NEWS – Page 6 – Prospects

Picnic in the Park 2024

Posted on 14th October 2024Posted in Memorial Park

On Sunday 18^th August the extremely well received ‘Picnic in the Park 2024’ was held at Memorial Park, Great Harwood!

The event was a joint effort between The PROSPECTS Foundation, The Friends of Memorial Park (FOMP), Proffitts CIC, and Hyndburn Borough Council.

Attendees enjoyed a lovely afternoon’s picnic on the freshly mown grass, with food provided by Brie Mine, La Bella Mozzarella, Mrs Dowsons, and D.C. Coffee

While everyone tucked into their picnic, they also enjoyed a delightful performance from J.R. Frozen and a nostalgic tribute from Stacksteads Brass Band. Mary Speight also offered some artful face painting for festival goers to get into the mood!

It wasn’t all picnics and performances though! Attendees also explored the park, with FOMP setting up a family-fun treasure hunt with a special prize draw at the end, PROSPECTS set up a ‘taster forest school’ activity and a bug hunting session at Snowdrop Corner.

The weather held wonderfully all day for us, with there being only a few minutes of worrying rain, but afterwards it was sunshine all around!

Thank you to everyone who attended the event, your presence made the day as wonderful as it was!

Thank you to our partners who helped organise the event with us

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.

National Highways visit Peel Park & the Coppice LNR

Posted on 28th May 2024Posted in Peel Park Pollinators at Peel Park and the Coppice LNR

On Thursday 16th May we got lucky with some sunny weather as National Highways paid a visit to Peel Park & the Coppice LNR. National Highway have been funding the Network 4 Nature project across the UK, creating biodiverse habitats along our roads and highways in collaboration with The Wildlife Trust. This includes the Accrington Bypass (A56) which borders Peel Park.

The project has been funding Lancashire Wildlife Trust which has then in turn been funding PROSPECTS to help carry out the work with the help of volunteers in the Peel Park Pollinators Project.

The visit produced this fantastic video, highlighting the importance of de-fragmenting habitats to boost biodiversity.

For more information on the Network 4 Nature project, check out the National Highways website!

For more information on the project or to get involved, contact Project Officer Robert Gabryszak at robert.gabryszak@prospectsfoundation.org.uk or 01254 230348 (ext. 208)

A warm welcome to our new team member, Stephen!

Posted on 11th April 202411th April 2024Posted in Low Carbon Community Buildings

Stephen Hutchinson has joined PROSPECTS as our new Low Carbon Community Buildings Officer. Stephen will work with local community organisations to help them reduce their building’s carbon emissions and take action against climate change. Community groups will be supported to obtain an energy audit of their buildings, as well as apply for funding for energy efficiency and renewable energy measures. Stephen will also be running carbon literacy and energy efficiency training sessions with community groups. The project will run for 12 month and is funded by Electricity North West and the Windfall Fund.

To find out more about the project, contact stephen.hutchinson@prospectsfoundation.org.uk or call 01254 230348.

A warm welcome to our new team member, Alice!

Posted on 11th April 202411th April 2024Posted in Brookside

We’re pleased to announce that Alice Pooley has joined the PROSPECTS team as our new Brookside Development Officer!

Following the purchase of the 87-acre Brookside site in Stanhill Village, Oswaldtwistle (also known as Bury Meadows), Hyndburn Borough Council has partnered with the PROSPECTS Foundation, Lancashire Wildlife Trust, Stanhill Village Community Association, the Ribble Rivers Trust and Proffitts CIC to transform the space into a beacon of biodiversity, habitat recovery, carbon capture and tangible climate action.

Alice will be managing the development phase of the project, which is set to run for the next 18 months and is funded by the National Lottery Climate Action Fund and the Windfall Fund. Each of the partners has a crucial role to play in this exciting project, but there will also be a strong volunteer component, so keep your eyes peeled for new and exciting volunteer opportunities coming soon!

To find out more about the project, contact alice.pooley@prospectsfoundation.org.uk or call 01254 230348.

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.

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