In praise of the Wellington boot

 

“If it wasnae for your wellies, where would you be?

You'd be in the hospital or infirmary

Cause you would have a dose of the flu or even pleurisy

If you didnae have your feet in your wellies!”

Billy Connolly used those immortal lines to illustrate the deprived nature of his Glasgow upbringing, but those of us who volunteer on Southrepps Common know how true they are. Our most recent working party was another foray into the jungly domain of the dreaded and dreadful Himalayan Balsam. To reach a rich vein of it, a tributary to the mighty Fox’s Beck had to be crossed, and the chance of filling up your wellies with a portion of the Beck was depressingly high. However, a cunningly contrived temporary bridge consisting of a fallen and rotting tree limb allowed three plucky pioneers to cross the raging torrent, albeit tentatively and helped by the overhanging branches. Four others kept their wellies relatively dry by pushing through the reeds to the Beastly Balsam clustering on the nearer side of The Beck. 

This was the first attendance of very welcome new recruit Andrew, here proudly displaying his inaugural trophy Balsam plant.

Given that we had visited this very spot a fortnight ago, it was depressing to find a significant new growth of plants; although small, they're still capable of sporting flowers and therefore producing seeds.

From the surprisingly small to the as-expected tall; we reckoned these checked in at about nine or ten feet!

Despite a further seven volunteer hours being put in, making a total of 68.5 hours on this task this summer, there are still a lot of hard to reach plants – but at least we’ve done a lot to control Balsam's spread for another year.

Meanwhile, the wild flower patch at Pit Common was also cut by two other volunteers, to be raked off in a few days’ time once the seeds have had a chance to drop back onto the area. So it looks like it’s a success!

Here is Team Leader Margaret’s message of thanks:

Thank you so much to the volunteers who came again today. It was hard work as the Balsam has got taller and the reeds, hops and cleavers thicker! As we are now entering the cutting season that will be the last Balsam Bash, so thank you all for your hard work. Progress is being made and we are stopping it taking over the site.

I would also like to thank the chaps who cut the meadow at the Pit this morning. The arisings are being left to allow the seeds to drop and then they will be raked off.

Hope to see many of you next Sunday.

Margaret for the team leaders.

    Before that session though, last Saturday our three keenest Balsam Bashers, along with NWT’s Annabel, insisted on enjoying it yet more at the Warren Road end and then at the edge of the Beck on the other side of the boardwalk, clocking up six more volunteer hours.

At the Warren Road end they discovered this chrysalis, very close to where a peacock caterpillar had been found on 2^nd July, as recorded on this very blog. So we’re pretty sure because of that and comparing it with online photos that it’s going to grow up to be a Peacock butterfly, probably later this summer, ready to spend the winter hibernating.

They created a new heap for the stuff to decompose in, with two further bags joining the existing one back behind the Information Point.

They reported that the Beck is flowing well where a big branch is down across it - we saw this a while back and wondered if it would be an issue - but apparently not! 

Pulling up invasive plants and cutting reed is not the only volunteering we do on NWT’s behalf. We also keep a close eye on the flora and fauna found on the five commons, including passing on to the Trust the sightings reported on the whiteboard on the Information Point at the Lower Street end of the boardwalk.

At around 500, plants represent by far the largest number of species known to be present (invertebrates might outnumber them, but so far have not been thoroughly surveyed). In addition to the ad-hoc reporting of sightings, every year a small group of dedicated botanists led by Team Leader Sue do a regular survey of the main Common, for onward reporting to NWT and Natural England (the body which oversees Sites of Special Scientific Interest, such as this one). Prior to 2020 the surveys were undertaken by specialist ecologists on behalf of Natural England, but since then it has been down to our resident experts.

The plots to be surveyed, known as quadrats, are marked out with canes in the central part of the Common, concentrating particularly on the range of exciting flowering plants and intriguingly named mosses such as Yellow Starry Feather moss and Rusty Hook-moss growing there.

There are buried metal markers for precise location of the right spots - hence Sue can be seen wandering around with a metal detector to find where to place the canes.

Here are a normal pink Fragrant orchid and a more unusual white Fragrant orchid found during the most recent survey, near, but not quite in a survey plot.

When you are puzzled by the sight of a group of people staring intently at the ground in the middle of the Common on a hot summer’s day, now you’ll know what they’re up to!

 

 

Back on the Balsam again

 Perhaps because the Spring was quite cold this year, insect life has taken a long time to get going, but at last it now seems to be in full swing. Butterflies have gone from being almost completely absent to very much present on the roll call, with plenty of Speckled Woods, Ringlets, Meadow Browns and Red Admirals about. Very excitingly, just this morning a White Admiral was seen at the edge of School Common. This rather pleasing Speckled Wood was on one of our local footpaths.

In the last week or so I have been noticing lots of Gatekeepers along the hedgerows, while this splendid Tortoiseshell has been so far the only representative of its species to cross my path (also not on the Common however.)

The trouble with butterflies is that they often won’t stay still long enough for them to have their pictures taken, but on a recent visit to the excellent RSPB reserve at Strumpshaw fen this Gatekeeper did pause its fluttering long enough for a quick snap, showing its under-wing.

The other summer standby for spotting, when birds have gone into hiding, is the Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies); also at Strumpshaw was this obliging Broad-bodied Chaser, one of which we found on the Common a few weeks back.

We’ve had Hornet mimic Hoverflies on the Common previously, but this is one I saw on one of the nearby lanes. I trust it wasn’t the one that blundered into my house late one evening soon after; they’re very active and noisy, and not a little alarming (though harmless of course).

