Another Spring on The Mound

Over the Easter weekend, we had some warm sunshine, so we visited The Mound to plant a few hedgerow whips along the line of the first line of trees.  The idea is to thicken up the planting to provide a wind shelter and screening now that the Leylandii hedge is no longer there, as the strongest winds come from the West. In all, 34 whips were planted, some Hawthorn, Green Dogwood and Hazel at a spacing of 20-30cm. In addition, some of the older Red Dogwood had spread widely and layered itself.  So I pruned off the branches which had roots, and planted them along the line, too.

A volunteer from Amfreville, Normandy and a Twinning Friend

Some of the trees are already in flower.  One or two of the Wild Cherry were spectacular with their white blossom. 

Wild Cherry

 I noticed that for the first year, some Field Maples are mature enough to flower.

Strange green Field Maple flowers

Sloe (Blackthorn) and Goat Willow were also in bloom. 

Goat Willow catkins provide a lot of nectar and were very popular with Bumblebees and other insects on the wing.

Buff-tailed Bumblebee Queen

There were several Buff-tailed Queens hunting for nest sites in the tussocky grass.  I saw three different species of Bumblebee Queens: Buff-tailed, White-tailed and Red-tailed (that one was on a Dandelion).  

There were also Goldfinches, Blackbirds, Sparrows, Great Tit, Magpies and Wood Pidgeons in flight or in the hedges.

At the top, primroses were in bloom.  These were a gift from a volunteer in 2019, who sadly is no longer with us and they remind us of her.  Alongside them, our first native Wild Daffodil is in bloom.  This was planted there from locally-sourced bulbs.  They thrive in damp woodland glades. Their seeds are fertile and they will spread.

In memory of Marion

Native Devon Daffodil

An extended Area for Nature comes into being - Lower Meadow

Partly as a consequence of the need to reduce the size of "The Mound", Winkleigh War Memorial Recreation Field Trustees decided to develop an additional area behind the existing one, in order to give more wild space for Nature to thrive. This happened quite quickly, due to the enthusiasm and hard work of WWMRF volunteers and the support of a neighbouring farmer with heavy machinery.  In a few short days in February, an area which had previously been cut for hay or grazed by sheep, had its topsoil stripped off and banks built up around it.  A Common Beech hedge and a few trees were relocated with the aid of a digger.  In addition, many young whips of native species were planted. A central island now holds a log-pile, which will be good for reptiles, such as lizards and great for insects when it rots down.

Central island bank with log pile

View from the North

Beech hedge relocated

10 English Oak, 10 Field Maple, 20 Common Alder, 20 Silver Birch and 10 Mountain Ash (Rowan) were planted on 16th February.

In addition, Hornbeam, Hazel,  Blackthorn, Dogwood and Dog Rose were planted.  Here's the planting plan. The Beech Hedge is on the North side and the Hazel bank on the East side.

Planting Plan - February 2023

In addition 9kg of meadow grass seed and 4kg of wild flower seed was sown around this area. We are now hoping for gentle rain and warmth to provide good germination and we look forward to the muddy expanse being clothed with green shoots.  It will be interesting to see which plants appear either from the seed mix or from the seed bank of the soil. This land has been managed as pasture for at least 75 years, as it has been a recreation field since 1948.

The fencing between the 'old' and the 'new' parts of the Community Nature Area has been removed so that they can merge into one.  We look forward to the species now resident on The Mound also taking up residence in the newer area.

New developments on The Mound

Winkleigh Biodiversity Group, assisted by many volunteers from the local community, has been responsible for managing "The Mound" since August 2012, when the Trustees of Winkleigh War Memorial Recreation Field offered us a small, neglected and unused area. Back then, we were just a group of enthusiastic people wanting to create a wild space where Nature could thrive. We initially called it The Wild Flower Project, until the idea of the Spiral Maze was born. The story of our efforts since the first work-party in August 2012 has been told in these pages.  Since then we have recorded over 100 species of plant, bird, mammal, insect and reptile and sent these records to Devon Biodiversity Records Centre.

Over the past few months we have been in discussion with the Trustees about changes to the original boundary of "The Mound".  First, the boundary hedge was removed last Summer. The muddy tracks made by the large machinery were not surprisingly not a pretty sight!

