Today's work party was arranged at short notice in order to rake off the vegetation from the meadow area which had been cut yesterday by Tricia, the MWT Reserves Officer, and some of her mid-week Muckers. We at the Southern Group are very grateful to them for finding the time to fit in this task at Ballachurry amid all the other hard work that they do.
The reason we rake off the cut vegetation is so that it does not rot down and increase the fertility of the soil. Fertile soil = vigorous grasses and less wild flowers.It will take a long time to "tame" this meadow as it was once an arable field, no doubt with fertiliser added each year. But we shall get there in the end and each year sees an improvement in its biodiversity.
There was a good forecast today so we literally made hay while the sun shone. The "hay" went to the compost heap where it will rot down over the next 12 months, providing in the process a habitat for many invertebrates and also fungi. Unfortunately not many volunteers were available today at such short notice but four of us worked in relay. As one volunteer had to go home they handed over the baton, or rather the rake, to someone else who was just arriving. Although the job is not finished we have "broken the back of it " and await another fine day to finish the task.
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a pause in the raking when a frog was discovered!
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there were three altogether
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so it's good to see them in this area
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first of many tote bags of cut vegetation
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to be added to the compost heap
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another heading that way too
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this is the first year we have a nice wide bridge for this task
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rainbow warning us it's time to finish
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but just one more bagful!
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We were not the only people on the reserve today. Ian and Peter were also making the most of the fine weather to crack on with the boardwalk preparation.
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everything in place
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just waiting for the mortar to be mixed
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bags protecting the slabs until the mortar is set
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The two groups met up at 11.30 for a welcome cuppa and cake. I did take some photos but they seem to be a bit blurry so I've not included them here!
The work party was due to finish at 1 o'clock and right on cue a rainbow warned us that our time was nearly up. We were treated to a short hailstorm no less! It blew over in a couple of minutes and the blue sky returned as we collected up the tools and headed home for lunch.
Many thanks to both groups of volunteers today. Our numbers were few but we achieved a lot!
Each time we emptied a sack or the barrow a number of small creatures remained behind. They were all carefully returned either to the meadow or the compost heap, but not before being photographed for identification purposes.
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Rove Beetle ( bottom left) and Ground Beetle
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caterpillar of Large Yellow Underwing Moth and what looks like a weevil
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| the caterpillar uncurled |
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a blurry photo - I was chasing the Pachygnatha spider!
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a Wolf Spider
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and a Xysticus Crab spider,
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some sort of mite I think
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and this one is a Harvestman + a small beetle
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White Legged Snake Millipede
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and this one is a Pill Millipede
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Today's wildlife list: SC208694
Pill millipede x 2
White Legged Snake Millipede x2
Large Yellow Underwing moth caterpillar.
Oligolophus or Opilio Harvestman, Xysticus Crab Spider, Pachygnatha spider ( probably clerki), and red mite.
Wolf Spider - several
Several unidentified money spiders
Rove Beetle ( Staphylinidae species) , Weevil and Ground beetles ( Carabidae species)
Robin taking insects disturbed by raking
3 x Common Frog
Longtail in the stream by the bridge
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at the end of the morning the meadow looked like this
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still vegetation to be removed
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but most of the large hummocks gone
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the compost heap shows how hard we worked!
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the birds will enjoy picking it over for insects
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it will gradually subside in the course of a year
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I had hoped to return to the Reserve after lunch to do a proper recording visit but unfortunately it rained so I had to change my plans. At least the wet afternoon gave me chance to update the Blog!
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| always nice to end with a rainbow! |
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My thanks to Ian Scott for the caterpillar identification and Kate Hawkins for the Beetles and Spiders
please click on photos to enlarge them
