Bluebells Galore!

Last night some of the Foxglove ringers were out checking nest boxes in the local woodlands. These are small nest boxes and can contain a variety of species, including Blue Tits, Great Tits, Coal Tits, and the less well known Redstarts, Pied Flycatchers and Nuthatches. What stood out for most of us on this occasion however was not the birds but instead, the stunning display of wild flowers. These are the Bluebells at High Spring Wood.

The Bluebells there are interspersed with Primroses and Early Purple Orchids.

Continuing on the Bluebell theme, this week is Stone Circle Week at Foxglove. This is an exciting week for us as we are constructing a stone circle out on the moorland, next to the Bluebell bank. Earlier in the week we spent time carefully measuring out the site to decide where the stones should go. In the picture below you can see our Bluebell bank, which the stone circle is to be installed next to.

Today the digger started carefully excavating the 12 holes in the moorland that the stones will be placed into.

Each hole was dug very carefully, to minimise the mess and damage caused to the site. By the end of the day we had 12 neat little holes, and a pile of soil and turf next to each one.

Once the stones have been installed, the turf will be replaced, and the stone circle will stand in all its glory, amidst the bright yellow gorse and flanked by the sweet smelling Bluebells.

It rained at Foxglove today.

Despite this, good numbers of visitors came to Foxglove. In the morning we had a group visiting the reserve from the Richmond Women’s Institute, and in the afternoon, the Durham Federation of Women’s Institutes brought a large group, who enjoyed a guided walk and looking round the Field Centre.