News – Page 5 – Prospects

Saturday 13th October 2024 – Fungi Walk

Posted on 13th October 202418th October 2024Posted in Hyndburn's Woodlands - Phase 2, News, Whinney Hill

On Saturday 13th October, Hyndburn’s Woodlands Officer Brandon Cherry and Irene, of the Lancashire Wildlife Trust, held a fungi walk at Whinney Hill woodland! (Livingstone Road)

The walk was very well attended, with 21 people turning out for the walk! Irene, a professional mycologist, strolled through the woods while attendees scouted for fungi. The attendees found an abundance of fungi which Irene identified and discussed.

The weather, unfortunately, only held for an hour for us after which a downpour occurred and forced an early finish!

Thank you to Irene for leading the session and for sharing her bountiful knowledge! Thank you also to those that attended the walk and made it a lovely afternoon

As always, thank you to our funders for making it all possible

Funding provided by Lancashire County Council, Hyndburn Borough Council, and the Windfall Fund.

Summer 2024 Overview at Peel Park & the Coppice LNR

Posted on 10th October 202410th October 2024Posted in HEAL project at Peel Park and the Coppice Local Nature Reserve, News, Peel Park Pollinators at Peel Park and the Coppice LNR

Like the rest of the UK, we have been experiencing some odd weather, accompanied by some disappointingly low invertebrate numbers. But we are still working hard to improve the site for pollinators.

Our summer started like many others do, tackling Himalayan Balsam! We had several sessions of balsam removal around Pleck Meadow to reduce its spread. Similarly, volunteers have been working around the site to remove Montbretia, a.k.a Crocosmia. Whilst it is a wonderful flower to have in the garden, a common cultivar (Crocosmia × crocosmiiflora) can escape from gardens, where it can kill biodiversity along paths and woodland floors as it spreads. Pleck Meadow also received its 3rd annual Grassland Condition Assessment. During the assessment, volunteers were able to attend to find out more about wildflower ID and what makes a healthy meadow.

We have continued to remove Rosebay Willowherb & Purple Moor Grass from the area of heathland that suffered a burn in June 2023.

We have continued to work at the Northern Gateway entrance near to the Peel Park Car Park where we removed dock, Creeping Thistle, and Bindweed. The summer results have been spectacular for the Northern Gateway as we have had swathes of Tufted Vetch, Black Knapweed, Yellow Rattle, Bird's-foot-trefoil, and Ox-eye Daisy. We've also had some new species appear such as Wild Marjoram, Marsh Woundwort, and Lady's Bedstraw.

Lastly, we had a double whammy of important management for pollinator diversity at Pleck Meadow as it received its 3rd annual cut and had a butterfly bank installed! You can read more about them by clicking their links.

Removing Himalayan Balsam!

Removing Montbretia!

Grassland Condition Assessment with Ben Hargreaves (LWT)

Pleck Meadow's Third Annual Cut

Butterfly Bank Creation

Tufted Vetch & Yellow Rattle

Wild Marjoram

All the wildflowers at the Northern Gateway!

Marsh Woundwort

Common Globetail on Ox-eye Daisy

Butterfly Conservation has officially declared a butterfly emergency - and looking at our survey results this year at Peel Park & the Coppice, we can see why. All in all, we have had a good diversity of invertebrates, with species like Small Copper, Peacock, Small Heath, Small Skipper & more still making an appearance. However there was a severe lack in abundance. We have released some preliminary butterfly data, our full results will be coming soon.

Our weekly surveys have now concluded for the year, but be sure to stayed tuned in 2025 to see the return of pollinator walks and surveys in Hyndburn.

To express your interest, contact Robert at robert.gabryszak@prospectsfoundation.org.uk.

Small Heath

Peacock on Black Knapweed

Large Skipper

Small Copper on Common Ragwort

Red Admiral

Early Bumblebee on Comfrey

Bumblebee Plumehorn

Honey Bee on Heather

Stripe-backed Fleckwing on Cat's-ear

Patchwork Leafcutter on Black Knapweed

Again, moths have also lacked in abundance this year - but also in diversity as we have seen far less than we saw during last years moth traps. There has also been a widespread lack of Elephant Hawk-moth and Cinnabar moth caterpillars.

Nevertheless, we still saw some interesting moths species which you can check out below!

Our public moth traps have ended for the year, but be sure to stay tuned for moth trap events next year!

To express your interest, contact Robert at robert.gabryszak@prospectsfoundation.org.uk.

