Some photos from Fleet Pond Society’s stand at last months ‘Go Green in Rushmoor‘ event held in the heart of Aldershot. If you would like to get involved with this sort of FPS voluntary event, please contact our Chairman, Colin Gray. Contact details on the About page above.
Cathy Holden writes:
“Thank you, thank you, thank you to the wonderful Fleet Carnival Committee for the magnificent cheque for £2,500 which they presented to the Fleet Pond Society Clearwater Campaign last week.
Fleet Pond Society want to thank the Fleet Carnival Committee and everyone who worked so hard to make this year’s Carnival such a success and to all the people who came out and supported it over that weekend.”
Ed. As a reminder of Fleet Pond Society at the carnival this year, please take a look here and here.
Above is the final result, from one angle, of the volunteer event from Sunday 11 September at Coldstream Marsh, and from another angle below. As you can see, the alder and sallow saplings have all been cut down (the remaining ones can be seen in the middle background in the photo below).
It was an excellent start to the volunteer events programme for 2011/12 as well as being quite a warm and beautiful day, many worked in just in a t-shirt!
The Coldstream Marsh area has undergone ‘scraping’ leading to plants such as the Skullcap (with the small, violet-coloured trumpets) and the Lesser Spearwort (yellow) starting to grow again (see picture below, click to enlarge). The latter is a member of the Ranunculus (Buttercup) family, which is why it looks very much like a buttercup.
For more information, see the post by Louise Greenwood, the Pond’s new Ranger:
East Marsh and Coldstream Marsh were becoming encroached by scrub and trees from the surrounding woodland; this was creating shade and drawing up water from the wetland areas, creating too dry an area for the important plants to grow. The trees were cut down and the timber sold locally as firewood. The scrub was removed with a machine and mulched. The chippings from this were then scraped into piles on the woodland edge. These spoil piles will soon be covered with vegetation themselves, creating important habitats for small mammals, reptiles and invertebrates.
It’s not all work though, there’s always time for mid-morning coffee…
If you would like to join us in future events (the next one is Sunday 9 October) please take a look here. We look forward to seeing you!
The link to the full edition (Autumn/Winter 2011) is here.
Louise Greenwood, Fleet Pond’s new Ranger, writes:
Rare plants that have not been recorded in the area since the 60’s and 70’s are once again thriving in the correct wet conditions. Last year extensive restoration works went on in East Marsh and Coldstream Marsh to remove the encroaching scrub and trees. The restored habitat was also visited by a wood sandpiper in July.
East Marsh and Coldstream Marsh were becoming encroached by scrub and trees from the surrounding woodland; this was creating shade and drawing up water from the wetland areas, creating too dry an area for the important plants to grow. The trees were cut down and the timber sold locally as firewood. The scrub was removed with a machine and mulched. The chippings from this were then scraped into piles on the woodland edge. These spoil piles will soon be covered with vegetation themselves, creating important habitats for small mammals, reptiles and invertebrates.
Some of the wetland plants that have been recorded this summer include species such as lesser water plantain and marsh speedwell, both of which produce small delicate flowers. Bottle sedge and bladder sedge have also been recorded. Both of these species are regionally scarce due to their decline in numbers over recent years. The most notable find was pillwort, a small creeping fern that is listed as internationally threatened on the European Red Data List. The UK holds a large proportion of the pillwort population but it has not been found at Fleet Pond since 1964. Several colonies have now been found in the marshes indicating that these management techniques are working well.
The technique of scraping away the vegetation had been trialled previously on a small scale and the results were very encouraging with some scarce and threatened plants returning to the site. Shallow pools have also been created in this area, making a perfect habitat for many wetland plants, dragonflies, damselflies and water fowl. In July the pools were visited by a Wood Sandpiper, this is only the 6th record of this migrant wader at Fleet Pond since 1960.
Ed. There is a map of the mentioned locations on the About page above.
Wood Sandpiper (Tringa glareola)
Picture credit: Gary Loader.