This august has brought with it some lovely weather and lots of visitors. The Heather has burst into beautiful shades of purple and is starting to give off its lovely, sweet smell. The reptiles have been thriving in this weather. The rangers spotted a young female Adder outside of the Sand lizard enclosure. The Sand lizards in the enclosure have been very busy as the rangers found 20 eggs! These important eggs have been handed over to Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (ARC) who will care for them. When they are ready, they will be released in areas where populations are struggling.
Our ground nesting birds like Nightjar, Woodlark and Dartford Warbler have also all been busy nesting amongst the heather. Our volunteers and rangers have spotted several Nightjar nests with adorable fluffy chicks. It's wonderful to see they are breeding successfully again this year.
The rangers have been removing invasive Gaultheria on our South Park. It was beginning to cover the ground layer of the heath and not allow the heather or other native species to grow.
The rangers have also been carrying out butterfly surveys in the warm weather. We have had lots of beautiful:
- Silver Studded Blue
- Small Copper
- Large White
- Common Blue
Over August we have recorded 227 butterflies in total.
During the summer holidays the rangers have been involved with all sorts of fun events including helping to run the Worlds Biggest Bouncy Castle event (yes, we did get to have a bounce!). Our Wild Tuesdays have been popular with moth trapping and identification. We've also been showing kids our table of bones with lots of interesting finds like snake skins, deer antlers and skulls.
Thanks to the hard work of all our staff and volunteers we are delighted to have received the Green Flag award for 2024/25.