Hogweed is now in flower, and therefore the Hogweed ‘bonking’ beetles are swarming all over them. Think Love Island for beetles and you’ve got it!

The warm and slightly wetter weather lately has caused the Common’s vegetation to take off in spectacular fashion. Our current focus remains trying to prevent Himalayan Balsam from swamping the place, so today 13 of us turned up to rebuke the wretched stuff growing near the Lower Street car park. This particular area is quite hard to access, so Team Leader Margaret gave us stern warnings before we set off into the jungle. It’s important to dress to protect yourself from nettle stings; we were particularly impressed by the sensible but beautifully ironed boiler suit modelled by Louise. Wellies are essential too; sadly for Noel, his sprang a leak.

Careful selection of the right plant to pluck up is key; here Andrew illustrates the correct technique.

Due to the problems caused by the terrain, we were urged to work in pairs. Your correspondent and the aforementioned Andrew bravely opted to cross the Beck to deal with some of the hardest to reach and largest specimens. This one has grown tall enough to peer over the neighbours’ fence.

Once the allotted hour was up we reluctantly (ahem) dragged ourselves away. Now that the bigger plants are flowering, it’s important to try to stop them setting seed. There is unfortunately still plenty left to do, so there will need to be at least one more session.

Between us we put in another 13 hours work today: so far this year we’ve collectively done 55.5 hours on Himalayan Balsam control alone!

Here is Team Leader Margaret’s message of thanks:

Hi all.

A very heartfelt thankyou to the 13 volunteers who came this morning to continue the never-ending battle with the balsam. It was particularly challenging today as the bindweed, hop and stickyweed were determined to block our path. It was very hard work so thank you all.

The good news is that I do think there was less balsam on the main site than last year but not unfortunately across the Beck. With your fantastic efforts we are managing to control it.

I would very much like to have yet another go in two weeks’ time so hopefully see anyone who is willing then.

Margaret (on behalf of the team leaders).

 

Balsam Day = Groundhog Day

 

The third in the seemingly never-ending series of “special” working parties to subdue the persistent efforts of Himalayan Balsam to dominate, if not the Universe, Southrepps Common at least, came round again today. And at an alarmingly early hour, the better to spare the Balsam Pickers the worst of the pitiless sun. In the event, the sun did display some pity, and it was actually a pleasant temperature. That’s partly because at 9.00 a.m. even the chorusing birds were still rubbing their bleary eyes.

Finding much news to pass on is actually a bit tricky, and your tireless tired correspondent is tempted to refer hopeful readers to the previous two postings for deathless prose and startling images. However, nothing daunted, we present to the world a bit more…

The session got off to a poor start for Team Leader Julie, who cycling along at a no doubt impressive speed, her cap blew off and lodged at the top of a tall hedge. A hedge taller than the said Team Leader, who was grateful to a passing pedestrian of more extended growth for plucking the errant headgear from its prickly landing place and returning it to its correct position on Julie’s head.

The day had got off to an even worse start, and indeed conclusion, for an unfortunate shrew, whose lifeless body lay on the boardwalk. I have no direct experience of this, but I believe that shrews are unpalatable, so we can assume that it was spat out by its disgusted killer; scant compensation for the shrew however.

We were only going to work for an hour, but the first quarter of that was used by a few of us in plucking out newly emerged small plants in the area we had cleared a fortnight before.

Further on, the going was a bit rough under foot!

A site has been established over the past few weeks for the dumping and decomposition of the removed plants, but with the reeds now so tall it’s elusive.

 

Here some intrepid explorers are trying to find it.

Moving on to the edge of Area A, we were out of the shadows and back in the sunlight. Here the Balsam was growing strong and thick.

Great care was needed, as this wretched plant insists on hiding itself amongst nettles and thistles, all of which seem to have it in for our crack team of super-weeders. Poor Sheila at least found plenty of nettles able to sneak in between her gloves and the bottom of her sleeves – ouch!

This was the area where we found a broad-bodied chaser dragonfly last time: this time it was a solitary Peacock butterfly caterpillar.

With the hour up, we convened at the dumping site to empty our heavily laden sacks. The pile has grown to enormous proportions. Contrary to what was said above in connection with the temporary loss of her cap, Team Leader Julie is in fact jolly tall, and the Balsam plant she is holding was a champion one (ahem)

On the way back out, we stopped to admire the central area. Your correspondent was snapped finding out why a fragrant orchid gets its name.

Here is that splendid orchid, which certainly does have a smell reminiscent of cloves.

Also in that area are good numbers of Marsh Helleborines:

That area is great for its flowers, and is currently dotted with many beautiful orchids. 

Here is Julie’s message of thanks:

Hi all

Hope everyone has made the most of the rain in their gardens! It was very welcome.

It was not noticeably wetter on the common this morning when 8 of us tackled the undergrowth in search of the elusive (I wish) Himalayan Balsam. It was still appearing in the area we had done before, albeit smaller ones but further round in the sun they were getting quite big. Easy to spot, but not easy to get to nestling deep in the nettle and sticky weed! 

However, a great job was done and yet again bags of uprooted Balsam were put on the dump site where the previous lot were already well rotted down.

We will be back in two weeks' time, though we may shift our attention to the area by the car park where they are starting to gain some height we believe!  We will let you know in due course.

Thanks once again to the hardy group that keep turning out to do this - it is very much appreciated.

Regards, Julie (for the TLs)