It’s been a busy start to Spring for the Friends of Woodlands and Coachwood Green. First is all we would like to thank all our volunteers who helped with the tree planting as part of the Queen’s Green Canopy Initiative. We had 105 saplings of field maple, rowan, silver birch, wild cherry, sessile oak, grey willow donated from The Woodlands Trust, which volunteers helped us plant on the Wildlife Discovery Area. We would like to thank Class KS2 from Haggonfields School who helped with the tree planting, the pupils were specifically chosen to take part in this activity as they had good attendance. As spring is the start of the bird nesting season, we also installed new nesting boxes on site and again many thanks to the volunteers who helped us with painting them.
As we move through the seasons you will notice how the open grassland areas of the Woodlands Country Park come to life from the first wild orchids in May to being ablaze with yellow birds’ foot trefoil and the nodding of the oxeye daisy in June. With the buzzing of bees and chirping of grasshoppers, as you walk around the Woodlands Country Park, the colours and sounds fill the senses, it really is a wonderful time of the year to walk around the 3km of trails.
These open grassland areas are of significant importance as they are carbon stores and boost biodiversity, not only the plants we see on the surface but also the funghi and bacteria underground that help to enrich the soil. And combined with mixed native trees and natural ponds, we have natural habitats for a wide range of native species, everything from birds of prey such as Kestrels and Buzzards which can be seen on the site through to small mammals such as hedgehogs and voles to amphibians such as frogs and newts.
During the summer the grasslands will be full of wildflowers and they are a vital resource for bees, other pollinators and butterflies who particularly rely on wildflowers of open grasslands. We are very honoured that the Woodlands Country Park incorporates Nottinghamshire’s only Coronation Wildflower Meadow which was created to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. The Coronation meadow is situated alongside Shireoaks Road, the opposite side of which runs adjacent to the Chesterfield Canal. In August 2014, green hay was harvested from Ashton's Meadow, a donor meadow in Nottinghamshire, and was spread here in Shireoaks. Plant species including birds foot trefoil, lady's bedstraw and field scabious are establishing here and maximising the biodiversity potential we have here. This is an attractive gateway into the village so make sure in the Summer you take a walk to have a look at the flowers and butterflies.
Given the decline in open grasslands, wild-flower meadows, and their associated biodiversity we are very lucky to have this on our doorstep, we will be organising species monitoring on the Coronation Meadow and the Wildlife Discovery Area this summer so we can start to track how the biodiversity evolves.
Our Annual General Meeting will be taking place on Wednesday 14th June which will include a wildlife and nature walk of the Woodlands Country Park, we hope you can join us to learn about the nature that is on your doorstep.
Everything we do and what you see as you walk around the Country Park and the Wildlife Discovery site would not be possible without our volunteers who play a huge role in supporting the conservation work. If you are interested in volunteering please do get in touch, we have activities for everyone from building and installing bat boxes, scrub clearance, species monitoring, helping organise community events and fundraising. If you think you have a skill or some spare time to contribute, please contact us. We look forward to hearing from you.
Email: Infowoodlandsandandcoachwoodgreen@gmail.com or follow us on Facebook @friendsofwoodlandsandcoachwoodgreen