Common White Wave

Green Carpet

Project Officer, Robert Gabryszak.

Green Arches

Beautiful Golden Y

Latticed Heath

July Moth Morning w/ Dave Bickerton!

Large Yellow Underwing

July Moth Morning w/ Dave Bickerton!

Peppered

August Moth Morning

Burnished Brass

August Moth Night!

Scalloped Oak

Brews and a Large Yellow Underwing!

Butterfly Emergency 2024

Posted on 1st October 20241st October 2024Posted in HEAL project at Peel Park and the Coppice Local Nature Reserve, News, Peel Park Pollinators at Peel Park and the Coppice LNR

Throughout 2024, PROSPECTS has been performing pollinator surveys at Peel Park & the Coppice LNR as part of the Peel Park Pollinator's project. A huge thank you to anyone who assisted with the surveys, especially during a very poor year for it.

We'll be submitting/analysing all the data over the next couple weeks, but we wanted to share some shocking preliminary data from the weekly butterfly walks. The following chart shows the total number of butterflies counted in 2022, 2023, and 2024, revealing a shocking ~70% drop in butterflies from 2022 to 2024. We still managed to record 14 different species of butterfly, which is two less than in 2022 but 6 less than in 2023.

This data is coming at the same time as Butterfly Conservation's declaration of a Butterfly Emergency, after they have seen similarly shocking drops in the data received during the Big Butterfly Count this year. From Butterfly Conservation:

Overall, you spotted just seven butterflies on average per 15-minute Count, a drop of almost 50% on last year’s average of 12, and the lowest in the 14-year history of the Big Butterfly Count.

The incredibly poor weather this year is an obvious factor in the low numbers, but this is on top of existing pressures such as habitat loss, climate change, and pesticide use which have been causing a decline in pollinator populations over the past century. This year has made it all the more apparent that we should be continuing to restore and create habitat for pollinators. We are striving to continue this with the local community at Pleck Meadow, Peel Park, and throughout Hyndburn. If you have any ideas for how your local green space can be improved for pollinators, please get in touch.

In absence of the weekly pollinator walks, we hope to continue with some seasonal walks and seed collecting walks/sessions. We want to make these accessible for everyone, let us know if you are interested! Furthermore, please express your interest if you would like to take part in any pollinator surveys next year. If you wanted to attend this year but weren't able to make it, please let us know why and we will do our best to accommodate in the future.

Small Heath

Peacock

Large Skipper

Small Copper

Red Admiral

Gatekeeper

Orange-tip

Green-veined White

Small White

Meadow Brown

Ringlet

Speckled Wood

Friday 27th September 2024 – Baxenden Bat Walk

Posted on 27th September 202430th October 2024Posted in Baxenden Local Panel, Hyndburn's Woodlands - Phase 2, News

On Friday 27th September 2024 The Hyndburn’s Woodlands project held their second bat walk of the year at Woodnook Vale LNR!

Participants were led by Roger, the Batman, Cunliffe who took them for a light stroll through the vale, with detectors in hand, to search for our nocturnal friends! It didn’t take long to spot them, only a few 100 meters into the walk and we could already see them swooping overhead!

The walk was positively teeming with activity and everyone got to both hear and see our native bats in action!

Thank you to everyone who attended our walk, your presence made it the wonderful evening it was! Thank you also to Roger Cunliffe for sharing his incredible knowledge with us!

Activity funded by Lancashire County Council, Hyndburn Borough Council, and the Windfall Fund.

Spring 2024 Overview at Peel Park & the Coppice LNR

Posted on 23rd September 202423rd September 2024Posted in HEAL project at Peel Park and the Coppice Local Nature Reserve, News, Peel Park Pollinators at Peel Park and the Coppice LNR

Despite the temperamental weather in April, we still managed to get a lot done on Peel Park & the Coppice LNR.

April is the perfect month for planting & seed sowing. We have been planting a variety of different native species to benefit pollinators.

We have had a couple Saturday sessions at Pleck Meadow where we picked litter, removed Broadleaved Dock & Soft Rush, and planted wildflowers like Marsh Violet, Lesser Spearwort, & Meadowsweet. Amphibian activity was good as we have seen spawn from frogs and toads, as well as a pregnant Smooth Newt! We have also been removing Rosebay Willowherb & Purple Moor Grass from the area of heathland that suffered a burn in June 2023, and planting wildflowers like Sheep's Sorrel, Devil's-bit Scabious, and Heath Speedwell.

