Latest Heath News
See here for Previous News.
Closing the Small Car Park...
The small car park (at the Maldon end of the Heath) from the road, is being closed, as it is an accident waiting to happen, when cars or lorries pull out from a slope on to blind corner
Also there is a concern that pollution might spreading into the pond from possible discharge from lorries there. The car park was never offical - it grew from a lay-by. Some of the soil from the pond enlargement will be used to create a bank - there will be gap for walkers to access the Heath.
Help from the Butterflies...
On a wet December Sunday working party to clear some birch trees, we had some extra help from some of the members of the Cambridgeshire & Essex Branch of Butterfly Conservation. They have put a write-up of their morning with us on their site.
We really appreciated their help and they seemed to enjoy it too - despite the rain! Ok, it only rained for the first hour or so. Our regular helpers, Ben and Callum did a great job in getting the fire going - there is a knack in lighting a fire in the rain, with wet kindling! And as with any working party (we had about 20 on this session), once we got working, we hardly noticed the rain.
And throughout the year, it is appreciated that any butterfly sightings be e-mailed to: sightings@cambs-essex-butterflies.org.uk.
The Dormouse Trail
Among the autumn colours, there are some lovely walks on the Heath. Also, recently there was a special walk to check up some of the heath's smaller summer tree residents: the dormice.
Norma, our licenced dormouse handler, has led two surveys of the purpose-built boxes, that are attached to tree in less public parts of the woods. As an endangered species, it is illegal to handle dormice or damage their habitat. We have had to plan our management of the heath because evidence of dormice has been found in three different areas. We must not do any clearing without checking for any evidence of any recent dormice activity, and even if we find none, we stop if we have concerns.
On one rainy day October, Norma led the latest dormouse survey with helpers. An early nest that we found had a very fast woodmouse with very sharp teeth! Other boxes had evidence of blue tits, but one had a dormouse nest in it. Other boxes were found in undergrowth and ditches surrounding the trees, but during the walk we found badger scuffs and unusual fungi.
As we didnt find a dormouse in a box-nest, it seems that they had moved on to their winter nests, in tree roots or below ground. Five nests were found, which meant there are a dozen or so domice around. So a good end result, which 5 wet searchers can confirm.
We are grateful to Norma for taking responsibility for the dormouse surveys.
The Working Parties start!
On Saturday 10th October, it was the first of this year's winter working parties. It was a lovely day and 12 volunteers arrived to help in the never-ending (its seems!) to remove scrub and gorse.
Can he dig it? Yes Craig Can!
The Heath has many friends, one of those is Craig from Cannon's, who has been doing a lot of machine work on the Heath, that the Working Parties, just can't manage.
Recently Craig has started to clear stumps of birch saplings from last winter working parties with his digger. The work is made at the end of the breeding season for the dormice and reptiles before hiberation, so they can move off safely from the digger.
Also the work has been made to fix some of the damage on the car park - a more permanent solution is being looked into. Until then, we ask if care can be made driving in and out, to prevent pot holes.
During September, Craig dug up birch tree roots, and scraping the top soil away to the natural soil for the heathland.
Last year, he constructed the trench for the water pipe for the grazing troughs, along with the trench on Priory Road to prevent fly-tipping.
This is just a little of the work that Craig has done for the Heath - many thanks Craig!
The Cows leave the Heath
The cows have returned to the farm at the start of September due to the drying out of the vegatation. While we would like them to be here longer, they have made a good impact in their 4 months on the heath.
See here for Previous News.
Closing the Small Car Park...
The small car park (at the Maldon end of the Heath) from the road, is being closed, as it is an accident waiting to happen, when cars or lorries pull out from a slope on to blind corner
Also there is a concern that pollution might spreading into the pond from possible discharge from lorries there. The car park was never offical - it grew from a lay-by. Some of the soil from the pond enlargement will be used to create a bank - there will be gap for walkers to access the Heath.
Help from the Butterflies...
On a wet December Sunday working party to clear some birch trees, we had some extra help from some of the members of the Cambridgeshire & Essex Branch of Butterfly Conservation. They have put a write-up of their morning with us on their site.
We really appreciated their help and they seemed to enjoy it too - despite the rain! Ok, it only rained for the first hour or so. Our regular helpers, Ben and Callum did a great job in getting the fire going - there is a knack in lighting a fire in the rain, with wet kindling! And as with any working party (we had about 20 on this session), once we got working, we hardly noticed the rain.
And throughout the year, it is appreciated that any butterfly sightings be e-mailed to: sightings@cambs-essex-butterflies.org.uk.
The Dormouse Trail
Among the autumn colours, there are some lovely walks on the Heath. Also, recently there was a special walk to check up some of the heath's smaller summer tree residents: the dormice.
Norma, our licenced dormouse handler, has led two surveys of the purpose-built boxes, that are attached to tree in less public parts of the woods. As an endangered species, it is illegal to handle dormice or damage their habitat. We have had to plan our management of the heath because evidence of dormice has been found in three different areas. We must not do any clearing without checking for any evidence of any recent dormice activity, and even if we find none, we stop if we have concerns.
On one rainy day October, Norma led the latest dormouse survey with helpers. An early nest that we found had a very fast woodmouse with very sharp teeth! Other boxes had evidence of blue tits, but one had a dormouse nest in it. Other boxes were found in undergrowth and ditches surrounding the trees, but during the walk we found badger scuffs and unusual fungi.
As we didnt find a dormouse in a box-nest, it seems that they had moved on to their winter nests, in tree roots or below ground. Five nests were found, which meant there are a dozen or so domice around. So a good end result, which 5 wet searchers can confirm.
We are grateful to Norma for taking responsibility for the dormouse surveys.
The Working Parties start!
On Saturday 10th October, it was the first of this year's winter working parties. It was a lovely day and 12 volunteers arrived to help in the never-ending (its seems!) to remove scrub and gorse.
Can he dig it? Yes Craig Can!
The Heath has many friends, one of those is Craig from Cannon's, who has been doing a lot of machine work on the Heath, that the Working Parties, just can't manage.
Recently Craig has started to clear stumps of birch saplings from last winter working parties with his digger. The work is made at the end of the breeding season for the dormice and reptiles before hiberation, so they can move off safely from the digger.
Also the work has been made to fix some of the damage on the car park - a more permanent solution is being looked into. Until then, we ask if care can be made driving in and out, to prevent pot holes.
During September, Craig dug up birch tree roots, and scraping the top soil away to the natural soil for the heathland.
Last year, he constructed the trench for the water pipe for the grazing troughs, along with the trench on Priory Road to prevent fly-tipping.
This is just a little of the work that Craig has done for the Heath - many thanks Craig!
The Cows leave the Heath
The cows have returned to the farm at the start of September due to the drying out of the vegatation. While we would like them to be here longer, they have made a good impact in their 4 months on the heath.