The lead up to summer at Hill Court Farm

April and May have been busy, but very productive months for the Hill Court Farm Volunteer Work Party.

In April we spent a day at the main viewing point on the reserve, which is close to the scrape.  Our task was to collect willow on site and weave a screen to remove visitors from the birds’ eye line and prevent them ‘going up’.  It was a thoroughly enjoyable day as we had a brilliant view of the birds on the water as we worked.  We spotted coots, Canadian geese, mute swans, lapwing, little egrets and shelduck among others and at one point a skylark flew directly above our heads.   I’m pleased to say our screen does seem to be doing its job and we can look forward to completing the other side of the viewing point at a later date.

In May we returned to a woodland pond we have been busy creating over the period of two or three years now.  When we began the task the wooded area was pretty much just a smelly, boggy, tangled mess and it took quite some time just to clear a way in and decide where best to locate our pond.  By September 2013 we had managed to dig the pond out and we just had to hope that we had chosen the right spot and that it would fill with water.  Returning to it, we weren't quite sure what to expect as the wood had completely flooded in all the rain earlier in the year, but we were absolutely delighted by what we found.  Our pond was filled nicely with water and already it was teeming with life.  We spotted water beetles & smaller water fleas whirling about in the water, plus skaters skimming around on top.  In the earth mound next to the pond we found a female smooth newt.  We also spotted larvae in the water, and are hopeful that the pond will soon attract damselflies and dragonflies.

Our task for the day was to expand the pond and clear a wildlife corridor between it and a close by water channel.   Digging out the new pond was hard going, but we now have a smaller satellite pond that we’ll join up to the bigger one once it has filled and naturalised a little.  We also used some dead wood we had to clear away to create a log pile which we hope will provide a nice habitat for hibernating amphibians.

As we worked we were serenaded by a cuckoo and all around the yellow flags were flowering.  All in all it was a beautiful setting for a day’s work.

If all this sounds like something you’d like to get involved in, we are always happy to welcome new volunteers to the team.  We meet once a month on the last Saturday of each month (except December).  Whether you could spare just one Saturday every few months or would like to become a more regular volunteer, we would be delighted to have you along.  You don’t need any particular wildlife knowledge and tools for each task are provided.  For more information contact Naomi on Naomi@worcestershirewildlifetrust.org or 01905 754919.

June’s work party will be this Saturday 28 June and we plan to do some seed collecting and spreading to benefit the meadows on the reserve, which in turn will benefit our pollinators.

Sara, Hill Court Farm

Spring arrives early at Feckenham Wylde Moor

Now that Spring has arrived and the weather has become warmer there is quite a lot of activity on the reserve.

On the pool we have pairs of little grebe, tufted duck, coot, mallard, canada geese and this splendid pair of Grey Lag geese.

The tufted probably won't stay to breed as the coot that 'owns' the pool is constantly chasing them away. The issue seems to be that the tufted ducks want to make a nest where the coot usually does and he isn't having any of it. I doubt that the grey lag will stay either and the canada geese don't look like nesting again this year which to be perfectly honest is a bit of a bonus. We have had up to 14 on site and whilst they do a good job in grazing the pool banks they make a lot of noise and mess! Reed buntings are around and looking for nest sites in the tussocky areas left of the pool. I also put up six Common Snipe last week from the same area.

We were treated to a sighting of this female roe deer. She spent some time grazing the new growth to the left of the main hide, where we had random patch cut last year.

Our frogs are also getting together and we watched them leisurely swimming up and down the pool margins. No sign of our toads yet but hopefully we will have the same large numbers as we did last year which was a record for the reserve.

Not only has the wildlife been busy, my volunteers have too. We have been creating raised paths where the existing paths have become very boggy with deep mud which makes walking round very difficult. We have piled willow brash from pollards on top of dead sedge and then another layer of this on top. Hopefully it will make a difference but I suspect that once the cattle come back in they won't take long to trash it. We have also experimented with putting down logs and sedge around one of the kissing gates, again in the hope that it will raise the path above the mud.

It's a shame that our paths get so boggy but it is a wetland reserve and so we should not be surprised.

We have once again an excellent show of coltsfoot in front of the main hide and by the time you read this the first cowslips will be in flower and hopefully our next spring plant will be the lady's smock which for me is a certainty that spring has arrived and with it the orange tip butterfly.

With the warm weather I would not be surprised to see some warblers arriving and it won't be long before the cuckoo returns.

Paul, Feckenham reserve manager

Winter at Hill Court Farm

The Hill Court Farm reserve is a wetland reserve, but even here I don't think we've ever seen it quite as wet!

