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Reed and heather habitats

November 18, 2018 by Julian

Our last two activities have been in Chorlton Meadows (Sunday 28th October) and Birch Moss Covert (Sunday 11th November). The first of these was to help the Friends of Chorlton Meadows with their work on the reed beds, maintaining an area of open water which is important for wildlife.

Reeds encroaching
Volunteers at work
Volunteers at work
Area for open water expanded

Next, at Birch Moss Covert, we worked with the Cheshire Wildlife Trust volunteers to prevent woodland encroaching on an important area of low heathland heather. 

Getting started clearing around heather
Getting started clearing around heather
Work in progress clearing around heather

For our next activity, we look forward to joining the Friends of Longford Park on Sunday 25th November!

Posted in Heathland, Ponds and lakes, Reed beds | Tagged , |

Willow hedge and willow tits

October 15, 2018 by Julian

This past weekend was our final residential weekend of the year, working for the Peak Park Conservation Volunteers.  On Saturday we were on the shores of Tittesworth Reservoir, creating a willow hedge to prevent walkers and dogs from disturbing an area using by ground-nesting birds.  On a very wet Sunday we were at a different nearby site, this time enhancing the habitat for willow tits by creating standing deadwood.  An excellent trip – in spite of the rain and a recalcitrant fire alarm in our accommodation!

Update, February 2019: we returned to our willow hedge during our first weekend away of 2019, and extended it further along the shore.

 

Gap to be filled with willow hedge
Volunteers at work 1
Volunteers at work 2
Volunteers at work 3
A dog tests the barrier
The completed willow hedge
Creating willow tit habitats
Creating deadwood for willow tits, and habitat pile

Posted in Ponds and lakes, Willow structures, Woodland management | Tagged | 2 Comments »

Heathland at Tegg’s Nose

September 26, 2018 by Julian

This past Sunday we once again joined Martin of the Cheshire East Rangers to carry out some heathland work at lovely Tegg’s Nose.  We were removing gorse bushes that would otherwise swamp the heather and blueberry on the slopes here.

We also found some sort of translucent yellow fungus that we couldn’t identify (anyone?!).

View
Volunteers at work
Fungus
View

Posted in Heathland | Tagged , |

Urmston Meadows and water voles

September 4, 2018 by Julian

This past Sunday (2 September) we were out helping City of Trees at Urmston Meadows with some habitat management: thinning out trees, mostly willow, as part of a larger project which aims to improve local conditions for water voles.  It is thought that there are already water voles at this site and the work aims to enhance the conditions for them.

Many thanks to the new volunteers who came along – it was good to meet you all!

Getting started
In progress – increasing light to the bank
Canine volunteer takes a rest
Work done – a clearer bank

 

Posted in Coppicing, Woodland management | Tagged , |

Hogswood and Brookheys Coverts

August 12, 2018 by Julian

As in previous years, today we were once again out with Cheshire Wildlife Trust volunteers at Hogswood Covert and then Brookheys Covert (sites now managed by the National Trust), continuing the battle against the invasive Himalayan balsam in these woodlands. It was pleasing to see that there was less balsam to be found than in the past, so the battle against the invader is gradually gaining ground!

Himalayan balsam developing seed
Volunteers tackling Himalayan balsam
Uprooted Himalayan balsam

Posted in Invasive species | Tagged , |

Steps at Chorlton Water Park

July 22, 2018 by Julian

Many thanks to the small but dedicated band of volunteers who made it out today to help renovate a set of worn-out steps at Chorlton Water Park.  What an improvement!

Steps before
Volunteers at work
Volunteers at work
Steps from above
Steps afterwards
Volunteers

Posted in Steps | Tagged |

A hot day at Hollinwood

June 10, 2018 by Julian

Today we were back at Hollinwood Scout Camp – the development of the camp and woodland has progressed apace since we were here about a year ago.  We did some clearing work around the “main camp” part of the site, particularly for the removal of the invasive Himalayan balsam and in preparation for further ongoing management of this area.  We were glad of the shelter of the trees in today’s heat, and of course for the excellent supply of tea and biscuits!

Cleared area
Tea break
Path and recently planted hawthorn hedge
Path and bird hide

 

Posted in Invasive species, Woodland management | Tagged |

SACV goes to Ireland!

May 27, 2018 by Julian

This month saw SACV’s first international outing!  We spent a long weekend in Ireland and joined in with voluntary work being done by Mountain Meitheal, a group of environmental volunteers who have for the past fifteen years undertaken conservation and restoration projects on mountain and forest tracks and have won awards for their work.

Our volunteer Mike is a past member of Mountain Meitheal and nobly organised the trip over to Ireland for nine SACV members.  In glorious weather, we worked with Mountain Meitheal on path maintenance and waterbar construction on Three Rock Mountain (Saturday 5th) and were taken on an instructive guided walk (Sunday 6th) around Glendalough to see some of Mountain Meitheal’s past projects.

It was a great weekend.  Very big thanks to Mountain Meitheal who gave us a warm welcome, contributed very generously to the cost of our accommodation and were informative and engaging guides to the local area.  And of course – very big thanks to Mike who came up with the idea and planned the weekend, booked the ferries and youth hostels, drove the minibus and pulled the whole thing together!

 

Walking near Bray
Volunteers at work
Shifting a boulder
Working on waterbar
Mountain Meitheal volunteer sign
Shifting a boulder
Breakfast at Knockree Youth Hostel
Walk at Glendalough
Guided walk near Glendalough
On boardwalk above Glendalough
Upper lake at Glendalough

Posted in Paths, Residential weekends |

City of Trees – the Firs Plantation

May 2, 2018 by Julian

On Sunday 22nd April we volunteered for the City of Trees project.

City of Trees is an innovative and exciting movement set to re-invigorate Greater Manchester’s landscape by transforming underused, unloved woodland and planting a tree for every man, woman and child who lives in the region – within a generation.  City of Trees is part of the Northern Forest project: a 25-year vision to plant 50 million trees across the North of England, stretching from Liverpool to Hull.

Working in the Firs Plantation, a community woodland in Sale, we helped with planting oak, hazel and cherry saplings.  A job well done!

Before starting work
Planting in progress
Volunteers at work
Sapling in guard
Planting complete

 

Posted in Woodland management | Tagged |

Wintry coppicing at Spud Wood

March 21, 2018 by Julian

This past Sunday saw our final visit for this season to the Woodland Trust’s Spud Wood.  Wintry conditions had returned and although snow wasn’t exactly thick on the ground it was very chilly – good reason to keep moving!  The Friends’ usual excellent home-made parkin pulled us through and we finished the planned area of hazel coppicing.  And of course a local robin gave some encouragement too.

Log pile
Wheelbarrow
Feeding a robin
Volunteers at work

 

Posted in Coppicing, Woodland management | Tagged , |

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