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| 40 years of saving butterflies, moths and our environment |
| Butterfly Conservation | |
| 40 years of saving butterflies, moths and our environment |
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WORK PARTY REPORTS 2009/10
Devil's Dyke - 14th March 2010The Branch started the 2009/10 work party schedule at Devil's Dyke, and it seemed appropriate that we should finish here too.Vince, Louise, Tony & Hilary shared duties on the 3 brushcutters creating a large number of small to medium sized patches of short turf in the southwest-facing bank of Devils Dyke to the north of the pine trees overlooking the July Racecourse. We worked on the full length of butterfly transect section 3 which is about 1km long, creating a mosaic of short managed turf, amid the prevailing long grass and with a scattering of small scrub. This is hoped to benefit Dingy Skipper in particular. While the bruscutters were in operation, the other volunteers cleared a load of scrub growing on the north-facing bank which threatens to shade out the important butterfly area. Once a quantity of grass had been cut, these folk switched to raking up the material to help reduce the fertility of the soil and the diversity of plant life, particularly good for the short-growing horseshoe vetch which is so important for the Chalkhill Blue & Dingy Skipper. At the same time, the Cambridge Conservation Volunteers were also in operation on the dyke, clearing more substantial scrub from the end of section 1 and among the pine trees of section 2. Many thanks to all volunteers involved: Louise Bacon, Vince Lea (Branch Conservation Officer for Cambs), Mark Bunch, Hilary Conlan, John Young, Kevin Taylor, Norman Feltwell, Kevin Wilson, Richard Fowling, Tony Moverley and Sean O'Driscoll. Orwell Clunch Pit - 21st February 2010This small SSSI, which has recovered from years of scrub cover, now has excellent chalk grassland with a small population of Horseshoe Vetch plants, giving the potential for Chalkhill Blue butterflies to colonise – they have found the site occasionally but not yet successfully bred there.The pit was created by small scale mining of the soft chalk called clunch, and the various activities have created an excellent variety of aspects, with shelter from any wind direction, and sun traps in many locations. The steep sides also erode readily, creating small areas of bare ground, some of which are maintained permanently by human and rabbit activities. This bare ground is essential for the rare Chalk Carpet moth, which also requires vetch plants for its larvae; these moths are regularly seen in the pit during high summer. Site management includes grazing with traditional rare breed sheep and cutting on the steeper sides which the sheep seem to avoid. This year, the pit has received additional funding from Natural England, enabling a few days of professional contractors to clear the main area of pit sides, so we changed from doing this routine work to a slightly different plan. We basically worked on expanding the area of grassland, beating back scrub from the perimeter of the SSSI, areas of hedge and a small block of mature scrub were cleared, adding an extra couple of metres of habitat to the edge of the pit. A couple of areas of grassland were also cleared from inside the pit area in parts where the contractors weren't likely to go. As most of this work was at the outer reaches of the pit, there was further to drag the cut material to get it to the bonfire. The bonfire! We had a terrible wet start to the day, with snow falling before we started, and everything was sopping wet. It took a good couple of hours to get the bonfire going, but late in the day with a freshening breeze and a glimpse of the sun, the fire roared away and consumed everything we had cut.
The bad weather had clearly deterred some people from attending, but with a relatively small amount of work to do, we managed to get everything done by early afternoon and enjoyed a pleasant sunny end to the day, with great views across the countryside from the summit of the pit. Thanks to all: Louise Bacon, Vince Lea (Branch Conservation Officer for Cambs), Rob Smith, Dave Seilly, Tony Moverley, John Dawson and John and Anne Young, together with various Orwellian villagers including Clive, Josh and his dad. Langdon Lake & Meadows - 7th February 2010A dull overcast day but dry until we finished, then the first spots of rain fell, but we didn’t mind that!!Seven Branch members squelched along muddy paths up to the top meadow lying east of the lake where clearance work has been carried out on previous years. We were joined by a group of over a dozen rangers (senior scouts), together with Dave Murch & Nicola, both regular volunteers with the Essex Wildlife Trust.