This was the view last week, showing just how flooded some of the fields have become -

A large number of wetland birds such as ducks, swans and waders have been taking advantage of the flooded landscape making quite a spectacle at times.  But I'm sure the conditions have made life difficult for other birds and mammals wildlife on the reserve, just as it has made every day life a little trickier for many of us.

As for our intrepid volunteers, we have spent the winter clearing, coppicing and laying a long length of hedgerow which, as we've slashed, chopped and sawn away, has seemed an almost destructive task at times. 

However, when Spring comes around and the hedge begins to sprout new growth we will end up with a healthier, thicker hedgerow which will provide an important source of food and shelter for a variety of birds and other animals e.g. small mammals and butterflies.

If you would like to become involved in the volunteer work at Hill Court Farm our next volunteer work party is taking place this Saturday 22 February, when we will be planting new trees - one of my favourite tasks because it feels so constructive and nurturing.

For more details contact Rob or Naomi on 01905 754919 or email enquiries@worcestershirewildlifetrust.org.

Sara, Reserve warden Hill Court Farm 

Winter at Feckenham

It's been wet, very wet but Feckenham is coping really well. Surface water is high and there are areas where it is almost over your Wellingtons but still passable with care.

We have been monitoring the water levels since the beginning of December last year and the results are interesting. We already knew that water naturally moved across and off the reserve, however, interestingly, we are finding that after significant rainfall the levels in the dip tubes are not that different to when there hasn't been any rain but the build up at the Southern end is being caused by excess water not getting across neighbouring land and into the brook.

This isn't a problem for us as the high water levels enhance the reserve. It just makes it more difficult for anyone walking the permissive public footpath, but then it is meant to be a wetland !

Our Roving Volunteers have been very busy with coppicing more Alders and this week carrying out margin clearance on the main pool. This was a job that has been long overdue and it now looks much better providing more water in the channel along the right side of the pool.

James Hitchcock has also been busy pollarding more big Willows which is part of our ongoing Management Plan.

This winter we have found a record number of Brown Hairstreak eggs on our Blackthorn. We are currently at 86 with one or two doubles and a triple. Previous years have only managed to record 24. So, when the adults are on the wing in late summer we will hopefully locate an Assembly tree.

This week has seen the first signs of our Cowslips with some brave new plants showing on top of a Mole hill.

Paul, Feckenham Wylde Moor Reserve Warden

Wetlands & Wildlife

At our recent meeting, Rob Allen gave a fascinating illustrated talk: Wetland Conservation & Creation. 

Rob is the southern reserves officer for Worcs WT and, as such, is responsible for 20 nature reserves between Upton upon Severn and Broadway including the Gwen Finch, Hill Court Farm and John Bennett wetland reserves (not all open to the public).

Wetlands provide some of the best wildlife spectacles such as huge flocks of starlings and skeins of geese.  They're defined as the interface between open water and dry land, an example of an ecotone which attracts so many different species and makes it a magnet for naturalists. This interface is constantly changing, not only through the seasons but as rainfall trends increase and decrease. The shallow warm waters support invertebrates, the bottom of the food chain. Rob described the key species of wetlands: otter, water vole, lapwing, snipe and warblers (Cettis, reed, sedge and marsh).

Our landscape has been shaped by watercourses and wetlands and settlements have developed along them. Highly productive between floods, they've been a source of food and building materials through the ages. They've also been subject to many threats including housing, agriculture and fertiliser run-off, dredging, canalisation and climate change. In addition, over 70 invasive species have been identified by DEFRA including Himalayan balsam, mink and signal crayfish.

Gwen Finch Wetland (near Pershore)

The Wildlife Trusts' initiative, Living Landscapes, recognises that wildlife reserves need to be linked through the wider countryside. The development of this concept requires communication and co-operation with land owners. On the River Avon this has led to the conversion of agricultural land at Birlingham (near Pershore) into the John Bennett wetland reserve which comprises 22 ha of wet grassland and 4 ha of reedbeds and open water. In this way, a chain of “stepping stones” is being created along the river to bring increased wildlife back to the Avon valley.

The next indoor meeting of the Malvern local group will be held on Thursday 3^rd May when wildlife photographer Iain Green will give an illustrated talk entitled On the wild side: from Downing Street to our local high street. The meeting starts at 7.30 pm at the Chase Academy Sixth Form Annexe, Geraldine Close, Barnards Green WR14 3PF - we're looking forward to seeing you there.

Derek, Malvern local group