We also worked at the Northern Gateway entrance near to the Peel Park Car Park where we removed dock, planted wildflowers and sowed plenty of wildflower seeds!

We had huge help from primary schools in the area like Peel Park Primary School and Benjamin Hargreaves Primary School, who helped with wildflower planting all around Pleck Meadow! Thanks to them there will be tonnes of wildflowers for pollinators in the coming months and years.

Lastly, the long awaited Pleck Meadow Carved Bench has finally been installed after months of waiting for some dry weather! The talented local chainsaw artist, Rick Goodwin, has carved this beautiful bench from Larch which was felled on-site by Woody C.I.C. in Winter 2022/23. Please rest your feet and enjoy the views of the meadow & Accrington!

Dock Removal at Pleck Meadow!

Removing Himalayan Balsam

Wildflower Planting with Benjamin Hargreaves Primary School!

Rosebay Willowherb Removal and Wildflower Planting

Pleck Meadow Carved Bench

April marked the official start to this year's UKBMS surveys. It will be another month before we get huge amounts of butterflies - but we have had a few species on the site like Orange-tip, Peacock, Small Copper, Speckled Wood, and Small White. Some new bumblebees have been spotted like Early, Garden, and Heath Bumblebees.

Project Officer, Robert Gabryszak, will be continuing to do bee and butterfly surveys every week to track the progress of pollinators throughout the year. Check out our events calendar to see when the next survey is!

To express your interest, contact him at robert.gabryszak@prospectsfoundation.org.uk.

Small White

Orange-tip

Speckled Wood

Small Copper

Peacock

Honey Bee

Orange-tailed Mining Bee Pair

Early Bumblebee

Red-tailed Bumblebee (with mites!)

Heath Bumblebee

PROSPECTS set the fourth & fifth monthly moth traps of 2024 up in Pleck Meadow. Now that the weather is warming up we are getting a more in the trap.

We have found four species in our trap, Hebrew Character, Clouded Drab, Common Quaker, and Small Phoenix. Just like butterflies, moths are invaluable pollinators for flowers. Their larvae also have a wide variety of food plants, making them useful herbivores.

Project Officer, Robert Gabryszak, will be continuing to set up the trap every month to track the progress of moths throughout the year. There will a special event celebrating over a year of moth recording on Peel Park & the Coppice on 15th June 2024, 9am-12pm in near the Peel Park Play Area.

To express your interest, contact him at robert.gabryszak@prospectsfoundation.org.uk.

Butterfly Bank Installation

Posted on 23rd September 202416th April 2025Posted in News, Peel Park Pollinators at Peel Park and the Coppice LNR

On the 17th & 18th September, a butterfly bank was constructed at Pleck Meadow.

A butterfly bank is a raised bank made of low nutrient aggregate. This bank will be a perfect spot for basking invertebrates and will benefit a wide range of wildflowers which will be important for butterflies and other pollinators. Limestone aggregate was used to support wildflowers like Viper's Bugloss, Kidney Vetch, Bird's-foot-trefoil, Greater Knapweed, Small Scabious and more calcareous loving plants which are important to pollinators.

Volunteers have already begun to plant wildflowers and sow seeds on the bank so that it will be ready to bloom in spring, providing support to butterflies after the incredibly harsh year that 2024 has been for them. Butterfly Conservation have officially declared a butterfly emergency, so they are going to need all the help they can get!

The next volunteer session will be Monday 30th September, we will be working on Pleck Meadow to continue improvements for the pollinators. Contact robert.gabryszak@prospectsfoundation.org.uk for more information.

Pleck Meadow 2024 Annual Cut

Posted on 13th September 2024Posted in News, Peel Park Pollinators at Peel Park and the Coppice LNR

On Monday 9th, September 2024, Pleck Meadow at Peel Park and the Coppice LNR had its 3rd annual cut!

Annual cut & collects are an important part of wildflower meadow management as it reduces nutrients in the soil which overtime will ensure that vigourous grasses and invasive species do not become dominant. A wider variety of short and slow-growing plants can thrive as a result, increasing biodiversity in the meadow as more kinds of plants means more kinds of pollinators!

