Jude, John, Paul, Jeff, Ian, Gill, Niamh, Andrew and myself turned up for
the task on Sunday. It was a rather grim start of the day as we left
Lincoln behind us it was raining all the way but by the time we got to the
reserve it had stopped and the sun was out for the remaining of the day.
Our task for the day was guided by John Walker the warden. That morning he
had cut some hay from the meadow nearby in order to gather the cutting
containing all the flower heads and to spread them onto some of the sand
dunes and fields of the reserve. It really took no time to fill the trailer,
and some of us had a drive in the truck to Rimac beach where some of the
cuttings had to be spread on some of the reserve’s dunes there, while the
rest of the group waited for Rob from the Wildlife Trust to do the same at
over at Donna Nook.
The
task was not particularly difficult and run at a very leisurely pace, yet,
it is important work for the reserve as, as part of their quality
assessment, the dunes have to be covered with a good diversity of flora and
this scarce habitat is important for many of the coast insect species. Some
of the dunes had been recently cleared from scrubs and the hay scattering we
did was to boost the flora of the site.
John knows his site so well, and after our task we had a little walk on
the dunes where he showed us one of the residents, a Natterjack toad that
the reserve is pro-active in protecting.
Overall a job well done.
Delphine