Springfield Wildlife Site
Added on 10 November 2009
The combination of wet July and warm dry August produced luxuriant growth in the Wildlife site. The nettles and brambles both seem to have benefited from this years weather pattern. Rather strangely warn of the brambles next to the path have had much fruit. The central area was given a trim at the beginning of October; we took care to leave a few stems of hog weed, hemlock water dropwort and meadow sweet to shed their seeds. Regular visitors will have noticed how the wood pile is beginning to rot down. Rotting wood is a great substrate for fungi and insects. I have not seen the usual ink caps this autumn but they have also been absent from the grass in front of Springfield Close. I regularly see a kingfisher by the pond, and recently a grey wagtail has taken up residence on the dam.
This winter's conservation tasks include coppicing, pollarding the willow standards and repairing bad boxes. Do come and join us on the third Sunday of the month from 10 am. Unfortunately, during the summer, someone dumped a considerable amount of garden rubbish at the site. This suppresses the natural vegetation and introduces seeds of non-native species. I noticed that dragonflies are already hawking over the dewpond in the quarry, a good demonstration of how quickly these insects will find new habitats.
Sarah Ayling.