the Old Willow Works building, opposite our reserve at Beckingham Marshes near Gainsborough. As Beckingham’s willow is currently too small to coppice, Langford has stepped in to help provide material for next year.
And wildlife highlights of the day included kingfisher, snipe, good numbers of dragonflies including migrant hawker and common darter and butterflies still on the wing including green-veined white and small tortoiseshell – always a pleasure to see plenty of insects still flying at this time of year.
As always, a huge thanks to all who attended a very productive and enjoyable day.