The July Work Party on Wednesday, 2nd saw the return of warm, sunny conditions and a good turn out of willing volunteers.

The object of the day was to ensure that the Green and White Trails on Brakey Bank were passable to visitors, by manually removing any bracken, brambles and branches encroaching on the paths.

Dividing into two teams, Colin, Dave, Michael and Peter created a butterfly friendly corridor between the Green and White Trails beneath the high voltage power lines which paid immediate dividends with Large Whites and Silver-washed Fritillaries seen shortly afterwards, before continuing onto the Greem and White Trails.

Proving hard work can also be fun!

Meanwhile, Brian, Gabrielle and Jean went off armed with various hand tools to tackle the farthest reaches of the White Trail, with the two groups converging in the afternoon as planned.  As the Butterfly Monitoring Transect on The Reserve follows these two trails in part,  I am pleased to report that access is now excellent.

Welcome shade on the verdant White Trail.

We were also pleased to welcome the newest members of the Weald Reserves Team to the Work Party, with Chloe bringing along new Assistant Warden Nick Feledziak and temporary Assistant Warden Jamie Smith.  They set to work replacing the recently damage kissing gate at the Car Park, their sterling work can be seen below.

It was a beautiful day on The Reserve and nice to see both visitors enjoying the surroundings as well as an abundance of butterflies and dragonflies, with Silver-washed Fritillary (Argynnis paphia) out in good number and Brown Hawker Dragonflies (Aeshna grandis) on the wing.

So, many thanks to our volunteers Brian, Colin, Dave, Gabrielle, Jean, Michael and Peter for such a productive day and to Chloe, Jamie and Nick for their good company and maintenance skills, we look forward to working with them at future Work Parties.