Seek and destroy: Invasive plant species

Sherborne brook, yellow monkey flower on south bank

Working with the Sherborne volunteer 'team' this week, some of whom also appear in the Wildlife Trust team. Our task today was to survey the Sherborne Brook from the village all the way down to the Water Meadows and including both channels of the Brook as it divides before eventually joining up at the river Windrush. The main task was to search for and if possible remove invasive plant species but it also offered an opportunity for spotting interesting plants and wildlife. The weather was pretty good and the terrain interesting. The stretch of the Brook adjacent to the village provided much interest. We divided into 2 teams and on our North side of the Brook no invasive plants but some Marsh, Common, Pyramid orchids plus long tailed tits. On the other bank, above the weir, however the Monkey flower had taken hold in patches which was keeping team 2 busy. We crossed over to help before heading back downstream towards the boat house, see picture above. More Monkey flower discovered again on the south bank plus a viewing of our heron, the swan family {9 cygnets}, 2 red kites, reed bunting and some large trout. The terrain changed dramatically past the boat house and lower weir into more of a 'jungle'. Here we hit Japanese Knot weed {although much reduced after last years work} and Butterbur. Since we were in the vicinity we popped into look at progress of the archeological dig. Unfortunately the findings   were not confirming the presence of a medieval church and at this time was proving to be a 'medieval mystery'.  The afternoon survey revealed little evidence of invasive plants apart from a small section of Butterbur which was duly noted on our map for later treatment. No Himalayan Balsam was seen in this survey but we hadn't time to cover the river Windrush which has this invader upstream, certainly in the Bourton area. An interesting walk though, by the clear swift flowing Brooks, again with plenty of trout on show. It was also good to see the 3 man made otter holts but no evidence as yet of resident otters.

Damselfly, Banded variety

Today was spent with the Wildlife Trust team on a section of the river Churn in Cirencester, again on tackling invasive plants, the Himalayan Balsam dominating proceedings.  The terrain was challenging with thick plant growth along the river and it also provided me with my first experience in 'waders'. On the plus side it was certainly cooler wading down the river on the trickier stretches of bank but they do make you overheat quickly in the warm June air. The first part of the session required more 'seeking' as we covered an area which had been covered earlier in the week. As we progressed down river  the amount of Balsam mounted dramatically along with the physical effort of removing so many plants and so by close of play it was clear another session would be required to remove the remaining plants. Not quite as pleasant an environment as Sherborne but it did provide a good showing of Damselflies : an impressive Broad bodied Chaser {as seen at Lodgepark} plus Banded , Emerald, Beautiful Demoiselles.