Task day

Today was the last conservation working party weekend task day of the year. Only five of us turned out but we made quite a good start cutting a new butterfly glade, removing half a dozen large silver birch trees (all by hand - no chainsaws for us) to expose the oaks. The trunks are sawn into six foot lengths and stacked for use by reptiles and insects. The top growth is also processed and stacked ready to make into 'dead hedges' elsewhere on the reserve. On the walk into the working area we took a route past one of the early post medieval clay pits. These were hand dug and the clay used in the early brick industry. Being clay they naturally fill with water but tend to dry out in the summer. Earlier this year we cut a number of deep ponds within the clay pit so that they would retain water throughout the year to benefit amphibians and insects. Recent rain has now filled these so that they've merged back into one large body of water.