Since the end of last year our team of staff and
volunteers have been hard at work on Skipwith Common NNR, helping to
improve this internationally important wet and dry lowland heath. Young
Silver Birch and Scots Pine have been removed across the site to help maintain
the open landscapes of the Common, whilst helping the grazing livestock keep
the ever present regenerating scrub in check. The cut brash has been left
in small piles to benefit invertebrates, reptiles and ground nesting birds
which are found on the site, whilst the larger scrub has been coppiced from
small scattered areas to help maintain a diversity of size and structure. We’ve
also been busy spraying the invasive and non-native Pirri-pirri Bur which can swamp
out the native vegetation, and cause welfare issues for the Hebridean Sheep and
dogs. If walking your dog on the Common please try and limit exposure to this
species, and help by not further spreading the burs by keeping your dog on a
lead and on the way marked paths and roads, thank you.
The team have also been busy elsewhere on the Common, helping to construct new fencing along one
side of the newly cleaned out Pillwort pond, which will hopefully help reduce
the number of dogs entering the water. With such a sterling effort the team had
finished the task by early afternoon, meaning that they could then join up with
Reserve Manager Fallon Mahon, who was working nearby with a team of staff from
Defra on one of their volunteering days. Whilst we’d been busy fencing, they’d
been busy making habitat piles and dead hedging from recently cut birch scrub -
so a productive day all round! Many thanks to everyone involved, and for
braving the barmy spring weather, working in a mixture of warm sunshine, cold
winds, driving rain and snow flurries!
As well as lending a helping hand in the valley, our band our volunteers are also happy to hit the road. Following on from travelling to Drewton Pits earlier in the year, last month our team joined us for a few days work at Pilmoor near Easingwold in the Vale of
York. Pilmoor is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), designated
for its extent and quality of fen vegetation. The site also clearly
demonstrates the sequence of habitats in relation to wetness, with succession
from open water to fen, and wet heath to woodland. Our team have been helping
out over the last three years to clear areas of invasive Rhododendron, by
chopping down and strimming some of the larger growth, hand pulling some of the
seedlings and treating stumps with chemical. Hopefully this will help to
maintain and restore some of the wet heath communities. As well as getting stuck in with the practical work we were also
able to enjoy the fruits of our earlier labours – a lot less Rhododendron and
some nice developing patches of heather and other plant communities on what
used to be bare ground. Many thanks to everyone for their hard work and
helping restore some of these valuable habitats.
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