So winter slipped into Spring and the reserve's coat changed from snowdrops to cowslips , bluebells and cuckoo flowers, soon chased by the wealth of wild flowers that make our meadow so spectacular, too many to mention but includes yellow rattle, ragged robin, meadow sweet, scabious.vetch, knapweed, creeping thistles, bird's-foot trefoil, bedstraws, ox-eye daisies, field poppies and buttercups... And then there are the stars, the Marsh orchids and broadleaved Helleborines ...divine.
Now we are in midsummer and the grasslands are turning yellow after not having any meaningful rain for 6 weeks, a lot of our flowres have gone over early and the risk of wild fires is a realistic threat as we hear of local farms fighting fires and more dramatic, concerning large fires acoss the wilds of the UK and Europe. Our spring and summer meadows are always cut and baled by a council contractor each year, usually starting in August, this year they've opted to do an earlier cut.
The friends have been busy doing some maintenance work around the reserve. Perhaps you've noticed us out and about?
Additional litter picking has been carried out as we've had an upturn in visitors but we're pleased to report a couple more bins are on the way. We've been cutting the vegetation near the bird hide to aid visibility, restoring burnt benches, and updating the information boards and have added some solitary bee boxes which have proved very popular with leafcutter bees.
Our nature gardens are having a little re-vamp, now numbering three as we added a little extension to house a new hawthorn tree and memorial bench . Our entrance gate has been re-located to fit in with the cafe frontage of Espositos cafe - the friends have agreed to care for the new flower bed. In the garden we've had the lime tree's crown lifted earlier in the year to reduce the shading of the understory, we're also working on the bed edging and using woodchip to combat the effects of drought. Our gardening is ongoing an we're planning to erect water butts to capture rain to top up the pond and help with the watering of the gardens, to this end we were very pleased to have received a grant from Halebank Parish Council for our water harvesting project.
Talking of Esposito's , the friends got access to our new meeting room in February and eagerly awaited the opening of the new cafe, the date of which was put back several times but it finally lifted it's shutters in June and the Worshipfil, Mayor of Halton, Councillor Mrs Pamela Wallace cut the ribbon; a nice little celebration & photo call for Esposito's, the Friends, Mal Sutton whose family previously farmed Pickerings Pasture, the children of Halebank C of E primary school and local poet Shirley Flanagan who wrote this poem.
The friends have always undertaken a daily bird feed between the 1st October and 31st March, filling the various feeders around the reserve for our birdlife, we will continue to do this but will be reviewing the bird feeding stations due to the RSPB's warning in April about the risks of Trichomonosis, a disease effecting garden birds which spreads more easily when birds gather around feeders, in particular flat bird tables.
Our wonderful reserve is now 40 years old and the friends group has been on site since it's creation, we work closely with Halton Council to keep this safe and welcoming for future generations, if you feel you can help in some way, why not visit us, we're usually about every Monday or checkout our website.
A note on Hale Marsh and the Hale Duck Decoy, the Decoy is nolonger leased by Halton Borough Council or maintained by the Friends of Pickerings Pasture and is now in private ownership with no public access.
Recent Wildlife News
10 species of butterfly have been recorded recently including painted lady, common and holly blue, small copper and red admiral, also day flying moths including cinnebar, 5 spot burnet and silver y.
Birds of note including a big increase in waders and gulls including spotted redshank, greenshank, whimbrel, black and bar- tailed godwit and knot, also sandwich and common terns moving up the river
Barn owl has been seen regularly, hunting over the meadows at dusk.
Broad leaved Helleborines seen flowering on the United Utilities path.
