Lots of work.
Saturday, February 19th 2011
There is always plenty of activity at Foxglove and today work was going on all over the site. Down towards the lake Graham felled three Ash trees along the boundary of the - soon to be excavated - area. One tree was already dead and the beautiful mossy trunks will be left as habitat piles along the lake edges. The other two would have been seriously undermined by the work to clear out the water margins.
Later on he went down to Risedale Beck to clear up a fallen Alder which came down in the water a couple of weeks ago in high winds. It's a good job his chainsaw wellies had no holes in them as he was plodging in water nearly two feet deep at times!
The trunks were a beautiful mosaic of yellows, greys, greens and browns. The rough texture of the bark contrasted nicely with the smooth lichens and the soft green moss.
At the dam the water, at last, is below the top of the weir for the first time since we started to drain the lake!
This is the first time the weir will have been dry since 1997. All the inflow is being taken out by the water pipe below the dam. Hopefully we will start to see the level drop even further as we count down the days until the contractor starts work on the 1st March.
In other news - ATM have worked on the bridges on the moorland all day, and Chris from Playscheme has finished off the last piece of boardwalk to the Outdoor Classroom. He was here most of the day with two others and finished connecting the walkway to the classroom itself.
During the week the weather has been very mixed, with some days being very cold and others being positively spring-like, but there have still been plenty of sightings. Brambling and Redpoll have been much in evidence in the back garden of the Field Centre. More than a few visitors have seen a the Treecreepers around, and there have also been Siskins, Long-tailed Tits and all of the usual suspects. Early in the week two Buzzards were seen again and we have a fair idea of the area where they are considering a nest site. There have been numerous sightings of the Roe Deer, including one which looks pregnant! The most deer seen in one family group has been four. Down on the beck Brian has once again found otter spraint! Last, but not least, the first frog of the year has been spotted out on one of the wet, grassy paths!
NEWSFLASH!
Foxglove Covert celebrates its 10th anniversary this year and to celebrate not just this, but also all the work which we have had done during the past year as part of the HLS scheme, we are going to have an Open Day. We have been planning this for a little while, but today the date was finally agreed.
Saturday 23rd. July 2011
We are very excited to be marking this special occasion and hope you will all get the date in your diary and come along to support your favourite Local Nature Reserve!
More details will follow in due course so watch this space!
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