01.02.11: Carrack Gladdon - clearing gorse and burning. Please see previous post on 14.12.10
04.02.11: Gwithian Towans - clearing non-native gorse and Blackthorn on a SSSI.
Gwithian Towans is the second largest dune system in Cornwall and has been designated as a Local Nature Reserve and a SSSI of 44 hectres. Gwithian is known to be a haven for wildlife including Adders, Palmate Newts and nesting Skylarks.
Today we were cutting back gorse and pulling up Blackthorn for Natural England to help remediate the unfavourable condition of the SSSI. We dragged it all back to the trailer we had bought with us and packed it full of the scrub.
We saw so many frogs today and when we got back to the office we identified them using one of the books and they turned out to be a female common frog. We thought it was some sort of rare species as it was orangey in colour not green or brown!
11.02.11: West Basset Stamps - mixed scrub clearance including gorse, brambles, Buddleia, Alder and Willow and burning.
The picture to the left is West Basset Stamps in May 2011.Another beautiful location where we were clearing and burning scrub to enhance the habitat for nationally rare bryophytes (mosses and liverworts) Cephaloziella nicholsoni, Cephaloziella integerrima, Cephaloziella massalongi, Pohlia andalusica, the nationally scarce Cephaloziella stellulifira, Bryum pallescens and Gymnostomum viridulum. West Basset Stamps is the only location in Britain where Gymnostomum viridulum occurs with capsules which is a part of the moss located at the tip of the stalk that contains pollen. This is very important for the reproduction of the moss.
Gymnostomum viridulum18.02.11: Trevissome - path building and general gardening.
We were back at Trevissome today to help out the BTCV horticultural group prepare the site for growing fruit and veg, see here for a recent news article on the gardening site.
Today we were digging a path to lead from the newly renovated stable to the main area of work in the field. We measured out the pathway and used stakes and string to create a straight line to follow. Long pieces of timber were used to line the edge of the pathway thet were tamped in using a tamping bar and our feet! The grass was dug out in turfs using mattocks, spades and shovels. The turf pieces were then used to build a wildlife wall to separate different areas. We also made a massive turf chair which was quite funny as it made us look tiny when we sat on it!
Another task was turning over the manure and kelp in the proposed vegetable beds. Manure and kelp is being used to naturally prepare the soil for planting as manure and kelp are high in nitrogen which is needed for healthy plant growth.
Some beds had been dug but needed some wood cut to size around the edges. We measured the size of the beds and then salvaged some wood from our original task here (on 14.09.10) to make the wood surround. The wood was measured and cut to size, then placed into the ground and nailed to each other. Our plant beds are now complete!
