January 2024 Overview at Peel Park & the Coppice LNR

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

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!

Volunteer Work in January

ACCROSS College Railway Learners
Eyeing up a Rhododendron!
Removing a huge chunk of Montbretia (Crocosmia) bulbs!

(Most) Moths don't like the cold.

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.

Some cold-loving moths seen at the Coppice!

December Moth
Satellite Moth
Autumnal Moth

Frost and Ice at the Coppice.

Winter brings some lovely scenery at the Coppice, the leafless trees make it easier to spot a lovely array of wild birds!

The snow cancelled a lot of sessions in the past two months but it has made for some lovely walks.

Coal Tit
Song Thrush
Snowy Pleck Meadow!
Blue Tit
Robin

Thanks to our funders and partners:

Our work at Peel Park & the Coppice LNR wouldn't be possible without the permission of its use by Hyndburn Borough Council and the funding from LEF, Lancashire Wildlife Trust, & Windfall Fund.

 

Windfall Fund
January 2024 Overview at Peel Park & the Coppice LNR
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