The keys to the future?

With the unwelcome arrival of ash die-back last year, it is with some apprehension that I have been watching the unfurling of the hedgerow ashes at the meadows. So far, so good - the fresh green leaves seem to be  emerging from the dark buds with their usual grace.  However, it is really too early to tell and I will be keeping a watchful eye in coming months and years.

An unexpected benefit of this need for careful observation, is that it has encouraged me to look much more closely at a tree which is so familiar I often hardly give it a second thought - except to ponder whether we are in for a 'splash or a soak' depending on whether the ash or the oak comes into leaf first and whether it will be a good or bad hay year! (The spring has been so late and condensed this year the two trees seem to be pretty much neck and neck at the moment).

I am not sure I have ever before paused to look so closely at the ash and to catch a photograph of it just as the ash keys are beginning to form. I was really struck by the almost translucent 'toffee apple' brown of the keys, contrasting dramatically with dark bud scales and vibrant new green leaves.

Let's hope that somewhere in the many bunches of ash keys now forming -  there is some natural resistance to ash die-back - that at least some of the keys will unlock a future for the ash.

New home at Mickfield

In the last couple of years, I have often seen a Little Owl sitting on the entrance gate at Mickfield. So I was delighted, when earlier this year, I was offered a Little Owl box to put up on one of the oaks at Mickfield.
The box was very carefully made and generously donated to us by a Suffolk Wildlife Trust volunteer - Bob Dunsdon. Thanks Bob - much appreciated.

On a cold blustery spring day a few weeks ago, Stuart Holland and I set off for the meadow and installed the box.

It is certainly a very impressive 'high rise' apartment, with fine views over the meadow and the scarce goldilocks buttercup at its feet.

In the last week or so, spring has finally sprung - leaves and flowers unfurling almost as we watch. Primrose, cowslip, barren strawberry, blackthorn and cherry plum -  all hunched and tight shut against the cold for so long, rapidly shrug off winter, throwing their flowers open to the sun.

But the ground is still cold, so the real spring growth surge, when the meadows seem to double in height overnight, has not yet begun. This means that early flowering species are particularly visible this year as their flowers are carried above the short sward.

At Mickfield Meadow, the Wood Anemone  - Anemone nemorosa is a striking example of such an early species. Patches of this delicate species waiver in the spring breeze.

Wood Anemone or Wind flower is a strong indicator of ancient and undisturbed land. It is more commonly associated with ancient woodland than grassland, its early flowering taking advantage of higher light levels before the woodland canopy closes over.  But old, undisturbed grasslands have many of the characteristics of ancient woodland glades and rides so it should be no surprise that Wood Anemone can occur in both.

A Murmur of Spring

As we slowly trudge on through the coldest March since the early 60’s, with the collars of our thick coats turned up against the biting easterly winds - the promise of spring and summer still seems distant -  despite the passing of the spring equinox and changing the clocks this coming weekend.

The meadows appear much as they did in November, quiet and still against grey leaden skies.

But stand still, watch and listen for a while and all is ‘a-chatter’ with a murmur of spring.

 

Flocks of fieldfares run in fits and starts foraging in the grass, well camouflaged and hard to see until they are disturbed and noisily rise into a nearby tree. 

Photo by Darin Smith

Starlings too, busily feed, searching for grubs, with their sharp beaks - ‘aerating’ the meadow as they go. Their flocks almost seem to roll like waves as they work across the meadow – gently all rising and then settling again to feed in another area.  Like the fieldfares, when startled, they head to a hedgerow tree  and remain silhouetted in the branches whistling and chattering until it is safe to return. 

Photo by Darin Smith

All this 'conversation' in the trees, must I’m sure include at least a mention of the hope  that spring will soon arrive - after all when does a conversation in this country not include the weather!

The benefits of insulation

We are all aware of the benefits of insulation to help keep out the winter cold. This week’s late snow and cruel easterly winds were a stark reminder to try and shut out the draughts from our homes and only venture out in lots of layers! 

Up at Winks Meadow, high up on the Claylands of Suffolk, the easterly winds cut across the former Metfield airfield and there is seemingly very little shelter. 

However, on a day of sub-zero temperatures, fleeting sunny spells and with much of the meadow covered in snow, I was amazed to see grassland spiders running about amongst the tussocks of grass. 

Snow does of course act as an insulating blanket, creating slightly warmer conditions beneath - but I think the secret of this early activity of the spiders was the undulating micro-landscape of the grassland. A series of miniature hills and valleys created by the tussocks and rosettes of the grasses and broad leaved herbs – forming a sheltered network of lee-sides, tunnels and cavities where the spiders could carry on despite the freezing conditions above. Definitely a case for keeping their heads well below the snowy parapet!

 

Seeing the spiders in the meadow on a day like this really highlighted the importance of micro-topography and structure of grassland, the benefits of extensive grazing and always leaving some ‘raggety’ bits as refuge and shelter to enable wildlife to get through the winter.

Hedging

In the raw, bleak days that we have been experiencing lately, days spent working outside don't hold much appeal. However, January and February are an ideal time of year to carry out hedging work on the meadows. The berries of the hedgerow shrubs have mostly been eaten by the birds and it is still too early for birds to be thinking about nesting.
Hedgerow management at the meadows is mostly rotational coppicing, with a priority being to coppice elm that has started to succumb to Dutch elm disease.  Coppicing elm helps to rejuvenate it and makes sure this characteristic hedgerow species continues to survive in our  hedges.

The work can look drastic immediately after it is done, but the coppiced shrubs quickly put up strong shoots in the new growing season and in a few years a really dense hedge has re-grown. Only a short section of hedge is coppiced in any one winter so that there is always a good range of ages and structure to the hedge and cover for birds and other wildlife is always maintained.

Mickfield

Last week the Suffolk Wildlife Trust mid-week volunteer team undertook some coppicing at both Mickfield and Fox Fritillary meadows - despite the cold the team completed two good sections of hedge and hopefully found the task a good way to keep warm in a particularly perishing week!

Framsden

 I would like to thank Stuart Holland (mid-week conservation team leader) and his team for all their hard work on the meadows' behalf. Thanks also to Stuart for the photographs.

 

 

Just the Thicket

At this time of year, the focus of the meadows tends to be on the edges and hedges rather than the grassland itself.  The boundary features are not only the framework within which the meadows sit, but also provide valuable links and wildlife corridors that connect nature reserves with the wider countryside.

The winter months are the ideal time to carry out management on the hedges and scrub, causing minimal disruption to wildlife and its habitat. Working rotationally on these habitats further reduces any impact, as a refuge is always maintained even when seemingly quite dramatic work such as coppicing is undertaken.

One of the tasks this winter has been to begin to rejuvenate and thicken a block of blackthorn scrub.

This species can form really dense thickets which are favoured by species like bullfinch. However, as the blackthorn matures it becomes quite drawn and leggy in character and begins to loose its 'thicket' quality.  The thinner structure is less valuable for birds.The answer is to coppice it in rotation to encourage denser re-growth.

The block of blackthorn we have worked on at Martin's meadows this year has been 'high' coppiced  with the aim of ensuring the new growth is above rabbit feeding height. We did coppice a small area a couple of years ago  down to ground and the rabbits made swift work of removing all the re-growth! We have learnt our lesson and have tried a different tack this year.  Hopefully the result will be strong dense growth, thick enough to suit bullfinch and from which you can hear this bird's faint  but distinctive whistle like song. (Photo of bullfinch by Darin Smith)