Bit of deja-vu again this time. As, yet again, I’ve been up on Saddleworth Moor restoring blanket bog with the guys from RSPB Dove Stone. This time was slightly different, it was still spreading sphagnum to areas which are currently sphagnum-free zones, but this time it was the actual plant I was planting rather than chucking beads around.
The areas targeted this week were areas previously restored about five years ago by the local water authority. These areas have seen gullies blocked by heather bales and stone dams to create soaking wet areas. The only element missing from these areas are sphagnum, hence planting sphagnum plants rather than beads.
The task itself is relatively easy, first remove the lump of sphagnum from its sack, then break the frozen solid lump of plant matter up with a spade (!), then get a fist size lump, make a hole with your heal in a damp area and place the lump of sphagnum in said hole. And repeat.
Pretty enjoyable, although the weather over the last month has made the ground ultra frozen places so damp areas were at a premium.
Task two this week was to begin a Dipper Cinclus cinclus survey, again for the guys at RSPB Dove Stone (I think you can gather I do most of my volunteering there!). My survey patch was Crowden Little Brook, a small fast moving stream which begins on the moors and ends in the Longdendale Valley.
The terrain was pretty tough, tussocky grass and numerous crossings of a fast moving stream made for a difficult walk. This is ideal Dipper territory, but not ideal human territory! Two Dippers were seen by me and my colleague (both of which were early on, before the terrain got difficult!)
I said surveys in the title, not survey, as I’ve done two this week. I’ve just got back from surveying a part of The Roaches for the Staffordshire Wildlife Trust. This is a four part survey so I shall report in this in the coming weeks.
Grass-roots Wildlife 