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Tuesday 19th January 2016 This was our first work party of the year. It was partly cloudy, partly sunny but very cold with ice covering the surfaces of the ponds, all of which apart from Willow Pond were surprisingly full. Ranger Mark organised the nine volunteers into four groups: litter picking, sidegrowth trimming, path resurfacing (using gravel from the pile in the centre of the Reserve) and ditch clearing. The latter consisted of opening up a recently discovered drainage channel leading north from the south east corner of Puckles Pond under the two paths and into the stream. Meanwhile Mark did an inspection of the eastern side of the Reserve which borders onto a builder's yards, partly to check the state of the fencing, and partly to make sure that the yard's two aggressive guard dogs weren't straying into the Reserve and menacing the public. All seemed ok, but then we had a report of a temporary camp being set up in the wooded area near the boardwalk (the usual spot). The campers were asked to leave, which they did, but it needed a clearup afterwards to take away the rubbish that had accumulated there. There was a rare daytime appearance of a fox on the path near Prewer's Pond, and plenty of bird sightings (jay, magpie, wood pigeon, robin, blackbird, sparrow, and around the bird-table blue tits, great tits, and a couple of green finches). I'd been hoping to perhaps see some butterflies, as many species have been sighted in other parts of the country thoughout the mild winter, but alas, on the day it was just too cold. Tuesday 16th February 2016 It was a lovely bright sunny day, but still cold, with ice covering the ponds throughout the day. As usual Ranger Mark was on hand to organise the seven volunteers. Some maintenance work was done on the path running East from the central area, and the approach to Puckles Pond was cleared to give a better view. Meanwhile more chicken wire was being laid over the dipping platform as an anti-slip precaution, although with the new drainage ditch now opened up the platform should no longer be flooded regularly. There was little wildlife about though jays and wood pigeons were sighted, and a friendly robin watched us for a while. Rats have been seen recently near Meadow Pond, and there are reports of muntjac deer in the field to the North East of the Reserve. Tuesday 15th March 2016 Ten volunteers plus Ranger Mark turned up. Tasks included cutting back the overhanging area by the Eastfield Road entrance, clearing the area round the bench at Puckles Pond so as to give a full view of the pond, strimming, clearing new sidegrowth alomng the paths and the usual litter pick. The violets on the east side of Plotlands Way are now out, and the blackthorn is starting to flower. There were few birds to be seen other than some blue tits and great tits near the bird table, and a chiffchaff identified by its song. We had the first report of a roe deer being seen in the Reserve! Tuesday 19th April 2016 A fine spring day attracted nine volunteers, with Ranger Mark coordinating the various tasks. More work was done on maintaining the paths, and we completed the replacement of the chicken wire on the dipping platform (to prevent it becoming slippery when wet). There was also some strimming and cutting back of sidegrowth, and of course the usual litter pick. The Reserve is looking splended with Spring under way, though many of the woodland areas are still waterlogged after the recent rains. The daffodils and primroses are now out, and bluebells violets and shepherds purse can be found along the sides of the paths, and above them the white blossom of the blackthorn. There are mallards in the larger ponds, newts in the smaller ponds, and a variety of butterflies in the meadow areas - among the species identified were the orange tip, small tortoiseshell, comma and speckled wood. Sightings of jays, magpies and wood pigeons are likely, but smaller birds such as blackcaps and chiffchaffs will be heard more often than seen. Tuesday 17th May 2016 Despite it being a pleasant enough day, only five volunteers turned out to assist Ranger Mark with the usual duties - clearing sidegrowth away from the walks, maintaining the paths, and the litter pick. However we also managed to smooth out a large water-filled rut in the newly cleared scrubland area, and the strimmer was put to good use in the central meadow. It was more cloudy than sunny, and apart from a few orange tips not many butterflies were spotted. The vetch (our dominant flowering annual) is now out, along with the white blossom of the hawthorn, elder and wild rose. Mark identified the calls of a coal tit and a song thrush, and on the way out thought he heard a nightingale's song. (We've since had another report of a what was thought to be a nightingale heard in the Reserve - they only sing between April and June). Tuesday 21st June 2016 Though there were a few clouds around, the sun shone throughout the afternoon. For the second month running we had just five volunteers, but we were without Ranger Mark, who was away on a Health and Safety course. A second bench was installed at Willow Pond, this being both the largest pond, and the one nearest the main entrance to the Reserve. There was the usual litter-pick and the cutting back of new sidegrowth, especially brambles, of which there was more than usual because of the recent rain. The sun brought out the damselflies, especially by Willow Pond, and a dragonfly was patrolling above Meadow pond. The central meadow areas are now dominated by cow parsley, while irises and buttercups proliferate in the East meadow. The vetch is beginning to flower, with some taller than usual specimens visible on the left immediately after entering the Reserve by the Eastfield Road entrance. Lupin Glade, one of the original features of the Reserve has now gone. The glade has had long periods of being water logged and is now overgrown with blackthorn. The lupins haven't been seen there for at least two years now, and it's unlikely they'll return. Tuesday 19th July 2016 Despite holding our July work party on the hottest day of the year (35ºC / 95ºF), four volunteers turned out to do their duty. Ranger Mark assigned us our tasks, again mainly cutting back the brambles threatening to overwhelm the paths and