Previous Heath News
The Winter Work Parties start!
On Sunday 10th October, it was the first of this year's winter work parties. It was a lovely day and 14 volunteers arrived. The first task was to remove some of the trees to help expose more of the ground to sunlight, to encourage the heather regrowth.
Closing the Small Car Park...
The small car park (at the Maldon end of the Heath) from the road, has been 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 has been be used to create a bank - there is a gap for walkers to access the Heath.
Help from the Butterflies...
On a wet December Sunday work 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 work 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 Work Parties start!
On Saturday 10th October, it was the first of this year's winter work 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 Work Parties, just can't manage.
Recently Craig has started to clear stumps of birch saplings from last winter work 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.
FoTH awarded the Essex Biodiversity Project’s Quality of Life Award
On Friday July 3 Mrs Sue More, chairman, together with trustee colleagues of The Friends of Tiptree Heath (FoTH), attended the Essex Biodiversity Project Celebration meeting 2009 in Chelmsford Record Office where Sue, on behalf of FoTH, was presented with the Essex Biodiversity Project’s Quality of Life Award.
This prestigious accolade, consisting of a £500 cheque, a framed certificate, and a turned yew platter to be retained for one year. This was awarded in recognition of conservation and team work on Tiptree Heath during the past year, harnessing the help of various agencies in progressing Heath conservation management, and the provision of a wide range of community-based activities on the Heath.
In particular, the work of Mrs Joan Pinch, Tiptree Heath Community Warden, and the support of Mr Peter Wilkin, owner of Tiptree Heath, were highlighted.
In the picture from the left is Sue More, Mark Iley from the Essex Biodiversity Project, Steve Plumb, the Master of Ceremony) and Essex County Councillor Tracey Chapman, who made the presentation.
The Heath has another calf
On Wednesday morning (July 1st) at 5am we found a newborn calf to Macadamia lying very weak in the undergrowth on the heath. The calf was unable to move at first and later did not have the strength to stand on her own, so Trevor, the grazier, took Macadamia and the calf back to the farm, where she was fed on bottled milk by Trevor and his wife, Pauline.
The good news is that by Sunday Hazel the calf was able to stand and take milk from her mother.
She is a beautiful black calf.
Thanks go to John Firman and Sue More for helping out with massaging and warming the calf during her first few hours to help her survive what was a cold morning.
More Cows on the Heath
At the beginning of June the numbers of cows on the heath increased to 6. The original two, Jenny (brown with a black face) and Macadamia (black) were joined by Rosie, the mother of our calf Heather born last year, Parsley, Stella and Medlar. The cows have all settled together very quickly and are eating a wide variety of greenery including our main target of birch saplings. We may introduce two further cows, but will review the situation in early July.
The Cows are Back!
Two of the Dexter cows returned on Wednesday 6th May.
The numbers are low to start with due to the slow growth of the grass. Grass is important for them to eat to digest the rougher scrub that they munch. As the growth rate takes off, more cows will be brought from their smallholding at West Hanningfield. They will then stay on the heath, spending a short time in one compartment, then moving to the other, then back again and so on until the end of summer. There will be 8 cows altogether and at present it is hoped that two calves will accompany them. Last year's four cows will probably return and the calves will belong to Parsley and Sage.
We will learn the names of the other cows in due course.
Toddler Walks
There will be three "Toddler Walks" on the Heath during the summer. The first will be on Wednesday 13th May, starting at 10.30am - the same time as the weekly Heath Walk, but on a different route.
The Winter Work Parties start!
On Sunday 10th October, it was the first of this year's winter work parties. It was a lovely day and 14 volunteers arrived. The first task was to remove some of the trees to help expose more of the ground to sunlight, to encourage the heather regrowth.
Closing the Small Car Park...
The small car park (at the Maldon end of the Heath) from the road, has been 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 has been be used to create a bank - there is a gap for walkers to access the Heath.
Help from the Butterflies...
On a wet December Sunday work 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 work 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 Work Parties start!
On Saturday 10th October, it was the first of this year's winter work 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 Work Parties, just can't manage.
Recently Craig has started to clear stumps of birch saplings from last winter work 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.
FoTH awarded the Essex Biodiversity Project’s Quality of Life Award
On Friday July 3 Mrs Sue More, chairman, together with trustee colleagues of The Friends of Tiptree Heath (FoTH), attended the Essex Biodiversity Project Celebration meeting 2009 in Chelmsford Record Office where Sue, on behalf of FoTH, was presented with the Essex Biodiversity Project’s Quality of Life Award.
This prestigious accolade, consisting of a £500 cheque, a framed certificate, and a turned yew platter to be retained for one year. This was awarded in recognition of conservation and team work on Tiptree Heath during the past year, harnessing the help of various agencies in progressing Heath conservation management, and the provision of a wide range of community-based activities on the Heath.
In particular, the work of Mrs Joan Pinch, Tiptree Heath Community Warden, and the support of Mr Peter Wilkin, owner of Tiptree Heath, were highlighted.
In the picture from the left is Sue More, Mark Iley from the Essex Biodiversity Project, Steve Plumb, the Master of Ceremony) and Essex County Councillor Tracey Chapman, who made the presentation.
The Heath has another calf
On Wednesday morning (July 1st) at 5am we found a newborn calf to Macadamia lying very weak in the undergrowth on the heath. The calf was unable to move at first and later did not have the strength to stand on her own, so Trevor, the grazier, took Macadamia and the calf back to the farm, where she was fed on bottled milk by Trevor and his wife, Pauline.
The good news is that by Sunday Hazel the calf was able to stand and take milk from her mother.
She is a beautiful black calf.
Thanks go to John Firman and Sue More for helping out with massaging and warming the calf during her first few hours to help her survive what was a cold morning.
More Cows on the Heath
At the beginning of June the numbers of cows on the heath increased to 6. The original two, Jenny (brown with a black face) and Macadamia (black) were joined by Rosie, the mother of our calf Heather born last year, Parsley, Stella and Medlar. The cows have all settled together very quickly and are eating a wide variety of greenery including our main target of birch saplings. We may introduce two further cows, but will review the situation in early July.
The Cows are Back!
Two of the Dexter cows returned on Wednesday 6th May.
The numbers are low to start with due to the slow growth of the grass. Grass is important for them to eat to digest the rougher scrub that they munch. As the growth rate takes off, more cows will be brought from their smallholding at West Hanningfield. They will then stay on the heath, spending a short time in one compartment, then moving to the other, then back again and so on until the end of summer. There will be 8 cows altogether and at present it is hoped that two calves will accompany them. Last year's four cows will probably return and the calves will belong to Parsley and Sage.
We will learn the names of the other cows in due course.
Toddler Walks
There will be three "Toddler Walks" on the Heath during the summer. The first will be on Wednesday 13th May, starting at 10.30am - the same time as the weekly Heath Walk, but on a different route.