On Saturday morning our group had it’s monthly workday. There was another good turnout of volunteers armed with mattocks to continue removing the Silver Birch saplings from the lowland heath area.
However, today we had some special guests, Karen a wildlife reserve manager from the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and her trainee Sue who had been invited by Sarah Goldsmith (YWT) to our workday.
Our group has perhaps limited knowledge of forming a conservation management plan for our sites. So whilst the rest of the group were hard at work Claire and myself took our guests on a tour of the sites (including Dealburn Road Wildlife site) to seek help, knowledge and advice
We started at Raw Nook Nr discussing pond management and how to thin out the woodland to create better habitats. The meadow at the site hasn’t been cut for a number of years and now coarse grasses are prevalent. Karen suggested clearing small patches of the grasses and spreading Yellow Rattle seeds…but they needs a heavy frost before they germinate….Yes said Karen…just put them in the freezer before hand…that will do the trick…Excellent idea Karen.
It was then on to the Dealburn Road where we discussed various issues in taking the site forward. Again discussions at Toad Holes Beck centered on the lack of management of the meadow and thinning out of the Hawthorns.
So Claire now has a full notepad of knowledge and advice and me, well when we met with the rest of the group it was the perfect ending as an Orange Ladybird flew onto a member of the group!…a site first for Toad Holes Beck…
