With the group activities continuously expanding as we try to further enhance countryside and wildlife survival prospects, pausing to recount the achievements has to take second place to the tasks themselves. This means that there have been less reports produced than normal to keep supporters abreast with group work. For this we apologise. In an attempt to redress this, we include the following group activity update as the first step to catch up with our work achievements.

 

GROUP ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING AND TALK.

On May 30th we held our annual general meeting to discuss group business that had taken place over the last year. At this meeting we said a fond farewell to our treasurer, Terry Harper, who had been a valuable supporter since the group began in 2004 and latterly group treasurer for at least a decade. During this time he had steered the group finances to allow full visibility of funds and accommodating the multitude of costs and payments necessary to keep group progress moving forward efficiently. For this we had become very dependent on his expertise, so when he reluctantly decided that he would like to leave the role for health reasons, we were deeply saddened.

We therefore showed our gratitude for the huge time and effort he had contributed to the group by presenting him with a gift of glasses engraved with owls as a token of our appreciation. The picture below shows the gift being presented.

 

Our valued friend and supporter, Terry Harper being presented with a token of our appreciation for his years of service to The Woodland, Flora & Fauna Group.

 

Following our AGM we held a public talk for our supporters which was provided by the naturalist, author and wildlife guide, Michael Blencowe. It was well attended and received by the audience, as shown below.

 

Michael Blencowe gave a talk on The Wildlife of Sussex to the attendees of the event. 

 

TALBOT FIELD NATURE AREA.

Following our earlier clearance work this year undertaken at Talbot Field Small Nature Area in Hassocks, some areas of the meadow were cleared and wildflower plugs planted. The existing grass was so thick, that to give the plugs a chance of survival, the turf had to be removed. This was not easy, but gave the plants better chance to flourish. The downside of this was the amount of attention required to keep them alive during the very hot spells that occurred this summer, with constant visits to water them and repair damage caused by local wildlife and passing dogs.

 

Many water runs were required to keep the plants alive in the hot weather.

 

Damage caused by passing dogs scratching plugs out of the ground, scavenging rabbits and burrowing moles had to be repaired on each visit. Any covering of protective sticks applied tended to be used by dog walkers to throw for their dogs to retrieve, so are no longer used.

 

Despite this unwanted animal attention, a good number survived to add to the floral richness of the meadow.

 

BERRYLANDS POND.  

Earlier this year The Woodland, Flora & Fauna Group assumed responsibility for another site to further the prospects for nature in our local area, and began work at Berrylands Pond in Sayers Common. The area had been a longstanding source of complaint from local residents due to its overgrown state which to many had become an eyesore. The maintenance of this pond was the responsibility of Mid Sussex District Council, but due to funding pressures and staff shortages, it had become neglected. With complaints rising and the council unable to find a solution, Hurstpierpoint & Sayers Common Parish Council asked our group if we could take over the maintenance of the site and improve its value for nature.

We were aware that not all residents had the same vision for the transformation outcome, and whatever we did would please some but not others. This was a different scenario to all our other nature sites where the results sought were primarily for nature enhancement and improvement for the survival prospects of wildlife. After due consideration we agreed, and are pursuing a strategy to make it visually more appealing to local residents, whilst boosting the site’s nature credentials. We listened to the differing opinions of many of the residents and are steering a course of achieving our objectives for the pond area, and embracing as many of the comments as possible. Our volunteers, who include some of the Sayers Common residents, are working hard to achieve this.

 

This was the pond area as it was presented to us.

 

Volunteers worked hard to improve the site for nature.

 

All debris produced was piled into a stack for later removal by MSDC contractors as site disposal in a built-up area of housing was not an option.

 

Work there has continued to generally tidy the site and remove falling or leaning trees across the pond to allow more light to penetrate.

 

Work was undertaken to allow more light penetration into the pond, as shown here.

 

With most of the cut branches falling into the pond, ropes had to be tied around them before they were cut, so that they could be hauled to the banks for disposal.

 

This was how the pond appeared when the overhanging tree growth was removed.

 

All twigs and small branches were again heaped for later removal by council contractors, and all main branch sections were stacked in a wildlife wood pile in one corner of the site.

 

With the water level in the pond receding due to the hot weather as the work progressed, the organisation of the next work phase became increasingly important. A large amount of silt, mostly consisting of rotting organic matter from fallen leaves was appearing, emphasising the need for dredging to be carried out to restore the pond to its original depth.

To achieve this, The Woodland,Flora & Fauna Group have obtained quotations from specialist companies, for the pond to be dredged and the silt removed. These quotations have been passed to Hurstpierpoint and Sayers Common Parish Council for consideration and approval of costs, which will be born by MSDC funding. A response is still awaited.

