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Tuesday 18th January 2022 It was a cold grey day for most of the afternoon with a little sunshine breaking through towards the end. There were five volunteers, with Warden Mark on hand to coordinate activities. The first tasks were to collect two abandoned shopping trolleys, and take down two dead trees that were threatening to fall across the path which runs along the High Ridge. These were surprisingly easy to pull over as their bases were rotted. The trunks were sawn into manageable chunks, which didn't take long, and cast down the slope into the woodland area to provide a habitat for insect larva, and other invertebrates. We then checked out a large encampment that had been erected behind Lupin Grove surrounded by a large amount of litter. The Council are aware the camp is there but Countryside Services are now prohibited from dismantling it in case the camp is in use, which would mean it comes under the responsibility of the Homelessness Department. Finally we got to work on our main job of clearing away a large amount of fly-tipped waste along the edge of the Reserve where it borders the A127. The larger items had already been taken away by council employees but we still collected enough to fill several large rubbish bags. Although we cleaned up the immediate area, the problem persists along the length of the south side of the Reserve where it borders the dual carriageway. Following up later in the week, all the bolts on the two notice boards were tightened, and the mud was cleared from both entrances and from around the drain close to the bench by Willow Pond. Recent rain has kept the ponds full and the dampness has encouraged a few of the hardier fungi to flourish during what has been a mild winter so far. There were few birds to be seen other than a group of long-tailed tits, but plenty of bird song to be heard, especially great tits. The hedgerows are looking drab with nearly all the fruit now gone, apart from splashes of red holly berries along the High Ridge and the white snowberries on the east side of Plotlands Way. Tuesday 15th February 2022 [Cancelled - because of rain. Three council workers continued working, using the the tractor to do some hedge cutting and to cut down a loose tree branch.] Tuesday 15th March 2022 Despite being the warmest day of the year so far, sunny and mild, there were just four volunteers this month, and no-one from Basildon Countryside Services! (The Society has its own tools and onsite storage, so the absence of a warden doesn't prevent work parties taking place. However, strictly speaking anything other than litter-picking is likely to be unauthorised unless prior permission has been obtained.) The paths were fairly clear with only a little cutting back of bramble shoots needed, and one of the Society's members had already done a litter-pick earlier in the day, so it was decided to tackle the rubbish along the North-West side of the Reserve where a wide assortment of household items appeared to have been thrown over sections of the wooden fence separating the Reserve from the back gardens of houses in Thistle and/or Hazel Close. This included crockery, Lego, brushes, shoes, jars of food and coat-hangers as well as cans, plastic bottles and broken glass. Recent rain has left the ponds full, though the many patches of groundwater may be holding back some of the Spring flowers. Nevertheless there are are violets along both sides of Plotlands Way (which leads from the main gate towards the centre of the Reserve), and primroses, periwinkles and daffodils can be seen from the boardwalks. No catkins yet, and most of the blackthorn is barely in bud, but there is plenty of white cherry blossom to brighten up the woodland areas. Tuesday 19th April 2022 Six volunteers turned up this month, with ex-Ranger Mark again coordinating activities. It was very cloudy, but quite mild. The main task was to replace the board at the top of the Noak Bridge Steps (the second set of wooden steps along from the A127 entrance). Afterwards some of us continued with a leisurely walk round the Reserve listening to the birdsong - species heard included blackcap, chiffchaff, dunnock, moorhen, robin and wren. We also checked the ponds, all of which looked fine despite few signs of animal life except for a few pond-skaters. The Reserve looks very cheerful, with the blackthorn now putting on a fine display. Both sides of Plotlands Way are lined with hedge garlic, and there is the usual abundance of greater stitchwort along the edges of the woodland paths. The large spreading lilac by the turn off towards Fox Pond has started to blossom, and the bluebells have finally arrived, though nothing to rival the wonderful displays at Hanningfield Reservoir and Norsey Woods. Tuesday 17th May 2022 Four volunteers turned up on what turned out to be the hottest day of the year so far (23ºC / 73ºF). Ranger Mark was on hand to direct our labours, the main task being to cut the verges on both sides of Plotlands Way, which runs towards the centre of the Reserve from Eastfield Road. We also trimmed back the side growth along the boardwalk leading to Meadow Pond. The summer flowers are now starting to appear, especially buttercups and herb robert (a member of the cranesbill family), around which fluttered plenty of smaller butterflies (small