A Thistle-stop Tour!

Over twenty volunteers turned out this morning to help us with jobs around the reserve. Three Johns started out at the lake hides removing wire from the steps so that these can be painted over the next few days.

The hides here sit in an exposed location and to protect them from all the weather can throw at them they need a regular coat of paint. Will is making good progress on this job and soon they will be looking as good as new.

Our other volunteers continued work removing thistles from the Scrapes and Wetland habitats. This job is left as late as possible as the flowers provide a rich food source for invertebrates. However, if allowed to go to seed areas can become completely over run with thistles reducing the diversity of the ground flora.

By the end of the day both of these areas were looking much better, and the volunteers had most definitely earned a piece of cake left over from the festival last weekend!

Thanks again to everyone who has helped out here today.