Today, for the first time since the winter of 2019-2020, we were able to gather a larger group of people together for a work-party on The Mound without restrictions or fear of spreading coronavirus.
It is also the first time we have been able to celebrate together being Winners in the North Devon Biosphere Pledge for Nature Award in Spring 2021. Winkleigh Biodiversity Group won the Community Group Award and Kim was nominated a 'Community Champion'. Kim and Penny are proudly holding up the plaques we won.
 |
| Our Pledge for Nature Awards |
The weather was cold but dry, so the ten of us spread out over the Area each to our separate tasks. James replaced many of the plastic tree-spirals with the plant-based biodegradable ones we bought recently with funds raised from the Winkleigh Tree Hub in April.
 | |
| Replacing plastic tree-guards |
David trimmed back some of the most flowery patches on the grass path. Cutting grass back now will help the Knapweed, Yarrow, Oxeye Daisy and Marsh Woundwort which flower there in mid-Summer.
 |
| Strimming the flowery patches |
The rest of us, Kim, Trevor, Catherine, Maggie, Ian, Sue, Penny and Philip all set to snipping bramble around the smaller whips so that they don't get shaded out next year. The taller trees actually benefit from bramble around them, as this stops the deer from damaging the bark. During the morning's work we also had three visitors to see what we have been doing here.
 | |
| Trimming back some bramble |
To our delight we found two small nests made of woven vegetation. This one is 8cm in diameter and is definitely a Harvest Mouse nest. It was found by Maggie in some bramble which had been cut back by Alan last week. We will register this find with the Devon Harvest Mouse Survey which is run by the Devon Mammal Group. It is the first nest found in our 10km x 10km square this winter survey season. The only other one this year was found by Kim here (photos on the April 2022 blog).
 | |
| Harvest Mouse nest of woven grass |
What is truly amazing about Nature, is that if you give it space and leave it in peace, many species move in. For the first time this year, we have lichen growing on two of the trees. Firstly, a foliose lichen on a Wild Cherry and secondly a script lichen on English Oak, both planted in 2012.
 |
| Foliose lichen |
 |
| Script lichen |
The site has changed since the summer, when the dead Leylandii hedge between the Old Bowling Green and the Biodiversity Area was removed. We can now see the Sports Centre and a certain amount of shelter from the westerly winds has gone.
 |
| View to the South West |
On our tenth anniversary we are celebrating our achievement and yet we are also awaiting anxiously the outcome of a proposal by the current Trustees to develop a sports pitch across part of the Biodiversity Area, which would cut into the Spiral Maze and displace many trees, shrubs and plants, which feed and house many of the species that make their home here.
 | |
| Young hazel, oak and rowan |
No comments:
Post a Comment