Boundary House Fen - Saturday 27th July 2024

By -

Blog and photos by Eleanor  


This session was at Boundary House Fen again, but our task was different from the usual reed cutting, raking and stacking. Instead, we were working in the wooded area above the fen, and we were pulling up the creeping thistle, which must not be allowed to creep on to the fen, or on to the golf course, for that matter.

Creeping thistle


Creeping thistle has a light mauve flower head and we soon found it easy to distinguish from the marsh thistle. Some of us removed the larger plants, while those who didn't mind getting on their hands and knees tackled the smaller ones. There was also some scything and raking to be done and the odd stray Himalayan Balsam to be pulled up.




Green Gymmers hard at work



Judy Webb arrived with her bug collecting equipment so we knew we could expect some interesting finds.

Judy equipped for bug hunting



The weather was very warm and sunny, and we were quite glad to be working mostly in the shade of the trees. It was ideal weather for insects, and we saw a number of different butterflies - gatekeepers, skippers, whites, meadow browns, ringlets and peacocks. At tea break time, Judy showed us some sulphur bugs which she had caught in her collecting jar.

Tea break




 
Gatekeeper butterfly on gorse bush




There was plenty of ragwort around, safe from extermination here, as horses and cattle are not allowed on golf courses! It was encouraging to see the black and yellow striped cinnabar moth caterpillars on the ragwort as this is their main food plant. Soon they will pupate and emerge as beautiful red and black moths.


Cinnabar moth caterpillar on ragwort




It was time to pack up the tools and head off home. As we made our way back to the car park, we saw what an amazing variety of wild flowers there were now along the edges of the golf course and in the fen areas. The hard work everyone has put in over the years has been really worthwhile. 




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pinkhill Meadow Nature Reserve, Farmoor Reservoir, 16th March 2019

By Andrew -
Image
Another week, another new site for the Abingdon Green Gym! We met at the car park at Farmoor Reservoir, a healthy turn out of 17 of us, including French father Sebastien, and his eleven-year old son, Maelo, who was joining us for a school project. The session was led by James under the instruction of Hanna Jenkins, the warden of Pinkhill Meadow Nature Reserve, so called because it is right on the banks of the River Thames, just near Pinkhill Lock. It was another blustery day. Will this crazy wind ever let up? We followed Hanna in convoy round the edge of the reservoir, which was choppy to say the least, and parked up on the other side where it was thankfully a little calmer, the high banks of the reservoir providing some shelter. Equipped with our tools, gloves and goggles, we made our way onto the spot on the nature reserve where we were to do our work. Hanna told us that the reserve had been formed in 1991, but some aspects had been neglected over the last ten years. The aim...
Read more

Kennington Memorial Field, 29th October 2016

By Andrew -
We have been working at Kennington Memorial Field for a number of years now, clearing scrub from the slopes so that the valley remains an area of grassland and wild flowers. This time Rachel from Oxford Preservation Trust was in charge and led us down to the lower end of the field, where we were to cut back the trees and bushes by several metres and burn the scrub on a bonfire. We were joined by some families with children of varying ages, the youngest only three, who had answered a local appeal for volunteers. We set to work and soon we had a bonfire going. Even the children who were too young to use loppers and saws joined in, carrying branches to the bonfire pile. Despite the drizzly weather they all worked cheerfully. At tea break time we enjoyed some delicious snacks that Rachel had brought and a tin of chocolates supplied by Michele. We found two old birds' nests in the course of the morning and cutting back the scrub revealed a log pile with a rabbit hole under...
Read more

Jarn Mound and Wild Garden, Boars Hill, 12th November 2016

By Andrew -
Image
Four weeks after our last session with the Oxford Preservation Trust at Boars Hill, we returned, albeit at Jarn Mound this time rather than the Elizabeth Daryush Garden; which had been our venue in October. We again met with  Rachel Sanderson of the trust, who along with our leader of the day, James, outlined the tasks for the morning.  Primarily, we were to clear the mound itself of scrub and tree saplings that had taken root there, with the intention of restoring it to its original state.  There were also some flatter areas of the garden that required clearing, for the less intrepid among us. Unfortunately, the day had begun a little on the inclement side.  Indeed as we arrived, the rain fell persisently, making many of us wonder if the session would go ahead at all!  But of course, the Green Gymmers are renowned for working whatever the weather, and the damp conditions did not deter us. A couple of problems were immediately evident due to the rain...
Read more