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Wednesday, February 22nd 2012
Five moths of three different species were caught in the Robinson's trap last night. Satellite, Pale Brindled Beauty and Chestnut (pictured below).
Two specimen trees were planted close to the head of the lake (in the pouring rain)!
Elizabeth planted an Oak tree that she has kindly donated in memory of her parents.
Tree surgery continued along Risedale Beck which is running brown due to the heavy rainfall.
Finally, the hard work has paid off and the first Moorhen was caught and ringed on the wetland, in one of the traps installed by the ringing team members last weekend.
Tuesday, February 21st 2012
With the days lengthening, the race to complete all of the winter habitat work is on. An area close to the lake was thick with Blackthorn and it was decided to cut this back away from the path edge. The photo below was taken at the start of the day.
The volunteers soon got to work and a two metre swathe was cut back along both sides of the boardwalk.
By late afternoon, the task was almost complete. What a difference!
The area has been transformed and hopefully in the Spring the woodland flowers will flourish here. Attention then turned to coppicing some of the large Hazel stools through the middle of the reserve. This was done selectively (younger stems remain) to promote the growth of the springtime flowers such as Primroses. The work is ongoing and will continue next winter in order to minimise disturbance in this highly sensitive habitat.
Once again, our most sincere thanks go to all of the Tuesday group. Thanks to Elizabeth and Ruth too who sorted out all of the education worksheets and prepared the display for Tescos. We will be fundraising at the Catterick Garrison store on Saturday, if you have an hour to spare to raise awareness of your favourite LNR please get in touch (see the events page for further details).
Contractors are on site this week to remove any limbs from dangerous trees. This is only being done where there is a high risk of a branch falling onto a pathway.
Sunday, February 19th 2012
The sun cast early morning shadows across the frosty moor but despite the warmth the temperatures remained low and the paths remained frozen all day long.
Many people enjoyed their walks around the reserve, many for the first time. Some visited the ringing room where the process of ringing was explained and also the importance of the data collected.
Over 130 birds were processed including Brambling, Siskin, Lesser Redpoll, Reed Bunting, and an excess of new Coal Tits! Considering that this species was quite uncommon when we started ringing at Foxglove 20 years ago the situation has changed significantly, and it is now almost our most common winter resident. One newly ringed Blackbird with a very long wing was probably a migrant from Europe that will shortly be heading back there. A retrapped Chaffinch was ringed as a juvenile in 2004 making it eight years old!
Saturday, February 18th 2012
It was a cold and squally morning when the 'A' Team met at Foxglove. Today's task was to install, repair or repostion the ringing team's four duck traps. Whilst Tony and John headed off to our workshop to build a new base for the trap on the Foxglove Lake, Tom headed out onto the wetland to site two new portable traps. Three hours later the group re-assembled to complete the installation of the new floor for the Foxglove trap.
We then headed off to Bellflask, where we were joined by Beryl and Emma to do the biggest job of the day, to move and then attach a new floor, to our largest trap. This shows the team hard at work positioning the trap guides:
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......and finally the job is complete and all we need now are some ducks!
Thursday, February 16th 2012
The Tree Identification Walk was well attended and Jez gave us a silvicultural tour of the woodland. In addition to identifying various tree species, topics covered included everything from tree disease and timber yield to the conservation value of our native trees. Thank you Jez for a most informative and enjoyable event.
Whilst out on the walk the first frog of the spring was spotted. In a few days time, if the weather stays warm, more and more of these amphibians are likely to be seeking out their spawning ponds!
©2012 Foxglove Covert Local Nature Reserve.
Text and images may not be reproduced without written permission.
Foxglove Covert LNR
Wathgill
Downholme
Richmond
North Yorkshire, DL11 6AH
