We had lovely weather and many families came along to Ox Close Woods and enjoyed all the activities.
Deep concentration on the scavenger hunt!
The highlight of the day delicious pizzas! Howard our EKWT resident chef worked hard all day, lighting the pizza oven at 7 in the morning and cooking over 50 pizzas in the afternoon.
Thank you to everyone who helped either beforehand or on the day and to everyone who came and made it such an enjoyable event.
We will be holding a family day at the charcoal burn area in Ox Close Wood from 2 – 4.30pm on Sunday 10th July. This will be our first in 3 years, so we are very much looking forward to a great event!
The pizza oven will be fired up – we will provide the dough, if you can bring tomato sauce and toppings. We won’t be able to provide seating, so feel free to bring rugs or chairs.
There will be lots of fun for the children with willow weaving, a scavenger hunt and sculpture making. There will also be an opportunity to learn more about the Trust, with talks on the charcoal burn and how the woodland is managed.
The event is free for members or a minimum donation of £5 for non members.
We need to know numbers to enable us to plan activities and prepare the right quantity of pizza dough.
Please reply to thomasin@ekwt.org.uk as soon as possible if you would like to come.
We hope to see you there!
We have recently welcomed two Brownie packs to spend an evening in the Ellikers and learn more about our local reserve. Last Wednesday the East Keswick and Bardsey Brownies joined us and on Thursday the Brownies from Moor Allerton came to visit. Volunteers from the Trust explained about the Yellow Fish Campaign and all the Brownies now know that it is ‘only rain down the drain’. We also helped the Brownies identify wildflowers and butterflies, while finding out more about the birds and other creatures that live in the Ellikers.
The Bradford Botany Group held a field meeting in Ox Close Wood in early May to see and record the spring flora.
Meet in the Crabtree Lane car park on Wednesday 4th May at 7.00pm for a walk around Ox Close Woods, all welcome.
Robert and Ann from the West Yorkshire Mammal Group joined us for our harvest mouse nest survey at Fitts Fields.
Families enjoyed looking at the base of large tufts of grass for the nests. None were found, but we did find lots of field vole nests.
In October Ann and Robert will be joining us again and setting Longworth humane traps to try and observe a variety of small mammals.
After initially being cancelled due to bad weather, the winter bird survey took place on Sunday 27th February on a gloriously sunny day. A total of 38 bird species were recorded along with Roe deer, rabbit and fox.
Birds recorded:
Blue Tit, Blackbird, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Coot, Dunnock, Fieldfare, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Greater Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Wagtail, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Lapwing, Nuthatch, Redwing, Robin, Red Kite, Rook, Skylark, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Treecreeper, Woodpigeon, Wren.
A number of the Trust’s volunteers took part in a hedge laying course recently and over the last 3 weeks have completed laying the hedge along the edge of the Marsh. Over time hedges can become hollow at the base and provide little shelter for wildlife. Hedge laying is a traditional skill that rejuvenates the hedge from the base to provide a stock proof barrier and dense habitat for wildlife. You can admire their work as you walk past on Main Street.
The family hedge and woodland tree planting days in January at the Fitts Lane reserve had a great turnout, particularly on the Sunday, when approximately 30 people of all ages were there.
A big thank you to everyone who came to help and planted hedgerows that will be a haven for wildlife for years to come!