Wed 1stJuly 2009 - Brading Down.

A beautiful sunny day with a nice light breeze on top of Brading Down, was this week’s venue for the Green Gym, helping Bob Edney from the Rangers with some clearance work. Our enthusiastic group went to work in quite a large area, digging up and bagging ragwort, removing a large number of large thistles, and clearing a big patch of weeds before they can re-seed and spread further across the Down. An extensive amount was cleared, as can be seen from the very full trailer in the picture.

Carrie’s Nature Lesson

Clearing ragwort inevitably means finding Cinnabar moths and caterpillars; Cinnabar moths (Tyria Jacobaeae) resemble no other British species, except perhaps the burnets, and are fairly common in much of Britain. It is generally nocturnal, but is quite often disturbed during the day from long grass, low herbage etc. The distinctive larvae, with their yellow and black hoops, generally feed gregariously on ragwort (Senecio Jacobaea) and other related plants. We also came across some Burdock (Arctium minus), which grows wild throughout most of North American, Europe and Asia. They are most noticeable from their leaves which are dark green, growing up to 45cm in length with a woolly underneath and prickly seed heads. As a plant, the taproot of young burdock plants (which are black) can be harvested and eaten as a root vegetable.

Wed 24th June 2009 - Rew Down, Ventnor.

Helping the Rangers at Rew Down, Ventnor was this week’s venue for the Green Gym, and we had various tasks to undertake. These were building a new stile, entailing the removal of the old broken one, digging out the existing holes to a depth of about three feet, tamping in the new posts using the excavated soil and a few stones, (which amazingly took four of us most of the morning), then attaching and cross members and step; removing and bagging up for later collection any ragwort that could be found; and cutting back some small areas of cotoneaster (having a quick check for any nesting birds first of course).

Carrie’s Nature Lesson

Two interesting finds this week were Wood Spurge and Creeping Thyme (see pictures). Wood Spurge (Euphorbia Amygdaloides) is the only common spurge found usually in English woodlands, and recognised by its hairy, erect stems and yellowish, branched flower heads. It is a spreading and clump forming plant which can also be found (as here on Rew Down) in open, humid areas. Its flowers are very odd, lacking as they do both petals and sepals. Each cup-like structure contains one or more male flowers and a female flower, and some spurges are pollinated not by bees but by ichneumon wasps. Creeping Thyme (Thymus Serpyllum) is an evergreen subshrub that spreads to form a carpet, giving off a strong aroma when trodden on. It has tiny, finely hairy, mid-green leaves on wiry trailing stems and is covered in masses of tiny purple flowers in summer, which are loved by bees. Interestingly in the centre and slightly to the right of the picture, you can also see the elongated pink seed pods of a birdsfoot trefoil, so called because they are shaped like the foot of a bird.

Thanks to Carrie for the editorial and some of the pictures, the other pictures are from Richard the Ranger.

Wed 17th June 2009 - St Helens Duver

Assisting the National Trust was this week’s task for the Green Gym, doing a litter pick around the Duver and along the beach at Seagrove Bay, and what a beautiful day we had too! There did not seem to be as many small plastic items as last time we undertook this task, but people still haven’t got the hang of putting dog poo bags in the actual bins rather that throwing them in the bushes - Ugh!! St Helens Duver has been a site of Special Scientific Interest since 1951, with a review in 1995 extending the boundary. It is now known as the Brading Marshes to St Helens Ledges SSSI, designated as a Special Protection Area (SPA) under an EC Directive and also listed as a wetland of international importance under the RAMSAR Convention. The area is important for wading birds, Brent Geese, rocky shore habitats, sand dune plants, marshland and much more.

Carrie’s Nature Lesson

We found quite a few lovely wildflowers, and here are examples of three of these - the first image is Common Storksbill (Erodium Cicutarium), with rose-pink or purplish petals favouring dry, grassy places and wasteland especially on chalk, and also found on coastal dunes. The second is Common Centaury (Centaurium Erythraea), a lovely compact plant of dry, open ground with pink or occasionally white flowers, found in wild, dry, grassy places including downland, and are good plants for rock gardens or in sandy soil. The last image is a Prickly Sowthistle (Sonchus Asper), which looks a bit like a combination of a dandelion and a thistle. Its flowers are yellow with shiny prickly leaves and if the plant is damaged, it exudes a milky sap. It flowers from June to August, usually growing in arable fields and waste spaces; also in the picture you can see a ladybird nymph (which is the immature form of the insect) on one of the leaves.

A big thanks to Carrie for the editorial and most of the pictures with one from Mark.

Wed 10th June 2009 - Ventnor Botanical Gardens.

Another excellent turnout this week at Ventor Botanic Gardens, Trish is always amazed at how much work 35 people can do in three hours. This weeks tasks were threefold; the first was a bramble bash; the second working in the Australian section to clear out dead trees, generally tidy up the ferns, prune any dead bits, weeding, and removing plants that were not Australian such as some buddleia and wild cherry; the third group cleared out a load of ivy and barrowed a big pile of soil for spreading.

Many thanks to Carrie and Mark for the editorial and pictures.