Good day's work

We had a work party at the nature reserve today in sunny, but cold conditions. 14 volunteers turned up and we cleared lots of Dogwood, Hawthorn, Ash, Birch and Willow scrub. Everything was very wet to start with, but with great skill and persistence a bonfire was blazing by half-way through the morning. This is a section of the reserve we manage for invertebrates, especially butterflies, and special plants like Fly and Greater-butterfly Orchids, so every autumn/winter blocks of scrub are cut and a network of wide paths are mown. Tomorrow, the three Dexter bullocks will be let into this compartment to continue the work until around Christmas. They were in the next compartment today, making a lot of noise because they could see us working and handling what are great treats for them - Ash saplings and sandwiches.