New planting and nest boxes

Each time I visit the Community Nature Area, there is further growth in the original Biodiversity Area (The Mound) and in the new lower part with the Flower Meadow.

Spring blossom

Primroses.

Thanks to a second grant from Tarka Country Trust, two House Martin nestboxes have been installed at the rear of the building under the eaves. 

Also, a Kestrel and an Owl Box have been put up in the Jubilee Wood.

Owl Box

Kestrel Box

A new hedge-bank with trees has been planted right up towards the Allotments, providing hundreds more native hedgerow trees for birds and other wildlife. We look forward to seeing their growth during their first season.

Autumn comes early this year

Due to the very hot and dry Summer, berries and nuts started to mature early on the trees in the more established area of the Community Nature Area, The Mound.

Blackberries for birds and small mammals

Hazelnuts for small mammals

Crab apples

Rowan berries

Hoverfly on Dogwood

Red-tailed Bumblebee

Lower Meadow in flower and a visit from Tarka Country Trust

In August 2023, we were delighted to show round the Trustees from Tarka Country Trust.  The Sports and Recreation Centre had been awarded a grant to sow wild flowers and they wished to visit to see our progress.  Along with a grant from ND Biosphere for flower and grass seed, and trees from the Woodland Trust, the new extension area to the Community Nature Area had been created in February.

Maggie in conversation with Trustee Tom Hynes

The flowers from the native seed mix have eventually started to bloom and are clearly very attractive to pollinators such as hoverflies and bees.

It was decided to dig out a scrape or shallow pond behind the new bank.  It has been so dry this season, that water has not filled it yet, so it remains to be seen if it will be useful to wildlife.

A volunteer from China planting trees

Lower Meadow of the Community Nature Area is slowly developing

The trees and wild flower seed were sown in February, but a prolonged drought has meant the germination of the seed was slow and the little trees struggled through lack of rain.  Here are some photos of the area developing taken in early June 2023.

The transplanted Beech hedge in leaf

New trees planted along a new bank

Brimstone butterfly caterpillar

Thick-thighed Flower Beetle

Flowering grasses

Bare soil as the seed slowly germinates

Summer Work-Party

Today was hot (23 degrees C) and sunny again, and very humid.  So it made our maintenance work-party hard work. Mike, Sue, Alan, Catherine and Kim spent a couple of hours trimming back bramble shoots around the trees, cutting back the longer grass on the top of The Mound and weeding around some of the smaller trees.  We were careful not to disturb nesting birds, or even dormice, in the brambles.

Mike, Sue and Catherine

Mike had also cut around the spiral pathway, so we could get access as the grass has grown quickly since its last cut in Spring.  We kept cool with some iced water and finished up with tea and a lovely cake.

Kim

Alan

The air was full of buzzing bees and we saw a handful of butterflies around the grass.

Another dry Summer

In my two visits to the Community Nature Area in June, it has become obvious just how dry it has been recently, with no significant rainfall in the past month.  The smaller trees are struggling, as they do not have the deep root systems needed to withstand drought.  Nevertheless, the blossom continues to be amazing this year, with a lot of Hawthorn, Dog Rose, Alder Buckthorn and Bramble in full flower.  The bees, both Honey Bees and Bumblebees are enjoying the nectar.

Dog Rose in bloom

I also came across a large clump of wonderful Oxeye Daisies at the top of The Mound, and feeding on the pollen were a number of Thick-legged Flower Beetles. It is the males that have the swollen thighs which give it its name.

Oedemera Nobilis

Oxeye Daisies

Brimstone caterpillar

Alder Buckthorn flowers

The grasses are high and some of the grassland butterflies, such as Meadow Browns and Small Skippers have already emerged.

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.