Boundary House Fen - Saturday 24th May 2025

By -

 Blog by Eleanor, photos by Julio, Michele and Sally

It was a cloudy, but fairly mild day when thirteen of us met in the greenkeepers' compound at Frilford golf course. We made our way down to the fen, where Rod was waiting to give us our briefing.

The fen before the start of work



He told us where we were to scythe the reeds and where to stack the cut material. 

Starting work







Among the reeds




The stream running through the fen needed to be filled with vegetation in order to spread the water out over the fen.

Roger scything along the edge of the former stream, making access easier.




Rod surveys the scene




Judy Webb, the resident naturalist, arrived with her net, making a sweep of the woodland and fen for insects, bugs and beetles.

Judy with her net



At tea break time, she showed us some of her finds, which you can see in the photos at the end of this blog. 

Tea break


Then we carried on with the work, and you can see in the photo below how much we had done.

After photo



The fen needs regular cutting to maintain the habitat and allow the typical calcareous (alkaline) fen plants to come through.

Marsh thistle (good for pollinators)




 




Common spotted orchid. 


We also saw a white common spotted orchid. They can be mauve, pink or white. The leaves are spotted.

A cock pheasant




Female glow worm




The glow worm was found in the car park - a first for the golf course site.

Forest bug (shield bug family)





Golden bloomed grey longhorn beetle



Buff tailed bumble bee on comfrey




Female lesser stag beetle


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Abingdon Clubs and Societies Day, 29th March 2014

By Andrew -
Image
This was the bi-annual Abingdon Clubs and Societies Day, held at the Guildhall in the town centre.  It provides us along with the many other groups and organisations in Abingdon with the chance to have a stall and demonstrate to those attending what we get up to.  Also, it is a good opportunity to attract new members. Dieuwke was in charge of organising the stall this year.  We were placed opposite the Abingdon Naturalists Society who we regularly hold joint sessions with, but there were many other groups present whose activities do not overlap. We received much interest, with several people registering interest.  We look forward to welcoming new members over the coming weeks. -Andrew Dieuwke, Kevin and Carolyn at the Green Gym stall There was much interest in our activities during the day Information on our activities and marmalade for sale! Poster outside the Guildhall Abingdon Guildhall
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