boardwalk, and of course the litter-pick. Most visitors probably don't realise how much litter we collect each month - empty cans and bottles, discarded packets and wrapping, disposable cigarette lighters, broken bits of plastic, cast-off clothing, as well as abandoned household goods in the occasional illegal camp that gets set up. The Reserve looked glorious in the bright sunshine, with the purple (and occasionally white) vetch now in full flower in the meadow areas, and yellow patches of fleabane, St John's wort and ragwort, occasional splashes of red sorrel and purple loosestrife, and the spiny heads of the teasel adding to the display. Amongst the flowers fluttered butterflies, mainly large whites, but also commas, red admirals and skippers. In the shady areas velvety brown ringlets can be see, which get their name from the small rings on both sides of their wings, clearly visible when they are at rest. The ponds are looking good. There are large numbers of lesser waterboatmen and whirligig beetles, and we saw several newt tadpoles in Puckles Pond. This is the best month for spotting damselflies which skim the surfaces of the ponds and the dragonflies which patrol the space above them. They were hard to identify, but we did our best, tentatively identifying brown hawker and common darter dragonflies; and emerald, large red and either azures or common blue damselflies. Tuesday 16th August 2016 A sunny day, but thankfully not as hot as it was for the July work party. Ranger Mark was again in charge, organising the ten volunteers into various tasks. The major job was to move some large logs from alongside the drainage ditch (which runs from Puckles Pond to the stream flowing along the the north side of the Reserve). Because of the recent dry spell, it was possible to wheelbarrow them along the dried up ditch to the nearest path. They are intended to be used as rustic seats. Although the light purple and white vetch is now dying back, it's been replaced in some areas by the dark purple flowers of the common knapweed, a good source of food for bees. Walking along the boardwalk towards Meadow Pond, the yellow dominance of the common fleabane extends almost to the edge of the Reserve. Around the edge of the pond itself is a splendid display of great willowherb, and there is water-plantain (with its three-petalled white flowers) growing in the shallows, but the centre of the pond is rapidly becoming overgrown with typha (more commonly known as the bullrush or reedmace). Walking in the other direction, towards Prewer's Pond, there is a mass of golden rod, probably an escapee from the old plotland gardens, which continues year after year to provide a vivid splash of late summer colour. The large area of scrubland that was cleared is rapidly changing character, and is now full of flowers as well as shoulder-high teasels and thistles. Fewer butterflies were spotted than in July, but speckled woods and small tortoiseshells are still to be seen. Tuesday 20th September 2016 Five volunteers turned up this month, with activities being supervised by Ranger Mark as usual. We cleared up the area around the main entrance, cutting back new growth overhanging the pavement, and removed new sidegrowth along the boardwalk leading to Meadow Pond. The water-levels in the ponds are the lowest they've been this year, but apart from Prewers Pond, none of them look in danger of drying up now that Autumn has started. There were still plenty of flowers in bloom including the willowherb around Meadow Pond and the thistle-like bristly oxtongue, easily recognised by its yellow flowers, spiny stem and leaves covererd with pimply glands. However it's the display of berries which now catch the eye; brambles, sloes, hips and haws are found throughout the Reserve. The most exciting sighting of the afternoon was a migrant hawker dragonfly, which is the only hawker that can be seen flying as late as November. Tuesday 18th October 2016 We only had four volunteers this month, despite it being a pleasant day with just the occasional cloud. As usual Ranger Mark was on hand to supervise our activities, accompanied by Ashley, a warden at Wat Tyler Country Park who was interested in looking round the Reserve. Despite some recent rain the water-levels in the ponds were very low, perhaps the lowest for give years, with Prewers and Rosebay completely dry. Taking advantage of this, the old kitchen sink was dragged out of Puckles Pond and broken up into bits which were used to renovate the Western footpath, supplementing some fine gravel being used as filler which Mark had brought along from the Wick. There was a bit of cutting back of thick briars neeeded along the High Ridge, but less rubbish to be collected than usual. The Reserve's autumn colours were in full show, especially the yellowing golden golden leaves of the trees and the now ripened fruits and berries, and there was a lovely late display of purple and white michaelmas daisies near the bench closest to Prewers Pond. Tuesday 15th November 2016 We had seven volunteers this month, with Ranger Mark in charge as usual. The main job was mending the path leading to the west of the Reserve. A quantity of gravel (Build Base) was moved by wheel-barrow and the gaps along the sides of the path were filled in and tamped down. Meanwhile the drainage channel from Puckles Pond was being cleared, and there was some scything going on. All the recent summer growth in the new meadow area had been cleared by contractors in October, but it's nothing like as bare as six months ago. Hopefully we will have an increasing number of flower species there next year. Rob Barker (Mark's boss) was due to visit to check out recent problems with Colby's dogs which once again are roaming round the Reserve, acting aggressively towards both people and other dogs. Not much wildlife to be seen, apart from a few long-tailed tits, but fungi were plentiful, with large numbers of turbaria growing on the mulch, probably scurfy twiglet (Tubaria furfuracea). Stag beetles haven't yet been reported in the Reserve, but the log pyramid (for their larvae - built on the April 2008 work party) is host to a fine display of mycena, which look to me like clustered bonnets (Mycena inclinata). The last public fungus foray we had was many years ago, but it has been mentioned as a possible future event. |