In a natural ecosystem, plants are removed by herbivores which can spread the nutrients across a landscape as they migrate, creating a range of different habitats including areas of nutrient poor soil that can support wildflowers. In the UK, a majority of our native large herbivores are gone and the ones remaining have fragmented habitats which disrupts their migration. This means that the natural spread of nutrients can not occur, resulting in an accumulation of plant growth in an area that builds up over time, creating an area of high nutrient soil which allows plants like Creeping Thistle, Creeping Buttercup, docks, and Stinging Nettle to dominate.

Habitats like this can still be important for wildlife (E.g., Stinging Nettles act as the food plant for Comma, Peacock, and Small Tortoiseshell butterflies,) but since 98% of wildflower meadows in the UK have disappeared in the last century, it's vital we transform areas of high nutrient density into to spaces for a vast array of native wildflowers & pollinators to thrive.

So with a severe lack of grazing animals on hand, we settled with a tractor as the next best thing! The compact tractor we got was able to cut and remove a large area of the meadow over the course of a day. We have left areas of longer vegetation around the meadow to give small mammals and invertebrates areas to shelter over winter as well as provide cover for birds and deer.

For more information and to see what sort of species have been found in Pleck Meadow, check out our FAQ.

If you would like to get involved in meadow management on Peel Park & the Coppice LNR, then please email robert.gabryszak@prospectsfoundation.org.uk or call 01254 230348.

A huge thank you to the Lancashire Wildlife Trust, LEF, National Highways, and the Windfall Fund for making this project possible.

Pleck Meadow Grassland Condition Assessment 2024

Posted on 11th September 202411th September 2024Posted in News, Peel Park Pollinators at Peel Park and the Coppice LNR, Pleck Meadow

Pleck Meadow received its third annual Grassland Condition Assessment on the 8th July, 2024.

The results show that the "cut and collect" management is working as the grass sward and presence of negative indicator species has decreased significantly. Seed sowing and plug planting have also increased the number of species present on the meadow.

Read the full report here!

If you have any questions about the management ongoing at Pleck Meadow, you can read more and look at some of the species we have recorded here! Furthermore, you can contact Project Officer, Robert Gabryszak, at robert.gabryszak@prospectsfoundation.org.uk.

Tuesday 8th October 2024 – Site Maintenance

Posted on 8th August 202418th October 2024Posted in Hyndburn's Woodlands - Phase 2, News, Whinney Hill

On Tuesday 8th October the Hyndburn’s Woodlands Volunteers were back at Whinney Hill carrying out some maintenance jobs in the area.

Initially, we re-established the information board that had been torn down a few months prior. The information board can now be used to publicize events for the local area.

We then used scythes to clear back the verges on the Livingstone road entrance to the site to open it up more and improve visibility, as well as making the area look tidier. Hand tools like loppers and bow saws were then used to cut back vegetation overhanging on the fence.

Finally a litter pick was carried out along the entrance to help keen the area clean and tidy, we unfortunately did find quite a lot of litter this time!

Thank you to our wonderful volunteers who help us carry out this important work

As always, thank you to our funders at Lancashire County Council, Hyndburn Borough Council, and the Windfall Grant.

Monday 10th June 2024 – Jubilee Meadow

Posted on 10th June 202430th October 2024Posted in Baxenden Local Panel, Hyndburn's Woodlands - Phase 2, News

On Monday 10th June the Hyndburn’s Woodlands Project engaged with the Great UK WaterBlitz. The Great UK WaterBlitz is a national citizen science scheme aimed at assessing how clean the UK waterways are.

For the scheme, we measured the quality of two parameters, that of nitrates and phosphates. We are happy to report that both parameters came back as ‘Low’ which means they are in ‘Good’ ecological health!

Thank you to our volunteers who came along and helped us assess the quality of one of our beautiful waterways!

Activity funded by Lancashire County Council, Hyndburn Borough Council, and the Windfall Fund.

Thursday 30th May 2024 – EcoFest Prep

Posted on 30th May 202430th October 2024Posted in Hyndburn's Woodlands - Phase 2, News

On Thursday 30th May The Hyndburn’s Woodlands volunteers had a much drier session in The PROSPECTS Foundation’s tool store! Here we prepared ‘Wood Cookie Key-rings’ for our annual EcoFest celebration!

This involved using a miter saw to first cut lengths of logs into small ‘cookies’. Cookies were then, very carefully, hand drilled using a corkscrew hand drill. These were chosen to minimise the cookies splitting. With the hole inserted into the cookies, key rings were attached followed by a firm stamping of the ‘EcoFest’ logo!

Thank you to our amazing volunteers who helped us prepare for the big day, we couldn’t have done it without you!

