September 2018
At the lower turning circle close to where Snipes Dene meets
the River Derwent, we came across three Comma butterflies. For us it was an
exciting find – perhaps not a rarity, but not an insect we see often. We
mentioned our sighting to Ranger Phil at the end of the day. “Was that down by
the lower turning circle?” he asked. We have come to expect such a response:
there is very little that this man of nature does not know about the flora,
fauna and landscape of Gibside Estate. He knew, too, about the Holly Blue
feeding on the nipplewort the week before in an otherwise near desert of felled
trees in West Wood.
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| Comma butterfly |
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| Holly blue butterfly |
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| Speckled wood butterfly |
The daunting task of clearing the leftovers from the felling
in West Wood continues in preparation for planting native species come winter.
Close to half has been cleared, but it seems unlikely that the whole area will
be ready. It’s hard work, and tedious.
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| Brash before the great clear-up in West Woods |
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| Hard at work |
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| After the clear-up |
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| A well earned break |
By way of change from the toil of removing the West Wood
brash, some went off to thin out trees by the Octagon Pond; others cleared the
blocked drainage channels on the nearby track. We two, along with Terry and
Mary, set about an end of season visit to our grass snake monitoring sites. At
each we made a final check under the ACOs (That stands for Artificial Cover
Objects. Artificial cover objects are bits of corrugated iron), and stacked
them out of sight until next year, then sorted through the nest heaps for any
evidence of grass snake activity. Of course reader, as you will have worked out
for yourself by now, they are not really nest heaps because nothing ever nests
in them – well, certainly not grass snakes. Still, we live in hope even if
experience gives us no reason to do so.
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| Hunt the ACO at the Lily Pond |
There were other creatures making good use of our tins
though. The ACOs often shelter toads, ants and field voles. They’re not what
we’re looking for but seeing them is its own reward, and brings a little
excitement to our day. It would be nice, though, if someone were to slip in a
few grass snakes. Reintroduction we would call it.
Steve Wootten & Phil Coyne
