GUEST BLOGGER: Melanie Beck, Assistant Leader of the Norwich Nutchatches RSPB children's club
Autumn had definitely arrived as we gathered for Novembers chilly Norwich Nuthatches meeting. As they arrived, the children tried an autumn themed word search before we began our main project.
Once a year the Norwich Nuthatches get to do some conservation work at Strumpshaw Fen. Each project helps us to take part in the kinds of work the wardens do to make sure the creatures have the right habitat to live in. This year our project was led by Ben Lewis, assistant warden at Strumpshaw Fen. He explained that the staff had been clearing some of the trees at the reserve for several reasons. In some areas the trees were too close together and not getting enough room to grow while others were damaged by storms and had to be cut down for safety reasons. Some trees were also dying because they had a disease called ash dieback that was affecting ash trees all over the UK. Where trees have to be removed gaps are left and trees were needed to replace them. This is where the Nuthatches’ work started. Our job was to make a mini tree nursery, planting seeds from shrubs and trees that would in time be planted in areas of the reserve that needed new ones. But where would we get the seeds from? We didn’t need to go shopping as the reserve has lots of the same types of plants we needed. We were going to gather the seeds ourselves. We set off with our spades, pots, and buckets to see what we could find.
We hadn’t got very far before we found some berries that would be perfect for our nursery and this gave us an extra challenge – how many of them could we name? Hawthorn and blackberries were the easy ones. We also found spindle, ivy and rowan and some small black berries that were new to us all - wild privet and purging blackthorn. We had permission to pick a few of each and put into our pots. Ben found some oak, rowan and aspen saplings or baby trees starting to grow, but some proved harder to dig up than others as they shoot from the roots of the larger parent trees. This means we had to cut through the roots to get them out. This doesn’t hurt the tree but even the adults found it hard work.
The last thing to collect were the acorns which would hopefully grow into oak trees. Some of the acorns we found already had roots breaking through them so they would have a head start. We had all we needed, so now to do the planting. The berries and acorns were carefully planted into pots, covering them with soil. The saplings were taken to the education area and planted but they were so small that it didn’t matter if they were close together. It would be a few years before they were big enough to move to their new homes around the reserve. It was important to remember where they had been planted so we marked each one with a cane with a blue flag on it. It wouldn’t be until Spring that the trees and seeds really started to grow, so for now our work was done.
We finished the morning by having a go at some craft activities. Some of the children coloured squirrel pictures while others had a go at making animals using left over acorns. I had already made an acorn bee, mouse spider and owl so the challenge was to see how creative the children could be. Their imaginations ran wild as creations included a squirrel, a penguin and even a shark!! What a busy morning!
We must say a huge thank you to Ben for letting us get involved in such a wonderful project. And watch this space –we’ll keep an eye on our nursery and in a couple of years time hopefully the Nuthatches will be moving the trees and shrubs to their new homes.