Reducing, Reusing and Recycling!
Friday, March 18th 2022
With frogspawn being discovered in the ponds, Primroses appearing in the Hazel woods, Chiffchaffs heard singing and a dash of welcome sunshine, Spring is finally beginning! Staff and volunteers have been working hard to complete any winter habitat work such as clearing away brash from forestry work. Over the past few months, many diseased Ash trees have been made safe especially those that are close to the path. Large branches have been removed and this always creates a huge amount of brash. The biggest logs have been stacked into habitat piles which will create the perfect home for a variety of invertebrates and small mammals.
Most of the woodland is inaccessible to machinery however, where possible, branches have been turned into woodchips using a woodchipper. This reduces the amount of wood that is burned on a bonfire or stacked up to rot down.
The resulting woodchips provide valuable material for topping up some of the woodland paths. Recycling at its best!
At this time of year the habitats are left for the wildlife to breed in and work is more focused on enhancing the visitor experience. Repairs have been carried out on various boardwalks and bridges. Reclaimed timber from the boardwalk replacement project on the red route has been reused to patch up other walkways.
Some small conifers had died due to lack of space in the plantation. These had been felled as part of a woodland management plan and some of the trunks were used to edge part of the woodland trail. Not only is this a clever way to reuse the timber, it also helps to guide visitors around the woodland.
Volunteers have also been monitoring for presence of Mink, observing tracks and signs of animals and setting trail cameras to capture images of some of the more elusive species on the reserve. Thank you to everyone who has helped out over the harsh winter months, it is time now to slow down a bit and enjoy watching the reserve flourish as a result (before the mowing, strimming and pruning starts)!
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