We will meet outside St Mary’s Church, Moor Lane, East Keswick at 10am. Please bring binoculars if you have them and the Merlin app is also very useful. We will be walking through the Marsh and then along Moor Lane towards Harewood Road. Bring along a drink and a snack and join us for as long or as short as you like.
Coppicing is one of the oldest forms of wood management in the UK. Trees are cut down to their stumps, which are known as stools, to encourage new shoots to grow. The stools are cut in rotation and so the different areas of regrowth provide a wide range of habitats. Coppicing provides a renewable source of wood and the cycle can carry on indefinitely.
In Ox Close Wood, the hazel has been coppiced by Leeds Coppice Workers and the stools now need to be protected to prevent deer from eating the new shoots. This project has been led by two of our volunteers Nick and Lin. Stakes have been placed around the stools and cages made from brash placed around them. They have been assisted by Open Country, Leeds Wealth Fund volunteers and our Friday volunteer team.
Come and enjoy the annual bluebell spectacular in Ox Close Wood. Meet at the Crabtree Lane car park at 7pm.
The Trust has acquired a moth trap that can be used by Trust, and their family, members.
It comes complete with a 5volt power pack, electrical cables and a moth identification guide.
It uses a low wattage UV LED bulb which emits little visible light so is unobtrusive when used in one’s garden.
For further information, please call Paul 07999339147 or email paul@ekwt.org.uk.
On a very cold and wet January day, a hardy group of EKWT volunteers visited the Lower Ure Conservation Trust (LUCT) at Nosterfield. LUCT aims to establish best practice in the provision and maintenance of wet grassland. EKWT are keen to share knowledge about the wetland plants in our fen area in Bardsey Fields and so were delighted to be invited to visit the nursery at Nosterfield. The day was very informative and we are pleased to have made links with another Trust. LUCT will be visiting Bardsey Fields reserve in the spring.
We collect seeds from our reserves in the parish, plant them and grow them in our nursery. Here our volunteers are planting on the wildflower seedlings to prepare them for planting out at a future date.
Our Friday volunteers continue to support the work being done in the Climate Change Garden at East Keswick Village Hall.
In 2022 we found an Oak Bush Cricket; our first Orthoptera species that wasn’t a grasshopper. This week, David found two further species in his field… a Long-winged Conehead and a Roesel’s Bush Cricket.
Both of these species are not normally seen north of the Humber…. so a good find.
It’s likely that one or both of these species could be present in Bardsey Field as “scurryings” have been seen!
Update…. Roesel’s Bush Cricket was seen by a member at Bardsey Fields, 11th July!
We welcomed over 50 people to Bardsey Fields at the beginning of July to see the work that we have been doing, learn about the wildlife there and take part in craft activities. Permitted access is now available through the two gates at the corners of the top field next to the road. A path has been cut between these two gates and then all the way around the top field. We had guided walks around here and were able to explain that in time, our management will result in the top fields developing into wood pasture. This will be characterised by open-grown, often old trees in a grazed environment, creating a rich mosaic of habitats including grassland, fen and scrub. There will be open views across to the fen below. The fen is home to many uncommon plants and butterflies and recently fawns have been seen there and a kingfisher nesting.
Craft activities on the day included willow wishing wands, spiders and felting sheep. Emma demonstrated how to ‘slow the flow’ with guttering and tennis balls. This is because we have broken two pipes under the field into the beck and brought the water to the surface in the field. The water will then filter through a series of dams to slow the flow of water and help prevent flooding downstream in Bardsey and Collingham. Paul had set a moth trap and had a number of interesting species to observe, including elephant hawkmoths.
We have the Dexter cows on site and there will be 2 in Bardsey Fields all summer. The grass is thick and dense and the cows on site are having a real impact on removing this, which will allow wild flowers to bloom in the summer. When you visit, please remember to close the gate behind you so they don’t escape!
The Trustees of East Keswick Wildlife Trust have made the decision not to allow dogs on the site. This is for a number of reasons but primarily: there will be cows in the fields all year round; the resident wildlife such as deer, foxes, badgers and small mammals will be disturbed as well as ground nesting birds such as meadow pipit, willow warbler, chiffchaff, dunnock, blackbird and skylark.
In July a group of Cubs and Squirrels came to visit the Ellikers nature reserve. Melanie explained about the yellow fish campaign and ‘only rain down the drain’. We then had a walk all around the reserve. It was a lovely evening and so there were a number of butterflies to observe, along with the wild flowers.
