Blog Archive (3) Posts Made in April 2024

Creating a New Path

Sunday, April 28th 2024

This week, volunteers at Foxglove Covert were busy removing old boardwalking and creating a new path along a section of the 'green route' on the reserve.

The old boardwalk, which stretched across a very soggy patch of mud, was beginning to rot away. Rather than replacing the boardwalk, volunteers diverted the path to higher, and dryer, ground.

The process of removing the old boardwalk support posts was an incredibly muddy one!

The new path creation was a much cleaner affair - a couple of new steps were added, and a small 'corduroy road' was made along a dip in the path.

The new path is open and ready for use, so why not try it out during your next visit to Foxglove Covert? Just head along the green route to find it!

Bumblebee ID

Friday, April 26th 2024

This Sunday at Foxglove Covert the Yorkshire Dales Millenium Trust held a bumblebee identification and survey training session, in support of the Bilberry Bumblebee Project.

Image: catching bees

Attendees learned all about how to ID different bumblebee species, and how sometimes it can be quite tricky - the bee in the image below was either a Buff-tailed (Bombus terrestris) or White-tailed (Bombus lucorum) Bumblebee - the species couldn't be determined in the field.

Attendees also gained some survey experience, and spent some time catching bees to ID them.

This training session will help volunteers with their ID as they carry out 'bee walks', a citizen science survey established by the Bumblebee Conservation Trust. In 2023 volunteers across Richmondshire carried out 35 bee walks, recording 388 bees total, and 13 different species of bumblebee.

If you would like to contribute to this project, email wildwashton@gmail.com for more information about how to volunteer.

Image: Red-tailed Bumblebee

More Dead Hedging

Thursday, April 18th 2024

This Tuesday Foxglove Covert volunteers finished up work on the dead hedge at Spigot Mere.

The hedge now runs half the length of the pond, and was created largely using cut material from coppicing efforts all around the reserve.

Later this year, once nesting ends, trees go dormant, and coppicing starts again, the hedge will be extended to continue along the full length of the pond.

As spring continues we hope to see waders such as Little Ringed Plover, Lapwing or Curlew nesting at Spigot Mere. Oystercatchers have already been seen around the reserve, Curlew heard flying over, and Little Ringed Plover spotted visiting Spigot Mere. Lapwing have yet to be reported, so keep an eye out the next time you visit!

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Access to the Reserve: OPEN with limited access

Monday 18th March 2024 |

The reserve is now open, although again with limited access.

Visitors will be able to access the reserve with the use of key fobs provided at the pass office upon entrance to the camp, or will be provided entrance and exit through the access gate by an officer from the camp Guard Room. In this case visitors will need a mobile phone to call the Guard Room when they wish to exit the reserve.

Please be aware that due to these circumstances, entering and leaving the reserve might take a little longer than usual.