This Sunday's task was a welcome return to this small but rich nature reserve east of Lincoln. The site is owned by Butterfly Conservation and managed for butterflies and dragonflies. 

The management is certainly working as the air above the meadow was filled with squadrons of Odonata (albeit all doing their own thing) while there were butterflies galore on the various plants and a pile of fallen apples was covered in red admirals, fighting with the wasps.

Seventeen of us turned out for what was meant to be a sunny day, which it was mostly, but a number of brief but heavy rain showers had us running for cover throughout the day. The work was hay raking and scrub management and we split into 2 groups to start on these jobs. The first group managed to get most of the cut hay raked up before the first showers, while others started on cutting down small scrub on the banks of the pond, mostly oak, ash and birch saplings from the nearby trees. Kevin and Carl reduced the height of a partition hedge to about 6ft and gathered the cut material for a future bonfire (too hot for a fire today!)

We also tackled an area of mature blackthorn and a nearby ash coppice which was growing over the stream at the east end of the reserve, which produced quite a bit of cut material,some of which Jeff took away for this latest garden project.

In all it was a very productive day and unusual in that we were managing scrub while surrounded by the wildlife in bloom and flight, that benefits from this type of management that we normally carry out in the depths of winter. Hard to tell if they appreciated it or just wanted us to leave!
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Julian