Facebook icon Twitter icon Forward icon

Volunteer Newsletter January - March

Hello and welcome to the January - March edition of the 'Countryside Volunteers Newsletter'!


The wettest October since 1903 and the rain doesn’t look like easing!  This was then followed by plummeting temperatures and the ground hardening like concrete from a ground frost.  I always think about the Goldcrests and Wren's of this world in such terrible conditions.  How such small birds, sometimes weighing less than a twenty pence piece, survive through such weather is truly remarkable.   

Our water meadows at Itchen Valley have become completely unpassable!  Hopefully the water will dissipate before fencing season begins!  Despite all the rainfall the volunteers have worked incredibly hard and all of our management is currently on track!

Here are some fun time Fungi photos from Itchen Valley Country Park's woodland nature reserve:

 

 

 

 

 

News from Lakeside Country Park

Bonfire season is in full swing!!!

Despite October being monsoon season, winter works has continued at Lakeside.  The bulk of the work has been focussed on scrub regrowth in both meadows.  However, with these now under control for the year the volunteers have moved to doing their annual work on the habitats around the lakes.

Their work has been exceptional again this year even with us adding raking a wet meadow to their work load!

Raking vegetation on the extension land meadow (Above and left)

This year at Lakeside we have started managing the 'extension land meadow'.  Each year, a different half of the meadow will be cut and raked by staff and volunteers.  By doing this year on year we hope to diversify the meadow by reducing the nutrients content entering the soil.  This means rarer flowers and herbaceous plants will be able to compete and flower amongst the more generalist and adaptable species.

 

 

News from Itchen Valley Country Park

Coppicing

Woodland nature reserve

With help from our own 'Itchen valley volunteers' and 'The Wednesday Conservation Volunteers' coppicing has been very successful this year. We are close to achieving the ever impossible target of finishing before Christmas.  I have been reliably informed that this has not happened for a very long time, so a massive congratulations has to go out to all!!


The volunteers have also continued restoring ‘Moorlands mead’ from scrub to meadow.  After only one year of the meadow being restored, meadow flower species are starting to appear.

 

News from around the borough

Finished coppice coupe with dead hedge

Ramalley Copse

Coppicing resumed at Ramalley copse this year with TCV providing the volunteer labour for this valuable work.  Ramalley Copse has been coppiced for well over a decade now and has developed into a special place for woodland wildlife.

Cherry trees used to be regularly grown and harvested here, however through proper management and the hard work of staff and volunteers we have diversified the woodland to the benefit of flora and fauna.

 

This winter the 'Hamble conservation volunteers' have been hard at work clearing scrub that has regenerated in recent years.  These pioneer species like Birch, Gorse, Willow and bramble, seed and grow very quickly, therefore it is important to keep them under control with grazing cattle and by cutting.

We do this to keep the rare plant communities healthy.  If Hamble common were allowed to over-grow with trees and succeed to woodland then these communities would be lost.

Scrub removal at Hamble Common  (Above and left)

We have also cleared this area because the embankment you can see is part of a system of medieval earthworks.  The tree roots may damage any archaeological artefacts and also the scrub cover encourages burrowing animals.

 

 

 

 

Rhododendron and Laurel Clearance
Hiltingbury Lakes


The Hiltingbury Lakes volunteers began work in November and have continued working on a weekly basis removing non-native invasive plant such as Rhododendron and Laurel.  Thanks to their incredible hard work the southern entrance and paths are looking immeasurably brighter and they have already received a number of positive comments on the end result.

The volunteers also have been clearing these plants around the lake.  This is giving our native woodland plants a real chance to resurrect and flourish.  Once the evergreen foliage was removed, it revealed beautiful views of the Main Lake from the path.

A more detailed project timetable is available in the Update section of our dedicated project web page:


www.eastleigh.gov.uk/hiltingburylakes.

 

Future Tasks

19th January 2020

Scrub clearance @ Hamble Common

Time: 10am-3pm

Meeting place: 9.45am at 'School lane small car park', Hamble le Rice.

Please wear protective footwear or wellington boots and bring lunch.  Gloves, tools and refreshments will be provided.

 

16th February 2020

Scrub clearance @ Moorlands Mead

Time: 10am-3pm

Meeting place: 9.45am at 'Itchen Valley Country Park'.

Please wear protective footwear or wellington boots and bring lunch.  Gloves, tools and refreshments will be provided.

 

15th March 2020

To be decided.

Huge thanks to all of you for giving up your time to help manage habitats in the country parks and around the borough.

Our aims could not be achieved without you!