The Starting Point
This event, which was the first of the 2010/2011 Sunday volunteering sessions, was a repeat of a similar activity carried out last year, see here. This gives an idea of how quickly nature takes over!
It was an excellent day, sunny and quite warm (as you can see by the t-shirts the volunteers are wearing).
There was a good turn-out of ‘regulars’ plus 5 new volunteers!
New Volunteers – Deciding What To Do!
The task was to cut down the small trees and and scrub in Gelvert Marsh. The small parts were made into heaps and then burnt whilst the larger items (tree trunks, large branches etc) were put together to provide a habitat for small animals and insects. All in all, a good morning’s work!
New Volunteers – Enjoying The Day!
On this occasion we started the fires early on in the task as the site cannot be left until the fires have terminated and water has been dowsed on the ashes. The local fire service are then phoned to let them know that this has taken place.
As you probably know, fires can easily start up in the reserve, see eg here (at the bottom).
Getting A Fire Going
Sometimes various interesting wildlife items are uncovered during a volunteer event. On this occasion a fully shed skin of an adder was found (see below, the head is on the rhs).
You can read more about adders on the web eg here:
(Adders) shed their skins in a process known as“sloughing” or by herpetologist’s as “ecdysis” which occurs twice a year, in late spring and late summer, though the number of times may be greater in juvenile specimens as they grow rapidly depending upon the availability of food.
A Shed Adder Skin Discovered In The Grass
The remaining events for this year can be found in a previous post (which also includes contact information). Please consider coming along – it’s good fun and you’ll be made very welcome!
The next event is this coming Sunday, 10th October.
