COUNTRY LIFE
Countryside news
with Tony Ridd
Restoration of the Arc...coming soon!
S
pectrum’s Green Army volunteers got off to a great start on a
new restoration project at the Arc, an area of riparian woodland
neighbouring Oakfield and Oakvale, Ryde.
Over the next few years, the aim is to bring what’s become a bit of a
knotweed-infested thoroughfare and a neglected stretch of the historic
Monktonmead River back to life, for local residents and wildlife.
Work starts in earnest as part of the forthcoming HLF-funded ‘Down
to the Coast’ project next year. But in the meantime, our first task was to
prepare the site for spring by dealing with the dead knotweed.
A great team day all round, advised by Landscape Therapy and Arc
Consulting, with Spectrum staff, Challenge & Adventure and Southern
Housing Group residents from Oakvale. Not to mention cakes supplied
by Michelle Newton’s NCFE cookery students at Spectrum’s community
flat, Route 66! Rare Island tree species, river restoration and woodland
sculpture to come. Watch this space!
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What to look out for...
Chiff Chaff
Ladies Smock
The Chiff Chaff is mainly a
summer visitor, having over
wintered around the
Mediterranean and further south.
It is small, olive brown with dark
legs. They nest in wooded areas
often along the edges. There is
a good chance you will hear the
Chiff Chaff long before you see
it. They will pick insects from
the trees and whilst in flight.
Ladies Smock also known as
cuckoo flower, is one of our
prettiest spring wild flowers.
Found in wet or damp areas and
along grassy unkempt verges.
Growing to 50cm tall and with
four pale lilac or whitish petals.
It is a plant that over the years
has been appreciated for its
looks and charm as it has no
medicinal properties.
Weasels
Green Veined White
With the bird nesting season well
underway, it also bring out the
predators! Weasels are just one
of many predators that hunt eggs
and chicks. They will live just
about anywhere, where there is
cover and food. They need to eat
every twenty four hours to avoid
starvation, so are active both
day and night. Spring time birds
nests are a welcome change to
their winter diets.
One of our earlier emerging
butterflies, seen from spring
through to autumn and found
in gardens, woodland and
meadows but favouring damper
areas. The green veins are in fact
an illusion created by a subtle
combination of yellow and black
scales. One of its favoured food
sources this time of year is
ladies smock. It doesn’t feed on
cultivated greens and is not a
pest of cabbage crops.