Activity funded by Lancashire County Council, Hyndburn Borough Council, and the Windfall Fund.

March 2024 Overview at Peel Park & the Coppice LNR

Posted on 1st April 202428th March 2024Posted in HEAL project at Peel Park and the Coppice Local Nature Reserve, News, Peel Park Pollinators at Peel Park and the Coppice LNR

Spring has brought with it the usual perks, bees, flowers, and milder - albeit still very wet - weather!

March is the final month before nesting season when we can remove scrub on the heathland, so we spent a lot of time bringing down colonising Silver Birch for the benefit of Heather, Bilberry, Crowberry, and other unique heath species! Special thanks to the staff from BT Accrington who came to assist! Lowland Heathland is a semi-natural habitat which requires intervention from humans and/or large animals to keep the soils nutrient poor and acidic. These conditions provide a unique habitat which benefits many wildflowers and pollinators. You can read more about the cultural and biological importance of heathland on the Wildlife Trust website.

Our very own TreeACTION project joined us again for a session on the site to plant extend our Alder Buckthorn hedgerow to attract the Brimstone Butterfly. You can read more about the Brimstone Butterfly in last months' post!

We also had another Saturday session at Pleck Meadow where we picked some litter and removed Broadleaved Dock. Dock can very easily dominate an area of grassland, reducing biodiversity. We are also preparing areas of ground for wildflower planting next month! We also had a look at the frog spawn in wetlands which is now hatching! You can read more about the frog spawn at Pleck Meadow here.

PROSPECTS set up the third monthly moth trap of 2024 up in Pleck Meadow. Now that spring has arrived we are getting a few more species

All 5 species are moths that have that have not been officially recorded on the site (Moth Atlas 2020.) All of the following moths are invaluable pollinators for flowers that bloom in early spring, a time when there are not a lot of other pollinators around. This means that they can also be food for early spring birds when food is scarce. Their larvae also have a wide variety of food plants, making them useful herbivores.

Clouded Drab (Orthosia incerta)
Common Quaker (Orthosia cerasi)
Small Quaker (Orthosia cruda)
Red Chestnut (Conistra ligula)
March (Alsophila aescularia) - Indicative of March! The females are flightless.

Project Officer, Robert Gabryszak, will be continuing to set up the trap every month to track the progress of moths throughout the year. Public sessions will start in May when the trap is expected to be more full, but we will be opening a trap on Saturday 6th April before our spring clean of Pleck Meadow!

To express your interest, contact him at robert.gabryszak@prospectsfoundation.org.uk.

At the start of March we resumed our bee and butterfly surveys! Although the butterflies still seem to be waking up, we have seen plenty of bees! Buff-tailed bumblebees have been the most common so far but there have also been sightings of Red-tailed & White-tailed. A couple Andrena mining bees have also been spotted, but they are more difficult to ID to the species level. Andrena mining bees are solitary bees that make nests all by themselves! Just like honey and bumblebees, they are important pollinators.

Project Officer, Robert Gabryszak, will be continuing to do bee and butterfly surveys every week to track the progress of pollinators throughout the year. Check out our events calendar to see when the next survey is!

To express your interest, contact him at robert.gabryszak@prospectsfoundation.org.uk.

Tuesday 26th March 2024 – Cotoneaster and Litter Picking

Posted on 26th March 202430th October 2024Posted in Hyndburn's Woodlands - Phase 2, News, Whinney Hill

On Tuesday 26th March the Hyndburn’s Woodlands Volunteers were back at Whinney Hill woodland carrying out some INNS (Invasive Non-Native Species) management, in the form of removing Small-leaved Cotoneaster which had likely escaped from one of the neighboring allotments.

Small-leaved Cotoneaster can be quite tricky to remove, it needs to be dug out with the roots which can be quite extensive and sturdy. Volunteers used loppers and bows to first clear all of the above ground vegetation, which was followed by using spades to dig out the root ball in its entirety.

Afterwards, the collection of litter that had been picked over the course of many sessions was moved to a location for removal.

Activity funded by Lancashire County Council, Hyndburn Borough Council, and the Windfall Fund.

Tuesday 19th March 2024 – Hollins Hedgerow

Posted on 19th March 202430th October 2024Posted in Hyndburn's Woodlands - Phase 2, News

On Tuesday 19th March the Hyndburn’s Woodlands Volunteers once again teemed up with the TreeACTION Project to plant a hedgerow on our sites. This time, we planted a mixed species hedgerow at the Hollins wood.

