Louth Watch Group Meeting

Louth Watch Group of the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust.

We are holding a joint meeting with the Rimac Watch Group on Sunday July 15th at Crook Bank, near Theddlethorpe.

We will be using push-nets in the sea to find sea creatures such as pipefish, isopods,flatfish, brown shrimps, hermit crabs & sea gooseberries.

The meeting will start at 2pm. and is free

Children must be accompanied by an adult.

It is essential that everyone going in the sea should wear wellies or water shoes to protect against Weever fish stings.

Weever fish bury themselves in the sand with their dorsal fin sticking up. The dorsal fin releases a poison which gives an extremely painful sting to anyone treading on the buried fish and will result in a trip to hospital.

We will meet at Crook Bank car park. Postcode LN12 1NP, MR: TF 489883

I have attached a map with directions to Crook Bank.

We hope to see you then

Avril

LAG VISIT TO GOSLINGS CORNER WOOD 22 JUNE 2018

A GENTLE STROLL AMONG THE ORCHIDS ON A BEAUTIFUL SUMMER’S EVENING

A dozen cars managed to squeeze in to the car park at the edge of Goslings Corner Wood and 23 of us sprayed ourselves with insect repellent whilst we listened to an initial briefing from LWT Warden Damien Carter. We learnt that this wood is one of the smaller Lincolnshire oak/lime woods. The variety of soils in the reserve - ranging from neutral to acidic - produce the variety of flora. (See species list below.)

As we strolled around identifying the wild flowers Damien told us how the site was being managed. A series of coppice plots have been created off the main rides. The oldest plot at the southern end of the main ride was cut in the winter of 1989/90 and the last one in this present series is due to be completed in about 2045. In some areas new tree growth is being encouraged to restrict light reaching the ground to reduce the amount of grass growth. In another area the grass is left to enable the natural development of saplings which in turn will create fresh woodland. In a further area some larger trees are to be felled and coppiced. This work will be carried out by a contractor who also processes the timber for use as firewood and charcoal. A large meadow in the centre is harvested for hay twice a year. Sadly for us, it had just been cut so the wonderful field that had recently been full of yellow Meadow buttercups looked very bare.

The sunshine disappeared as we left the grassy paths and entered the woodland. Consequently, there was an abrupt change in the ground flora. Dog’s mercury was in profusion and we saw many Common spotted orchids. Wetter ground was indicated by Marsh thistles and Water avens.

The only birds that we saw were a couple of Wood pigeons and a Magpie although some people heard a Blackcap, a Chiffchaff and Peacocks!

Many thanks to Damien for his guidance and to Volunteer Reserve Warden Eric Sergeant who manages the site on a day to day basis.RW

PLANT LIST

GOSLINGS CORNER WOOD 22 JUNE 2018	LAG 1800-2000hrs
Small leaved lime	Cocksfoot grass
Oak	Foxtail grass
Birch	Rough meadow grass
Field maple	Timothy grass
Hawthorn	Crested dog's tail
Elder	Meadow foxtail
Crab apple	Yorkshire fog
White beam	Rough meadow grass
Hogweed	Wood melick grass
Alder	Rye grass
Meadow buttercup	Red fescue grass
Creeping buttercup	Pendulous sedge
Common vetch	Speedwell
Marsh thistle	Dandelion
Spear thistle	Ribwort plantain
Curled dock	Ramsons
Common sedge	Common spotted orchid
Lesser stitchwort	Water avens
White clover	Broad leaved willow herb
Pignut	Heath spotted orchid
Bramble	Meadow cranesbill
Stinging nettle	Hedge woundwort
Dog's mercury	Bugle
Cleavers	Ragged robin
Common sedge	Creeping-Jenny
Compact rush	Tormentil
Lady's smock	Great tussock sedge
Prickly ox-tongue	Remote sedge
Yellow rattle	Fen bedstraw
Figwort	Hemp agrimony
Nipplewort	Marsh stitchwort
Marsh thistle	Spear thistle
Yellow vetchling	Ragged robin
Tufted vetch	Bush vetch

LWT LOUTH AREA GROUP CHAIRMAN’S JOTTINGS JUNE 2018

Our next field outing will be to LWT Reserve Goslings Corner Wood at 1800hrs on Friday 22 June. Meet at the Hoop Lane car park GR TF 144753. Damian Carter, the LWT site manager, will show us around.

From the B1202 Wragby to Bardney road take the left turning down Hoop Lane signed ‘Chambers Farm Wood’ and carry on down the lane past the right turn that leads to ‘Chambers Farm Wood’. There is a small car park just inside the gate marking Goslings Corner Wood and cars may be parked on the road. There are no toilet facilities on site.

