Netcotts Meadow   Further details of all reserves can be found here

Features from Wildlife magazine Wildlife articles 2008 -- Spring 2008 -- ::Severn Barrage ::The Variety of life ::A year at Willsbridge ::Willsbridge comes of age ::Reaching out - Willsbridge ::Round the reserves Wildlife articles 2007 -- Autumn 2007 -- ::Thinking BIG ::Watery webs:the pond network ::Wildlife in the landscape ::Variety of life ::How to be a climate friend ::Seasonal stroll - Walborough ::Round the reserves -- Summer 2007 -- ::The Folly Farm appeal ::Weston Big Wood-biodiversity at its best ::The variety of life ::How to capture a butterfly ::How to get to know an orchid ::Seasonal stroll - WestonBigWood ::Reserves update -- Spring 2007 -- ::Folly Farm - a very special place ::Making a difference at Folly Farm ::How find the magic at Folly Farm ::Seasonal stroll at Folly Farm ::Magic spots at Folly Farm ::Batscapes ::Climate challenge ::Variety of Life - the Ponways project ::Round the reserves Wildlife articles 2006 -- Autumn 2006 -- ::The Severn Estuary ::Bird Watch results ::How to identify garden birds ::Making space for wildlife ::How does your garden grow? ::Round the reserves -- Summer 2006 -- ::Going for green ::Stand up and be counted ::Happy birthday NSLMP ::Holi day - a riot of spring colour ::Avon's species-rich grassland ::How to photograph dragonflies ::The Big Switch ::Round the reserves -- Spring 2006 -- ::How to identify winter water birds ::Make 2006 the year you... ::Invasive invasion ::Sowing the seeds: Willsbridge Mill ::Round the reserves Wildlife articles 2005 -- Autumn 2005 -- ::Indentify common funghi ::Build a hedgehog hideaway ::Big Bird Watch ::Champions for wildlife ::Round the reserves ::Seeds of the futre: Willsbridge Mill -- Summer 2005 -- ::Restoring Folly Farm ::How to become bee-friendly ::How to identify the butterflies of spring ::Save our seas ::The variety of life: hedgerows ::Round the reserves ::25 Ways to make a difference -- Spring 2005 -- ::The variety of life: water voles ::The Avon Biodiversity Action Plan ::How to take really good wildlife photos ::How to help your garden grow ::Round the reserves ::Seasonal strolls: Browns Folly ::Sowing the seeds: for wildlife for people ::Sowing the seeds: looking back

Round the reserves

Month by month, wildlife to look out for...

April
Butterflies like brimstone and comma favour the edge of woodlands on sunny days and can be seen on Brandon Hill and Stockwood Open Space. At these sites great crested newts are also back breeding in the newly restored ponds. These unusual amphibians are best observed at night with the aid of a torch and can be seen as they float near the water surface. A new pool at Avonmouth Pools is also good for these newts and provides excellent habitat for teal and common snipe.

May
During the early parts of the month lapwing and redshank can still be seen and heard displaying at both Clapton and Weston Moors. Both these birds have evocative calls, which characterise the open landscape of the North Somerset Levels, and a patient observer may be rewarded with views of common snipe performing their roller-coaster display during the quiet of the early evening. At Walborough and Ashton Court Meadow the grasslands will be purple with thousands of green-winged orchids at their best, whilst from Folly Farm and Burledge Hill the song of garden warbler, sometimes likened to the grinding of marbles, can be heard from the scattered scrub.

June
The spectrum of colour in the grassland at Netcotts Meadow will be at its best. Yellow rattle, ragged robin and a range of orchids can be seen amongst the grasses and sedges. In the quiet stillness of the hazel coppice at Goblin Combe, common dormice will be busy feeding and searching out mates, whilst high above fledgeling buzzards take their first hesitant flights into the skies.

July
A visit to Puxton Moor or Bathampton Oxbow will be rewarded with views of some of our most colourful and aerobatic of insects. Southern hawkers will join the squadrons of chasers and skimmers as each set up their own territories along the water's edge. The grasslands at Folly Farm will also now be coming into their best and recent areas of cleared scrub will begin to show signs of new growth as betony, dyers greenweed and carnation sedge begin to re-colonise these areas.

August
Look out for grasshoppers at Dolebury Warren as they sing from sun-parched slopes. Deep within the cooler scrub-lined combes, the chanting songs of great green and dark bush crickets are heard as the warm lazy evening begins. Along the coast at Blakes Pools and Walborough the wading bird numbers which feed across the mudflats begin to increase as birds such as dunlin and curlew leave their breeding grounds and start to migrate south for the winter.

Reserves Update

Weston Moor
Last winter was a busy time with volunteers helping to plant 3000 native trees in Taggart's Wood plantation. Major rhyne restoration works on Weston Moor were carried out, funded by YANSEC and Defra countryside stewardship scheme.

The re-creation of these ditches, in some cases lost years ago and smothered by mature scrub, is extremely valuable because of the unique wetland habitat they represent.

They bring additional benefits too, as the stock-proof boundaries they create will allow us to graze the species-rich grassland at the southern end for the first time in years. This is a big step forward, as for a long time we've struggled each year to cut this field for hay and hold back the invasion of scrub. Now we can look ahead to sustainable management and even reclaiming some of the grassland.

Folly Farm
Folly Farm has long been one of our flagship nature reserves and the species-rich grassland one of its most valuable and inspiring habitats. For years volunteers have worked tirelessly to control scrub that slowly encroaches onto the grassland.

A lot of excellent work has been done but the sheer scale of the task has meant a lot of effort is needed simply to maintain the balance. Last winter saw great progress, thanks to the Folly Farm volunteers with support from HLF, English Nature and Defra and a major programme to reduce and manage the scrub over a period of years has now begun. Over an acre of mature scrub was cleared from East Hill where old anthills indicate that this was grassland only a short time ago and now these patches can begin to return to their former glory.