Caterpillar and work

Mike and Tony came to volunteer for the day and cut back our little hay meadows. This is just the right time to cut them, and as they get raked off, the grass and flower seeds get distributed for next year.

Whilst they were raking off Mike found this Pale Tussock moth caterpillar. On the second photo you can see the four sets of claspers holding on to the twig. In front of these are three pairs of legs. The red tuft is at the tail end. At this time of year the caterpillar will be looking for a place to spin a thin, silken cocoon and hibernate for the winter. The food plants include Hawthorn, Blackthorn, Crab Apple and Birch.

Foxglove has been a hive of activity! As well as visits from the Dales School and the Richmond Community Support and Information group we had three sets of contractors on site. Here you can see Steve's team working on the new sluice. They also installed edgings to the car parking areas.