This hedgerow will act as a natural barrier for the site, while providing habitat and forage for birds, small mammals, and invertebrates.

Thank you to our volunteers for helping us improve local biodiversity.

Activity funded by Lancashire County Council, Hyndburn Borough Council, and the Windfall Fund.

Sunday 3rd March 2024 – Whinney Hill Hedgerow

Posted on 3rd March 202418th October 2024Posted in Hyndburn's Woodlands - Phase 2, News, Whinney Hill

On Sunday 3rd March 2024 the Hyndburn’s Woodlands Volunteers teamed up with the TreeACTION Project to plant a 60 metre long hedgerow bordering between the Whinney Hill entrance ginnel and the Cricket Club.

We planted a Hawthorn hedgerow to act as a barrier for the cricket club, while providing winter forage for birds and small mammals. The hedgerow will be maintained in the future years to continually promote its growth.

In future years, the hedgerow will offer an opportunity for a hedge-laying activity.

Thank you to our volunteers for helping us improve local biodiversity and site security.

Activity funded by Lancashire County Council, Hyndburn Borough Council, and the Windfall Fund.

February 2024 Overview at Peel Park & the Coppice LNR

Posted on 1st March 2024Posted in HEAL project at Peel Park and the Coppice Local Nature Reserve, News, Peel Park Pollinators at Peel Park and the Coppice LNR

We have have been a lot busier on the Coppice this month thanks to the milder weather.

Brimstone Butterfly (photographed by Gemma McMullan)

During February half term, our very own TreeACTION project hosted a session on the site to plant a new Alder Buckthorn hedgerow to attract the Brimstone Butterfly. We also had help from the North Lancs Training Group hospitality team who volunteered their time to help us with the Alder Buckthorn and the leftover Hawthorn from last month. They even made the Lancashire Telegraph! A huge thank you to NLTG for all their hard work.

The Brimstone Butterfly is an unmistakable butterfly, with the males of the species sporting sulphur yellow scales that instantly brighten up the landscape in early spring. The females are a bit more modest, with their pale greenish-white wings, the average person may mistake them for a Large White or even a leaf! The butterfly is quite common down south but is becoming more common in the north of England. We are brimming with anticipation to see if the Brimstone will take to our new hedgerow and choose it to lay its eggs. The caterpillars can only feed on Alder Buckthorn & Buckthorn so they are essential to have if we hope to help the Brimstone population!

During the half term, we also held a litter pick walk from Arden Hall to Pleck Meadow where we collected 8 bags of litter! On the walk, we discovered some frog spawn in the new wetlands on Pleck Meadow, amazing news for this habitat. You can read more about the frog spawn at Pleck Meadow here.

And of course, we continued to clear scrub in the heathland to prevent woodland encroachment, ensuring that heath species like Heather and Bilberry have plenty of light and can continue to thrive. Lowland Heathland is a semi-natural habitat which requires intervention from humans and/or large animals to keep the soils nutrient poor and acidic. These conditions provide a unique habitat which benefits many wildflowers and pollinators. You can read more about the cultural and biological importance of heathland on the Wildlife Trust website. We have also been busy removing dominant Purple Moor Grass to give heath species more room to grow, not an easy feat as the grass's roots form rock hard mats which are difficult to dig up!

Scrub clearing on the heathland!

8 bags of litter!

NLTG in front of the Holly & Hawthorn hedgerow.

Alder Buckthorn for the Brimstone Butterfly.

Alder Buckthorn hedgerow along Pleck Meadow!

PROSPECTS set up the second monthly moth trap of 2024 up in Pleck Meadow and despite the cold weather we got 3 species! Most insects are not known to thrive in the winter time, however, there are a few moths like to stick around or emerge early before spring is underway.

We got a Satellite, Chestnut, and Dotted Border. It is the first time that Chestnut and Dotted Border have been officially recorded on the site. All of the following moths are invaluable pollinators for flowers that bloom from late autumn to early spring, a time when there are not a lot of other pollinators around. This means that they can also be food for winter birds when food is scarce. Their larvae also have a wide variety of food plants, making them useful herbivores.

