The last two months have been busy for the new interns: Joe and myself. It definitely is the best time to discover the reserve: spring has sprung!
The woods are now really colourful with bluebells, red campions, wood anemones, wood sorrel and greater stitchwort. The redstarts and pied flycatchers can be heard singing and like all other birds, they are busy getting their nests sorted.
Carpets of bluebells, indicator of ancient western woodland.
The wet grassland and wetlands are brought to life with songs of whitethroats, grasshopper warblers, skylarks, linnets and stonechats. Everywhere, the butterflies are out: commas, peacocks, orange tips, small tortoiseshells, green veined whites...
A small tortoiseshell on lesser celandines.
It is however not all about bird watching and exploring. We also do some work! So far various tasks included:
- Maintaining the anti-predator fence which protects one of the most important breeding sites for Lapwings in the UK.
- Checking daily on the herd of Welsh ponies doing a great job at maintaining some open areas on site.
Welsh ponies (at the moment there are 11 of them on site)
- Pulling out and disposing of the invasive Rhododendrons on Covert Coch bog.
- Preparing and finalising the newly raised path on the red trail. You can now access the boardwalk without getting your feet wet! A big thank you to the Cambridge Conservation Volunteers who came to do the hardest of the work over Easter.
The very start of the raised path...
Almost done! The path just needs a bit more gravel...
Finally, I want to thank all the members of the public and the bloggers for their interest. I will be happy to regularly keep you updated with news
Soon to come: news from the nest box survey... and maybe some photos!