The group set about the task with brush-cutters, loppers and saws and were soon making inroads into the brambles and felling the hawthorn. The piles of cut material grew and grew. It was hard work and breaks for coffee and lunch were very welcome but by the time we finished, a substantial area had been cleared leaving the EWT staff to deal with the mountains of cuttings. These will be ‘chipped’ and spread on the muddy pathways at a later date. Many thanks go to all the Branch members: John Dawson (who looks after the tools), Richard Bigg (Conservation Officer for Essex), Rob Smith, Tony Moverley and his daughter Emma, Zoe Ringwood and John Smart; together with Mick, Dave and Nicola from the EWT.
Thrift Wood - 24th January 2010A dry day for a change and fairly mild. Seven Branch members and one non-member together with the Warden George Fletcher set about brush-cutting and coppicing.Brush-cutting followed broadly the scheme proposed by the Branch, in that the whole clearing was imagined as being in four parts. A hard (deep) cut was given to the area on the south side and to that on the north-west corner. At the Warden’s request, a light cut was given to the area between those two. The area at the north-east end of the clearing was left untouched. The cut spoil was raked up and removed to the edges of the wood around the clearing. The thinking behind this approach is that by attacking the whole area in the past we may have destroyed larvae. It remains to be seen this year whether leaving areas untouched produces more larvae reaching maturity. Whilst four brush cutters proceeded as described, four more of the team began coppicing a “scallop” along the north edge of the south area. From a 10.00am start to a finish just after 3.00pm, the targeted work was completed.
The Warden was pleased with what had been accomplished and said he thought that there would be no need for the Essex Wildlife Trust to do any more. During lunch break two members did a quick search for Heath Fritillary caterpillars and were rewarded by finding one. Thanks go to Rob Smith, Rob Fuller, Tony Moverley, Vince Lea, Louise Bacon, John Dawson, and Annette Copping, Richard Bigg (Conservation Officer for Essex) and of course the warden George Fletcher. Tiptree Heath - 6th December 2009This was the Branch’s second visit to Tiptree Heath in recent times, supporting the local volunteer group, ‘The Friends of Tiptree Heath’, who together with the Essex Wildlife Trust, work to maintain and restore what is Essex’s largest area of heathland.In weather terms, it was almost a repeat of last year. Torrential rain in the first half of the morning hampered efforts to even arrive at the Heath safely in one piece. Roads quickly became awash with surface water and visibility vanished through the flailing but increasingly ineffective arms of the windscreen wipers. However, we took comfort from the forecast which suggested that the rain would move through by mid morning and give way to a bright sunny afternoon - which did in fact happen.
Richard Bigg arrived first to start work with the locals at 9:30am while three other Branch members arrived a few minutes later. The four of us joined forces with over a dozen ‘Friends’, clearing birch saplings which were encroaching on an area not far from the main car-park. Two chain-saws made light work of bringing down the trees which were then dragged and chopped for burning on the fire; the initial lighting of which must have been no mean feat in the earlier rain.
Over coffee at the late morning break, we heard much of the history of the Heath, its ownership (although common land, the heath is privately owned by Peter Wilkin of the internationally renowned Tiptree Preserves business) and its management from a most enthusiastic and welcoming bunch of people. With so many volunteers on hand, we managed to clear a substantial area and by 12:30pm started to dampen down the fire and call it a day. This left time enough for those on a first visit, to stroll around this impressive site, over 60 acres of mixed habitats including heath, woodland (mainly oak and birch), streams and ponds. The site’s SSSI designation is mainly a consequence of the heathland flora (specifically Common Ling, Bell Heather and Cross-leaved Heath) but other interesting residents and visitors include dormice, water voles and nightingales. Thanks go to Richard Bigg (Branch Conservation Officer for Essex), Rob Smith, Paul Hudson and Tony Moverley; and of course the ‘Friends’ for making us most welcome. To find out more about Tiptree Heath, visit the Friends of Tiptree Heath website. Brampton Wood - 15th November 2009Following the previous day’s heavy rain and gales, we were relieved to arrive at the Brampton car park in sunshine and calm conditions for what was to be the Branch’s 4th annual visit in recent years.As usual, volunteer warden George Cottam was on hand to greet us; but on this particular occasion was leading another group of volunteers (the Cambridge Conservation Volunteers) for some coppicing work while our group was fortunate to be guided by Roger Orbell, a butterfly enthusiast who has known and loved this wood for over 50 years. Loading up with a few bow-saws, loppers and bill-hooks, we set off to improve the habitat for Black Hairstreaks at site 4, one of five locations within this large wood which are subject to regular annual monitoring of this extremely rare butterfly and which have butterfly records going back for many years. Site 4 had become relatively overgrown and produced a zero count in 2009, compared with 11 individuals recorded in the wood's peak year of 2006. With 10 willing volunteers on hand, we soon got to work clearing out hawthorn, hazel and some big ash trees, taking great care not to remove or damage any Blackthorn, upon which Black Hairstreaks overwinter as eggs laid on the stems during the previous summer.
