Pigneys Wood
At Pigneys Wood we have raked the meadows, pollarded trees, and planted a hedge - on one occasion a beautiful barn owl even came to watch us!
The Friends of Pigneys Wood are really pleased with the hard work of our volunteers and have many more ideas for jobs to keep us going…including planting a new orchard and levelling a path.
See what our Norwich Environmental Action Team have been doing at Pigneys by clicking here
As well as doing practical work to protect and improve habitats, we are always looking to learn more about the animals and plants at sites where we work. Down by the new pond at Pigneys Wood near North Walsham, a wide variety of animal tracks can be seen in the wet mud. Armed with a Field Studies Council chart, we were able to clearly pick out signs of foxes and roe deer (pictured) amongst others.
We have seen a wide variety of butterflies at Pigneys this summer, including gatekeeper, ringlet and small skipper. Some pictures of our sightings can be seen here
Sadlers Wood
At Sadlers Wood we have cleared around a new hedge and cut back bracken and rank grass to improve the meadow habitats around the edge of the wooded area. Earlier in the year we planted new native trees and wildflowers. Over the summer we saw how popular the wild carrot, knapweed and st john's wort are with a wide range of butterflies and other insects.
As well as improving the site for wildlife, we have also spred a thought for the site's many visitors, by keeping the paths open and repairing this picnic table.
What was rather strange was that the table did not appear to have a middle section - was this removed by the vandals, or was it always more of a set of two bars than a fully flat surface? Please call us on 01263 515 336 if you remember seeing it before it was broken.
It still makes a great place for a cuppa though!
Bacton Woods
If you have been down to the woods recently, you may have been have seen a strange sight: volunteers have been checking for nibbled nuts at Bacton Woods – all in the name of wildlife conservation. It was all part of the Great Golden Nut Hunt, organized nationally by the Peoples’ Trust for Endangered Species. Since then, the Workout Project are also going to be doing a series of surveys for the Natural History Museum’s OPAL(open air laboratories) network. This has included examining lichens and earthworms at sites across North Norfolk.
Southrepps Common
Southrepps Common is a Local Nature Reserve near the village of the same name, with 12.4 hectares of woodland,reeds and grasslands. Our group enjoyed a walk round this site and its surroundings, especially as it is close to the Vernon Arms!
However the payback is that over the winter we may be raking up reeds cut by the Common Trustees' volunteer group, as well as working on a hedge on the reserve. Beautiful places like this don't just look after themselves...
For more about this site see their website
Catfield Sandholes
Catfield village has a community green space right in the village with mature oak trees and ponds which has a fascinating history, having been the site of a ship burial similar to the one at Sutton Hoo! More recently the site was a watering hole for the local cattle.
It also has great potential for wildlife, but is currently overgrown with rank vegetation such as nettles and brambles, which are excluding other plants. These will need to be cut back and raked away to allow rarer wildflowers to thrive.
We returned to the site in the autumn for a community challenge involving the local school and the WI in bulb planting, installing nest boxes and dredging out the ponds - after opeing out and resurfacing the well-used path through the site in the summer. Part of this was done with aggregates, the rest with woodchip which came from trees that had to be taken down on the site because they were dangerous.
