If you're interested in learning more about how to get involved with us, we've got two of our regular Conservation sessions coming up. They are always on the last Friday (this month Feb 24th) and Sunday (Feb 26th) of the month. More details can be found on our facebook events page. Please keep reading below for more info.
If you've not joined us for one before, they are a great way to get a little exercise (or a lot if you're feeling enthusiastic!) learn about nature and connect to your local community.
We offer all sorts of activities. Some very light duties include litter picking, which can turn up some interesting finds like the toy snake below we found on our last session!
For some more cardio activity, there is the opportunity to cut back some overgrown areas. Our Acid wildflower meadow is in need of continuous help to stop the bramble and various trees choking out the light from the flowers and grasses growing that bees and butterflies love to feed on.
For the more enthusiastic of us, we take the large cuttings and move them into the woodlands. This is partly to create habitat for other animals (there’s more biodiversity in dead wood than there is in living wood) and partly to try and discourage visitors from wandering off the fixed paths, and creating more muddy tracks in the undergrowth.
On some days we get out into the pond. There’s often debris (fallen wood, logs, etc) that we pull out and use to create sheltered habitat for amphibians using the shallow area of the pond. Our little rowing boat will come out, donated by super volunteer Bruce. If you are up for a new experience you can even strap on a pair of waders and plod around the banks picking up various bits and pieces.
A lot of our work in the Spring is to make better pathways. We get quite boggy in places, and for several years we've been adding to succesive pathways to ensure the site is as accessible as possible. This takes a lot of people-power, and often some big machinery. But don't worry, we only let qualified volunteers use the big tools.
During the summer months, we need help on butterfly and insect counts around the meadow. We supply all the tools you’ll need, and guide you through the process. We know what our most common species are, but it is always helpful to have estimates of numbers to see if they are having a good or a bad year. We’d love to start cataloguing more of the insects we find on the site, so if this is something that you think you might be interested in, please get in contact.
There's always something to do on the site. We are very open to your needs and interests, and would love to hear from you about what you'd like to see on the reserve. Why not send a quick message to our email, and let's have a chat!