Our latest Westcombe Woodlands volunteer morning took place a few days ago. As seems to be common these days, we had perfect weather for the event, lots of sunshine and a gentle breeze. Readers of these newsletters will know that earlier this year, we planted lots of wild flowers in the upper areas. The warmth and our regular watering has really helped them to grow, but as usual, more aggressive plants such as bramble, nettles and green alkanet can quickly take over.

So once again, we delicately weeded around our wildflowers to allow them the space and light they deserved. This year has also seen much more than usual saplings sprout from root suckers from the black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) trees we have in the woodlands.

Although classified as pioneer species, their aggressive nature, their tolerance of a wide variety of soil types and general hardiness means these trees can quickly dominate an area.

Other activities included creating new steps to allow better and safer access to internal parts of the woodland. We are always grateful for the regular volunteers and those who come from the local “Good Gym” for helping out with their freely donated time.

And, of course, no volunteer event is complete without a mid morning tea and coffee break with a biscuit or 2!

The evening of Saturday, the 30th of August saw our annual event with Les Clarke, a local expert in the study of bats. He has been assisting Westcombe Woodlands for several years by taking a small group as we walk through the woodlands with bat detectors. This takes place at dust and once again the weather was very kind to us. This evening’s event was well attended with both visitors and bats!

The most common species in the woodlands is the pipistrelle and occasionally Soprano Pipistrelle are recorded. Les Clarke once thought there might have been a Noctule bat high above the trees but this wasn’t a certainty. This annual event is another example of how community engagement brings people together for a great evening together.

Last Saturday was our August volunteer morning. We are now well in to the Summer holiday season and although the turnout was relatively small, it was a very productive session. We had 12 adults, three children and one armless, abandoned teddy bear!

Blackberries were picked and damsons tasted. Long-standing volunteer Dave Larkin let a group of hard working younger volunteers clearing an area in the glade and they did a great job.

Committee members Gail Stirling and Pip O’Byrne were on a robinia, bindweed, nettles & bramble clearance session in the storytelling and cake stall area.

They could not believe how much robinia there were, it was like a “robinia grotto”! With the recent rain, there is currently a bit more water in the pond.

Thanks to the Seren Park Gardens residents who alerted us to a fallen tree over the weekend. We investigated on Sunday (20th July) and found that 2 large limbs had fallen off the mature poplar tree in the Glade (ie interior of the woodland). These limbs have impacted other trees on the slope facing the apartments. These large branches are lying some distance from the foot of the slope parallel to the bin area to the west side of Seren Park Gardens. Our tree surgeon made a visit Tuesday 22nd to make his initial assessment. The tree surgeon reported that the fallen branches are stable on the ground.

NOTE: All the trees in the woodland are subject to a regular survey which then informs our priorities for tree surgery each Winter / Spring. The “poplar” tree is one species affected by “Summer branch drop”. This is known to occur when heavy rain follows a long dry spell – as it did last week.

The accompanying photo shows the tree of concern with Westcombe Woodlands’ committee member Andrew Slade in the background.

Our next Westcombe Woodlands volunteer morning is Saturday, 2nd August starting at the usual time of 10 o’clock. in addition to the usual volunteer activities, today we’ll be taking part in the National Big Butterfly Count. Full details on how to participate can be seen in the accompanying flyer.