
21 July 2022 |
The volunteers held another mid-week Work Party on Wednesday 20th July. We focussed on trying to remove as many Himalayan Balsam plants as we could before they set seed and started to scatter them everywhere. Talking to the Warden from the Wildlife Trust’s reserve (Upper Mill Pond), he had noticed that with the recent hot weather, flowering balsam plants had set seed quicker, the seed pods dried out sooner and were in danger of exploding a the slightest touch. Fortunately this did not appear to be the case in Holyland Wood reed bed and I didn’t encounter any ripe seed pods on the plants! The team spent a rewarding 2 hours pulling as many plants, (some as high as 8 feet, some only 6 inches tall), that could be seen. Whilst we were there a volunteer varnished and repaired the noticeboard in the car park that was showing signs of weathering! I am hopeful that we will be able cut down the vegetation on the car park meadow next week. If that happens we will organise a team to rake and remove the cuttings. There are signs that the new Co-op bench is being well used and a report from a visitors informed us that they had sat with their spotting scope on the bench watching White-letter Hairstreak butterflies feeding on the young elms near the car park. Good news indeed! After the work party finished I took a walk around the wood and cut down a couple of tree branches overgrowing the boardwalk and cleared the path near the boardwalk entrance, where nettles and brambles were encroaching. There was very little litter except for the area where there is a swing in the wood. I will have to return with a bag to gather it up soon! Wildlife sightings were few for some reason, perhaps the heat and the time of year when many birds moult after raising their young and tend to feel quite vulnerable. However it was a good day for spotting thrushes and squirrels! |