whites, commmon blues and orange butterflies, probably skippers) but surprisingly none of the larger more visible species. The sun had also brought out other wildlife including a slow worm basking on one of the paths, newts in the ponds, and a variety of dragonflies (black-tailed skimmers) and damselflies (azures, blue-tailed and large-reds). Sightings of the day were a red-headed cardinal beetle (last recorded in the Reserve in 2013) and a spotted snake fly (the first for our records). Tuesday 21st June 2022 A reasonable number of people attended the work party, with six volunteers, ex-Ranger Mark, and two assistants from Countryside Services. The main task of the afternoon was to strim the grass around the benches and along the walks running east-west across the Reserve. We also cleared the stinging nettles from the sides of the path up to and along the High Ridge as we'd received a complaint about them. The weather was ideal, and despite some maintenance needed on one of the strimmers, all went well. The ponds are no longer as full as they were last month, but still look healthy, though again the only one which seemed full of life was Meadow pond, where there were lots of mating azure damselflies. The excavation carried out in 2020 initially resulted in plenty of open water, but the typha (great reedmace), bur-reed and broad-leaved pond weed are all flourishing again. The Reserve is quite colourful with the light purple (or sometimes white) flowering goats rue appearing everywhere. It seems to have considerably increased its spread over the last few years and is starting to dominate the meadow areas, which probably isn't a good thing as it crowds out the smaller plants. By the entrance there's a lovely scent coming from the privet which is now in blossom. Other flowers to look out for are mallow, wood avens, hedge woundwort and hairy St John's wort. As one walks West from the central area, the longish grassy area on the left contains yellow rattle and bird's-foot trefoil (which is the main food plant for burnet moth caterpillars). We've still had relatively few sightings of the larger butterflies apart from commas, but there are ringlets and gatekeepers to be found in the cleared scrubland area. Tuesday 19th July 2022 [cancelled - exceptionally high temperature. Rescheduled for Tuesday 2nd August.] Tuesday 2nd August 2022 This was an extra work party to make up for the one cancelled in July because of the extreme heat, though it still wasn't ideal weather, starting off warm and humid and gradually becoming hotter during the afternoon. Four volunteers turned up, but no one from Countryside Services appeared, so we were left to our own devices, which isn't really how it's supposed to work! There had been an unsuccessful attempt to break into the storage container, which happens from time to time, so our first task was to find one of the padlocks which had been forced open and discarded nearby. Then we went on to cutting back the new side-growth along the paths, which is a regular activity during the summer months. Despite the dry weather the meadow areas were flourishing and in places the surrounding grass was overflowing the main boardwalk. The Reserve is a lovely sight except for the ponds. Rosebay and Fox are dry, with Puckles and Willow being reduced to large puddles, the latter looking especially dire. Only Meadow Pond has retained its water, though the level was noticeably lower than in June. It continues to attract dragonflies and damselflies, and water mint, great willowherb and common water-plantain are all in flower and visible from the platform, providing a pretty sight. It was an excellent day for butterflies, especially gatekeepers, small whites and speckled woods. Yarrow is flourishing in the centre of the Reserve, while the Cleared Scrubland is full of mugwort, hoary ragwort and thistles (spear and creeping). The predominant flowers in East Meadow are fleabane and knapweed. Already the Autumn fruits are appearing (acorns, sloes, haws, blackberries and plums), but what pleased me most was to finally see the red berries of the cuckoo pint (also called Jack-in-the-pulpit, lords and ladies, wild arum lily and many other names). Though common throughout the Reserve, its flowers are usually damaged or destroyed soon after they appear (possibly eaten by muntjac or small rodents?) and the berries, despite being poisonous to people and many other animals, are said to be eaten by thrushes (and perhaps other birds). Tuesday 16th August 2022 There was doubt until the last minute as to whether the work party would go ahead because of a midday shower and the unsettled forecast. Warden Mark and an assistant helped by four volunteers decided to go ahead, the main task being to cut back the grass on either side of the boardwalk in the East Meadow. A small amount of water remains in Willow and Puckles Ponds, but only Meadow Pond still looked healthy. Hopefully it will hold out until September when it looks like there may be a couple of spells of prolonged rainy weather. Tuesday 20th September 2022 It was a grey day, but fairly mild and hardly any wind, which is fine weather for a work party at this time of the year! Six volunteers turned up to be greeted by warden Mark, who was accompanied by Frank Street the new supervisor for Basildon Countryside Services. It was Frank's first visit to the Reserve