On
Sunday we as a family got involved with some volunteering at the
local nature reserve. I love volunteering, there is something
intrinsically rewarding about giving up your time for someone else or
something else. I especially enjoy volunteering in conservation, as
it is my opportunity to give back all the enjoyment that I take from
our natural environments, ensuring that they remain as they are. On
this occasion we were part of a small team tasked to remove as much
of the invasive and non-native Himalayan Balsam as possible. We
started at the Diglas Bridge and worked our way south.
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| Removing Himalayan Balsam |
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| Himalayan Balsam |
Himalayan
balsam is a tall, fast growing annual plant. This means that it grows
from seeds each year. It also spreads very quickly as it has a very
effective seed dispersal method. An individual plant can spread its
seeds up to 4 meters away. Additionally, due to favouring riverbanks
it can spread its seeds down stream. This has resulted in vast areas
of the Severn becoming over run by the balsam.
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| Ephemera vulgata - Drake Mackerel Mayfly |
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| Red-tailed Bumblebee |
It
alters the ecology of ecosystems in a number of ways. Firstly, it is
an annual, so when it has finished its seed dispersal it dies down
completely. This means that there is no root material to hold the
river banks together. This can have severe effects when rivers flood
in winter. So there is an increase in soil erosion.
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| White-tailed Bumblebee |
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| Gall from Willow Redgall Sawfly |
Due
to its fast growing nature, and height (2.5m), it will out compete
native plants. It grows in large dense thickets that suppress our
native species. It also out competes our native plants in the
pollination department. It produces large quantities of pollen over a
long season. This then results in many pollinators avoiding our
native species in favour of this invader. Our native species lose out
in several ways and it all has the same effect – it reduces our
biodiversity by up to two thirds. We need to get rid of it!
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| Tree Bumblebee |
When
we were at the nature reserve I was impressed with the quantity of
comfrey. There were good quantities of it between the balsam. It was
doing an amazing job of providing pollen for the bees. I stopped
pulling up the balsam to enjoy the insect life that the Comfrey was
supporting. There were several species of bee, grasshoppers,
mayflies, damselflies. It was amazing to see. It was also hard not to
be inspired by the continual sound track provided in the back ground
by the birds: Blackbirds, Song Thrushes, Wrens, Blackcaps and both
species of Whitethroats.
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| Whitethorat |
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| Common Spotted Orchid |
After
the volunteering there was a big community picnic to bring together
the people of the area. This was a lot of fun, bringing the wider
community together, and with the hot sunny weather it was a special
day. After that I had the pleasure of walking around the Nature
Reserve with some of my good friends and their 3 year old son. It was
the first time they had seen the reserve and it was a real privilege
watching there son engage with the natural world in a positive way.
It was clear that he enjoyed his time walking around the Nature
Reserve, it was great to see his reaction to spotting a Green
Woodpecker. These small reserves in city centres are an important
part of our wider approach to help prevent the decline in so many of
our species. They also provide an opportunity for us to be able to
destress, relax and enjoy the beauty of our natural world, possibly
the best medicine in the world.
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| Common Blue Butterfly |
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