Adding to the Spiral Maze

We are now reaching the end of the tenth planting season. Yesterday, a couple of us went to the Biodiversity Area to add in a few more whips to the spiral row of trees.  This time we planted the rest of the second Woodland Pack of 50 - Oak, Alder and Rowan given to us by The Conservation Volunteers #IDigTrees funded by Ovo Energy customers.  In addition, there were some Osier Willow, Silver Birch, Common Lime, Spindle and Field Maple.  We added 34 trees to the total, which is now many hundreds. A rough tally of planting since December 2012 suggests that we have put in around 800 trees.  Of course, not every one will have survived, but most of them have and are in varying degrees of maturity. Many now flower and fruit every year, providing nectar and food for birds and mammals.  The Wild Cherries are in flower now, and many others are showing flower buds.

There were a few birds around - Blackbirds, Wood Pigeon, Sparrows (in the hedge) and possibly a Blackcap Warbler, but I could only hear it, not see it.  There is also a Song Thrush which visits the old Bowling Green and may be nesting nearby.

I also disturbed a tiny leaf beetle (Chrysolina bankii) with a beautiful copper shell and red legs and antennae.  It feeds on plantain leaves.

While I was clearing grasses from the tree tubes, I found a tiny Cucumber Spider (Araniella cucurbitina), the same species I found here last Spring.

The trees are coming into leaf now.  I noticed that a few trees, such as this silver birch, that are growing among brambles along the fence are holding their own.

 

250 trees distributed to our local communities

On Saturday, we hosted a stall and gave away approximately 250 trees to people living in Winkleigh and surrounding parishes. These whips were given to us by The Woodland Trust for community distribution.

Giving away a bundle of trees

Trees ready to go to the stall

Everyone completed a short online form to register, and then collected their trees from us on the morning.  We are grateful for all the generous donations made towards our activities.  This will be mainly used to maintain the Biodiversity Area.

 

New trees for Jubilee Wood for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee

 

In the past few days, Aly and Kim met to plant some new trees in the Jubilee Wood, as part of the Sports Centre's plan to improve nature on the War Memorial Recreation Field site.

Small trees in rabbit spirals

The trees were donated by The Conservation Volunteers (TCV) as part of their #IDigTrees campaign, funded by Ovo Energy customers.

 

They include Oak, Silver Birch, Rowan, Beech, Hornbeam, Spindle and Goat Willow. 

Altogether, we have now planted 32 trees, as we also have a "Landmark Tree" given to our Parish by Saving Devon's Treescapes (Devon Wildlife Trust).

 

This has been planted as part of our Queen's Platinum Jubilee "Green Canopy".

Kim during the planting

After the planting we took a photo of Mike Wilson, who is Chair of the Winkleigh War Memorial Recreation Field Trustees with the Small-leaved Lime Tree.

 

Spring flowers are showing in the wood, and the ferns are just starting to unfurl their leaves.  There are primroses, greater stitchwort and celandine in flower.  There will also be bluebells in the next month.

 

Primroses

Greater Stitchwort

Lovely mature oak tree

Jubilee Wood - Winkleigh

Sycamore and Ash trees were planted in Jubilee Wood, Winkleigh for the Queen's Silver Jubilee in 1977. Over the past 45 years they have grown up to mature trees. Sadly, upon inspection, it was found that most of the Ash trees had the air-borne fungal disease Ash Dieback and so the decision was made to cut them down before they presented any danger from falling limbs. It is estimated that Ash Dieback will kill 90% of Devon's Ash trees in the coming years. Devon Wildlife Trust's advice is to leave the trunks upright, so that they may become hosts for insects and provide food or nesting sites for woodpeckers. In the photo you will see some of those which were truncated. Two of them have nest-boxes which were provided and installed by Winkleigh Environment Group. There are still several Sycamores and young Hazel, Hawthorn and Oak in the wood.

On these mature trees are a lot of lichen, including Pepperpot Lichen, Lecanora chlarotera, and Graphis scripta. I have submitted these records to Saving Devon's Treescapes Project. There are also primroses and a few bluebells within the wood. There are plans to plant additional trees within the boundary, as part of the Queens Jubilee Green Canopy.

 

 

 

Winter Winds

 

 

This week involved some tidying up of tree tubes and spirals, which were probably blown out of the ground by the twin Storms Eunice and Franklin. We had planted another 50 native tree seedlings during December and they certainly had been rocked around by the wind. Most have survived the winter and just needed stamping back into the ground. These trees were given to us by The Conservation Volunteers, funded by Ovo Energy. This year some of them were planted along the hedge in the Allotments to provide wind-protection.

Spring Tidy-up Work Party

A few of us gathered this week to check the smaller trees and replace canes or rabbit spirals, where they were absent or broken. Some of the larger trees needed their protectors removed, as they had grown big enough. On Monday, Kim and Emily met up and braved the showers to work on the trees along the boundary fence. After the dry April, the very wet May has caused everything to grow very fast. The hawthorn, rowan and whitebeam are now all in flower.

On Wednesday, Penny and Kim were joined by Euan, who is volunteering in conservation work as part of his Duke of Edinburgh Award. Euan was clearing away branches from some hedge-cutting along the ditch, to allow us to mow the paths.

