Posts Tagged ‘landmanagement’
Rhododendron Clearance at High House Waste
Continuing work in the Southern Mire, 9 volunteers joined workday leader Kate Wareham for our October workday at High House Waste. The day was still and sunny, with a blue sky that wouldn’t have looked out of place on a summer’s day. Following on from gorse clearance and the opening up of paths achieved during…
Read MoreBreeding Bird Surveys
Following on from the creation of our refreshed Land Management plans, Ecologist Albert Knott has been working to gather baseline information on the flora and fauna of DPA land holdings. As well as lichen surveys, beetle surveys, butterfly surveys, bat surveys and moth surveys, he has also been collecting important data about breeding birds. These…
Read MoreSummer Gathering at Two Bridges
Now in its second year, our Summer Gathering is an opportunity for members and allies to come together to socialise and gain an insight into some of our work over the past twelve months. This year we were very lucky to have talks from ecologist Albert Knott, Dr Helen Wilson and Daniel Brown from the…
Read MoreCutting the Southern Mire
Conservation work on DPA owned land at High House Waste has now expanded into the Southern Mire, with our volunteers beginning the task of clearing gorse from the mire margins and cutting new access tracks for people and animals. 13 volunteers, including new faces from Cornwood, spent the day working with both hand tools and…
Read MoreImproving Access at High House Waste
High House Waste is the largest land holding owned by the DPA and it requires year round work to care for the special species and important archaeology on site. Thirteen volunteers joined us for our most recent workday, including Cornwood locals and two brand new faces. The team was also joined by our Ecologist, Albert…
Read MoreBracken Bashing at the Mediaeval Farmstead
Summer conservation workdays at High House Waste focus on controlling bracken, which grows extremely quickly and can smother archaeology and out-compete other native plants. Bracken grows up to 3m tall, forming dense stands which block out light to other plants, reducing overall biodiversity. Areas of bracken, as part of a mosaic of habitat, are valuable…
Read MoreSpectacular Swallow-tailed moth recorded at Pudsham Meadows
Following on from the very successful moth survey at Pudsham Meadows in June, with Devon Moth Group, another survey was carried out on the 3rd of July. This was undertaken by DPA Ecologist, Albert Knott, and two additional surveyors, Richard Fox and Mark Hows. All three people have extensive knowledge of moth behaviours and characteristics,…
Read MoreSouth West Lichen Group visit Sharpitor
The DPA were delighted to host the South West Lichen Group for a field meeting on our land holding at Sharpitor. They visited on the 26th of June and were accompanied by our Ecological Consultant, Albert Knott, and Moorland Guide Geri Skeens, who organised the event. The aim was to locate and identify species that…
Read MoreMosaic Habitat Management at Common Wood
Our summer workday at Common Wood had a focus on clearing bracken encroachment for the benefit of Marsh Fritillary butterflies. These threatened butterflies require areas of flower rich wet grassland, called rhos pastures, with a plentiful supply of devil’s-bit scabious, which is the food plant of their caterpillar. One of six fritillary species found on…
Read MoreDevonshire Association Botany Section visit Swincombe
10 members of the Devonshire Association Botany Section came on a site visit to our land in the Swincombe valley on the 20th of June. These included the BSBI (Botanical Society for the British Isles) county recorder and a member of DBRC (Devon Biological Records Centre) field survey team, as well as other top notch…
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