Scotgrove Wood, 21st March 2010
We continued our work at this Lincolnshire Limewood by cutting the regrowth
along the ditches either side of the central track into the wood. It was the
first day of spring* and the weather supported this with a day of warm
sunshine. Nine of us turned out and managed to clear both sides of the track
up to where John Fleming had established a new bonfire site, almost at the
central crossroads in the wood. We welcomed one new volunteer, Ian.
The previous coppicing work had proved successful, both in improving the
number of wild flowers and also evident by the recent discovery of Brown
Hairstreak butterfly eggs on blackthorn, the first noted for this wood,
apparently. This meant we had to avoid cutting any blackthorn, but
fortunately there wasn't much on the ditches in this area.
We worked until about 4pm, making the most of the lovely weather and burning
up all the cut material, leaving clear ditch banks, but with plenty more
ahead to cut for future tasks.
Julian
* or at least the vernal equinox, if you are a
1
March advocate of the start of spring!
