Hinksey Heights Nature Reserve - Saturday 11th May 2024

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 Blog by Eleanor, photos by Kevin and Michele

This Saturday we were back at Hinksey Heights Nature Reserve to carry on with work along the nature trail. It was a beautiful, sunny day, promising to be very warm,  as we set off from the car park along the track leading to our work site. We made our encampment by the pond, where there are two picnic tables. There are a number of diverse habitats along the trail - grassland, large ponds, a stream, woodland, wet woodland and fen.



 

There were still some brambles to be cut back by the path and along the side of the dell. This had to be done carefully so as not to disturb nesting birds.





Next to the path was a massive oak tree (quercus robur) where we saw a warbler of some kind. We could also hear a cuckoo nearby.




There was a lot of scything to do in the dell and raking up the grass and moving it to heaps under the trees.





We were glad of our tea break by the pond, and it was difficult to get back to work.




There were a number of young trees planted in the dell and another of our tasks was to weed around them.








At 12.30 it was time to  gather up our tools and head back to the car park.


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