A Variety of Tasks
Tuesday, September 13th 2016
Today at Foxglove it was incredibly hot. However, our volunteers set to work as usual, once again on the heath, continuing the seemingly never ending task of pulling up encroaching tree saplings.
Where possible this is done with tree poppers, which lever small trees out of the ground. The problem we have is that in the past we have often pruned these rather than pulling them out at the roots so we are left with a giant lump of root and stems that is very difficult to remove. Many of these have to be dug out by hand to prevent them growing back again next year.
Whilst working out in the mini heatwave we found some nice creatures including this large Toad.
And this Pink-Barred Sallow Moth.
Ken and Eddie spent the morning strimming. Today they had a bit of variety- instead of the usual strimming of edges of pathways they strimmed the garden, then moved on to strimming the orchards.
The Orchards are like hay meadows and have not yet been cut at all this year to allow the orchids and other flowers to seed. The next job will be to rake up the hay before it has a chance to rot down, keeping the soil fairly nutrient poor to allow the flowers to grow in preference to the grasses. After lunch we all had a break from physical work and took a look into the past with Tony, who did a talk and slide show of the reserve from its early days.
It was incredible to see how the reserve has developed over time from its small beginnings to the reserve and field centre we are lucky enough to have today. Thanks very much to Tony for his presentation, and to the volunteers for all their help.
(0) Comments:
There are no comments for this blog post yet. Why not start the discussion? - use the form below:
Help Support Foxglove
Friends of Foxglove
The Friends of Foxglove Covert is for those individuals, families and organisations who would like to support the reserve through an annual membership subscription. Friends receive a regular newsletter and invitations to attend our various activities and social events.
More DetailsUpcoming Events
Foxglove Covert Local Nature Reserve is now OPEN
Monday 4th November 2024 |
The security gate, it's safety features and the communications link to the guardroom appear to be working, so we're reopening to the public.
Please check the FAQs on entrance procedures.
https://foxglovecovert.org.uk/about/frequently-asked-questions/
Birdwatching Workshop
Sunday 17th November 2024 | 10am-1pm
Improve your bird spotting and identification skills with this beginner-friendly guided bird watching session. Learn how to identicy common species, differentiate between confusion species and how to get started learning bird calls. A great opportunity to ask questions and learn alongside others.
£5 per person. Free for volunteers and Friends of Foxglove.
Booking essential.
Undergrowth Newsletter
View All The Newsletters
Recent Blog Posts
- Wetland Work
- Does it Feel Like First Week of Autumn?
- Caught on Camera
- Behind the Barrier this July!
- Reserve Update
- Would You Like to be a Trustee?
- Damselfly Emergence - Exuviae Everywhere!
- Creating a New Path
- Bumblebee ID
- More Dead Hedging
- Dead Hedging
- Beautiful Bird Boxes!
- Completed Coppice
- Unconventional Scything
- Garden Birds
- Winter Fungi
- Winter highlights
- Happy 2024!
- Wonderful winter workers!
- Making A Start
- Visitor Information (Update)
- Autumn Crafts and Autumn Colours
- Weekend Waxcaps
- Meadows and Ponds
- Meet Foxglove’s New Ranger
- All Work and No Play?
- Field Centre open Sunday 15th October 12 noon - 4.00pm
- Paving the Way
- Getting further, faster - together…
- Brian’s Baler!
- Reserve closed Tuesday 26th September 2023
- The Revolution has begun!
- Learning to Scythe with Steve Tomlin
- A fine time was had by all!
- Bird Ringing
- Galls
- Late Summer into Autumn
- News from the North
- Thank you!
- A Quiet Walk
- Hanging Around
- Mipits
- Common Lizards Again!!
- Species
- Bird Ringing
- Keeping Your Eyes Open
- Weekend opening hours Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th August
- We are recruiting!
- Thank yous and Bye Bye
- When the Sun Comes Out
- Weather and Flora and Fauna
- Volunteers at Work
- More Photos from the BBQ
- Jenga
- Volunteer and Bye Bye BBQ
- Summer
- Summer Work
- More Wildlife
- Wildlife
- A Good Growing Season
- Weekend opening hours Sat 22 & Sun 23 July 2023
- Moth News
- Butterfly Roundup
- More Moths
- Butterflies and Moths
- Weekend opening Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th July 2023
- Watching
- Juvenile Birds
- Common Lizards
- The Scrapes
- Nesting birds
- Ooohs and Ahhhs at the Moth Traps
- Co-operative Plants and Animals
- Summer Maintenance
- Moth Update
- Warm Days
- The Bees Return!
- June Flowers
- Lots of Legs
- Sharing Ideas
- Questions
- Caught Chasers!
- Some Bugs and Beasties
- Snow in June?
- Chasing the Chasers and Other Insects
- A Lesson - Perhaps?
- Small Nest Box Time
- Half Term Trail
- A Winding Way Through the Reserve
- Checking the Ponds
- Around the Reserve
- Moths and…
- Wildlife
- Living Creatures
- Roe Deer
- Dippers
- Dawn Chorus and Volunteering
- CES 1
- Hive of Activity
- Job Complete!
Blog Archive
- Blog Posts from - 2024
- Blog Posts from - 2023
- Blog Posts from - 2022
- Blog Posts from - 2021
- Blog Posts from - 2020
- Blog Posts from - 2019
- Blog Posts from - 2018
- Blog Posts from - 2017
- Blog Posts from - 2016
- Blog Posts from - 2015
- Blog Posts from - 2014
- Blog Posts from - 2013
- Blog Posts from - 2012
- Blog Posts from - 2011
- Blog Posts from - 2010
- Blog Posts from - 2009