We have concentrated on an area that had underlying moorland plants - heathers, sheep sorrel, heath bedstraw, bilberry and crowberry.
The control measures have involved cutting the bracken three times a year.
The results have been very encouraging and we continue to expand the areas we are managing.
It was a different experience today for the people who had braved the moorland midges last time. We had benign conditions and so were able to concentrate on the task of Bracken control. Our efforts were concentrated on tackling areas that we had already cleared and bracken started to regrow. This will give the surviving and emerging vegetation a better chance to thrive. We also took on some areas where little vegetation is apparent. The area that we have been working over the years is getting bigger and it is hard to remember where we started. We were also visited by a consultancy firm who are looking at a way the bracken that we cut may be used in the future.
Today we worked with 12 volunteers.
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It was advisable to wear long sleeves today to protect against the midges but as it turned out it was necessary to wear long sleeves to protect against the weather which was cold and wet. But as usual this did not put off our group from the task in hand. Using the cutting tools of scythes and sickles we cut back the bracken which was then raked off and piled up. As this was our third and final visit of the year we had progressed further along the hillside. We chose areas that had vegetation growing under it as a priority, and the bracken was cut back and raked off. This will give the vegetation a chance to develop which included the red fruits of the Crowberry, along with bilberry and heather.
We will return again next year and continue with the moorland.
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area of cleared bracken allowing grass to recoloniseThis was our first visit of the year to Baildon Moor and as we arrived the moor promised do do what it does best. Weather!. However it turned out not too bad - very windy but not too wet. (on our Wednesday Wildlife Wander we were greeted by thunder, lightning and a soaking downpour).
We are working in the same area of moor with have managed for a decade - on the slope facing towards Sconce - but we are now focusing our extension work down hill rather than back towards the road. We will work in this direction to join the existing heather patches near the fairway. The gradient is too steep for the auto-scythe, which concentrated on the upper areas, so scythes and sickles were the main tools used, raking the arisings into large piles. Friends of Baildon moor used a strimmer to increase the impact of the work.
Swifts, oystercatchers, skylarks and pipits were present through the day, and a nest (probably swallow) was spotted in the shelter. The ling is just coming into flower and the first few bilberries were ripening.
Cutting Bracken
A group of seventeen worked on the moor today, including 14 volunteers. This was our final visit of the year and we had a very successful day working effectively with the auto scythe and hand scythes and sickles. The cut bracken was raked and piled - as well as removing it so it does not prevent regeneration of moorland species, we hope the piles will make compost and they also act as markers of the extent of our work.
The impact that the bracken control BEES have undertaken is considerable and encouraging - the hillside now has good patches of bilberry, heather, crowberry as well as sheep's sorrel and heath bedstraw. We identified areas that we plan to work on next year and identified the need to instigate more monitoring areas. We have noticed that young heather plants are appearing amongst the grass which is to be expected as this is the natural succession of the moorland, but it would be good to monitor the speed and spread of the heather regeneration.
As well as enjoying the work we were able to enjoy the presence of bees in the heather, swallows feeding over the hillside and a covey of partridges numbering 13 or 14, disturbed from their roost in the bilberry.
We returned to the moor side for the first time this year and to continue the control of bracken and restoration of the moor vegetation. This was carried out using our hand tools of scythes and sickles and then raking off the cut bracken. The group concentrated on the areas that we have cut previously and along the pathways. The work is appearing to have a positive effect on the vegetation and we will return again next month.
The weather was good for this visit and there was not the plague of midges that we encountered for the first visit last year.
Today we worked with 10 volunteers.
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Our final cut of the year.
We had 11 people consolidating the work of clearing new areas of bracken.
Our third and final visit of the year to the moor. The group split into two work groups: one group cut over the areas that had been previously cut and another concentrated on cutting bracken in an area where Heather is established. This required carefully cutting away from the heather patches, we hope to link up these areas of Heather. By the end of the day a lot of bracken had been cut which gives the other plants a chance of reestablishing.
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Today we worked with 12 volunteers
It was good to see so many swifts flying over the moor today. However there were not nearly enough to have an impact on the midge population - we have never seen (or felt) anything quite like it. A damp, still, muggy day was obviously ideal for them, and they made the most of our presence, with people leaving the moor at the end of the day ranging from mildly irritated, covered in red spots, to swollen faces looking like we'd done a few rounds in the boxing ring. What we are prepared to put up with in order to encourage biodiversity!
A survey of 'our' patch of the moor earlier in the week showed that there are quite a few meadow pipits and sky larks around. Because of the poor weather this summer, and potentially delayed fledging, we decided to be cautious regarding the areas of bracken to work in. We concentrated where the bracken is less dense, revisiting areas that are well under control and just extending the patch in one top section.
We continued to be encouraged by the emergence of heather and bilberry, as well as the bedstraw and sheep's sorrel, amongst the grass where the bracken has been cleared.
Today we worked with 13 volunteers
Following on from our previous visit to the site the group continued with the project to control the bracken on the moor side. A couple of areas were concentrated on in the morning working on areas that had previously been cut. After lunch we worked on a patch that had not been cut before. The idea here was to uncover existing ground flora and allow this a chance to spread. In this area both crowberry and bilberry are growing. Plus we cut along the pathway as this had overgrown and was becoming impassable.
Again we were lucky with the weather and there was no return of the midges, but we have another visit still to carry out this year.
Today we worked with 12 volunteers.
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