Muddy tracks

View of old shed

View with Leylandii Hedge 29 August 2022

Then proposals were made to reduce the area significantly, in order to accommodate a junior football pitch. After some months of negotiation, a compromise plan was reached which would move the boundary to half-way across the first row of trees in The Spiral.  This plan minimised the removal and relocation of existing trees and shrubs, which was carried out while they were dormant.  A line was marked out with sticks and yellow tape to show the new boundary.  The proposed pitch will take up all of the first grass path which used to run alongside the boundary Leylandii hedge and approximately half of the the first hedge-row of trees and shrubs.

Yellow tape marking the new boundary

As part of these changes, Winkleigh Biodiversity Group's agreement to rent "The Mound" will not renew on May 1st this year. The Trustees will be taking over responsibility for its management, with co-operation from Biodiversity Group members in a joint working group. This is the start of a new arrangement for the two organisations, but we hope that the biodiversity there will continue to flourish and develop 'under new management'. As part of the plan, recognising the impact on wildlife of the reduction of area, another space has been set aside as an extension to the biodiversity area. This additional area will nearly double the area set aside for Nature. The two areas joined together will have a new name - Winkleigh's Community Nature Area. More on this in the next instalment.

Species of the Year 2022 - The Hazel Dormouse

After our exciting find of field evidence for Dormice earlier this month, we can now confidently say that these elusive creatures are living on "The Mound" in Winkleigh Biodiversity Area. As we come to the close of 2022, we take a closer look at this endearing, but increasingly rare animal. You can find our photos of the Dormouse nest and the chewed hazelnuts in the previous blogs.

Hazel Dormouse with Rowan Berries

"Haselmaus (cropped)" by Danielle Schwarz is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

As a declining species, protected under British and European Law, we will need to be very careful how we manage the area in future to avoid disturbing them. We always welcome volunteers to get involved with our activities.  The best way to contact us is via Facebook - Winkleigh Community Action or by contacts given in Distinctly Winkleigh.

People's Trust for Endangered Species says on their website:

"Our national monitoring shows the population of hazel dormice has declined by half since 2000, with the species hanging on mostly in southern parts of England and Wales. Climate change, as well as changes in woodland management, farming practices and loss of hedgerows, have all taken a heavy toll on their living space. Dormice are good indicators of animal and plant diversity, and dormouse-friendly habitats are also good for woodland birds, bats and butterflies"

So the presence of Dormice is a good sign for us that this wild space is good for other species. All our records for 2022 have been sent to Devon Biodiversity Records Centre and our Dormouse records have been entered onto the National Dormouse Database.

Hazelnut Survey and Dormouse Nest

Hazel Dormice spend most of their lives in the woodland canopy, rarely going down onto ground level, other than to hibernate in a nest of leaves during winter. They favour deciduous woodland, hedgerows and scrub.  So, we have always been aware that they are probably present on The Mound, now that the shrubs have grown to a reasonable size.  A couple of years ago we put up a two boxes, but we did not expect to find some possible Dormouse nests during our Harvest Mouse Survey last week.

Feeding on nuts, berries and seeds, we have provided them with good food sources.  As their name implies, hazelnuts are favoured and one way to survey for them is to do a nut hunt.  PTES (People's Trust for Endangered Species) recommends that you survey hedgerow under hazel trees for any discarded nutshells.  Each species nibbles or cracks the nuts in a different way.  It is really quite fascinating!  So we gathered together a handful of shells from just three of our Hazel bushes.  After sorting through them, I selected those that looked most like tell-tale feeding signs of a Dormouse and sent photographs to Devon Biodiversity Records Centre at Devon Wildlife Trust for verification.  

Dormouse-nibbled Hazelnut 1

Smooth inner rim of Hazelnut 2

Surely enough, it was confirmed that these three nuts showed the distinctive smooth interior and outer scrapings of a Dormouse. Some people have likened them to a small Dutch clog, because it opens up the nut from the side when they are still green.

Hazelnut 3

So now we can be sure we have yet another species to record in our small (quarter of a hectare) wildlife space.  This brings us to 104 plant and animal species in 2022.

And here we captured on video the finding of the Dormouse nest in the brambles.

Successful Harvest Mouse Survey

When we carried out our first Harvest Mouse survey in January 2021, we found no nests. So this year I was pleased to come across a solitary nest in a tree-tube in April.  After finding another in early December, we realised it was a good idea to carry out a more systematic search.  Devon Mammal Group are running a Harvest Mouse Survey, where they train volunteers to search suitable habitats for old nests during the winter.  The most suitable habitat is rough grassland with Cocksfoot or other coarse grasses, Culm grassland or bramble.

