My new year's resolution of writing at least one blog post a week for the whole year, has gone the way of most such resolutions, and it has now been three weeks since my last post.
In that time we've had several days of heavy rain and the new ponds have filled up quite a bit (although there are still a couple that are pretty much dry).
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| Pond 4 on the 18th of Jan (above) and on the 21st of February (below) |
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| Pond 8 on the 18th of Jan (above) and on the 21st of February (below) |
I haven't seen a Kingfisher at Middle Marsh since the one on the 31st of January, so I am wondering if maybe they have gone back to the streams they breed on already and we won't see them again until the autumn. Common Kingfishers (our species) nest in tunnels dug into riverbanks and as there are no river banks at Middle Marsh that aren't covered in water regularly, they will never be able to breed here.
I've started to see signs of spring in the form of Hawthorn leaves appearing and a lot of woodland plants starting to put up their shoots along the beck-sides, although not much is flowering yet. I have been pleased to see a few plants of Cuckoo-pint (aka Lords-and-Ladies, Arum maculatum) - I saw the first of these here last year but I didn't refind it and as it was just where the woodland path is, I thought it might have been a victim of the work we did to restore the path. The new plants are in different places, and all right next to the beck channel.
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| Young Hawthorn leaves, Middle Marsh, 25th Feb 2022 |
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| Brooklime (Veronica beccabunga) Middle Marsh, 25th Feb 2022 |
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| Seedlings of Ivy-leaved Speedwell (Veronica hederifolia) Middle Marsh, 25th Feb 2022 |
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| Lesser Celandine (Ficaria verna) and Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica), Middle Marsh, 25th Feb 2022 |
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| Pignut (Conopodium majus) leaves, Middle Marsh, 25th Feb 2022. |
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| Water Figwort (Scrophularia auriculata), Middle Marsh, 25th Feb 2022. Although I've seen this in several previous years, it has always been just one plant. This year it is appearing in several different places |
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| Water-Cress (Nasturtium officinale agg.), Middle Marsh, 25th Feb 2022. NOTE - THIS IS NOT SAFE TO EAT HERE AS THE WATER IS NOT CLEAN AND THERE ARE RATS IN THE AREA!!! |
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| A young shoot of Wild Angelica (Angelica sylvestris), Middle Marsh, 25th Feb 2022. |
As well as the more desirable plant species, large numbers of Giant Hogweed seedlings are also appearing in some parts of the beck channel. This is one of the three invasive alien plant species (the other two being Himalayan Balsam and Japanese Knotweed) that are a particular problem along Ormesby Beck in Middle Marsh. As well as growing to an immense height (flower stalks can be more than 3 metres tall) and shading out many native species, Giant Hogweed sap can cause a nasty burn when it gets on human skin (which can happen even if you just brush against it) which is then exposed to sunlight. The species is usually biennial, meaning that in the first year after germinating, the plant doesn't flower but instead puts lots of stored energy into a large underground root. The above-ground parts die back in winter and then in the second year it grows very tall very quickly and produces very large flower heads which can produce thousands of seeds.
Last year, we used herbicide on several patches of this plant but in the areas which we didn't reach, large numbers of seedlings and many second year plants are now growing. I have been experimenting with digging up the roots of the second-year plants but it is hard work. I thought the seedlings might be easier, and indeed they are, but there are a lot more of them and even very small ones with leaves smaller than a 10p piece already have tap-roots several centimetres long. I fear we might have to continue with the chemical approach sadly.
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| A young seedling of Giant Hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum), next to a 10p piece |
Middle Marsh has started to get some attention in the local area - largely thanks to several Facebook posts about the site by the Mayor of Middlesbrough, Andy Preston, who was influential in getting the site removed from the threat of development, and declared as a Local Wildlife Site, and then finding funding to do work such as digging the ponds and making the paths. Andy visited the reserve on a very wet day a week or so ago and a group of us were able to spend an hour or so showing him round and telling him about the work we had done and about what still needed doing.
Yesterday we had our first 'big' public event for the nature reserve - a hedge-planting day, organised by the brilliant Annemarie and Ian from Tees Valley Wildlife Trust and attended by several volunteers from the local community and further afield. We were able to plant most of the 210 metres of hedge that we had planned. Although the majority of the trees (which were planted as very small, bare-root 'whips') were Hawthorn, we also planted a mix of other species, including Field Maple, Spindle, Dog-rose, Dogwood, Hazel and Holly. We will plant the rest of the trees at our next session on Saturday the 19th of Marsh, along with some larger trees (including Rowans) which will be 'standards', planted every 10 metres or so and allowed to grow to full height. In time the hedge will hopefully become an important habitat for birds, small mammals and many insects, as well as being a buffer shielding the rest of the site from some of the noise and disturbance created by the busy A66 road.
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| Staff and volunteers planting the first few trees in the new hedgerow at Middle Marsh, Saturday 26th of Feb 2022. The cardboard tree guards will eventually disintegrate and rot down into the soil |
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