Scrapes 2 and 3 of Wiltshire Wildlife Trust’s ABBA project will be backwaters lying alongside Lambrok Stream. A backwater is essentially a shallow pond connected to a waterway, providing still-water habitat away from the flow and turbulence of the main stream.
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Wiltshire Wildlife Trust’s ABBA project is creating three wetland scrapes in Lambrok Meadow.
Continue reading “A new pool”
Wiltshire Wildlife Trust is undertaking a 5 year project of “practical action, innovative community and business engagement and high-level strategic planning across the River Biss and its tributaries”. The project is called ABBA: A Better Biss Approach.
Continue reading “ABBA”
Clive Knight’s weekend picture of the heritage orchard shows how quickly it is recovering from the grass fire of August 20th.
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At the end of August, Ian checked the pond that we are developing with Wiltshire Wildlife Trust in the hope of attracting great crested newts to the reserve.
(Here are some links to previous posts about the pond’s development: ONE TWO THREE)
Read on for Ian’s report
Volunteers from the team of conservationists who care for the upkeep of the Park had a stand at Southwick Show on Bank Holiday Monday August 29th. To the relief of the volunteers, the weather was lovely and the visitors were very supportive.
Thanks to all the contributors, we had an excellent selection of goods for people to buy – which they did and we raised £200 for the purchase of additional plants for the Park.
Joan Jones (Chairman FoSCP)
It’s September: time to think about helping your garden’s wildlife through the rigours of the coming winter. This is the first in a series of posts that we hope might help.
Continue reading “Winter Garden: 1”
by Ian Bushell
As promised, a report on the chainsaw course that ran for four days from Tuesday 30th August to Friday 2nd September at Roland Heming, Fox Ridge, Motcombe. Clive Knight, Phil Riddle and myself attended.
Continue reading “Chainsaw”
This record-breaking drought is drying up the reserve’s ponds and streams. Please help us maintain the quality of what little water is left by keeping your dogs out of the pond for the time being. Thank you
by Ian Bushell
After the Wednesday Work Party had cleared away the vegetation from both sides of the dam, the contractor soon set to work.
Continue reading “Fixing the dam: part 2”
The dam at the downstream end of the big pond has been leaking.
Continue reading “Fixing the dam”
Water voles are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. Are we doing enough to ensure the protection of the reserve’s water voles?
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Ian Bushell conducted a butterfly transect in the reserve on Thursday. Butterfly transects are the way in which we measure changes in the population of the reserve’s butterflies from year to year.
Continue reading “Butterfly transect”
Every year, at hay-making time, people ask why we cut the grass. They worry about the creatures that live in and on our grassland fields, and mourn the loss of the summer’s beautiful buttercups.
Continue reading “Hay making”
Here’s a post from Sarah to add to the dog discussion.
Continue reading “Dog poop in the park”
Wiltshire Council is asking the public to avoid using Southwick Country Park on 5th/6th May due to the spraying of Magneto herbicide to control ragwort. The work will take place on Thursday 5 May and possibly extend into Friday 6 May, depending upon the weather. There will be notices posted in the reserve to keep you updated.
Ragwort can cause serious liver damage to livestock if ingested, so landowners/occupiers have a responsibility to prevent it from spreading to neighbouring farmland. For the last few years it has been controlled in the Park by hand pulling, but this year it is clear there will be too much to pull out by hand with the resources we have.
We ask that the public avoid the Park on 5th/6th May while the spraying is taking place, and apologise for the inconvenience that these works cause.
Access to Hope Nature Centre is unaffected by the works.
by David Feather
On Wednesday mornings in the Nature Reserve you might be hearing some new sounds. The Friends of Southwick Country Park Nature Reserve have moved fully into the 21st century by purchasing battery powered hedge cutters and a brush cutter. We have managed to do this with financial help from Wiltshire Council Central Area Board and some thoughtful and generous donations. On Wednesday of last week, we had the opportunity to meet and thank the local couple who have paid for the training of five volunteers in the use of our new power tools.
Continue reading “Buzz”
Every year, around this time, we publish some version of this post: our native bluebells need constant protection from this invasive species.
Continue reading “Invasion of the Spanish squill”
Wednesday’s work party task for the Friends was to cut back the tussocks in the set-aside at the top of Kestrel Field and to slow down the advance of the brambles from the hedge between the set-aside and The Arboretum.
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The fine weather has brought out this year’s vandals.
Continue reading “Vandalism!”
words by Ian Bushell
pictures by Gemma Thorpe
Contrary to dire weather forecasts, the morning was warm with blue skies – most pleasant. We met up as usual in the car park and we were joined by Countryside Officers Ali and Gemma.
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Wet Work Party
by Ian Bushell
We had a particularly wet and foul day for Wednesday’s work party. It didn’t stop raining the whole morning. That is two weeks on the trot now and most unusual for the Friends, normally we have good weather days between the bad.
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by Ian Bushell
A miserable morning, cold and very wet, with just the “Three Musketeers” turning up, Frank, Clive and myself.
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Southwick Country Park Nature Reserve 