So, we met up last week and carried out a dedicated search along a bramble patch, lasting about an hour and a half.  Maggie found the first nest in a matter of minutes and I found one soon after.  In all we found five nests in bramble and one in tall grass.

The Harvest Mouse is losing suitable habitat, due to the loss of rough grassland. The clumps of grass need to be thick enough to hide a tennis ball and, even in our wild space, these are uncommon.  This photo shows just how well they are hidden among the grass stalks. It is made entirely of woven grass and was 30cm above ground.

Harvest Mouse Nest 

Nest 1: Harvest Mouse 65mm diameter

Each nest is different, some are more neatly woven than others.  This one above is woven from coarse grasses.  Nest 2, below is woven from fine grasses and is smaller.  It was discovered in bramble.

Nest 2: Harvest Mouse 55mm diameter

The third nest was bigger with an 80mm diameter and also located in bramble. The larger nests are summer maternity nests, where one nest is built for each brood and then abandoned.

Nest 3: Harvest Mouse 80mm diameter

Our next nest was also found in bramble, but there are a few leaves incorporated into it. This makes is interesting, as it is possible that this is a Hazel Dormouse nest.  We sent a photo to People's Trust for Endangered Species and their Dormouse Officer has confirmed that it is very likely a Dormouse nest.  This is really exciting news to know that we definitely have this elusive mammal on our site.  See also my next post about hazelnut surveys.

Nest 4: Dormouse 75mm diameter

The Hazel Dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius) is an endangered species and is protected under British and European Law. Nests 5 and 6 also had some tiny leaves around the outside, so at the moment we do not know if they were made by a Harvest Mouse or a Dormouse.  To my mind, Dormice are more untidy nest-builders compared with the Harvest Mice!

Nest 5: Unknown 60mm diameter

Nest 6: Unknown 50mm diameter

We are looking forward to more opportunities to do further surveying during the winter months.

Celebrating our 10th Anniversary

Ten years ago this week, on a cold and frosty morning, a dozen volunteers from Winkleigh and Hollocombe Parish came together to plant the first trees on the top of The Mound. These trees were planted to celebrate the Queens Diamond Jubilee in 2012.

This area had been given rent-free to a group of interested people to develop as a space for nature by the Trustees of the Winkleigh War Memorial Recreation Field.  At that point it was rough ground, covered in thistles, docks and nettles which had been left alone since the building of the Sports Centre in 2003.  At first, we had romantic visions of a wild flower meadow, but our first work-parties showed us just how fertile the ground was and how it would be very difficult to restore without using pigs or stripping off all the topsoil.  Initially there was no fencing or rent to pay, as the rest of the field had not yet been let out to a sheep farmer.  This blog tells our story of joys and challenges over the past decade in more detail. Thanks to the many people have been involved, of all ages, in so many ways to support this project. Just look at these photos to see the Area's development!

Before we started in
 2012

First trees planted 1st December 2012

Sheep invasion in May 2014!

Involving young people June 2015

Volunteer topping the grass May 2017

Families tree-planting in January 2020

View from field in June 2021

Wild Cherry 2022

Silver Birch

Knapweed and Yarrow

We welcome everyone to join in our maintenance work-parties and citizen science events.

First post-pandemic winter work-party

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

Summer fruits and next year's butterflies

It was a warm sunny day at the end of August when I took a stroll around the Biodiversity Area to see what was there.  Blackberries were ripening on the brambles, providing fruit for birds, wasps and small mammals, such as voles, dormice and harvest mice.

In addition, I found some black aphids clustered along a stem, looking like a good meal for hungry birds.

One of the Silver Birches had a good crop of catkins, to provide seedlings for the future, but also good to sustain birds and voles through the coming winter.

Birch catkins August 2022

The cycle of life was also evident in the hope for next year's butterflies and moths.  One brightly-coloured Cinnabar Moth caterpillar was chewing on Common Ragwort (Senecio jacobaea), before spending the winter as a pupa, to emerge in May to July next year.

Cinnabar moth caterpillar

And finally, I was enthralled to watch a pair of Small Copper butterflies mating in the warm sunshine on a bramble leaf, promising more of these delightful small butterflies for 2023.

Small Copper pair mating

The Small Copper is usually only seen in ones or twos.  We usually have some on the site each year, as the caterpillars feed on Sorrel, which is abundant. They sometimes eat Broad-leaved Dock, too.  Warm, dry conditions are favoured, unlike some of the other butterflies which prefer our damp grassland. So perhaps this unusually dry hot summer has been beneficial to them. Wing Span (male to female): 32-35 mm.