so he was shown around before joining in with raking up the previously cut grass from the central meadow areas. This is important for the encouragement of a more diverse mix of flowers and grasses as it removes surplus nutrients. The mains water leak which was emerging into Willow Pond has now been stemmed, but it is still exceptionally full. There are concerns about chlorine in the water causing damage to the wildlife, but as Willow Pond had been completely empty this may not be a problem. However if Essex & Suffolk (who supply drinking water to this area) are still using chloramine (rather than chlorine) to keep its water safe for humans to drink then this could have some long term effects, as it does not evaporate completely (unlike chlorine which would usually be gone within a day or so). In sufficient quantities chloramine is thought to be harmful to fish (which is ok as we try and keep our ponds fish-free) but it may also have an affect on other pond life - tadpoles, insect larvae, aquatic crustaceans such as daphnia & cyclops, water snails, flatworms, nematodes etc. Unlike the overflowing Willow Pond, the remaining ponds in the Reserve are at best damp (Puckles and Meadow Ponds) and at worst dry. However with the forecast of a rainy October these should start filling up again soon. Most of the summer and early Autumn flowers have now gone or are fading fast apart from the mass of golden rod and Michaelmas daisies which can be seen near Prewers Pond, and the large white flowers of the greater bindweed which can climb to above head height in the hedgerows. (Apparently it always twines itself around other plants in a counter-clockwise direction, something for me to check next time I see one.) Fungi are now starting to appear, although the only one identified so far is sepia bolete (Xerocomellus porosporus). Tuesday 18th October 2022 This month we had five volunteers, on a clear sunny afternoon which was surprisingly mild for the time of year. Warden Gary and two others from Countryside Services were already at work clearing out shrubs and smaller trees by the side of Willow Pond to create a small coppiced area. This will allow more light through the canopy and hopefully stimulate a range of woodland flowers to grow, leading to greater habitat diversity. The temporary ditch directing some of the overflow from Willow Pond away from the path and into the drainage system has been filled in and tidied up as it's no longer needed now that mains leak has been mended. There was also some cutting back of side-growth along the woodland paths. Willow Pond remains brimmingly full and hopefully it will retain its water over the next 12 months. Meadow Pond has a little water in it, but Fox and Puckles Ponds remain dry. This is becoming a regular pattern. Temporary ponds are fine, but if we want to have permanent ponds in the Reserve it looks like they will need to be dug out and deepened on a regular basis. Most of the deciduous trees are now loosing their leaves, though not the oak, which is one of the latest to come into leaf in Spring and one of the last to shed its leaves, often not until the beginning of winter. Recent research suggests that leaf-fall is triggered not by a drop in temperature, but by the decreasing hours of daylight, with the amount of red light being 'measured' by phytochromes, a chemical photoreceptor which plants, bacteria and fungi use to detect light. If you're walking through the Reserve keep an eye out for the display of white Michaelmas daisies by Prewers Pond (on the right, along the path towards the Western side of the Reserve). Like the nearby goldenrod and the patch of asparagus on the edge of East meadow, these are almost certainly garden escapees from Plotland days more than half a century ago. Tuesday 15th November 2022 Heavy rain was forecast for the afternoon but nevertheless five volunteers turned up in the hope that it would hold off long enough to get some work done, and so it did following a brief shower. Wardens Gary and Nick and an assistant, all from Countryside Services, were continuing to develop the newly coppiced area on the west side of Plotlands Way. We helped with gathering up the brush, some of which was thrown over the cut logs to form a hibernaculum for amphibians, snakes and other animals to use as a winter shelter. The Reserve is looking quite smart. The new paths in the centre of the Reserve and along the High Ridge are bedding in well and most of the grassy areas have had their Autumn mowing. Willow Pond is very full, and close to overflowing every time there's a downpour. Meadow Pond is healthy again, but Puckles and Fox Ponds are still barely more than large puddles despite the recent wet weather. The larger plants have finished blossoming but some of the smaller ones are providing splashes of colour, especially the yellow flowers of the straggling thistle-like bristly oxtongue alongside the boardwalks, and the white flat-clustered yarrow flower heads along the edges of the woodland between the bird-table and the coronation benches. (Both are members of the daisy family). Birds to look out for include fieldfares and redwings, winter migrants mainly from Scandinavia that are often seen flocking together, and small groups of long-tailed tits which are much easier to spot when they gather high up in the trees now that the branches are bare. |