Thursday, November 27, 2008

Wortham & Burgate Commons

For many years we have been helping Wortham & Burgate Parish Council manage the commons in the two villages. There are over 250 acres of commonland in the parishes - a vast amount of land to cope with - all of it valuable for wildlife and for local people to enjoy. The commons have remained virtually unchanged for hundreds of years. Many unusual plants grow here including a good range of orchids such as these Common Twayblades:

A few Bee Orchids appear every summer on Wortham Long Green and the Marsh:


There are many ponds scattered over the commons and these are home to a healthy population of Great Crested Newts. Birdlife is also well-represented with warblers, Turtle Doves and the occasional Nightingale in the summer months.


Each year the commons are either grazed by sheep and horses or cut for hay to prevent brambles and other bushes from spreading onto the open areas. Some bits get missed so a winter task for our volunteers is to remove invasive scrub such as here on the Marsh:



We have restored several ponds to help amphibians and water plants - one pond is home to the rare Lesser Marshwort. One of the more unusual tasks our volunteers completed was to clear the invasive Water Fern from a pond. This plant from tropical America can completely cover a pond and smother our native water plants. Here are our volunteers removing Water Fern:



Well the snow arrived over the weekend with 3 inches on the ground by Sunday afternoon. Small flocks of Whooper and Bewick's Swans have been flying overhead - Heading from the Continent. There has also been an influx of Woodcock from Scandanavia.

More next week.

Friday, November 21, 2008

The Scole Dragon

We manage a small picnic site by the River Waveney just off the A140/A143 roundabout at Scole. The old Roman road to Norwich runs by the site and it is on the Dragon ley-line. About eight years ago we commissioned a sculpture to mark the ley-line and the Scole Dragon has become a local celebrity.


As well as the Dragon there are surfaced footpaths down to the river where there are wheelchair accessible fishing platforms, benches and picnic tables. Otters have been seen in the river from the platforms and kingfishers can be spotted most days. The river is also used by groups of youngsters for canoeing practice during the summer months.

Our volunteers help keep the picnic site in good condition and over the last few years the wildlife has increased. This year Bee Orchids appeared for the first time and there are many colourful waterside plants in the summer months. At this time of year there is a good crop of berries for the birds to feed on.


And finally the answers to last weeks' butterfly anagrams quiz:

TINGLER...............RINGLET
COKE CAP..............PEACOCK
BULLY HOLE...........HOLLY BLUE
MINOR BEST...........BRIMSTONE
WE ARE LIGHT........LARGE WHITE
I PRANG TOE...........ORANGETIP
LARDER MAID..........RED ADMIRAL
A WOMB WONDER.....MEADOW BROWN
WEE DOLLY COULD....CLOUDED YELLOW
A TINY PADDLE.........PAINTED LADY

Well the weather has turned colder and snow is forecast for this weekend so it looks as if winter has arrived.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Autumn in the Valley


Cold weather over the last couple of weeks has turned the leaves to gold. Oaks and maples are looking stunning - a pity we have not had much sunny weather to bring out the best colours. Easterly winds have brought in large flocks of winter thrushes so fieldfares and redwings are greedily feeding on hawthorn berries. Waxwings have arrived on the coast so we may have these colourful visitors with us soon.



Last night we held our first wildlife quiz at Thornham. It was a very successful event with fish and chips for everyone. See how you can do by solving the following anagrams of butterflies commonly found in the Waveney Valley:


TINGLER
COKE CAP
BULLY HOLE
MINOR BEST
WE ARE LIGHT
I PRANG TOE
LARDER MAID
A WOMB WONDER
WEE DOLLY COULD
A TINY PADDLE

Answers next time!

We are always keen to see new volunteers on our teams going out every Tuesday and Wednesday. They do a tremendous amount of work from digging new wildlife ponds, planting trees to managing wildlife sites. If this sounds like you then please give Tim Page a call on 01379 788008.