The sun continued to shine for us during our short lunch break and the Lepidoptera list for the day, which up until then comprised a Mottled Umber and a Looper caterpillar, was boosted by a Feathered Thorn. A fly-over Redpoll was also noted by Vince's keen ear. Lunch over and with the shading scrub cleared, all the remaining Blackthorn was laid low by the layering technique which rejuvenates old shrubs and lets light once again into the glades where these elusive Hairstreak fly. Let's hope that Hairstreaks are seen again at this site in a couple of year's time - although we can't expect anything spectacular this year coming particularly, the habitat should be ideal in 4 to 5 years time.
We were finished by about 3pm and took the opportunity to return to the car park by a different route, taking in the nearby coppicing work of George and the CCV ‘gang’, and stopping on the way to admire several Marsh Tits, among a mixed Tit flock. Many thanks to all who helped: Lynne Farrell, John Dawson, Rob Smith, Louise Bacon and Vince Lea, Tony Moverley, Roger Orbell and a particular thanks for those attending a C&E Branch work party for the first time, Kevin Taylor, Roger Hughes and Sue Pollard. Thrift Wood - 7th November 2009Not a work party as such and not really a field trip in the strictest sense . . . more a search party! Natural England had been approached with the proposal for volunteers to search for Heath Fritillary larvae at Thrift Wood; they had said such a search could go ahead without any special permission on the understanding that minimal disturbance would be caused.Six members and the Site Warden George carried out the search in sunny but cool conditions. Heavy rain the night before meant that the terrain at leaf litter level was quite wet.
Finding this number of Heath Fritillary larvae in such a short time gives rise to the thought that a large number of larvae are present in the area which for some reason fail to mature into butterflies. This was a very successful expedition and will help to formulate plans for conservation work in the future. Thanks go to all those who took part: George Fletcher (Warden), Rob Smith, Guy Manners, Louise Bacon, Vince Lea, Tony Moverley and especially Richard Bigg (for organising the search). Listen to the HEATH FRITILLARY story broadcast on Radio 4's Living World in August 2009 Devil's Dyke - 25th October 2009Our first work party of the season got us off to a flying start, with our traditional cut of a section of the best Chalkhill Blue site in the region.With constant effort from four brushcutters, a large swathe of the important south-west facing chalk bank was cleared of several years grass and scrub regrowth, producing the short sward that the Chalkhill Blues will breed on in the summer.
While the brushcutters made a start, the other 5 volunteers set to work on a patch of much denser scrub, extending the area of suitable habitat and reducing the shade that can affect lower reaches of the dyke bank. Once a reasonable amount of grass had been cut, these folk switched to raking and removed the cut grass from the bank, helping to reduce fertility of the grassland which increases the performance of the all-important Horsehsoe Vetch. About 110 metres of dyke were cut and raked off, the largest amount we've done for a long time, probably reflecting our improved skills after a very useful training course in the summer.
The day was very bright and sunny but a strong wind kept insect activity at bay – one Nymphalid whizzed overhead at lunch time but the combined expertise of our group failed to identify it. The wind also took care of some of the raking work for us. In fact, the wind at the top of the dyke was such that it frequently flipped the brushcutter operators' safety visors open! Many thanks to all attending: Vince Lea, Louise Bacon, John Dawson, Hilary Conlan, Lynne Farrell, Richard Fowling, Helen Chubb, Rob Smith & Richard Bigg. |
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