De-Fencing

Today was perfect for working at Foxglove- pleasantly warm but not too hot, and with a lovely breeze to keep the flies away. The Tuesday volunteers set to work on a variety of tasks. The never ending strimming continued, as did a bit of pruning and lopping. The feeders were filled and the dams at the cascading ponds were fixed as they had started to leak. We also cleared up all the vegetation that the CEMEX team from yesterday had cut down. 

The biggest task of the day however was up in the woodland, where an old boundary fence runs. We noted earlier in the week that it was getting very rickety, and as it now has no purpose at all, the decision was made to remove it. A good shove and the fence almost fell over.

The volunteers then set to work on the rest of it, breaking it down into pieces and pulling out the fence posts.

Afterwards they were carted away to be disposed of or reused, depending on their condition.

We were all very pleased with the end result- it made the area look much more natural. A man-made fence always seemed a bit out of place up in the trees.

Whilst in the woods we found this Stinkhorn fungus.

This lives up to its name and smells horrible, attracting a variety of flies. The spores are found on the head of the fungus and the flies that are attracted to the smell then spread the spores. By the end of the day it was looking completely different- obviously the flies had done a good job!

Thanks to everyone for a very enjoyable and successful day today.