Bardsey School visited the Marsh 8 times during the summer, looking at the beauty of nature in local places and how food webs work.
Just a few of the children from Bardsey Scholl who have visited Keswick Marsh.
We expect to commence work in Elliker Wood during October. The aim is to open up the wood to increase the variety of habitats and flora.
Elliker Wood, September 2015
At the moment inside the wood is very dark with the ground flora consisting almost solely of Dogs Mercury. Starting in the south western corner of the wood, the aim is to create short east-west rides at the top and bottom of the wood linked by a north-south ride along the eastern edge of the wood. We will also remove dead and dying trees, mainly elms, and some of the bushy undergrowth will be thinned. In order to do this a felling licence has been requested and approved.
Most of the work will be funded by a grant from Green Leeds and will be carried out by volunteers and our chain saw contractor. During the winter we will be holding two “Family Work Party” days, one on a Saturday and one on a Sunday, and hope that local people will take the opportunity to visit the reserve and help with some of the work. Keep an eye on the website’s Upcoming Events and the Newsletter for dates.
Following the preparations earlier in the year, those seeds that were the earliest to germinate are now in full flower…. Corncockle, Cornflower, Corn Marigold, and Poppy are now in full bloom. It is hoped that even more species will flower next year.
Ground preparation at Elliker entrance in April 2015
Elliker entrance…. The first flowers, September 2015
On Monday 18th May we surveyed the bats in Ox Close Wood. Our bat expert, who is a consultant ecologist, brought a number of bat detectors so that we could all have a go at listening to and deciphering the calls that we heard. Four bat species were identified during the evening; Daubenton’s, Noctule and Common and Soprano Pipistrelle. The river was a particularly rewarding area where nearly all the bats were seen and heard. A couple of the bat detectors could record calls and further species may be identified when these recordings are analysed over the next few days.
A few of the Trust members who attended the bat evening…. surrounded by Daubenton’s bats!
Two more bat evenings are planned for the 17th and 24th June when different areas of the parish will be surveyed. If you would like to come; meet at the church on Moor Lane at 9.30pm. or contact 01937 574140.
To further increase the biodiversity of uncommon w
ild flowers in Ox Close wood, we have again been plug planting in the grazing pasture. The plants were grown in the Trusts own wild flower nursery from seed that was collected locally.
About half of the wood was clear felled in 1992 by its previous owners. Until then, this area of the wood consisted of non-native conifers that shaded the ground so much that very little was left of whatever seed bank might have been present. Consequently the area that is now kept open by conservation grazing has a poor range of wild flowers which we are hoping to rectify.
This time, to deter the deer from jumping over wire fences, the posts have been angled inwards and the tops of the mesh netting has been laced with string.
Species that have been planted include Betony, Rock Rose, Aquilegia, and Ladies Bedstraw.
Fenced off area with plug plants of wild flowers
On 27th February, our Friday volunteers enjoyed a sunny day to finish hedge planting along one of the Keswick Marsh boundaries. The hedge is 70 to 80% Hawthorn with the remainder made up of six or seven other hedging plant species such as Hazel, Spindle, Holly, Blackthorn and Buckthorn. Since the hedge in the Marsh, hedging in Elliker Field has been completed.
Hedge planting
Enjoying the fruits of our labour
Planting saplings in Elliker field
Dexter cows in Elliker field
The animals will stay on the reserve untill late March when the Spring flowers start to appear.
Enthusiasm was not in short supply…. Frank Shire’s field was similarly treated by the youngsters planting a new hedge along the north-eastern edge of this reserve.
Hedge planting in Frank Shire’s
A well earned rest!
Further information can be obtained at… http://www.grazinganimalsproject.org.uk/what_is_conservation_grazing.html
Feeding tunnels under the bark of a dead Elm made by the Elm Bark Scolytus beetle
Half of Ox Close Wood was clear felled prior to its acquisition by the Trust in 1992.
Much of the natural regeneration has been by Elm trees. These trees are now of an age where they are becoming susceptible to Dutch Elm Disease which is a fungus carried by the Elm Bark Beetle. Evidence of the beetle, in the form of their larval feeding galleries, can readily be found under the bark of dead Elms.
A walk round the wood now reveals that many of the Elm trees are beginning to show signs of the disease in the form of dead and dying leaves and branches. In order to combat the disease, this winter, in the South West corner of the wood, the Trust has been coppicing many of the elms including some that seem healthy to prevent the disease from killing the trees. Trees alongside footpaths will also be felled to remove any danger from falling branches. Coppicing in this way extends the life of trees and further benefits wild flowers and insects by opening up the canopy allowing sunlight to reach the ground.
The area will be surrounded by a tall deer fence to prevent deer from eating the tasty young shoots that will grow from the coppiced stools.
Part of the coppiced area in Ox Close with posts for the deer fence being knocked into the ground.
The Elm is important locally as it is the foodplant of the White-letter Hairstreak butterfly which is an uncommon butterfly ranked 24th most widespread of Yorkshire’s 36 breeding butterfly species. Ox Close has a healthy population of this butterfly which is seen flying around the tops of the trees during July.
Local Volunteers joined together in Elliker Field to clear scrub and continue erecting the stock proof fencing in preparation for conservation grazing with Trust member’s rare breed Soay and Hebridean sheep.
Having finally received the licence from Leeds City Council to “cultivate” our roadside verges, we decided, at short notice, to cut a small section of the grass verge along Moor Lane.
An important part of this management strategy is to remove all the cuttings. If left, the cuttings would rot down and fertilise the soil which encourages the more vigorous grasses to grow which swamps any wild flower growth. Denuding the soil of nutrients favours the growth of the colourful wild flowers that used to be a part of our countryside landscape.
Cutting and raking the long, dead grasses along Moor Lane.
Even though few cars were encountered, safety is a priority with roadside signs and fluorescent jackets.