By Laura Morrell & Wendy Davis | Intern & Trustee
Hello everybody and welcome to our early summer report from the wood. My name is Laura and I am the ecology intern for Andover Trees United (ATU).
April saw the start of the charity's annual 'Nature in Harmony' flora and fauna surveying programme. As the intern, that's my responsibility, and since then and until the end of September I have been and will continue to be out in Harmony Woods and the wider Diamond Wood at least once a week surveying birds, wildflowers and grasses, butterflies, and other pollinators. The aim is to find out what lives in the wood, and where, which will help the management team make decisions about how to maintain and improve the habitats we have on site. The survey season runs for six months. Although the formal data collection is carried out by myself supported by other experienced volunteers, the programme also includes a series of citizen science events which are open to the public. To date this year I have devised and led:
- tree, bird and bat walks
- a bioblitz which included opening the moth trap that I had set the previous evening
- an invertebrate hunt - very popular with young 'bug' enthusiasts!
You can read more about some of these events by following the links below.
Another part of my role as intern is to be a co-leader for the youth team, the 'Nature in Harmony Exchange Project' (NIHEP). The youth team meets on the second Saturday of the month to learn from and help to look after their wood. Following their weekend training with Chris Holland in late March, they are able to support our Nature and Community Officers, Abbey and Jo, to run their Nature-Nurture programme designed to help local children and young people to connect to nature. They also help me with surveying. As with all of our work with young people, it is in part funded and made possible by your generous donations.
This week saw the last session of 2023 for both the Nature-Nurture group and for Harrow Way School. The two groups joined together to complete an orienteering course, after which they played environmentally themed games, 'bat and moth' quickly becoming a firm favourite! The session ended with the students learning how to make their own fires, using tinder and kindling they had found in the wood. Once their fires were going, it was time to roast marshmallows!
Another passion of mine is archaeology and I am fortunate to also be able to further this interest with ATU. This year, the charity was finally able to resume its programme of community archaeology - 'Between the Barrows' - which had been put on hold since 2019, due to the pandemic. If you would like to find out more about this exciting project, you will find a link to this year's report below.
Finally, from Trustee Wendy Davis, here are a few other highlights of the summer which included:
LOOKING FORWARDS: AS WE WRITE, THE TEAM IS ALREADY PLANNING FOR ANOTHER 1000 CHILDREN PLANTING ANOTHER 1000 TREES... the trees are being ordered, most schools have been booked in and, thanks to your support, we are able to provide the transport and tools needed to keep our work going.
From all of us, THANK YOU.
Links:
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