Spring is on its way!!!

Has Spring finally sprung???

Frogspawn has been spotted, and the odd Bluebell coming through (still a few more weeks until the woodland floor is carpeted with them though so just hold out for that photo opportunity). 

The Wildflower meadow has been chain-harrowed to get rid of any old material lying on the top, hindering those wildflowers reaching for the sun.

College and volunteer's combined efforts.

Here at Rufford we have a loyal set of Saturday volunteers and a fresh new set of college groups that undertake tasks on site.
This weeks task was to start laying the 130m of fencing needed to border a pathway used by the public, and both groups have done great!!!

Estate skills are part of the College's syllabus so they are more than keen to crack on with fencing, and the volunteers will do anything you throw at them. The 'slightly' muddy path will be laid with hard chippings in the future so that this whole pathway will sport a new updated look.

Tree of the Week

Hawthorn -Crataegus Monogyna

A small, spreading deciduous (loses it's leaves in winter) tree. It is commonly used for hedgerows as the thorny twigs which are densely packed, act as a good barrier and it's resilience to survive in harsh conditions.

• Look out for the clusters of white or sometimes pink tinged flowers in late spring, followed by the ripe fruit (red berries) from October. Berries are a valuable food for birds such as Fieldfares and Redwing and small mammals such as Bank Vole and Wood Mice.
• The bark tends to be brown-grey with orange layers lower down. As it ages it forms a fissured pattern with algae sometimes forming. The leaves are small and deeply 

Tree of the Week

Silver birch -Betula Pendula

Native to the UK and Europe, this is a fast growing and sometimes invasive tree, growing up to 30m tall. Birch trees are associated with specific fungi particularly Birch Polypore (razor strop), which is a bracket fungus that grows on the trunk.

• Identifiable by it's silvery white bark, often flaking away and revealing greyer patches below. 
• The leaves on a birch are up to 7cm, triangular and pointed with large jagged edges separated by smaller ones. In the Autumn the leaves turn a golden yellow before dropping.

Tree of the Week

Scots Pine -Pinus Sylvestris 




















Scots Pine is one of only three conifers native to the British Isles, being more open and flat topped with a long trunk. The bark tends to be red-grey/brown lower down and red-orange higher up with a flaking scale like appearance.

• Look out for the blue-green paired needles, 5-10cm long, along with the egg shaped pine cones 5-8cm, which become light brown and rounder as they mature.

• This is a useful timber tree, producing wood for buildings, furniture, telegraph poles and chipboard.

Build a Bird Box success!

Well once again the Bird Box event was a sell out success, loads of new homes were made for lots of the garden birds around the county. People aged 3-83 enjoyed hammering nails into wood to create new homes for wildlife.

Bird Ringing

Two recent bird ringing sessions provided us with some close up views of everyday birds.

Above we have a male Bullfinch, Marsh Tit, male Goldcrest and a male Siskin. 

Other birds caught during the sessions included, Nuthatch, Great Tit, Goldfinch, Greenfinch and Coal Tit.