March Winter Worky Day

The final Winter Worky Day of the season was well attended and the weather was perfect; dry and breezy. 

Net ride maintenance was the priority as the CES (Constant Effort Sites Scheme) bird ringing season is fast approaching. During the CES period bird ringers operate the same nets in the same locations over the same time period at regular intervals through the breeding season at over 140 sites throughout Britain and Ireland. Foxglove has been a part of this project for twenty seven years providing important year on year data for the BTO (British Trust for Ornithology). The vegetation on either side of the net rides needed to be lowered in order to maximise the number of birds caught and monitored over the coming months.

This 'extreme pruning' always creates a huge amount of brash which has to be chopped up smaller.

With two teams working in different net rides, great progress was made. A hot lunch consisting of pies, mash, peas and gravy followed by a variety of delicious cakes kept everyone going until late afternoon.

Thank you to all of the volunteers who helped out today, your time and effort is greatly appreciated. There was a definite feel of Spring in the air and the frogs could be heard calling in the Scrapes where the first frogspawn of the year was discovered.