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Seed Sowing Experiment
In
January, four of the local schools were provided with yellow rattle and red
bartsia seeds to grow under different conditions. These flowers are important
to our meadows because they help to control grass growth, thus allowing other
wild flowers to compete effectively. We are hoping that this investigation will
inform us of the best environment for growing the seeds. The resulting plugs
will be planted out in the Top Meadow
and Rhydyblewin Meadow.
Community Orchards
In
February pupils from Llanishen and Cardiff High schools helped us to plant a
total of 12 apple, pear, cherry and plum trees in two places, Rhydypenau Meadow
and Rhydyblewin Meadow. It is hoped that these saplings will grow to become Community
Orchards to be enjoyed by both the wildlife and local people - on a “First
come, first served” principle of course!
RSPB Garden and Schools Bird Watch
February was also the month for the RSPB Schools Bird Watch. We were
able to trial a joint venture with Rhydypenau School, the RSPB and Cardiff
Council. Several of the ‘Friends’ joined 60 pupils from Year 4 and their
teachers and ventured out into the Nant Fawr Community Woodlands to extend their bird watching experiences
(which included the spotting of a nuthatch and tree creeper). The trial was a great success and the
experience may well be extended to other schools – Cardiff has the advantage of
having many green open spaces near to its schools.
New
Bird boxes have recently been installed in Woods Covert. These have been made
by a group of Year 11 pupils from Cardiff High School who are working towards
gaining a CoPE certificate (Certificate of Personal Effectiveness).
The Kidney Vetch project
We don’t
seem to have kidney vetch, a small yellow flowered plant of the pea family,
growing in the meadows and this native plant is essential to many insects,
including the small blue butterfly, which is on the Priority Species list.So we
have obtained some seeds which will be distributed around the five local
schools for the children to sow in the spring. Then, later on, there will be
the chance for the schoolchildren to plant their plugs in the meadows in an
attempt to further the biodiversity we already enjoy.
Grow Wild Last
year we planted 3 scrapes in Rhydyblewin Meadow with wild flower seeds provided
by “Grow Wild” - and there was a colourful result with poppies, cornflowers and
knapweed among the mix. The initiative
is spearheaded by Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew with the aim of improving the
diversity of native wild flowers and thus attracting more bees, butterflies and
other pollinators. We shall be
receiving more seeds from “Grow Wild”
this year and the plan is that the schools will be involved in sowing these
seeds at the same time as planting out the kidney vetch seedlings.
Re-wild your Wellies!
Have you got any old wellington boots lurking in
the cupboard? If so they can be put to
good use! Different events will be taking place in Cardiff on 11th - 12th April where you can just bring an
old welly along to be planted up with
soil and wildflower seeds to give nature a home. The aim, on 16th April, is to
build a record breaking Welly Wall on Millennium Stadium Boardwalk - surely a
very worthy end for old boots! For
further details look at the website www.facebook.com/RSPBCymru
New Kissing Gates
Those of you who regularly walk the length of
our Community Woodlands will have noticed the new self-closing Kissing Gates
that have now been installed at the northern end of our territory. The old
steps to the style have been removed and there is now a proper path up the hill
so access is very much improved. We are grateful to Kevin Date, our Ranger, and
his team of volunteers who did all the
heavy work. The new gates were donated by the Public Rights of Way team and the
rest of the wooden fencing came from re-using timber from the corral
(previously erected in the Top Meadow in the anticipation that we would have
grazing animals there).
SPRING WORKDAYS
SUNDAY 26th APRIL
Time: 10am – 12noon
The main task is Path Maintenance and this time
we will be laying bark chippings on the lower section of Cliff’s Path. If the
weather allows we will apply wood preserver to the kissing gates and the finger
posts near the large noticeboard.
Meet at the Old Car Park at Llanishen Reservoir (entrance beside 127 Rhydypenau
Rd).
SUNDAY 31st MAY
Time: 10am – 12noon
Still more path work is planned for the month of
May but this time we shall be laying wood chipping on the Back Path. And we
need to ensure that the painting of the
kissing gates and marker posts has been completed.
Meet at the Old Car Park at Llanishen Reservoir (entrance beside 127 Rhydypenau
Rd).
As always there will also be other tasks
available on the day to suit all ages and abilities,
and refreshments are served half way through the
morning.