Satellite (Eupsilia transversa) - Common - Fly from autumn to early spring. They are very easy to recognise from the two small dots that 'orbit' a larger dot on each of their forewing. The markings can be orange or white. Fascinatingly, the Satellite's larvae are known to be omnivorous! Once they have grown considerably, they will eat the larvae of other moth species that occupy the same plant as them.
Chestnut (Conistra vaccinii) - Common - Fly from autumn to early spring. They are small brown moths with varying patterns on their wings, but are easily distinguished by the time of year they fly and by the half kidney mark on their rounded forewing (although the half kidney mark can sometimes be absent.)
Dotted Border (Agriopis marginaria) - Common - Fly from early spring. Harder to distinguish from a distance, but on closer inspection the 'dotted border' of it's forewings make it unmistakeable. It can be confidently said that all the 4 Dotted Border we found are males as the female Dotted Border is flightless. It will wait on tree trunks during the early hours of the morning for a male to visit it, this will save her energy which she can put towards egg production instead!

Project Officer, Robert Gabryszak, will be continuing to set up the trap every month to track the progress of moths throughout the year. Public sessions will start in May when the trap is expected to be more full, but we will be opening a trap on Saturday 16th March before our spring clean of Pleck Meadow!

To express your interest, contact him at robert.gabryszak@prospectsfoundation.org.uk.

Tuesday 27th February 2024- Coppicing and Dead-Hedge Repair

Posted on 27th February 202418th October 2024Posted in Huncoat East Woodland, Huncoat Local Panel, Hyndburn's Woodlands - Phase 2, News

On Tuesday 27th February the Hyndburn’s Woodlands Volunteers were at Huncoat East carrying out some coppicing work. Coppicing is an ancient form of woodland management that dates back to at least the Neolithic period of the UK.

Coppicing involves felling a tree back to it’s base to create a ‘stool’. From the stool, new shoots are sent out which eventually grow into thin poles. Poles can be left for a desired number of years to create the desired girth, which can be utilised for a variety of functions from basket weaving, wattle weaving, or even building construction.

During our session, we were coppicing hazel stools around the woods. After felling, some of the product was used to create ‘dragon’s nests’ which are circular barriers erected around the stool to deter browsing animals, such as deer, from consuming the new shoots.

The product was also used to make repairs to the dead-hedge established at Huncoat East a few years ago as an outdoor learning area.

Thank you to our volunteers for helping us maintain this traditional skill and our wonderful outdoor learning area.

Activity funded by Lancashire County Council, Hyndburn Borough Council, and the Windfall Fund.

Saturday 24th February 2024 – Whinney Hill Helpers

Posted on 24th February 202418th October 2024Posted in Hyndburn's Woodlands - Phase 2, News, Whinney Hill

On Saturday 24th February 2024 the Whinney Hill Helpers were carrying out a litter pick across the woodland. An extensive amount of litter and fly-tipping was removed from the woodland, including the front bumper of a car. Around 5 bin bags worth of litter were also removed along with the fly-tipping.

Thank you to our volunteers for helping us keep our woodlands clean!

Funded by Lancashire County Council, Hyndburn Borough Council, and the Windfall Fund.

January 2024 Overview at Peel Park & the Coppice LNR

Posted on 4th February 20241st March 2024Posted in HEAL project at Peel Park and the Coppice Local Nature Reserve, News, Peel Park Pollinators at Peel Park and the Coppice LNR

The Coppice was not as busy as usual this month with bank holidays and frozen weather slowing down work. Particularly the week of the 15th was very snowy and icy which lead to some sessions being cancelled due to safety concerns.

We made up for it other sessions where we continued to clear scrub in the heathland to prevent woodland encroachment, ensuring that heath species like Heather and Bilberry have plenty of light and can continue to thrive. Lowland Heathland is a semi-natural habitat which requires intervention from humans and/or large animals to keep the soils nutrient poor and acidic. These conditions provide a unique habitat which benefits many wildflowers and pollinators. You can read more about the cultural and biological importance of heathland on the Wildlife Trust website.

Another detrimental species to heathland are Invasive Non-Native Species (INNS.) INNS can spread and dominate very easily as they don't have many natural predators in their new environments, this can negatively impact our native species. Rhododendron in particular can be incredibly invasive. It can completely take over an area of land and stop all light from reaching the ground which makes it impossible for ground flora to thrive. We caught this cheeky one growing on the edge of a woodland near the heath. We quickly dug it up and have removed it off-site. Montbretia (a.k.a Crocosmia) is another garden escapee which can easily dominate a woodland floor. This particular patch had grown a thick mat of bulbs that went 20cm deep! Thank you to our volunteers who put in a tremendous amount of effort into removing INNS and protecting our native species.