We were pleased to see some Spring flowers - red campion, welsh poppy and garlic mustard. We also caught sight of a couple of Field Voles and Lizards darting out of sight. The Spring has been cool so far this year, and there were no butterflies on the wing, but we did find some caterpillars of the Peacock butterfly in their web on some stinging nettles.

Spring - signs of new life

This Spring has been a chilly one, with the coldest April for 60 years, so things are coming out more slowly than last year. Nevertheless, the Mound is beginning to show plenty of blossom on the trees and shrubs. The Cherry blossom is over and there are tiny cherries appearing already. Summer food for the birds and small mammals.

There are flowers on the Crab Apples, Rowan, Hawthorn and Holly, providing nectar and pollen for pollinating insects.

On my latest visit yesterday, I encountered plenty of flying insects and a pretty little Spider called a Cucumber Green Orb Spider (Araniella cucurbitina) settled on the leaf of an Alder Buckthorn.

There was also a colourful Drinker Moth caterpillar here.

The grasses have also started to flower, including the fragrant Sweet Vernal Grass and Timothy Grass. There are also some Garlic Mustard plants flowering now alongside Red Campion in the damper parts. Garlic Mustard is the caterpillar foodplant for the Green-veined White butterfly, so we hope for some this Summer.

Our first planned tidy-up was rained off last week, unfortunately, but we are planning another one soon. We are always looking for volunteers. Some of the canes and spirals need to be removed or replaced. We have also had our first noticeable deer damage to the bark of a couple of trees. This is pretty unavoidable given our proximity to Winkleigh Woods, but I hope not too much damage will be done.

Winter signs of life

The other day I went to have a look around at the site, to see what I could discover of the wildlife living on The Mound. I found signs in the long grasses of animals having passed through or sheltering there. For example, there was a tunnel of grass leading through the wire fence, which could have been made by a hedgehog or a badger.

There was a little round hole, indicating a tunnel made in the grass by a vole, a pile of snail shells nibbled from the spiral end, which is usually the sign of Bank Voles and a pile of green droppings, characteristic of Field Voles, because their main diet is grass.

Bank and Field Voles are one of the main sources of food for Tawny and Barn Owls.

Our area also provides a home for many insects, some of the more attractive ones having already been pictured on this blog. I found two galls, pictured below - an Oak Marble Gall and a Thistle Stem Gall which provide a nest for the larvae of specific insects (Andricus kollari and Urophora cardui).  Insects feed birds and bats, and some smaller mammals.

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In addition, the tall hollow stems of Common Hogweed have provided protection for the larvae of a fly or wasp, shown by the holes bored to let them out.

So, even in mid-Winter, there are signs of life all around The Mound.

More native trees whips added to the spiral hedgerow

#IDigTrees - Over 1 million trees. And growing...December 2020

Despite the restrictions on meeting up during the Covid-19 pandemic, we successfully managed to plant all 100 young trees donated to us by The Conservation Volunteers (IDigTrees Project) which is funded by Ovo Energy. 

 

 

Kim - "Chief Organiser"

 

Included in the packs were: Oak, Alder, Beech, Silver Birch and Hornbeam (10 of each) and Rowan, Bird Cherry, Hazel, Crab Apple and Grey Willow (10 of each). We have not planted Alder or Green Beech on the site before, so this adds to our biodiversity.

Dave

Matt

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Charlie

 

Six volunteers met up on four separate occasions in December, with two or three people working together on one occasion, to keep within the Government guidelines on meeting outdoors and keeping a safe distance.

Vicki

Kim - again

Dave

Kim admiring the 2012 Cherry Tree

Spring to Autumn 2020

Well, it has been a strange year so far with a worldwide virus pandemic going on.  The grounds of the Sports Centre were closed to the public, so Nature was left more or less to itself for a few months. The school children could not come to plant trees in late March, so older members of the community met up in pairs or threes, while sticking to the government guidelines and all the trees were put into the ground during April and May.  These were from a pack of 105 Trees from the Woodland Trust which arrived on March 11th.  Unfortunately, the Holly did not survive the hot weather, and we have one pack of Hawthorn still to plant.  So in total we planted approximately 75 trees this Spring (Field Maple, Downy Birch, Hazel). We were able to plant a further 25 Alder Buckthorn, making around 60 in total.  These were not very healthy plants, so we obtained a refund from the nursery which supplied them.  We will see in 2021 how many have survived.  

Thanks to those who turned out in cold and windy conditions and got these plants into the ground either here or in the allotments (including David, Penny, Philip, Kim and Catherine).

 Our rough grass with holes is ideal habitat for ground-nesting bumblebees which nest in disused mouse nest.  Here is a Buff-tailed Bumblebee Queen looking for a nest on 9th April.

Maggie and Ian from Wheatland Farm Eco lodges volunteered to support us by cutting the grass paths with their super new mower this year. It was initially a bit tricky getting it through the small gate...

Maggie has cut the paths several times this season, even in the really hot weather in June and the paths have responded well - it is more accessible now on foot.  Maggie avoided cutting down the best of the Knapweed, Yarrow and other flowers, so the bees had plenty to feed on.

Trees planted from the Fruit, Seed and Nut collection are now producing food for the birds and mammals.

Flowers feeding the insects, too.  Here is a Small Copper whose caterpillars feed on Sorrel. 

Total trees planted (planting season 2019-20: December-May = 250 approximately)