Since then, further work requested by residents in neighbouring properties has been undertaken, to lower the height of some of the trees around the pond to provide more visibility of it.

 

Volunteers again attended while waiting for the dredging response from MSDC, to reduce the height of surrounding trees.

 

The result allowed even more light to penetrate the pond area.

 

GROUP ATTENDANCE AT COUNCIL AGM.

Group members once again set up a publicity stall at the Hurstpierpoint & Sayers Common Parish Council AGM in the early summer to advertise our work and achievements.

 

Photo boards highlighted group’s achievements at the event.

 

POND LYE SITE OF NATURE CONSERVATION IMPORTANCE.

Our calendar is dictated by seasonal demands, so we were then required to direct our attention to the meadow area at Pond Lye which was becoming punctuated with emerging ragwort and thistle. These species are normally not a problem if controlled, but both generate anxiety and complaints when viewed by neighbours. We therefore returned to ensure they did not cause any problems in this respect, and to prepare the site for the meadow cut scheduled for late summer.

 

Ragwort and thistles were diligently removed by volunteers.

 

 

This was a huge task across the whole meadow area but was eventually achieved.

 

We then turned our attention to clearing the edges of the meadow in readiness for the later meadow cut.

 

Bramble spread into the meadow area is a constant battle we have to undertake each year.

 

It also obscures ground undulations which the person undertaking the cut has to be aware of for safety reasons.

 

Once this was achieved we advised our valuable volunteer with a tractor and he commenced cutting. 

 

The cut has to be carried out just before the day we receive help from local college students.

 

This ensures the cuttings can be gathered up easily.

 

The tractor operator did a fantastic job covering the whole of the large meadow in a couple of hours. This picture shows him finishing the work for which we are hugely grateful for. Without this help we would be slaving away for months doing it by hand.

 

We then arranged for the students to attend quickly afterwards to help us rake up all the cuttings.

 

They join us every year to lend a hand, and we are very grateful to them also for this help.

 

They have become quite familiar with the task and quickly rake the hay into rows. 

 

This is then collected up and heaped into piles to be dealt with later.

 

They worked hard for a whole day and achieved a tremendous amount. The disposal of the hay piles and the completion of those areas left unraked would be undertaken later by our group volunteers.

 

Following the college volunteer day, our own volunteers gathered to complete the task.

 

Quickly the piles of hay were disposed of….. 

 

….and the remaining area cleared of cuttings. This concluded the huge annual effort surrounding the task to keep the meadow in good condition.

 

ANNUAL SPECIAL PUBLIC TALK.

In August each year we hold a special public talk to help us raise much needed funding for our group work. For this we invite a distinguished speaker to share his/her knowledge with the audience. This helps all of us enormously to learn more about the nature or wildlife topic they specialise in. This year a large audience gathered to listen to Keith Kirby, the author & CIEEM medallist for the outstanding lifelong contribution to the advancement of  ecology, forestry, and woodland management.

 

This talk was held in Hurstpierpoint Village Centre.

 

This picture shows Keith Kirby as he prepared to begin his presentation.

 

His talk was entitled ‘Woodland Flowers’.

 

It appeared to be well-received by the audience, many of whom gathered afterwards to speak to him….

 

…..and purchase copies of his books.

 

This whole event held each year is a massive undertaking for our volunteers to organise and run, so we are extremely grateful for all their hard work to make it a success. This picture is of one of our group volunteers providing refreshments.

 

ALBOURNE MILLENNIUM GARDEN.

Later this summer we returned to the Albourne Millennium Garden to check on the usage of the bird boxes we had installed at the end of last year. We examined every box and found that all but one had been used. The occupants had been blue tits and great tits, who were no doubt very grateful for the nesting opportunities provided. Each box was cleaned out and sterilised in readiness for next year’s residents.

 

We returned to the Millennium Garden to examine the bird boxes.

 

All but one of the boxes had been used by the local bird population.

 

The old nests were removed from each box….

 

….and the boxes were sterilised with bird friendly disinfectant to kill any avian infection and harmful bacteria. 

 

 This was one of the old nests removed.

 

When the work was completed the cleaned boxes were left awaiting future bird occupancy.

 

The year has been a very busy one for our group and only a percentage of the activities undertaken have been included in this report. The others will be described in a subsequent ones which will follow in due course. Our supporters and volunteers are of great value to us and essential in supporting our ongoing activities. We therefore strive to keep everyone informed of all work that is carried out by our group.