School Meadow mown, cutting season done

 “In like a lion, out like a lamb” is the old saying about how the weather in March is supposed to progress, but this year it seems to be running back-to-front. In an almost Trumpian switch, the last few days’ weather have seen us forget it’s Spring and return to Winter. This being the morning after the night the clocks sprung forward, 15 bleary-eyed volunteers turned out to tidy up School Meadow (the bit where the picnic tables are in School Common).

Those tables have been there (it was intended as an outdoor classroom for the school, but it’s now an occasional picnic spot) since 2007, and are in what we could call a state of managed decline (not unlike some of us!) The cutting had been done earlier in the week, but Team Leader Kevin wielded the brush cutter again to trim round the tables’ remaining legs. Despite appearance, that wasn’t responsible for the bit you see adrift and upside down – but it shows the extent of the decline.

This picture also shows the exciting new game Kevin and fellow Team Leader Julie were playing: a conservation volunteers’ version of hide and seek.

The Meadow is gradually being dominated by thuggish bracken, so the latest plan is to cut that right down, and then keep on top it as it re-grows, by trampling and generally giving it a taste of its own medicine. The hope is that after a few years it will be just a distant memory. Meanwhile, that which was cut had to be hoiked onto the drag sheet and dumped out of sight.

Around the edge of the Meadow are many bushes, some of which needed their more eye-threatening branches trimming back – but we were at pains to not do anything drastic enough to upset birds beginning to nest. One of the most attractive features of this patch is the gorgeous lichen adorning many of those branches:

Unlike much of what we do on the main reedbed, the material we were dealing with today was delightfully light. The joy this produced is plain for all to see:

This time the refreshment break signalled not so much half time as full time, for this session and indeed the current cutting season. It was therefore convivial and extended, with much cheerful banter. No apple cake today, but Custard Cream biscuits are never wrong either.

Here’s how the Meadow looked when we had finished.

Here is the Team Leaders’ message of thanks:

Hello all

We have come to the end of our season cutting and clearing reed on the common.  We will leave the nesting birds in peace now.

We finished it today on School Common clearing bracken. Thank you to the 15 volunteers today who worked so efficiently; we were done by our coffee break.

The next job to be done on the Common will be removing the Himalayan Balsam as it starts to appear in late May-June.  We will put out an email when we are ready to start removing it for those of you happy to do this task. We will probably also combine this with a quick 10-15 minutes on School Common stamping down the bracken as it emerges to 'bruise it' as new information to us seems to suggest that this is more effective in reducing its spread than cutting it annually. We thought it would be worth a try! 

Anyway, thank you to all the volunteers who have helped us on the Common over the last year. We have said goodbye to some volunteers but have been pleased to welcome new volunteers (which is always good for the group).  The Common is looking fabulous and this is in part thanks to your efforts.

We look forward to seeing some of you in May June and others of you for the new season in August.

Regards, Julie, Margaret, Kevin and Michelle

 When it was still Spring, there were plenty of pointers to prove it, including the fields that are just showing that first green blush as the newly-sown cereal crops begin to sprout. Walking along Craft Lane a week ago I was struck by a clump of red dead-nettles, which had attracted a positive bevy of bumblebees (or humblebees as Gilbert White knew them). Another dialect name for them is dumbledore, not to be confused with any fictional wizards of your acquaintance. Early flowering plants like these dead-nettles and dandelions are vital sources of nectar for the insect pioneers, and thankfully, there seem to be a lot in flower at the moment – and therefore plenty of bees too. Whilst I was admiring the scene there were skylarks singing above me, and in the distance I spotted two male fallowdeer; not the commonest round here by any stretch of the imagination. And this morning, whilst we were working on School Meadow, I heard my first blackcap of the season, singing its sweet song.

Crossing the Common the other day I was surprised and pleased to see another stretch of boardwalk has been renewed by NWT: this time being the famous “Bradfield Road spur” and a stretch leading from it.

Never mind a host of golden daffodils, Area B on the other side of Fox’s Beck had a fine display of lesser celandines, as well as a few of the Wordsworth flower.

BBC4 recently broadcast a fabulous film set on the North Norfolk coast, at The Wash, so I am guessing Snettisham. Wildlife film-maker Martin Dohrn has had a highly successful career, working amongst others with David Attenborough, and now he’s made a film called The Birds, showcasing the huge murmurations of over-wintering waders, driven by hunting peregrines. It’s beautiful and captivating stuff and happily it’s going to be available for at least a year on the iPlayer, at https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m002sw7z/the-birds