Thursday 1 December 2011

June Bioblitz 2011.

Our Bioblitz carried out over the weekend of June the 25th and 26th was blessed with good weather which turned out to be very hot on the Sunday.   Base Camp was established in the picnic area.

 The first task was a  Minibeast Hunt at 12.00 noon. To do this we went to what we call Lime Meadow on the right-hand side of the car park.  We used a vacuum sampler, sweep nets and a beating tray to find out about as many invertebrates living in this part of the park.
Our findings included this list of creatures. Meadow Grasshopper.  Roessel’s Bush Cricket.  Three different types of ladybird and ladybird larvae.  Crab spider.  Wolf spider. Orb Web spider.  Harvestman. Numerous different types of small beetle.  Various predatory bugs.  Huge numbers of grass mites. Meadow Brown butterfly.
At 3 p.m. we went on a Wildflower Hunt. People were allowed to pick a small sample of each Wildflower as long as it was not rare. Here are some of our findings.
Here is a list of our findings:-
Bramble
Wall Barley
Dock
Lambs Tongue Plantain
Dandelion
Lesser Bindweed
Cocksfoot Grass
Meadow Barley
Creeping  Thistle
Yarrow
Ribwort Plantain
Creeping Buttercup
Sorrel sp
Ladies Bedstraw
Cat's ear sp
Common Storks bill
Red Clover
Creeping Cinquefoil
 Meadow Buttercup
Quaking Grass
*Oxeye Daisy
 Dwarf Thistle
Bird's foot trefoil
Goatsbeard
Lawn Daisy
Cut leaved Cranesbill
White Clover
Hogweed
Meadow Vetchling
Agrimony
Speedwell
Mouse Ear Chickweed
Black Medick.
At 7 p.m.on Saturday evening we prepared some Longworth  small mammal traps. Each was carefully weighted with some nest material,Harry Hamster Muesli, some casters and mealworms and a slice of apple for moisture.   
And then we came back the following morning to check the catch. We caught Wood Mice, Bank Voles and Common Shrew.

They were all released back alive.

Later on in the morning we went 'pond dipping' in the River Stort backwater. We caught a good variety of freshwater life including Freshwater Shrimp, Water Hoglouse, a variety of water snails, Pea Cockles, Small water beetles, Damselfly nymphs, Mayfly nymphs, Alder Fly Larvae and various otherLarvae and worms.


 The event Finished at 12 o'clock on Sunday and was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone, We had been blessed with good weather!

Tuesday 29 November 2011

Late November work party.

Today was the first work party for some while. The first few pictures show a new pond being dug out in the spring area. And finally the finished item!



After lunch we concentrated on clearing the view along the new line of Lime Walk.



Thursday 30 June 2011

Bramble
Wall Barley
Dock
Lambs Tongue Plantain
Dandelion
Lesser Bindweed
Cocksfoot Grass
Meadow Barley
Creeping  Thistle
Yarrow
Ribwort Plantain
Creeping Buttercup
Sorrel sp
Ladies Bedstraw
Cat's ear sp
Common Storks bill
Red Clover
Creeping Cinquefoil
 Meadow Buttercup
Quaking Grass
*Oxeye Daisy
 Dwarf Thistle
Bird's foot trefoil
Goatsbeard
Lawn Daisy
Cut leaved Cranesbill
White Clover
Hogweed
Meadow Vetchling
Agrimony
Speedwell
Mouse Ear Chickweed

Friday 24 June 2011

Work done by the Friends since last year.

Remember the very hard days of winter

And then came the floods.

So what were the Friends doing during the winter. Planting Oak trees along Oak Walk and Hawthorns around groups of other trees planted earlier. 


We also planted more hawthorns as a hedge along the boundary as well as clearing around young trees planted the year before.

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We even worked when it had snowed overnight.  This time we did some coppicingIn the maple belt.

The aim is to allow light in and create a gladed effect for butterflies.
We also helped with tree planting around the new north entrance.


Whilst planting trees here we dug up some large grubs of the Cockchafer Beetle .



Over the winter period we have also helped to install a number of fine Oak benches throughout the park.



We have also tackled the problem of large clumps of Bramble.  Experimentally, we have tried dividing the clumps to allow light and to increase the 'edge effect'.


We have also tackled the problem of encroaching scrub, both on the park and on the dry meadow.

We also spent some time clearing scrub from around the newly cleared spring area.
In the early part of the year we ran two events. The first was to record the veteran trees on the park. We measured girth and height as well as assessing the general health of the tree and its value to wildlife. We were interested to see that a number of lime trees were  host to lots of mistletoe.
Sadly, some of the older trees had been covered in graffiti. One of our roles as Friends is to tackle problems like this and the graffiti was subsequently removed.

 We also organised Wonderful Worms which was an investigation for younger children.The event was a highly successful and we stopped counting when we had reached 70 children. They all thoroughly enjoyed digging in the earth and finding worms.

The cattle came on to the park at the end of April. This coincided with a working party to chop Thistle's.   Creeping thistle is quite good for wildlife but it is an invasive pest in grassland. The idea is to cut the stem below ground so as to prevent seeding and weaken the root.

As usual there is a splendid display of early summer flowers.
An interesting addition to the park flora is a type of wild onion.This seems to have made its way on to the park from the old Rivers Nursery site.
 The Bishops Stortford Natural History Society held a mothing evening in May. We recorded 22 species of moths.

 The water buffalo are doing a splendid job on the wet meadow. It is very good to see the reappearance of Ragged Robin. If you have the opportunity also have a look at the splendid stretch of backwater adjacent to this meadow.


The water buffalo are doing a splendid job on the wet meadow. It is very good to see the reappearance of Ragged Robin. If you have the opportunity also have a look at the splendid stretch of backwater adjacent to this meadow.