Jane and I went there for the first time last week and recorded over 40 wild flower species including Water avens and orchids. The mile-long, grassy path had just been mown and a few Blackbirds were very busy picking out bugs and seeds from the sweet-smelling cut grass. However, the path was a bit lumpy whilst Jane was joined by some biting insects. So, boots and mosquito spray may be a good idea.

We re-visited the Middlemarsh site near to Croft on Monday 11 June for the first time for a couple of years. The old, dilapidated hide has been taken away and the area fenced to enable easy access to the large hide which is reached by a grassy path. If you want a noisy couple of hours go soon. There are Black-headed gulls with chicks of all sizes, Herring gull families, Greylag goslings and little black balls of fluff masquerading as Moor hen chicks as well as Tufted ducks, Avocets, Oystercatchers and a few waders.

Later in the day we saw Avocets on nests at Gibraltar Point but no chicks. As always there was a cacophony of Black-headed gulls on the small islands in front of the hides and inevitably we were told that, ‘there were Spoonbills here yesterday’.

Ray Woodcock Chairman LAG

Watch Group Meeting

Our May meeting is on Sunday 13th May at 2pm at the Lincolnshire Rural Activities Centre , Kenwick, just outside Louth.  LN11 8NR

At the start of the afternoon we would like the children to collect insects and greenery in the garden area.  They can take the specimens collected into the LRAC classroom to look at under our new digital microscope, donated by Louth Lions. 

We will  walk together to visit the replica Iron Age round house in the grounds to see how people lived 2,000 years ago.

We can discuss how it was built and think about the animals that may have lived in the area during the Iron Age.

We will then sit in the new camping area to draw pictures etc.

From there we can continue a nature walk round the site before going back to the car park.

It is an opportunity to visit a beautiful area just outside Louth.

Please meet in the car park. Use the shared entrance with Kenwick Park Hotel, but continue straight on and turn right after the overflow car park.

Children must be accompanied by an adult.  The event is free.

CHAIRMAN’S JOTTINGS APRIL 2018

At last we are seeing the sunshine. The buds on the two fruit trees in our garden have been waiting for so long that they are only just beginning to show green shoots. These trees are usually beginning to bloom by now and are being pollinated by bees and other insects. I hope the cold, wet weather has not had too much of an effect by delaying the blossom time which means that there will be fewer insect larvae to sustain the baby birds.

However, two and sometimes three the hedgehogs are still visiting the food in our garden each night. Two are males; one is a big bully who pushes the smaller male out of the feeding area! Nevertheless, the latter perseveres and sneaks back on his own.

 

I have been informed that there are now 3 eggs in the Peregrine’s nest on the spire of St James’ Church.

 

Has anyone seen a Swallow, heard a Cuckoo or noticed a Cuckoo flower (Lady’s smock) in bloom yet?

 

The Annual General Meeting of the Louth Area Group followed by a picture quiz, a raffle and coffee and cakes will be at 7.30 pm on Friday 27 April at the Nichol Hill Methodist Church Louth. All are welcome. I am delighted to report that we have nominations for a full committee and enough prizes for the raffle.

This meeting will be the last occasion when you will be able to buy the books that were donated to the group by the family of the late Joyce Robinson. Any remaining volumes will go to the Louth Museum for sale at book fairs. Thanks to your generosity an amount of about £200 has been raised from the sale of the books at LAG meetings.

 

Ray Woodcock Chairman Louth Area Group LWT

Wildflower Project with Spout Yard Trustees 4th April 2018

Despite the very damp cold weather, 13 children met in Spout Yard to transplant some of the cowslip seedlings into pots. They had been sown last September, but were still very small. The children took the pots home to look after.

They then sowed wildflower seeds in the five small circles that had been prepared in the park near the river. The seed mixture, 3g/sqm and the sand to mix with them, was supplied by Spout Yard Trustees.

The seed mixture contained 24 species of wildflowers.  A poster has been attached to the wall of the kiosk to help children identify the flowers as they grow.

Report on Visit to Hedgehog Care 15th April 2018

Eight children with their parents met at Hedgehog Care in Authorpe on Sunday 15th April.

Elaine Drewery of Hedgehog Care explained that she looks after hedgehogs that are brought to her when they are sick or injured.

We visited the 'hospital' area where we were able to look at the hedgehogs. Each was in a separate cage.  Tracey (a helper) told us about each hedgehog and why it was being looked after. She took one out of its cage so that the children could stroke it on the soft area near its head.

Tracey explained that most hedgehogs can be adopted once they are well, though not where there are badgers, as they kill hedgehogs. She showed us the special crates that have been made to transport them to their new homes.

The children also enjoyed exploring the garden area and were given a hedgehog questionnaire to take home.