April - Winter or Spring?

OUR  AIM  IS  TO  PROTECT  OUR NATURAL  ENVIRONMENT  AND  THE  HABITAT  IT PROVIDES  FOR  WILDLIFE  ALONG  THE  RIVERSIDE

There was plenty to do on our Meet on Sunday 24th April 2016 enduring weather typical of recent days - a cold northerly wind threatening rain or even sleet. 

After our previous meet on 20th March ('the first day of Spring') there was a brief spell of warm and dry weather before 'Storm Katie' raged across the landscape on 26th and 27th, with the riverside flooded as usual after such weather on 28th (see previous entry). Our new planting had been inundated but survived well and our Woodcrete bird boxes, installed on 24th withstood the storm winds too.

Since then the weather has alternated between the seasons, with wintery weather winning the battle.

Compared with the same time last year, the appearance of welcoming wild flowers and blossom has started later but is now prolific, with wild flowers carpeting the banks, more so than last year, thriving in the very damp earth.

Masses of Lesser Celandine flowering on the banks - new to this area.

Numbers of wrecked and abandoned bicycles have increased too - and three were found on the banks on Sunday:

Three wrecked bicycles retrieved.

Another task -

 After checking over several days that no nesting birds were present in and near the area, 

we took a close look at

the invasive species Himalayan Balsam which had appeared in some isolated patches on the low banks of the river Arun, the seedlings just starting to grow:

A patch of Himalayan Balsam seedlings freshly germinated -

most with just the basal leaves visible. Even at this early stage they can be distinguished from good native wild plant seedlings and can be removed: 

Usually crowded together, easy to uproot

with greyish-green leaves and stems tinged red-purple 

If the weather warms up these will be growing fast -

 to over a meter tall and start flowering - by then it's too late to act as they seed rapidly.

Plants this size can be uprooted about ten at a time by grabbing

a handful as the roots are short and stubby. At this stage and earlier, they can also be uprooted easily by using a hoe.

At this early time of the year, removing the Himalayan Balsam plants will leave a bare patch where good native plants can take over and spread during the spring and summer.

We'll be monitoring the patches on the Arun here, first watching over several days, at a distance, for the presence of birds nesting in the area. If seen from a distance then no further work will be carried out in the area for the rest of the spring and summer as many birds can raise several broods, given the right weather conditions.