Yorkshire Countrywomen’s Association

Friday, July 6th 2018

I combined this morning's usual trip to see the ponies with putting up some new interpretation boards detailing interesting facts and figures of lowland Heaths in the UK, including information regarding the continued maintenance work carried out by Lark and Taurus.

Meanwhile Colin was busy creating more Mink Rafts in the Workshop where I joined him before too long to continue painting and decorating.

On my travels I couldn't help but admire one of our most persecuted plants; like many other wildflowers, Ragwort is poisonous to animals. This poses a problem if it gets mixed into dry hay that is later fed to livestock. In fields however, livestock will avoid it in its green state, and it is in fact mildly poisonous.

One thing that is rarely mentioned is the benefit of Ragwort to nature as a great source of food for pollinator species, such as bees and butterflies (much the same as the equally persecuted Thistle). On top of this there is also the fact that Ragwort is the principle food source for the Cinnabar moth caterpillar (seen below). In the UK the exceptionally vibrant and wonderful Cinnabar moth has seen a dramatic decline of 83% in the last 35 years!

It's now safe to return to reading the blog after my mini rant on persecuted plants (sorry!), and just in time to make mention of our visit by the Yorkshire Countrywomen's Association who enjoyed a talk regarding the Reserve led by Steve, before an extended guided tour taking in all of the wonderful habitats that make up Foxglove.

(0) Comments:

There are no comments for this blog post yet. Why not start the discussion? - use the form below:

Back to Top

Help Support Foxglove

Friends of Foxglove

The Friends of Foxglove Covert is for those individuals, families and organisations who would like to support the reserve through an annual membership subscription. Friends receive a regular newsletter and invitations to attend our various activities and social events.

More Details

Upcoming Events

Foxglove Covert Local Nature Reserve is now OPEN

Monday 4th November 2024 |

The security gate and it's safety features are to be working, so we're reopening to the public.

However the intercom and remote gate opening system is currently non-functional. Entry and exit to the reserve will therefore take place via key fobs which will be issued to visitors when they sign in at the Cambrai Lines front entrance. These fobs can be used to open the gate when entering and exiting the reserve. They must be returned to the front entrance pass office upon exiting the reserve.

Please note access will be limited by the number of fobs available. You may therefore be turned away at the pass office if all fobs are in use at that time. Please only collect one fob per visiting group and ensure you enter and exit the reserve together.

Please check the FAQs for further information on entrance procedures.

https://foxglovecovert.org.uk/about/frequently-asked-questions/