On Saturday 20th January, our very own TreeACTION project hosted a session on the site to plant a new hedgerow to enforce the border to Pleck Meadow. Initially, planting was halted as the ice had frozen our Hawthorn into one solid block! Fortunately, our Holly was still ready to go and we managed to plant 60 of them. On Monday 12th February, during the February half-term, the remainder of the hedgerow will be planted, let us know if you'd like to help out!

PROSPECTS had the pleasure of hosting work experience for Lancashire Adult Learning's Railway learners. It strikes as odd at first for a railway worker to need work experience at the Coppice, but all train tracks suffer from overgrown vegetation which are handled by a Deveg (De-vegetation) team. We have plenty of overgrown vegetation at the Coppice so it's actually the perfect training site! Thank you to the Lancashire Adult Learning team for the assist!

PROSPECTS set up the first monthly moth trap of 2024 up in Pleck Meadow. To no-one's surprise, it was empty the next morning. Most insects are not known to thrive in the winter time, however, there are a few moths which like to stick around. The aptly named Winter and December moths (pictured below) are quite tolerant of the cold, building up fats and anti-freeze chemicals in their bodies to stave of frost! And on milder nights you may get appearances from Mottled Umber, The Chestnut and Satellite moths.

Alas, it must have been too cold the night of the January 12th as no moths could be bothered to visit, (We don't blame them!) Fingers-crossed the trap gets some action in February as some early species start to become active such as the Pale Brindled Beauty, Satellite, and Spring Usher.

Project Officer, Robert Gabryszak, will be continuing to set up the trap every month to track the progress of moths throughout the year. Public sessions will start in May when the trap is expected to be more full.

To express your interest, contact him at robert.gabryszak@prospectsfoundation.org.uk.

Tuesday 23rd January 2024 – Cotoneaster and Bamboo Removal

Posted on 23rd January 202418th October 2024Posted in Hyndburn's Woodlands - Phase 2, News, Whinney Hill

On Tuesday 23rd January the Hyndburn’s Woodlands Volunteering were back at Whinney Hill carrying out some Invasive Non-Native Species (INNS) management.

This time, we were tackling Small-leaved Cotoneaster which had likely escaped from neighbouring allotments, this shrub has a tendency to spread and grow very large, thus occupying woodland space that native species could occupy. Removal is a large job, that first requires lopping the shrub into small, manageable pieces. Once removed, the extensive roots need to be dug out in their entirety.

A new INNS was then tackled, bamboo, which had escaped from nearby gardens. For now, this involved simply cutting the shoots down as close to the ground as possible. The cut shoots have been put to good use for various activities.

Thank you to our hardworking volunteers who held fast through the poor weather to help keep our woodlands native.

Funding provided by Lancashire County Council, Hyndburn Borough Council, and the Windfall Fund.

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Tumultuous weather at Peel Park & the Coppice LNR this summer!

Volunteer Work & Wildflowers- Summer 2024

A Butterfly Emergency - Summer 2024

Summer Pollinators!

Missing moths.

Summer Moths and Moth Night

Coming up in October:

Thanks to our funders and partners:

Preliminary butterfly data from Peel Park & the Coppice LNR

Butterflies from 2024 at Peel Park & the Coppice LNR

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Spring is well underway at Peel Park and the Coppice LNR in April 2024!

Volunteer Work in April & May.

Bees and butterflies in April/May

April/May Pollinators!

A lot of interesting characters!

April/May Moths and Moth Night

Thanks to our funders and partners:

Basking butterflies welcome!

A big thank you to our funders for making this possible!

Pleck Meadow gets its 3rd annual trim!

Pleck Meadow has its third annual assessment.

Spring is here at Peel Park and the Coppice LNR in March 2024!

Volunteer Work in March.

Moths are marching in!

March moths!

Bees are waking up! (The butterflies are still asleep)

March bees!

Coming up in April:

Thanks to our funders and partners:

Brimming with excitement on Peel Park and the Coppice LNR in February 2024!

Volunteer Work in February

Moths are warming up!

February moths!

Coming up in March:

Thanks to our funders and partners:

Icy and cold on Peel Park and the Coppice LNR in January 2024!

Volunteer Work in January

(Most) Moths don't like the cold.

Some cold-loving moths seen at the Coppice!

Frost and Ice at the Coppice.

Thanks to our funders and partners: